Human Resource Management Practices

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

IN
SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES OF BANGLADESH

Ph. D. THESIS

Muhammad Mohiuddin
Ph.D. Registration No. 30/2009-2010
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka
Dhaka – 1000
Dhaka University Institutional Repository
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

IN
SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES OF BANGLADESH
Ph.D. THESIS
Supervisor
Professor Dr. Abu Hossain Siddique
University of Dhaka
Dhaka -1000
Researcher
Muhammad Mohiuddin
Ph. D. Registration No. 30/2009-2010
University of Dhaka
Dhaka-1000
Thesis submitted to the University of Dhaka in fulfillment of

the requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
2013
2
DECLARATION
The materials embodied in this thesis is original and has not been submitted
in part or full for any other diploma or degree of any university.
Supervisor Researcher
Professor Dr. Abu Hossain Siddique Muhammad Mohiuddin

Department of International Business Ph. D. Registration No. 30/2009-2010
University of Dhaka Department of International Business
University of Dhaka
3
CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that the research work and the results of the thesis entitled
“Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) of Bangladesh” is the outcome of the work carried out by Muhammad
Mohiuddin under my supervision.
This is further certified that the thesis is suitable for submission in fulfillment
of the requirement for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in International
Business.
Date: Professor Dr. Abu Hossain Siddique

University of Dhaka
Dhaka – 1000
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DEDICATION
TO
My most respected and beloved parents, MVI. AHMED ALI (Late) and
MRS. AMENA KAHATUN (Late), let almighty Allah, the most
beneficence and graceful may forgive their departed souls with divine
grace.
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Acknowledgement
I, from deep of my heart, give my gratefulness and respect to my

honourable teacher and supervisor Professor Dr. Abu Hossain Siddique for
his extensive cooperation, praiseworthy guidance, constructive criticisms,
rightful advices and noteworthy suggestions throughout the period of the
research that helps me to complete the thesis successfully.
I am greatly indebted to the owner-managers and/managers who have

provided me with their information and cooperation during my field
investigation without which I could not complete the research work. I have
consulted with many of my colleagues, teachers and scholars of other
academic institutions to develop a clear view of the study, conduct the field
work and analyze data for which I would like to give my heartiest thanks to
those. I also give my thanks to all others who have helped me in any form to
complete my field work and the thesis.
I would like to take this opportune moment to give my personal thanks and
appreciation to Professor Dr. M. Masud Rahman of the Department of
Finance of this university for his special help and suggestions to prepare this
thesis.
I would like to give my gratefulness to my beloved mother, father and mother

–in-law who constantly encouraged me to work for the study, though they
could not see the result as all of them have left us forever to the lordship of
Allah.
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I am further grateful to Ms. Hafiza Begum for her constant encouragement. I

am also thankful to all my family members for their all out support and
cooperation. I am indebted further to my friends who have boosted me up to
the last to complete the thesis.
At the end, I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to my

dearest friend Ms. Hosne Ara Banu for her endless inspiration, mental
support and preaching that at last, made me possible to finish the research
work and to complete the thesis.
Dhaka Professor Muhammd

Mohiuddin
November 20, 2013
7
Table of Contents
Declaration i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Chapter One : Introduction 1-20

An Overview of the Bangladesh Economy 2-4
Definition of SME 4-10
Working definition of SME for the study 10-11
SMEs in Perspective 11-12
SMEs in Bangladesh 12-14
Rationale of the Study 14-19
Objectives of the Study 20
Chapter Two : Methodology of the Study 21- 30

Rationale of the research method 22-23
Population 24
Sample and Sampling technique 25-26
Sources of data and pilot survey 26-27
Data collection techniques and period 27-29
Data analysis techniques 29
Limitations of the study and data presentation style 30
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Chapter Three : Literature Review 31-42
Chapter Four : Theoretical Framework of the Study 43-222

Introduction 44-52
Different dimensions of HRM 52-54
Definition of HRM for the study 55
Determinants of HRM 55-65
Components of HRM 66-73
Resourcing organisation 73-110
Training and Development 110-137
Compensation (Pay) management 137-154
Performance appraisal 154-167
Benefits and Services 168-177
Safety, Security and Health 177-193
Employee/Labour Relations 193-222
Chapter Five : Analysis and Discussion 223-327
General characteristics of SMEs 223-241

Human resource planning in SMEs 241-248
Recruitment of HR in SMEs 248-253
Selection of HR in SMEs 254-261
Training and development in SMEs 262-275
Pay management /administration in SMEs 276-290
Performance appraisal in SMEs 290-300
Protection Programmes in SMEs 301-314
(Benefits, Safety, Security and Health)
Employee relations in SMEs 314-327
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Chapter Six : Findings and Conclusions 328-361

General characteristics 329-331
Resourcing organisation: Human resource planning,
Recruitment, selection and placement 332-335
Training and Development 335-341
Pay administration and Performance appraisal 341-346
Benefits, Security, Safety and Health 346-355
Employee/Industrial Relations 355-359
Conclusions 359-361
Appendix -1 362-387
Bibliography 388- 430
viii
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
11
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
An Overview of the Bangladesh Economy
Bangladesh emerged as an independent country on March 26, 1971. Till then,

she was the province of East Pakistan of erstwhile Pakistan and after a bloody
war of liberation for nine months, which ended on 16 December 1971, it
became a sovereign state. Bangladesh inherited a poor, un-diversified
economy, characterized by an under-developed infrastructure, stagnant
agriculture and a rapidly growing population. She had suffered from years of
colonial exploitation and missed opportunities with weakening effects on
initiative and enterprise. Moreover, the devastating effects of the liberation
war, which caused serious damage to physical infrastructure, dislocation of
managerial and organizational apparatus and disruption on established
external trading relationships, placed Bangladesh into a gigantic economic
black hole. Within an area of 56,977 square miles (147570 sq. km.), she has to
accommodate a population of 14.977 crores with a population growth rate of
1.37 percent per year and a population density of 1015 per sq. km. as per
census of 2011 (BBS, 2012). The literacy rate (7 year +) is 57.9 percent as per
HIES, 2010 which is ever highest but not satisfactory.
The economy of Bangladesh is characterized by traditional agricultural sector

which contributes 20.01 percent to the GDP in 2010-11 at the constant price of
1995-96, but the industrial sector, on the other hand, contributes only 30. 37
percent and the service sector contributes 49.62 percent to the GDP in the
same year (BBS, 2012). Agricultural sector is the highest employment source
in Bangladesh, 47.30 percent of the total labour force is employed in this
sector as per labour Force Survey, 2010. The industrial sector on the other
hand, gives employment of only 17.64 percent of the total labour force in the
same year. The country is deficient in having production of both consumer
12
and industrial goods and therefore, she is to import more. In 2010-11 fiscal
years, Bangladesh imported 33658 million U.S. dollars goods and services and
exported 22924 million U.S dollars (BBS, 2012). Bangladesh is experiencing
an unemployment of 2.6 million out of total economically active 15+
population labour force of 56.7 million which is 4.59 percent of the total
civilian active labour force (BBS, 2012). The per capita income Tk.58, 083 i.e.
$816 during the year 2010-11 has made the country as one of the poor earning
countries of the world (BBS, 2012). The national rate of savings is 28.78
percent and domestic rate of savings is 19.29 percent of the GDP in the year
2010-11 (BBS, 2012). Of the total population, 70.90 percent people live in the
rural areas in 2011 (BBS, 2012) and it shows the rural character of our
economy. The predominance of the agriculture in the economy of Bangladesh
is apparent from its impact on the GDP whereas its output fluctuates and the
performance varies. The growth rate of agriculture including forestry and
fishery is 10.34 percent in 2010-11 (BBS, 2012). It is a fact that though the
agriculture is the vital sector but it is still very much dominated by the forces
of nature. Bangladesh imported 53.51 lac tons of food grains in the year 2010-
11 (BBS, 2012).
Poverty is a general feature or characteristic of the economy of Bangladesh.

31.50 percent of the population is living below poverty level in 2010 (HIES,
2010). Poverty level of population in rural area is higher than the urban area.
35.20 percent of the rural population is living below poverty level and 21.20
percent of the urban population is living below poverty level now (HIES,
2010). The number of landless people is gradually increasing. The landless
people in the urban area were 90.7 percent in 1995 and now it is 92.8 percent
(BES, 1998: 108). The rural landless population is increasing at the faster rate
than that of urban. The landless people in the rural area of Bangladesh were
79.8 percent in 1995 and in 1998, it was 81 percent.
The annual growth rate of GDP is increasing over last few years with a slight
debacle in 2008-09 fiscal years. It was 6.43 in 2007-08, 5.74 in 2008-09, 6.07 in
13
2009-010, and 6.71 in 2010-11 (BBS, 2012). The rapid growth of population
resulted in a mounting increase of the civilian labour force posing a great
threat to the economic development process of the country. Consequently, the
economic programme of the country is required to be designed in such a way
so that the vast basic resources of manpower can be utilized at its maximum
within the constraints of technology, and socio-political and economic
conditions.
Definition of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)
The definition of small and medium size enterprise varies from country to
country and from time to time in the came country depending upon the
pattern of and stage of development, government policy and administrative
set up of the particular country. As a result, there are at least 50 different
definitions of small and medium size enterprise/ industry found in 75
countries of the world back in 1955 (GIT, Georgia). All these definitions either
relate to capital, employment, or both or any other criteria. Variations still
exist in the concept of SME among various countries of the world.
SMEs may be defined on the basis of quantitative criteria: the number of

employees; the size of investment; or annual sales. Another commonly
acknowledged criterion defines SME according to the degree of delegation of
authority and responsibility. Under this definition, the owner is sole manager
and decision maker, because it is either unnecessary or too expensive to
employ functional specialists. Other criteria suggest that the SME is unable to
adopt modern technology or to raise needed capital through a stock exchange.
All these criteria to some extent reflect the characteristics of a small and
medium enterprises /firms but disagreement on each criterion is
unavoidable. For example, in taking the owner-managed firm as a SME, one
must certainly include the T. Eaton company-, which has annual sales of over
$3 billion! Using quantitative criteria has its complications too. For example, is
a bolt manufacturing subsidiary of an auto company a SME? Questions can
14
also be raised about the inclusion or exclusion of professionals, farmers, and

other self-employed individuals. Should a law firm or a doctor’s office be
encompassed in the definition of SME? Let us examine this issue with the
definitions of SMEs in various countries of the world including Bangladesh.
Canada
The Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce (DITC) of the Government

of Canada defines SME as a business with fewer than 500 employees.
Breaking down the SME definition, DITC of the Government of Canada
defines a small business as one that has fewer than 100 employees (If the
business is a goods-producing business) or fewer than 50 employees (If the
business is a service –based business). A firm that has more employees than
these cut-offs but fewer than 500 employees is classified as a medium-sized
business. On the other hand, Bureau of Statistics, Canada defines an SME as
any business establishment with 0-499 employees and less that $50 million in
gross revenues ( GOC Web site) .
European Union
In the European Union, SME is defined on the basis of employment. A

business with a headcount of fewer than 250 is classified a medium-sized; a
business with a headcount of fewer than 50 is classified as small, and a
business with a headcount of fewer than 10 is considered as micro-business.
So, SME can be understood as an enterprise wherein more than 10 and fewer
than 250 people are working (EU Web site).
India
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Bill 2006 defines Small enterprise as
the enterprise with an investment of not more than Rs. 50 million in plant
and machinery; and the enterprise with an investment of over Rs. 50 million
but less than Rs. 100 million in plant and machinery is medium enterprise(
GOI Web site).
15
Japan
The Act No. 154 of 1963 amended in December 3, 1999, (GOJ Web site)
dealing with small and medium enterprise basic law defines SME as follows:
1) Any entity which is a company whose capital or total amount of

investment does not exceed three hundred million yen (¥300,000,000),
or a company or an individual whose regular workforce does not
exceed three hundred persons , and which is principally engaged in
manufacturing, construction, transportation or any other category of
business (except those categories of business mentioned in any of item
(2) to (4) below;

investment does not exceed one hundred million yen (¥100,000,000),
or a company or an individual whose regular workforce does not
exceed one hundred persons, and which is principally engaged in the
wholesale trade;

investment does not exceed fifty million yen (¥50,000,000), or a
company or an individual whose regular workforce does not exceed
one hundred persons, and which is principally engaged in the service
industry;

investment does not exceed fifty million yen (¥50,000,000), or a
company or an individual whose regular workforce does not exceed
fifty persons, and which is principally engaged in the retail trade.
Bangladesh
The Bangladesh inherits the conceptual formation of small industry nay small
business from erstwhile Pakistan but there was no conception of medium size
industry until Industrial Policy 1999 was declared by the Government of
16
Bangladesh. Both of the definitions of small industry and medium industry

change over time in the then Pakistan and in Bangladesh too. It rolls over
employment size to investment size and vice versa, and sometimes in
includes both of the terms too. We shall make a historical discussion of these
scenarios and then come to a working definition of Small and Medium size
enterprises (SMEs)/industry for the purpose of the study.
The 1st Five Year Plan 1955–60 of Pakistan defined the term small industry as
“includes any manufacturing enterprise which either uses no power or
employs less than 20 persons and is thus not subject to registration under
section 2(j) of the Factories Act. This definition included ‘village industry’
whether producing for local consumption or for wider market and ‘cottage
industry’ which is carried on in the home usually with the help of the family”.
It covers handlooms too.
The first systematic definition of Small-Scale Industry in East Pakistan,

today’s Bangladesh was given by the East Pakistan Small Scale Corporation
Act XVII of 1957. The act stated that “Small Industry means an industrial
establishment or unit which is run mainly by hired labor not using
mechanical motive power but does not normally employ more than 50
workmen and whose land, building and machinery do not exceed Rs. 2,50,000
in value in either case. Subsequent amendment of the Act included “and
Cottage” and thus stood as ‘East Pakistan Small and Cottage Industries
corporation Act’. The Act has been adopted in Bangladesh as “Bangladesh
Cottage Industries Corporation Act 1973 which was later on renamed as
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC).
The Second Five Year Plan 1960–65 of Pakistan considers small scale
industries as “those engaged in the production of handicraft, consumer or
producer goods employing manual labour without use of any motive power,
or using motive power but employing not more than 20 persons or using
fixed assets valued at not more than Rs. 100,000.
17
The Third Five Year Plan (1965–70) of Pakistan took small industries as
“industries which employ manual labour but do not use any motive power or
industries which use motive power and use fixed assets, other than land,
valued at not more than Rs.250,000.
The Fourth Five Year Plan (1970–75) of Pakistan defined small industries as
“Industries which employ manual labour but do not use any motive power or
industries which use motive power and use fixed assets, other than land,
valued at not more than Rs. One million.”
The Pakistan Factories Act 1965 defined a small industry as “any premise
including the precincts thereof wherein ten or more workers are working in
any part of which a manufacturing process is being carried on with or
without the aid of power”.
After the independence, on March 26, 1972 the Government of Bangladesh

announced the programme of nationalization and formally took over the
ownership of all industrial assets abandoned by Pakistani owners and also
nationalized all units in jute manufacturing and cotton textile industries. The
Industrial Investment Policy of 1972-73, limited private investment in units
with Taka 25 lacs fixed assets.
The Department of Industries of the Government of Bangladesh gave a new

definition of small industries its “Guide to Investment in Bangladesh in 1977
(p.9). It defined a small industry as “a unit having fixed cost unto Tk. 1.00
million excluding land”. The New Industrial Policy 1982 did not make any
change into it.
The Industrial Policy 1986 defined small industry as “an industrial

undertaking engaged either in manufacturing process or service activity,
within a total investment up Tk. 15 million and the investment in machinery
and equipment not exceeding Tk. 10 million excluding taxes and duties”.
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The Industrial Policy 1991 says “Small Industry means an industrial

undertaking engaged either in manufacturing process or service activity
whose total fixed investment excluding the prices of the land, expenses for
inland transportation and commissioning of machinery appliances and duties
and taxes, is limited to taka three crore i.e. Tk. 30 million (including initial
working capital). In the case of BMRE even if the total investment limit
exceeds Tk. 30 million, it would still be considered as a small industry.
However, the extent of extended investment for BMRE shall not be more than
50% of the total investment limit”.
The Industrial Policy 1999 not only changed the definition of small industry
but also introduced a concept of medium industry. The provision 4.6 of the
policy said, “Small industry will mean enterprises employing fewer than 50
workers excluding the cottage units and/or with a fixed capital investment of
less than Taka 100 million”. The provision 4.5 of the policy said, “Medium
industry will cover enterprises employing between 50 and 99 workers and/or
with a fixed capital investment between Taka 100 million and Taka 300
million”.
The Industrial Policy 2005 further changed the concept of small and medium
industry. The provision 4.4(C) of the policy stated that small industry in the
manufacturing sector as “Small industry shall mean those industrial
enterprises that have less than Tk. 1.50 crores fixed assets or replacement
value excepting the value of the land and the factory building” and the
provision 4.5(C) stated small industry in non-manufacturing (trading and
other services) sector as “Small industry will mean those industrial
enterprises which have less than 25 workers (not family workers as in cottage
industry)”. The provision 4.4(B) stated medium industry in manufacturing
sector as “Medium industry shall mean those industrial enterprises which
have value of other fixed assets or replacement cost excepting land and
factory building amounting to taka 1.50 crore to 10 crore” and the provision
4.5(B) stated that medium industry in non-manufacturing (trading and other
19
service) sector as “Medium industry shall mean those industrial enterprises

where 25 to 100 workers are working”.
The National Taskforce on Development of Small and Medium Enterprises

(SMEs) constituted on November 5, 2003 to recommend SME policy
guidelines and implementation strategies also accepted the above mentioned
definitions of small industry and medium industry separately but did not
give any unified definition of Small and Medium Enterprise(SME). The report
submitted on September, 2004 contained definitions of small and medium
industry in the provision 6.3.2 (Ministry of Industries, GOB, 16). It said
“Small enterprise in manufacturing sector is an enterprise which, in today’s
market price, has the replacement cost of plant, machinery and other
parts/components, fixtures, support utility, and associated technical services
by way of capitalized cost (of turn-key consultancy services, for example), etc
excluding land and building, is up to Tk. 15 million and small enterprise in
non-manufacturing sector is an enterprise that has less than 25 workers in
full-time equivalent”. It also said that “Medium enterprise in manufacturing
sector is an enterprise in which, in today’s market prices, the replacement cost
of plant machinery and other parts/components, fixtures, support utility, and
associated technical services (such as turn-key consultancy), etc excluding
land and building, is up to Tk. 100 million and small enterprise in non-
manufacturing sector is an enterprise that has employees between 25 to 100”.
Working Definition of SME for the Study
For the purpose of the study, the following working definition of SME is
undertaken:
a) SMEs in manufacturing industry will mean enterprises having

investment in fixed assets other than the land and factory building
upto Tk. 100 million or Tk 10 crore.
20
b) SMEs in service industry will mean service enterprises having up to

100 workers other than the family members.
c) SMEs will mean those enterprises whose share is not listed with stock
exchange.
d) SMEs shall not include those enterprises which are involved with
professional activities like doctors, lawyers etc.
e) SMEs will mean those enterprises which are operating in private

sector.
f) SMEs will mean those enterprises that are engaged in business

operation.
It could be mentioned here that for the convenience of the discussion, small
and medium enterprise, small and medium industry or small and medium
business etc terms will be used interchangeably.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Perspective
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), particularly small enterprises are the
age old form of business enterprises in our civilization. Small business
enterprise appeared in our civilization more than 4000 years ago (Siropolis,
1998:04). Since then, small and medium business enterprises have contributed
enormously to the benefit of customers and the human civilization. Societies
have been enriched through the continuous pouring of infinite variety of
products and services by the small and medium enterprises. SMEs flourished
in almost all ancient civilizations. The Arabs, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews,
Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans excelled at small business enterprises
(Siropolis, 1998:04). The shoddy and slipshod products and services of the
small and medium businesses some times cheated and defrauded the
customers. The code of Hummurabi, King of Babylon in 2100 BC, proclaimed
a code of 300 laws to protect customers and small businesspersons against
21
fraud. Yet, it was largely through the small business that civilization was
spread to all four corners of the then-known world. Roman Catholic Church
held small and medium business, and as such all types of businesses at low
esteem because they branded the retailers as sinners that did nothing to
improve a product. There was another reason for this sort of stamping.
Business as a whole is called as a necessary evil in the holy Bible. But the
Protestantism revived the holy sanctions for the business as a whole and that
enhanced the small and medium business activities in these cultures. Islamic
civilization from its very inception allowed business as a permissible activity
with divine grace subject to strict adherence to the code of conduct. It,
therefore, flourished tremendously during Muslim regime and expanded
throughout the world. The people engaged in SMEs had been regarded as the
messengers of international relations among the civilizations of the world.
Today, SMEs enjoy more esteem and prestige than ever before. Academics,
journalists, and politicians alike now have begun to underscore its
achievements and opportunities, its promise and problems. It is a vital force
in almost all economies of the world now.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh
SMEs also have got a glorious past in our region, the Bangladesh, too. The
artisans and the craftsmen of this region had been well known for their
products long before Christ was born. The Periplus of Hanno dating about
sixth century BC mentioned the pearls and moslins of this region (BIDS,1981).
Kautilya mentioned four distinct types of fabrics exported from the Bengal to
the rest of the India and of the world (Kautilya, 150 A.D.). The famous textile
‘moslin’ was an excellent example of our craft heritage.
Bangladesh, as a part of the erstwhile Pakistan, virtually had no large

industry but SMEs and cottage at the time of the independence from British
colonial regime. A few cotton textile mills, a sugar mill, and a number of jute
22
bailing and processing units were there only. The share of industries in GDP
was 3 percent only in 1949 of which 0.5 percent was the contribution of the
large scale industries and the rest 2.5 per cent was from small enterprise
sector (Ahmed, 1978:368). During Pakistani period, Bangladesh i.e. East
Pakistan was far behind in the race of industrial development in all fronts in
comparison with that of West Pakistan. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs were in
control of only one fifth of the total fixed assets of the industrial sector (Table-
1). After liberation, the Government of Bangladesh had nationalized all
industries except small and medium industries with 2.5 million-taka total
investment values, which had been allowed to operate under private sector.
The successive Governments of Bangladesh had gradually lifted the ceiling
and now there is no limit on private investment.
Table–1: Types and Value of Fixed Assets of Industries registered under the
Factories Act in Bangladesh 1969-72
1969-70 1972 After

1972 After
1969- Fixed Nationali-
Type Nationali-
70 % % Assets % zation %
of industries zation
Units Million Million
Units
taka taka
Public Sector
Under EPIDC 53 1.7 2097.0 34.1
Nationalized - - 392 12.9 5637.5 91.9
Private Sector
Non-
725 23.7 - - 2885.7 47.0 - -
Bangladeshi
Bangladeshi 2253 73.8 2178 71.5 1118.8 18.2 208.0 3.3
Foreign 20 0.8 13 0.4 36.0 0.7 36.0 0.5
Absentee units - - 462 15.2 - - 256.0 4.3
Total 3051 100.0 3051 100.0 6137.5 100.0 6137.5 -
Source: Sobhan and Ahmed (1980:192)
The investment ceiling on small and medium business/industry that was set
taka 1 million in 1977 which was further changed into taka 15 million in 1986
Industrial Policy (GOB, 1986). Again the total investment was increased to
taka 30 million in 1991 which had further been set at taka 100 million in 1999
Industrial Policies GOB, 1991, 1999). The small and medium business
23
enterprises now have got a free environment to play their roles in the
Bangladesh economy. The free or open market policy of the Governments
after 1980, the SMEs got enormous opportunity to flourish in different fields
of business operations. At present, SMEs are operating in almost all the
sectors of investment.
Rationale of the Study
Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh like all other countries of

the world are the backbone of the economy. In the economy of USA, more
than 99% of its 21.5 million non-farm businesses were small (SBA, USA, 1995:
34). Small businesses in USA employed half of the nation’s workforce and
generate 54 percent of the sales revenues and 40 percent of the gross national
product (SBA, USA, 1995:34). This sector typically comprised over 90 percent
of all industries of developing countries of the world (Ahmed, 1987:6). Small
scale industries accounted for a considerable portion of the gross national
product in all the countries of the world, developed, or underdeveloped and
about 50 percent of the employment. (Mohanty, 1986:3). The relative share of
small scale industries in the total employment and output seemed to be about
80 percent and 50 percent respectively in many of the Asian, Africa and Latin
American countries (Ahmed, 1987:6). In the OECD countries too, small
businesses contribute a significant employment. More than 75 percent of the
industries employed fewer than 50 employees and accounted for one-fourth
to one-third of the total industrial work force on an average (Ahmed, 1987:7).
According to UNESCAP, SMEs accounted for upwards of 90% of all firms in

East and South-East Asia, as well as in Japan (Wattanapruttipaisha, 1999). It
was the biggest source of the region’s employment, including three-quarters
of women and young workers. But the relative share of SMEs in total output
and exports was typically much smaller, close to a third, or so. In Bangladesh,
large enterprises account only for a small percentage of all business
24
enterprises. The percentage is much smaller in other than manufacturing than

in manufacturing per se (Ministry of Industries, GOB, 2004).
In Bangladesh, small scale industries provided direct employment of 2 million

people, which was about 78 percent of the total industrial labour force, and
accounted for over 75 percent of the contribution of industrial sector to the
total output (Kamal, 1985:45). The contribution of the small and medium
businesses to the gross domestic product of Bangladesh is gradually
increasing. It also constitutes a significant portion of total contribution of the
industrial sector to the GDP. Table-2 shows that the contribution of small
manufacturing industries is increasing and the same upward trend happens
to large and medium manufacturing industries during the five year period
starting from 2006-07 to 2010-11. There exists no separate statistics about the
share of medium enterprises in manufacturing to the GDP and also
contribution of SMEs in service sector. The trends that exhibit in the table
about the share of SMEs in manufacturing sector is upward and it further
indicates that the manufacturing SMEs will make increasing contribution in
future too.
Table - 2: Sectoral Contribution to the GDP in percent at 1995-96 constant

prices
Sectors 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Agriculture 21.37 20.83 20.48 20.29 20.02
Industry 29.45 29.70 29.86 29.93 30.38
Industry(Manufacturing) 17.55 17.77 17.90 17.94 18.41
Large and Medium Industry 12.47 12.63 12.71 12.68 13.12
Small Industry 5.08 5.14 5.18 5.26 5.29
Service 49.18 49.47 49.66 49.78 49.60
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Sources: BBS, 2012 and BES 2012 (Compiled by the researcher)
The absolute contribution of small and medium businesses engaged in

manufacturing in the current prices to the GDP is also increasing. The Table -
3 shows the amount of contribution of small manufacturing enterprises
25
separately and medium manufacturing industries in combine with large scale

industries. The contribution is increasing over years.
Table-3 : GDP share of Small and Medium Enterprises in Current Prices

from 2006-07 to 2010-11 in crore taka
Sector 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Industry(Manufacturing) 81178 93901 106445 120108 135551
Large and Medium –Scale 57688 66759 75610 84899 97121
Small Scale 23490 27142 30835 35209 38430
Source: Bangladesh Economic Survey, 2012
SMEs are the largest employment source in both agricultural and non-
agricultural sectors in Bangladesh. The total employment in these sectors is
54.1 million of which 37.9 million employees are male and 16.2 million
employees are female (LFS,2010, BBS,2012). The employment in the BSCIC
registered units was 68,983 in 1996-97, and in 2002-02 it was 83,416. Now, in
June, 2012, it is 32.28 lakh (BSCIC, 2000, 2005, 2012). This is a partial
indication of the increasing and potential role of small industries in the
creation of job opportunities in Bangladesh. SMEs in other than BSCIC
registered enterprises in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors also
provide a significant number of employment particularly in trade, hotel,
restaurant, transport, communication and agro-based industries. Therefore,
Kamal (1985:45) commented that the small-scale industries are the second
largest area of employment in Bangladesh.
The number of SMEs in Bangladesh is also increasing at a very fast rate. The
number of enterprises within the BSCIC has been increased from 23,991 in
1996-97 to 46,177 in 2000-01. The percentage increased was 92.48 percent.
Only in 2001-02, the number actually achieved was 49,811. The total number
of industrial units registered under BSCIC in 2000-01 was 4,687 and in 2001-02
was 5239 i.e. 11,78 percent increased. Now, in June 2012, the total number of
industries under BSCIC is 7, 39,689. This enormous increase exhibits the
26
growing participation of people in this type of industries. The increase of

industrial enterprises in other sectors that come within our definition of SMEs
was not shown due to non-availability of the statistics. But in every estimate,
it could be guessed that there exists a rise too.
Table -3 (a) : Industries registered under BSCIC

Industry registered 1997 2001 2002 Upto June, 2012
Small Industries ----- ----- ------ 98,750
Cottage Industries ------- ------ ------ 6,40,939
Total Industries 23,991 46,177 49,811 7,39,689
Source: BSCIC
The contribution of the SMEs to manufacturing value added is not much

different from the large-scale industries. Study reveals that only small
industries contributed 45 percent against 55 percent of the large (Ahmed,
1987:21). The number of small scale industries under BSCIC was increased by
nearly 12 percent by the year 2002 and the contribution to the manufacturing
value added is obviously increased too. It shows the significant position of
the SSIs and their potentials in the economy of Bangladesh.
SMEs are operating in all the sectors of the industry in Bangladesh. Table:4
shows the number of units in various industrial sectors at various periods and
their percentage which authenticate the diversified role of small and medium
enterprises / businesses in the economy of Bangladesh. It is exhibited in the
table-4 that the highest participation of small industries is in food and allied
sector and the second textile and apparels. 1993 survey shows basic metal or
engineering gets the equal status of textile and apparels.
There is no government statistics about the birth and death rate of SMEs in
Bangladesh. A partial picture can be formed from the study of Reza, Ahmed
and Mahmud (1990) about the small industries which showed that about 59
percent of new small industries survived over a range of 10 years on an
27
average (Table- 5). It was found in a study conducted by Small Business

Administration of USA that 60 percent of the new businesses lasted at least
six years (Siropolis, 1998:9).
Table–4: Sectoral Distribution of Small Scale Industries in Bangladesh:

1978–1993
Small
Directory Small
SI Industry
of Industry
Survey Listed
Industry Sectors % Industries % Survey % %
1978 with
1993 1993
Number BSCIC
Number Number
Number
Food and allied 17358 72 7623 31 21080 55 8152 46

Textiles and Apparels 1391 5 5714 23 3196 8 741 4
Forest and Furniture 886 4 1804 7 1745 5 1794 10
Paper printing etc. 1092 5 1078 4 2385 6 590 3
Chemical,
527 2 1903 8 2864 7 1026 6
Rubber etc
Glass, Ceramics, etc. 218 1 2359 9 1113 3 124 1
Basic
1743 7 483 2 3078 8 2987 7
metal/engineering
Febricated metal/
646 3 3455 14 1880 5 1898 11
electrical
Others 144 1 526 2 953 3 245 2

Total 24005 100 24945 100 38294 100 17648 100
Compiled from GOB statistics
Despite the great importance of SMEs and their many facet contributions, the
efficiency and productivity of SMEs especially of small-scale industries had
been low in Bangladesh and poor management was the core problem that
affects their performance (Rab, 1991:176-192). Habibullah (1988:134)
mentioned that in some of the Japanese industries, the output of one female
worker was equal to the aggregate output of five Bangladeshi male workers.
Human resource is the vital resource that activates all other resources and
itself contributes the efficiency and achievement to the organization. It
provides long-standing strength and competencies of the business enterprises.
Therefore, a critical attention is to be given to the people in the organization.
28
Table–05: Birth and Death of Manufacturing Enterprises in Bangladesh:
1974-75 to 1983-84
Net
Employment Entrants Exiters
% % Addition %
size No No
No
20-49 674 60.2 186 64.4 488 58.6
50 & above 446 39.8 103 35.6 343 41.4
Total 1120 100 289 100 831 100
Source: Reza , Ahmed and Mahmud . (1990:81) Table 1.6.
Today, cost effectiveness and quality have become crucial for market
competition. People have been identified as the key for making and
sustaining a competitive edge . The increasing threat from the forthcoming
free trade policy of the WTO has made the human resource more crucial than
ever before for the survival and sustaining in the market. Marlow and Patton
(1993:57-65) argued that the effective management of employees is also
emerging as a key variable in the survival of business concern. People must
be made efficient, committed and happy so that they can contribute the best
to the organization. A well-motivated, skilled work force is crucial if a firm is
to compete effectively both in the national market as well as in the global
market (Holt, 1994). Human resource management is the only tactical tool to
earn a satisfied workforce in the industry. A number of studies have
recognized the need for integrated human resource management practices for
small firms (Marlow and Patton, 1993: 57-65, Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990:9-
18).
Literature survey reveals that no study has so far been made in the area of
human resource management practices in SMEs of Bangladesh. Therefore, the
proposed study would be the maiden study in the area. This pioneer study
would discover the present state of affair of the human resource management
practices in SMEs of Bangladesh along with the avenues of dealing with the
potential developmental issues.
29
Objectives of the Study

The research is undertaken with a general objective to unveil the present
practices of human resource management in the small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) of Bangladesh to contribute to the state of knowledge
regarding system of managing human resources therein. To this end, the
study seeks to realize the following specific objectives:
1) To explore the existing practices of human resource management in the

small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Bangladesh.
2) To present findings of the study in the logical manner about the

existing human resource management practices in the SMEs of
Bangladesh.
This chapter embodies a brief description of the macroeconomic scenario of

Bangladesh, historical perspective of small and medium enterprises in the
world civilization, definition of SME in various countries of the world, the
changing views of the concept of small industry and SME in Bangladesh over
years, rationale of the study and the objectives of the study. The next chapter
will have a description of the methodology of the study.
30
CHAPTER TWO
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
31
CHAPTER TWO
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
Introduction
This chapter describes the overall research methodology of the study. It states
the choice of and arguments for selecting the research methods and strategies
for the study. The chapter presents the working definition of the key terms,
population, sample, and other related issues. The reasons for selecting
research sites, the procedure of identifying small business population and
sample size and drawing the sample from the population are discussed. The
data collection techniques and their rationale have been discussed. It
describes the major characteristics of sample small and medium enterprises/
business firms and examines their representativeness. It also presents the
statistical tools and techniques that are used in the data analysis and
presentation. The validity and reliability of the sample and research method
employed in the study are exhibited. The key concepts and variables used in
the thesis and the measures used to operationalise these concepts and
variables are discussed in detail.
Rationale of the Research Method
The research is an exploratory research. Both qualitative and quantitative

techniques have been utilized to draw the conclusion about the population.
Research may be of three types- descriptive, exploratory and causal
researches. The descriptive study deals with who, what, when, where and
how of a topic (Cooper and Schindler, 2001:141). It focuses on accurate
description of the variables in the problem model. Explorative research is
concerned with discovering the general nature of the problem and the
variables that relate to it. The objectives of the research are to develop
concepts more clearly, establish priorities, and develop operational definitions
32
and to improve the final research design (Cooper and Schindler, 2001: 134).
Exploratory research serves also when the area of investigation may be so
new or so vague that needs to do an exploration just to learn something about
the dilemma facing the managers (Cooper and Schindler, 2001: 134). This type
of research is characterized by a high degree of flexibility; scope to take
convenience or judgment samples, small scale surveys or simple experiments,
case analyses, and subjective evaluation of the results. This field, human
resource management practices in small and medium enterprises
(SMEs)/businesses of Bangladesh is a barren field. No study has ever been
done till now in this area (see the literature review/ survey part). Thus, the
field is totally unknown to us. Therefore, the only method that could give us
the insights about the present state of affair is the exploratory research, which
is intended to explore the reality of the field.
The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods for collecting
and exhibiting the facts of human resource management in the small and
medium enterprises/businesses. The reason for the use of this ‘dual method’
approach could be substantiated by the statement of Crompton and Jones
(1988:71-73) “organization research… is not a mutually exclusive decision
between quantitative and qualitative methodology. In reality, it is very
difficult to study organizations without using both sorts of methods. In any
event, quantitative data rest on qualitative distinctions… the issue turns on
the appropriateness of methods, not with taking sides in the debate between
qualitative and quantitative methodology”. Quality is the essential character
or nature of something; quantity is the amount. Quality is the what ; quantity
the how much. Qualitative refers to the meaning, the definition or analogy or
model or metaphor characterizing something, while quantitative assumes the
meaning and refers to a measure of it (Maanen, Dabbs Jr., and Faulkner:
1982:32).
33
Population
The population of the study comprises the executives, staffs and workers of
the small and medium business enterprises businesses operating in Dhaka
division of Bangladesh. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are
categorized into two broad types: manufacturing and non-manufacturing that
is service firms/businesses. Manufacturing SMEs includes chemical
industries, packaging and printing industries, textile industries, poultry firms,
construction industries, machine and tools industries, work shops with lath
machines, bread and biscuit factories, brick fields, ceramic industries, etc.
Service industries or SMEs consists of motor workshops, retailing,
wholesaling, restaurants, petroleum service centers, beauty parlours, motor
service centers, technical skills training institutes, etc. In terms of ownership,
all of the SMEs, which participated in the research, are managed by at least
one owner-manager. The companies are also independent, in the sense that
they do not form a part of a larger organization. All managerial and non-
managerial people working in these small and medium enterprises are
included into population of the study. Managerial people are responsible for
framing the human resource policies and strategies and their implementation.
On the other hand, the non-managerial people are segment of the people
element of the organization that is being affected by the managerial plans.
Therefore, the operating people are included into the population of the study
to cross- examine and verify the data given by the managerial people as well
as to know their reactions, level of acceptance, and suggestions.
The list of SMEs prepared by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries
Corporation (BSCIC) and the Directory published by the Directorate of
Industries under the Ministry of Industries have been consulted to identify
the SMEs for the study. From these two lists, 120 industries are identified as
SMEs under the given definition for the study.
34
Sample
The sample of the survey for the study consists of small and medium
enterprises or businesses representing various sectors of industries. Initially,
business organizations are divided into two categories in terms of their nature
of operation: manufacturing and non-manufacturing concerns. The small and
medium enterprises or businesses that fulfilled the criteria enlisted in the
definition of SMEs envisaged for the purpose of the study in working
definition are treated as SMEs.
A sample of 120 small and medium enterprises have been taken from the
population for the study of which 75% represents the manufacturing sector
particularly chemical and engineering industries and the rest non-
manufacturing sector. 2 (Two) persons, 1(one) from managerial category who
is essentially the owner–manager or the managing director or the chief
executive of the business or personnel manager or somebody exclusively
responsible for the HR issues in the enterprise and another 1 (one) from
operative workers, have been selected at random from each sample SME. The
selected respondents from each sample SME have been provided with
structured questionnaires that constitutes the respondents of the study.
Therefore, the total respondents are 240 from 120 sample SMEs.
Sampling Technique
The random sampling technique was used for the survey in collecting data.
The efforts to secure randomness were found to be extremely difficult because
of three major reasons. Firstly, the number of the small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) that enter and exit in short period of time in the market
were large and were not found in their registered addresses. Moreover, many
enlisted industries were also found inoperative during field investigation.
Secondly, there is a universal unwillingness of many business owners
to register to official business directories and Bangladeshi small and
medium enterprises’ (SMEs) owners are not an exception. Thus,
35
directories were not all inclusive and therefore, not fully representative of the
population. Thirdly, many sample small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
owner-managers or mangers were found totally unwilling to cooperate and
that forced the researcher to go for alternative respondent. Thus, it was found
convenient to adopt systematic random sampling in the situation. The
method is essentially a kind of random sampling where selection of the first
sample depends on chance and then every nth item in the population is
selected. In the study, the similar type of enterprise found in the adjacent area
had been selected for the study instantly.
Owing to the above-mentioned problems, which resulted in an incomplete

coverage of the whole sample, the theoretical representativeness was
somewhat weakened and biased in favour of the SMEs that they were
available at the time the researcher conducted the survey. Thus, the overall
choice of the sample SMEs participated in this study was subjected to various
factors (further analysis is given later).
Sources of Data
Since the research was a pioneer study (see the literature survey part), only
primary source was available for the collection of data. Human resource
management is a growing discipline and majority of the owner-managers or
the managers are not well acquainted with the entailing technologies. They
are only knowledgeable with some of the aspects of personnel management.
Thus, it required an in-dept search for pointing out the events of HRM they,
the owner-managers and managers, are dealing with and enlisted them into
the findings.
Pilot Survey of the Questionnaire
A pilot study was conducted before the main survey. One percent of the
sample enterprise had been contacted for the pilot survey of the
36
questionnaire. The questionnaires were sent, filled in, and returned back by
the selected respondents. Their feedback included written corrections and
notes on the questionnaire and telephone discussions upon the possible
problems that they faced in filling the questionnaire. Two reverend professors
renowned in the field had also been consulted for the wording, framing and
structuring of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was revised on the basis of
the suggestions and recommendations provided by the experts and
respondents.
Data Collection Techniques and Period
The study utilized multiple techniques for collecting primary data related to
the practices of HRM in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of
Bangladesh. The questionnaire, the interview and the observation techniques
were used to assemble data from the field. The face-to-face interview
technique was used to make the questions understandable to the respondents
who were less educated, educated in irrelevant field or not familiar with
many of the things included into the questionnaire. The observation
technique helped to substantiate the concomitant issues that are legally
obligatory for every business enterprise to maintain in the entity. The
questionnaire technique was used to design the basic questions related to all
aspect of the HRM to collect the data about the HRM practices in the small
and medium enterprises or businesses of Bangladesh.
The Questionnaire Designing is a critical task, which had been handled with
sufficient care to the content of the HRM. Both open-ended and closed
questions were included into the questionnaire. As the respondents were
thought to have least and no knowledge about the HRM, the questionnaire
was designed in such a way so that they can mention and acknowledge their
practice easily and in right manner. Therefore, the majority of the questions
had been made closed. The questionnaire was divided into 6(six) sections to
incorporate all aspects of search. The first section (A) included demographic
37
characteristics of the business enterprise and some information about its

operational features. The second (B) through sixth sections (F) contained the
core HR practices under examination and consisted of questions shown in the
table below:
Name of Number of
Contain of the Section
the section questions
Demographic Characteristics of the small and
Section–A medium enterprises/businesses and some 15
information about its priorities
Section–B Human resource Planning, recruitment and Selection 27
Section–C Training and Development 15
Section–D Pay and Performance Appraisal 25
Section–E Benefits, Security, Safety and Health 18
Section–F Employee/Industrial Relations 32
Total 132
A Covering Letter was used to stimulate respondents’ interests in the survey

and explain who was doing the survey, for what purpose, who would have
access to the information provided, and why the survey was important.
Respondents were also assured that their responses would be strictly
confidential.
The questions had been carefully structured in order to be short, specific,

unambiguous, relevant to the experiences of the respondents, and to be clear
used a simple language. The questionnaire was initially composed in English
and was then translated in Bengali to facilitate the respondents to understand
and response conveniently. The responses then translated back into English to
incorporate into the thesis.
The layout of the questionnaire and its appearance were also taken into
extreme care and constructed into such a manner so that it could be
aesthetically pleasing and comfortable as well as it would take minimum
amount of time from the respondents to complete.
38
The interview of the respondents was personally conducted by the searcher

himself. The respondents were approached at random. They were supplied
with a questionnaire and explained the purpose of the research. Then a
thorough discussion was made about various aspects of the issues included
into the questionnaire before going on to filling the questionnaire. This
process gave the researcher the opportunity to obtain valuable information
related to HRM practices and other issues of the enterprise. The respondents
were explained the terms and questions that they felt difficult to understand.
The hesitant respondents were approached through friends, and friends of
friends who vouched for the integrity of the research and assured them that
the interest was purely academic. This technique succeeded in breaking the
ice and establishing a rapport with the respondents. Moreover, it provided a
greater chance that the entrepreneur’s hesitance in divulging firms’ data
could be overcome. This also had provided scope for getting greater and
correct information from the respondents.
Primary data collection period is 2007– 08 during which field survey was
conducted by the researcher himself and by a group of field investigators who
had been trained on technical aspects of questionnaire and on field
investigation methods to make them competent for quality data collection.
Data analysis technique
Collected data were classified on the basis of standard criteria, and then
presented in suitable tabular form to provide a whole picture view. Then,
data were processed and analyzed making extensive selective use of the SPSS
package. In order to fit the data with the analysis, the data were transformed
into a form suitable for that analysis.
39
Limitations of the Study
The study is conducted in Dhaka district only and the area itself makes
the survey bias to urbanization. Moreover, the study might be more
comprehensive and representative if it could have been done on the
Bangladesh as a whole. Non availability of secondary data was also a
constraint. Data were collected over one year period that did not reflect
the impact of changed of time.
Data presentation style
The analyzed data were presented in a standard format of thesis. It contains

six chapters. The cauterization that are made is as follows:
Chapter – 01 : Introduction: It contains a brief description of the

research topic, a description of the rationale of the
study, and the objectives of the study,
Chapter – 02 : Methodology of the Study.
Chapter – 03 : Literature Review.
Chapter – 04 : Theoretical Framework of the Study
Chapter – 05 : Analysis and Discussion
Chapter – 06 : Findings and Conclusions
Appendices and Bibliography
This chapter embodies a description of essential elements of the methodology

used for the study. This has been implemented throughout various phases of
the research. We will have literature review in the next chapter.
40
CHAPTER THREE
LITERATURE REVIEW
41
CHAPTER THREE
LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature survey has uncovered an astounding fact about the acute
scarcity of study in the area of human resource management practices in
small and medium enterprises (SMEs)/businesses of Bangladesh. A meager
number of studies have been found which partially addressed issues of
human resource management. However, following is the exhaustive
descriptions of the studies so far been made on small and medium business
area.
The study of Rab (1991:176-192) pointed out some problems of small

enterprises of Bangladesh in his article “Management patterns and problems
of small enterprises of Bangladesh”. The study covers 24 small enterprises.
The shortage of skilled labour was the only issue related to human resource
management that had been reported along with high cost of production,
better quality of imported goods and cheap goods smuggled into the country,
absence of accounting and cost control systems and shortage of working
capital. He also found that the organization structure was mostly
characterized by low specialization and direct supervision by owners.
Recruitment was mostly done by personal contact and training is on-the-job,
if needed. Employee turnover was extremely low and trade union was almost
non-existent. Employer and employee relations were good and compensation
consisted of mostly of pay and festival bonuses. He further reported that
nearly two-third enterprises used debt financing either from bank or private
sources. Rab(1991:176-192) suggested to improve management efficiency in
functional areas as a whole to enhance capacity utilization, reduce cost and
improve quality to meet competition but did not specify any course related
to human resource management.
42
Rahman , Mia , Bhattacharjee and Khan (1979) studied on 247 small units with
either fixed investment up to Tk.2.5 million or less than 50 employees with an
intention to appraise existing policies and programmes and to evaluate the
impact of support services on the growth and development of small firms.
They found that small firms confronted the problem of training of employees,
mis-management, policy prescription and implementation.
Kamal (1981) worked on manufacturing firms with a maximum up to 49

employees to identify problems of small and cottage industries of Bangladesh.
He addressed mainly the macro development issues of such industries not
human resource management issues of small enterprises. He pointed out
inadequate and inefficient infrastructure, inappropriate policies and actions of
the government, lack of effective implementation of policies, inadequate
development institutions, inadequate financial assistance and absence of a
special financial institution for small and cottage industries. He further
pointed out the low productivity of the workers and their poor wage level as
well as lack of efficient labour along with problems with technology and
marketing. Kamal (1981) put forward some macro recommendations for
setting separate policy for SMEs, setting necessary institutional networks and
sub-contracting for future development.
BIDS (1981) studied 130 small manufacturing and repairing firms in rural area
to explore problems and prospects of rural industries. It found lack of formal
education of entrepreneurs, inadequate finance, and lack of raw material,
marketing and performance etc. problems. It also pointed out enormous
prospects of small businesses in rural area as it employs about 25 percent
rural workforce. The study was not concerned with human resource
management issues of small businesses.
Chowdhury (1981) studied 1200 small enterprises engaged in manufacturing

and repairing firms having up to 50 employees in rural area and 31 bank
branches to examine whether the shortage of finance, as viewed by small
43
entrepreneurs was real or an illusion. The findings showed that the financial
shortage was illusory; rather they were innovated with some other deeper
problems such as managerial, labour and cultural. No specific objective and
findings were directly related to human resource management but a general
comment tended to lead to human problems.
Ahmed (1985) studied 18 agencies and 57 rural small scale and cottage
enterprises to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing institutional set up for
promotion and development of small enterprises. The study found that the
macro policy and institutional network were not properly formulated and
implemented. It was so narrow that it was incapable to handle the task
needed. It did not study human aspect of the small enterprises.
Ahmed (1987) further studied small enterprises with maximum 49 employees

or fixed investment up to Tk. 2.5 million to assess institutional arrangement to
finance small enterprises and compared it with the Japanese system. The
findings suggested that there existed a wide gap between the amount
demanded and actually received financial support and the smaller firms did
not have any access to institutional finance compared to that of large. The
human resource management was not a topic to address.
HIID/ESEPP (1989) conducted a historical survey of the government policies

related to the promotion and development of small enterprises based on
secondary data. It found that most five –year plans ritualistically paid homage
to the role of small enterprises but little attention was given for its practical
promotion in terms of investment, operational policy formulation, technology
development or institutions building. No special support was provided for
small enterprises until 1986 and notorious bureaucratic sloth and
administrative complexities retarded many to take credit facilities. The study
also did not pay any consideration to the micro-level human resource
management issues.
44
Sarder (1990) made a study on small enterprises having maximum taka 15

million investment and 49 employees for assessing the development
potentiality of small enterprises and found that there existed a host of
favourable factors for the development of this sector. He did not mention any
human resource management issue of small enterprises of Bangladesh.
Reza, Ahmed and Mahmud (1990) studied 120 small firms having
employment of 10 to 39 employees and engaged in food and allied, apparel
or textile and engineering with a view to analyze economic performance,
barriers to growth and policy impact. Besides macro problems, he pointed out
some micro problems such as demand constraints, poor product quality,
technological inefficiencies, poor infrastructure, and restricted access to
institutional finance. A few of these problems was involved with human
resources but that was not specifically mentioned.
Galway (1985) made a study to identify export related services available to

small businesses and to make recommendations to USAID about possible
assistance that would benefit small firms in exporting their goods. He found
that the poor functioning of existing information system, absence of expert
people, poor market and marketing information, lack of efficient institutional
support etc. were not main deterrents . He suggested for the improvement of
macro support services but not any measure for improving human resource
management practices in small businesses.
Hossain and Sarder (1992) studied 34 small enterprises with maximum fixed
investment of Taka 15 million excluding the value of land to assess the
employment of finance. They found that 91 percent entrepreneurs faced acute
shortage of finance both fixed and running. There was no findings related to
human resource management.
Mannan (1993) made a study on small businesses with maximum 49

employees to review policy environment and to analyze the growth and
development of small enterprises. Findings suggested the inadequacy of
45
policy measures for the small enterprises that thwarted immense

development potentiality of venture in Bangladesh. There was no micro –
level suggestions regarding human resource management.
Begum (1993:159-168) studied entrepreneurship in small-scale industries with

a sample of 50 engineering firms and found that previous experience in
engineering units, self-motivation and confidence influenced entrepreneurs to
venture into business. The study also found that there was no relationship
between industrial health and level of education. The study did not mention
anything about human resource management practices in the small business
firms.
Sarder (2000) studied 161 small industries representing six sectors such as
food and allied; textile and apparels; paper, printing etc.; chemical, rubber
etc.; basic metal or engineering; and fabricated metal or electrical to assess the
nature of the supply of and demand for support services currently providing
to small enterprises and to investigate the effect of support services on the
development of small firms in Bangladesh. He found that irrelevancy,
insufficiency of loan, delay in getting assistance, and inability to utilize
properly were the reasons for ineffectiveness of the assistances provided to
small businesses in Bangladesh. The study was done on manufacturing small
firms confined in Dhaka region. It also found that small entrepreneurs
considered the existing government policies were not conducive to the
promotion and development of small firms in Bangladesh.
Rahman and Others (1978) made a study on 381 small enterprises which was
the largest ever made study on this sector to assess the development needs of
small enterprises and the effectiveness of the present facilities provided with
them in order to suggest the potential services to be given to increase the
viability and feasibility of the small businesses as well as to increase their
number in the economy of Bangladesh. They found that the entrepreneurs
perceived “bad management and the lack of facilities for taking advantage of
46
necessary training in the management of small enterprise” were the primary

problems of this sector. Though no attempt was made to investigate the
human resource management issues and their related problems but the
findings obviously suggested the need for improving human resource
management in small enterprises as they faced the problem of ‘bad
management’’.
Rahman (1985) studied on secondary data the need for modernization of

small enterprises to improve the efficiency of this sector. He pointed out that
the rationalization in the process of production, technology and management
were a bare necessity to make the manufacturing small businesses competent
to keep pace with the modern economy. Here, there was no specific
prescription for the human resource management development but the
rationalizing need for management could not be possible without positive
improvement of human resource management.
Majid (1994:143-44) found that the large number of entrepreneurial venture

fail every year in developing economies including Bangladesh due to poor
management and decision making, financial and marketing weaknesses. It
was also a clear recognition to the human resource inefficiency of small
businesses.
Ahmed et al. (1988) made a study on rural industries representing both small
and cottage industries in Bangladesh to present their profile, which found that
entrepreneurs had largely come from traditional peasant society. They had
lack of basic and managerial education as well as true entrepreneurial
characteristics. The information network was very poor and that affected all
functional aspects of organization. These findings pointed us to the
managerial inefficiency that requires proper human resource management.
Islam (1981) studied 20 small businesses containing up to Taka 2.5 million

capital investments and employing 10 persons engaged in retailing in Dhaka
city. The objective of the study was to know the management practices related
47
to planning, organizing, directing and controlling. It particularly emphasized

upon employee relations, discipline, morale, and leadership style. He found
that the majority of the owner-managers followed autocratic leadership (55%)
and did not know and practice functions of management (60%). It was also
found that the employee morale could be enhanced if optimum financial
benefits were given, promotion was given on time, information related to
employee security matters were given, employee suggestions were
considered before making a decision, workable physical conditions were
provides, management understand their employee thoroughly, well done jobs
were appreciated, explanation of action are given and management discussed
with employees for the matters affecting them. It was noticeable that all the
issues were related to human resource management, which was suggested to
improve management of the small businesses.
Mondal (1976) observed that the small scale industries in Bangladesh were
mainly individual proprietorship and the shortage of technical manpower,
finance and credit facilities, marketing and sales difficulties were the deterrent
to the growth of small scale industries. He suggested some macro measures
for correcting the situation.
Chowdhury (1989:97-102) found in his study of performance of small business

in Bangladesh that the liquidity crisis, lack of trained personnel and strong
competition from foreign goods were some of the hindrances affecting the
performance of small businesses here. The study hadn’t concentrated on any
issue of human resource management.
Moyeen and Huq (2001:263-270) made a study on human resource

management practices in business enterprises in Bangladesh on 92 large and
medium firms with more than 50 employees on Dhaka, therefore the findings
can not be a reference to the present study.
Rahman (1986: 123-143) made a comparative study on a few credit financing

programmes for small and cottage industries in Bangladesh undertaken by
48
the government agencies highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and

found that there were inadequate supply of credit and formalities were also
cumbersome and deterrent to small entrepreneurs. The study also did not
focus on human resource management.
Bhuiyan and Murshed (1990:41-45) studied on financial accounting in small

firms in Bangladesh and found out the enormous flaws and erroneous
deficiencies along with no practice of formal accounting. The study did not
pass any comment on human resource practices of the firms concerned.
Rashid (1990:69-83) made the study on the accounting in small business

operating in the Dhaka city, which came under the definition of US
Committee for Economic Development. The study conducted on 150 retail
houses and found that 86% followed akheri system, 12% followed single entry
system and only 2% followed double entry system. Therefore, he suggested
that qualified accounting manpower and double entry system of accounting
were the fundamental requirements for the installation and operation of
effective accounting system in small businesses. Nothing related to human
resource management had been mentioned in the study.
Mannan (1993:43-52) wrote a conceptual paper on the small –scale

industrialization in a labour abundant low growth economy related to
Bangladesh experience on the secondary data. He explained the justification
for the labour intensive small-scale industry for the Bangladesh economy and
proposed a few suggestions for augmenting the industrialization. The paper
did not have any point on the human resource management of small-scale
industries in Bangladesh.
Rahman (1993:67-80) made a case study on entrepreneurship in a small-scale

industry. The study focused on the exhibition of entrepreneurial
characteristics that made the organization a successful venture. Management
and skilled manpower along with shortage of fund and technical assistance
49
were some of the findings that had been mentioned. None of the findings was
attached to human resource management.
Moyeen and Huq (1994:141-159) critically reviewed the theories of growth of

small business and therefore, it did not touch the issues of human resource
management of small businesses of Bangladesh.
Khan and Khatun (1994:229-239) worked on institutional credit to the small

scale industries in Bangladesh and expressed some of their observations about
their credibility and problems of the traditional financing institutions and
suggested that a system of credit that requireed short time, formalities, low
rate of interest, easy access and less hazards for the small scale industrial
entrepreneurs of Bangladesh.
Sarder (1996) made a study on 272 small enterprises with less than 49 full-
time employees to discover the impact of support services and found that
supported firms achieved significantly higher growth in employment and
sales as well as higher productivity than the firms that received no such
support. The study did not reveal anything relevant to human resource
management practices of the small businesses of Bangladesh.
Khan, Imam and Khatun (1998:95-110) studied on the constraints of bank

financing to small scale enterprises. They addressed the issue from the
perceptions of the entrepreneurs from 73 small-scale enterprises situated in
Dhaka and Chittagong. They pointed out complex procedures, illegal motive,
improper behaviour of bankers and inadequate guidelines, information,
excess time taking, informal expenses etc as the constraints to the small scale
enterprise financing in Bangladesh. They also did not point out any human
resource management problems of small-scale industries.
Moyeen (2000:109-119) explored the effects of owner-manager’s experience on

performance of small business taking 141 small engineering firms registered
into BSCIC and found that the experienced owner-mangers potentiality of
50
success in business was quite high and therefore, every would-be owner-
managers should gain at least some start up experience related to industry.
The study did not point out the requirement of having experience in human
resource management but on management experience only.
Sarder and Hossain (2000:71-95) wrote a conceptual paper on the

development of a framework for evaluation of small business support
services and related institutions and therefore they did not have any comment
o human resource management practices in small businesses of Bangladesh.
Afroze (2002:165-172) made a study on the environmental factors governing

the success of women entrepreneurs and managers based on secondary data
and concluded that increasing number of women were entering into the
entrepreneurial ventures but they were being thwarted by the skills,
managerial and general education, illiteracy and other social factors. Though
the study emphasized upon giving opportunity to women for having
education and access to resources but did not focus upon human resource
management. Researcher might think it included into general management.
Khan et al. (2002:176-190) studied on determinants of accessibility of small

scale enterprises to formal credit in Bangladesh on a sample of 161 small firms
and found that 77 percent of formal loan applicants were either fully or
partially rationed out by the formal financial institutions in availing the
formal credit and financing institutions mainly considered collateral for
lending decisions. They suggested a change to ensure greater access of Small
Scale Enterprises (SSEs) to formal credit. The study did not suggest any
human resource management initiatives to bring about the desired changes.
Mia (2001:67-87) studied the effectiveness of the support services of non-

government organizations for the promotion of micro enterprises inn
Bangladesh taking 500 units engaged in household goods and food
manufacturing and in services. He found that the support services were
ineffective in generating business ideas, validating business ideas and
51
developing commitment but the financial services were effective. The research
did not give any findings and suggestions regarding the development of
human resource management capability in the micro enterprises.
Moyeen and Huq (2003:105-118) made a study on 141 small engineering firms
to examine the factors influencing the incidence of strategic planning in small
enterprises in Bangladesh. They found that the elements of the strategic
planning process such as environmental awareness, strategic courses of action
and strategic awareness have got relevance with owner-manager’s age,
education, industry experience, entrepreneurial experience, family
experience, training and slake time. The study did not indicate any issue
relating to human resource management practices in small businesses of
Bangladesh.
Rahman and Rahman (2006: 257-270) , made a study on small and medium
sized enterprises to exhibit the failure of an integrated strategies for the
coordinated and unified activities of support organisations, SMEs and socio-
economic growth which they felt an essential factor for the overall
development. But they did not make any study and observation about human
resource management practices in SMEs operating in Bangladesh.
This chapter embodies a description of the literature – articles, researches etc

so far are written or done in the area of small scale industry and/or small and
medium enterprise operating in Bangladesh. It is evident that there is not a
single study ever made on human resource management practices in small
and medium enterprises of Bangladesh. They are concentrated in accounting
system, finance, entrepreneurial background and motivation, policy issues,
strategic planning etc. In this context, the present study would be the virgin
study in this area that will obviously enrich academic world about the present
scenario of human resource management in small and medium enterprises of
Bangladesh. The next chapter will deal with theoretical framework of the
study.
52
CHAPTER FOUR
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
53
CHAPTER FOUR
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
Introduction
Human resource management is now a reality. In spite of the debate about its
true nature, it is beyond all controversies and debates that Human Resource
Management (HRM) comes to play role to make ‘people’ in the organization a
most productive force. HRM has been defined from various dimensions.
Various texts have contained different definitions of HRM. Dessler (2000, 2)
has defined HRM as “the practices and policies one needs to carry out the
“people or human resources aspects of a management position including
recruiting, screening, training, rewarding and appraising”. Similar ideas have
been expressed by DeCenzo and Robbins (1987, 3). They said “HRM is
concerned with the ‘people’ dimension in management”.
An elaborate functional concept of HRM has been given by French (1997, 4) as

he said that “HRM refers to the philosophy, policies, procedures, and
practices related to the management of people within an organization”.
Heneman III et.al. (1983, 7) stated HRM in the context of its end. They defined
“HRM aimed at influencing the effectiveness of employees in the
organization”. The central claim of HRM is to match the size and skills of the
workforce to the productive requirements of the organization and to raise the
quality of individual employee’s contributions to production, thereby,
organizations can make significant improvements to their performance
(Claydon, 1998).
According to the process-systems view, “HRM is the systematic planning,

development, and control of a network of interrelated processes affecting and
involving all members of an organization (French, 1997). Torrington and Hall
(1995) defined HRM as “resource-oriented, directed mainly at management
needs for human resources (not necessarily employees) to be provided and
54
deployed”. This definition emphasizes on the managing of needs of the

existing people and the people who come into the organization in future. The
word ‘need’ has got broad and diversified meaning. It embraces a broad
perspective of human interests that are to be ‘planned, monitored and
controlled’ (Torrigton and Hall, 1995).
Describing HRM as functional cluster of various organizational activities,

Fisher, Schoenfeldt and Shaw (1993) opined that “HRM is the set of
organizational activities directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining
an effective workforce”. The focal point here is the activities required to
retain, attract and maintain an effective workforce. How workforce can be
made effective is not addressed here.
Bateman and Snell (1996) placed HRM in a different manner. They said
“HRM deals with formal systems for the management of people within the
organization”. This definition embraces three major activities as ‘formal
systems’, such as staffing, rewarding, and designing work (Bateman and
Zeithaml, 1999; 432). This is a narrow version of the ‘formal systems’ that are
involved with HRM. The other systems like health and safety, disciplining
industrial or human relations are not included into the conceptual boundary
of the HRM.
Hellriegel, Jackson and Slocum (1999, 388) defined “HRM is a system of

philosophies, policies, and practices that affect the people who work for an
organization”. They also believed that it includes activities related to staffing,
training and development, performance review and evaluation, and
compensation. Though the definition included the idea of ‘philosophy’, but
their pointed activities do not contain any philosophical activity as guiding
rule for the HRM. The conceptual basis like human capacity, concept of life, is
to be included into the periphery of HRM. Without the ideological standing
about human; no management style could bring about effective HRM.
55
HRM is entrusted with functions to improve the productive contribution of

people to the organization in ways that are strategically, ethically and socially
responsible (Werther and Davis, 1996:8). This idea recognizes the social
acceptability and recognition to the conduct of the people in the organization
and that have to be performed by the HRM. The whole responsibility for
making people’s work and contribution strategic, ethical and social rests on
the HRM. Ivancevich (2001:4) called HRM as the function performed in
organizations that facilitates the most effective use of people/employees to
achieve organizational and individual goals. The definition focuses primarily
on the achievement of organizational and individual goals and sees HRM
facilitating tasks entered into these goals.
Milkovich and Boudreau (1997) supported these functions of HRM. They

opined that HRM is a series of integrated decisions that form the employment
relationship; their quality directly contributes to the ability of the organization
and the employees to achieve their objectives. The focal point here is
‘integrated decisions the form the employment relationship’. Human
resources provide the creative spark in any organization that ultimately
integrate and lead all aspects to the attainment of the objectives of the
organization Therefore, the decisions of the mangers shape the relationship
between an organization and its employees crucial for both the employees
and organization (Milkovich and Boudreau,1997).The blending of decisions
into an integrated whole in a consistent manner is not an unique proposition,
others have also pointed it out while projecting their idea of human resource
management (Cascio,1986;French,1997),but making it a pivotal point is
distinctive phenomenon.
HRM has been understood in various ways-‘hard’ and ‘soft’ manner. What it
entails, that is still debated but there exists many versions in the texts of HRM
and in various research books and articles. An examination of the contents of
those sources would help us to bring about an integrated view to be used in
the present study.
56
The advent of Human Resource Management (HRM) has been seen as a

paradigm shift of people management. Initially, the concept HRM was
developed as a set of techniques that claimed to embrace and promote new
approaches to ‘management of people’ and ‘work organization’ to enhance
employee commitment and flexibility as well as their willingness to respond
rapidly with the changing market conditions for providing competitive
advantages to the organizations. A number of authors have tried to
differentiate the concept of HRM from other related topics, particularly from
personnel management. The philosophy of personnel management is closely
tied with localised problem-solving approach, directed principally at
‘workers’, whereas HRM advocates a more holistic orientation that embraces
the management of all ‘employees’. It seeks to match, redesign and
harmonise employment practices with the strategy appropriate for product,
market and other requirements (Hendry, Pettigrew and Sparrow, 1988).
After reviewing British and American literatures, Legge (1989) identified

three distinctive features of HRM. It places greater emphasis on the
development of the management team than personnel management and
differs from personnel management as an activity of line managers, including
greater ‘bottom-line’ responsibility, emphasising development of corporate
culture as a superior management activity (Brewster and Hegewishch,1994).
On the other hand, Guest (1987:385) perceived HRM as a particular form of
personnel management that stresses on ‘the goal of integration, the goal of
employee commitment, the goal of flexibility, and the goal of quality’. He
identified the central and interconnected goals of HRM as: the raising of
employee commitment to corporate agendas; the development of greater
workforce flexibility in terms of individual employment patterns as well as
greater teamwork; the raising of the quality of employees through effective
training and development programmes and strategic integration, and finally
the harnessing of these objectives to the implementation of a corporate
strategy for which all the managers should be held responsible. Beer et
57
al.(1985), Guest (1989), Hendry and Pettigrew (1990), Storey (1989; 1992) have
also distinguished between personnel management and human resource
management. Mahoney and Pandian (1992), after examining differences
between the personnel management and the human resource management
argued that HRM involves a wider and broader view in six specific areas:
from a narrow technical focus to closer links with business strategy; from a
collective negotiating focus to a more general approach of direct
communication with employees; from job satisfaction to concern with
organisational commitment; from selection, training, compensation polices
focused on individuals to a concern with group working and group
effectiveness; from a concern with cost-reduction through such strategies as
reducing turnover, controlling absenteeism to a focus on organisational
effectiveness and the ‘bottom-line’ involvement; from individual skills to
longer-term employment capabilities.
Beaumont (1991) identified five major items typically mentioned as elements

of HRM: relatively well developed internal labour market arrangements, such
as internal promotion, on the job training, individual career planning; flexible
work organisation systems, such as multi-skilling, use of flexible workforce,
job rotation; skill or knowledge based pay structure i.e. performance related
pay; high levels of individual participation in task-related decisions; i.e.
quality circles, work teams, employee suggestion schemes and extensive
internal communication arrangements. Sission (1990) characterised HRM in
terms of four features of employment practices: an integration of personnel
policies with business planning; a shift in responsibility of personnel issues
from specialists to senior line managers; a shift from collectivism of
management-trade unions relations to individualism of management-
employee relations and finally, the emphasis on commitment and the exercise
of initiatives with managers acting as facilitators of employee empowerment.
The intent of HRM is to secure more co-operation, flexibility and productivity
by enabling employees feel more ‘involved in’ and ‘responsible for’ corporate
58
goals and ‘empowered’ to promote and secure their realisation ( Ezzamel et

al., 1996).
Transformation of workplaces by introducing this new management was

initially focused on the need for greater worker commitments to be achieved
by expanding their jobs and involving them in problem solving methods
(Wood, 1999). In their conceptualisations, Walton (1985) termed these
practices as ‘high commitment management’ and Lawler (1986) as ‘high
involvement management’. Both the explanations included the combined use
of certain personnel practices such as job flexibility, problem solving groups,
team working, minimal status differences, employee involvement schemes
etc. that have positive impacts on organisational performance. While looking
for such effective people management techniques, Pfeffer (1994) enumerated
sixteen distinctive management practices that most successful US firms were
using in dealing with their employees. These are financial incentives for
excellent performance, work organisation practices that motivate employee
effort and capture the benefits of know-how and skill, rigorous selection and
selectivity in recruiting, higher than average wages, employee share
ownership plans, extensive information sharing, decentralisation of decision
making and empowerment, work organisation based self-managed teams,
high investment in training and skill development, having people do multiple
job and job rotation, elimination of status symbols, a more compressed
distribution of salaries across and within levels, promotion from within, a
long-term perspective, measurement of HR practices and policy
implementation and a coherent view of the employment relationship.
It is really difficult to define precisely what exactly to be included in the term

HRM. From the above-mentioned outline and previous discussions, we have
seen a wide range of similarities as well as significant differences among the
constituent elements of human resource management. The common or
consistent practices are aimed at increased employee commitment through
the adoption of certain practices such as job security, internal promotion,
59
single status arrangements, extensive training, two-way communication

mechanisms etc. Though these practices concentrate on the commitment
model, there are also differing views about their adoption or implementation.
The adoption of these commitment-oriented HRM practices varies between
organisations and might also be seen as contingent on the environment or
product market strategy of the organisation. It has also been suggested that
effective use of commitment oriented HRM practices are possible if
management approaches towards human resource issues are strategic. There
are also differences among the use of strategic human resource management
practices such as flexibility, performance related pay, quality circles, job
rotations etc. So while looking at firm-level HRM practices, it is not possible
to identify exactly what constitutes HRM practices. With such ambiguity
surrounding the concept of HRM and the constituent elements, it is better to
identify those as the developments in various functional areas of people
management. It should be considered as new developments in people
management with a wide range of policies and practices that have significant
effects on organisational outcomes and are typically used to facilitate
employee integration, flexibility, quality of work life, employee commitment
and other business goals by changing organisational values, structure and
delivery mechanisms.
However, in their quest for differentiating HRM from the traditional

personnel management, Guest (1987) and Storey (1992) compared them from
ideological to practical practices. The much cited differences between
personnel management and human resource management are shown below
in table 1.
60
Table–01: Storey’s dimensions of personnel/IR and Human Resource

Management (HRM)
Content Personnel Management HRM

Beliefs and assumptions
Careful delineation of Aim to go ‘beyond
1. Contract
written contracts contract’
Importance of devising ‘Can-do-outlook;
2. Rules
clear rules/mutuality impatience with ‘rule’
3. Guide to
Procedures ‘Business-need’
management action
Norms/custom and
4. Behaviour referent Values/mission
practice
5. Managerial task vis a
Monitoring Nurturing
vis labour
6. Nature of relations Pluralist Unitarist
7. Conflict Institutionalised De-emphasised
Strategic aspects
8. Key relations Labour-management Customer
9. Initiatives Piecemeal Integrated
10. Corporate plan Marginal to Central to
11. Speed of decision Slow Fast
Line management
Transformational
12. Management role Transactional
leadership
General/business/line
13. Key managers Personnel/IR specialists
managers
14. Communication Indirect Direct
High (e.g. ‘parity’ an Low (e.g. ‘parity’ not seen
15. Standardisation
issue) as relevant)
16. Prized management
Negotiation Facilitation
skills
Key levers
17. Selection Separate, marginal task Integrated, key task
Job evaluation (fixed
18. Pay Performance-related
grades)
19. Conditions Separately negotiated Harmonisation
Collective bargaining Towards individual
20. Labour-management
contracts contracts
Marginalized (with
21. Thrust of relations Regularised through exception of some
with stewards facilities and training bargaining for change
models)
22. Job categories and
Many Few
grades
61
23. Communication Restricted flow Increased flow

24. Job design Division of labour Teamwork
Manage climate and
25. Conflict handling Reach temporary truces
culture
26. Training and Controlled access to
Learning companies
development courses
Wide ranging cultural,
27. Foci of attention for
Personnel procedures structural and personnel
interventions
strategies
Source: Storey (1992: P.35)
Different Dimensions/Perspectives of Human Resource Management

(HRM)
Human Resource Management (HRM) requires categorisation of human

resource management practices into a meaningful way as advocators of HRM
are always in favour of a distinctive approach to the management of human
resources. The differing human resource management typology arises when
organisations vary in their basic approaches or objectives in managing human
resources. Organisational objectives are generally stated in terms of desired
characteristics, attitudes, and behaviour that are derived from a firm’s overall
business goals and may be moderated by factors internal and external to the
organisation (Schuler, 1992). Arthur (1994) categorised human resource
management typologies in two broad headings ‘cost reducers’ and
‘commitment maximisers’. The cost reducers adopt Human Resource
Management (HR) system to reduce direct labour costs or improve efficiency
by enforcing employee compliance with specified rules and procedures and
basing employee rewards on some measurable output criteria (Walton, 1985).
Commitment oriented HRM systems shape desired employee behaviours and
attitudes by forging psychological links between organisational and employee
goals in order to develop committed and trusted employees so that they can
carry out their tasks effectively consistent with organisational goals (Organ,
1988). Arthur (1992) characterised commitment to HRM system by higher
levels of employee involvement in managerial decisions, formal participation
62
programmes, training in group problem solving, higher percentages of skilled

employees and incentive pay plans.
There is a debate in the British context about the hard-soft dimensions of

HRM practices that have grounded in the workplaces (Guest, 1987; Storey,
1987; Hendry and Pettigrew, 1990). Soft HRM is associated with the human
relations movement, emphasised on development-humanism view, aimed at
eliciting employee commitment primarily by self-regulated rather than
controlled by sanctions and pressures external to the individual and the
relations within the organisation based on high level of trust. This soft version
of HRM assumes that employees will work best if they are trusted, trained
and developed, and if they are allowed to work autonomously and have
control over their work. The strategic dimension of soft HRM is that employee
control comes through commitment. Multi-skilling, job redesign, employee
involvement techniques, team working are notable practices used in this
version. Employees working under a soft human resource management
system would not merely comply with the organisation’s wishes, but
positively and effectively commit themselves to the aims and values of their
employers (Hope,1994)..
Hard version of HRM stresses on the quantitative, calculative and business-

strategic aspects of managing the headcount resources in a rational way like
any other factors of production (Storey, 1992). Tyson and Fell (1986) argued
that human resources might be understood as a factor of production rather
than the only resource capable of turning inimitable factors of production into
wealth. From this utilitarian-instrumentalism view, it places emphasis on
appropriate human resources i.e. numbers and skills at the right price i.e.,
lowest possible price. This instrumental basis of HRM is concerned with
numerical flexibility, performance management, surveillance through
teamwork etc., and the ultimate goal is to secure the competitive advantage
by individualising the employment practices.
63
A concomitant view is the descriptive perspective which has been originated

by the American academics, and in which HRM practices have been identified
in two distinctive ways. The ‘Harvard Model’, similar with the soft version of
HRM, was developed by Beer et al., (1985) and later on was termed as ‘High
commitment management’ (HCM) by most of the commentators. Walton
(1985) characterised it by putting underlying conception that employees are
assets rather than disposable factor of production, and certain combination of
management practices affect organisational commitment that have impact on
organisational performance. ‘High commitment management’ is concerned
with combined use of certain HRM practices such as job redesign, problem-
solving groups, information sharing, participation and empowerment, team
working, and minimal status differences. It has been assumed that these
practices enhance original performance by building employee commitment
and it emphasis on the role of employees’ knowledge and skill acquisition.
The second group led by Kochen et al., from MIT, developed ‘Michigan
Model’ is now better known as ‘high performance management’ (HPM)
practices. This approach has similarity with the hard version of HRM. It
includes numerical flexibility, quality circles, total quality management, lean
production techniques, profit sharing, performance related pay etc. Lawler
(1995) mentioned that these HRM practices are particularly important when
HR managers increasingly appear to be oriented toward bottom-line results.
In its extreme, High Performance Management (HPM) practices set targets
directly to the organisational performance by manipulating human resources
rather than indirect attitudinal structuring, and neglecting the concept that
acquiring can increase performance that required workforce skill and
knowledge for problem solving. Wood (1999) indicated that the core of HRM
is centred on the setting of goals and linking pay to their achievement.
64
Definition of Human Resource Management for the Study
Human Resource Management (HRM) is defined for the purpose of the study
as a process of a set of activities consisting of human resource planning, job
design and analysis, staffing, training and development, compensation
management, performance appraisal, employee protection and
industrial/employee relations involving with both hard and soft approaches
of managing human resources within an organisation with holistic orientation
to ensure high commitment to and involvement of the people with the
purposes and activities of the organisation.
Determinants of Human Resource Management
The advent of the concept ‘HRM’ was initially initiated by American

academicians as a response to the Japanese competitive threat and later
imported into other countries as a panacea to increase productivity and
organisational performance. Though different commentators outlined HRM
in different ways, it can be assumed from those descriptions that HRM is
something different from the traditional personnel management practices.
These differences are concerned with more rigorous selection, flattening
managerial hierarchies, new forms of work organisation, continuous training,
employee involvement in decision-making, performance for individual
achievement, individualisation of employment relations, etc. Anglo-American
academicians without considering their adaptability in other societies often
regarded these HRM practices as ‘best practices’. However, even in the USA,
firms that have adopted these HRM practices, found it difficult in some cases
to sustain them over long-term (Osterman, 1994; Pfeffer, 1996). In fact,
transformation of people management practices does not take place in a
vacuum, and therefore, firms have to consider the institutional context that
profoundly affects the HRM practices. Firms’ HRM practices such as staffing,
reward and payment systems, training and development, employee relations,
65
etc. are embedded in the cultural, social, educational, financial and political
environment of the society. HRM practices imported from another society or
culture do not result in the same effects. Introduction of these practices in
another institutional setting may create new directions for the imported
practices over time. Organisational HRM practices are sensitive to the
institutional pressures and determined by the imperative of maintaining
external legitimacy through adherence to institutional structures, rules and
norms of the society in which they are embedded. In such a situation,
adoption of organisational HRM practices should be consistent with regard to
social conformity. Muller (1999) noted that German firms have incorporated
some ‘Anglo-Saxon HRM’ practices but have not exactly implemented Anglo-
Saxon HRM, rather than in some respects rejected its unitary and
individualistic values. Firms adopted some HRM practices such as direct
communication, quality improvement techniques, and variable pay schemes
with compliance to German labour market institutions and after negotiation
with relevant works councils. They have also rejected numerical flexibility
and other individualistic techniques that are contradictory to their pluralistic
values and ideology.
Usually researchers use three alternative frames of references to explain the

observed differences in HRM policies and practices. These are the
contingency perspective (Preffer, 1994; Schuler and Jackson, 1997), the
cultural perspective (Hofsteed, 1987, 1991; Bjorkman and Lu, 1999) and the
institutional perspective (Lane, 1989, Rubery, 1994). A comparative study will
give a deep and comprehensive knowledge about the various aspects of
policies and practices of human resource management. Below here, we shall
discuss these three perspectives, and their relevance with HRM practices.
Later we shall try to explain the contrasts and contradictions of these
perspectives in relation to organisational HRM practices.
66
1) Organisational Contingencies as Determinants of HRM
The essence of the contingency approach implies that societies will be

populated by those organisational forms and practices that correspond most
closely in the task environments prevailing in respective context. Actors try to
work towards a ‘fit’ between conditions in an organisational context and
organisation forms and practices. From this perspective, use of specific HRM
practices is contingent on an organisation’s strategy. Organisations should
implement HR practices that encourage employee behaviour to fit with the
strategy. The underlying assumption of the contingency approach is that
organisational effectiveness depends on there being a fit between human
resources practices and business strategies. The contingency approach
postulates that HRM patterns can be interpreted as favouring the introduction
of particular practices corresponding to product markets, strategies and
industrial sectors. Steedman and Wagner (1989) in their study on furniture
and garments industries found that HRM practices are different between
Britain and Germany due to differences in product and market strategies. The
society and enterprise policies in Britain appear to promote organisational
structure and HR arrangements which are typically match with standardised,
lower priced mass produced products.
It has generally been assumed that human resource management practices of

individual companies would vary to meet unique human resources needs and
organisational contextual requirements. A number of organisational factors
are supposed to have effects on the adaptation of human resource
management practices. They are elaborated below:
A) Size of the Organisation
Studies on organisation size indicate that the total number of employees in a

particular firm tend to influence the adoption of HRM practices (Scott, 1998).
Research evidence suggests that large organisations are using more
standardised human resource management practices such as selection and
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advancement. Due to their scale of productivity and need to decentralise, they

use collaborative human resource practices as direct communication on a day
to day basis between top management and employees ( Kalleberg et.al. 1996).
From an economic perspective (Osterman, 1984; Doeringer and Piore, 1971),
small and large organisations differ with respect to the presence of internal
labour markets. Job specialization and the greater availability of slack
resources in large organisations have been argued to be the conditions that set
the stage for the development of internal labour markets which are
characterised by entry through lower-level jobs, internal promotions, career
paths, rewards for seniority and formal grievance procedures.
B) Age of the Organisation
Research evidences revealed that ‘Greenfield sites’ are more likely to adopt
innovative human resource management practices than the plants that have
been operating for longer period of time, and lower rates of adoption
appeared among older ‘brownfield sites’ (Ichnowski and Shaw, 1995;
Osterman, 1995). Saha (1987) also found that newly established Western and
Japanese companies in Hong Kong are more concerned with employee
training and incentive programmes, and they are offering more progressive
benefit packages to employees. For older firms, it is more difficult to change
the entire system of traditional work practices of narrowly defined jobs, strict
supervisions, frequent lay-off, seniority based pay and promotion to a newer
approach involving flexible job designs, contingent incentive pay plans,
extensive training in multiple skills, and employment security initiatives
(Ichniowski et al., 1996). Using simulation models, Levinthal (1994) tried to
find how firms make experiments with new practices for more productive
forms of organisation. He found that when interaction effects among
organisational policies are important determinants of performance, firms do
indeed get locked into their initial choice of practices.
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Human resource management practices are supposed to vary across

organisations with their different stage of life cycle. Schuler’s proposition
related to HRM practices presume that successful implementation of different
HRM strategies requires different roles to be played by employees and
requires them to exhibit different characteristics . Firms in the early stage of
growth need talents to transform the ideas of the founder into marketable
products that give rise to the new business. They need to adopt innovation,
non-traditional HRM practices other than competitors to attract essential
talents. As firms move into the mature stage, they need extensive internal
labour market as well as training and development programmes. Thus, firms
in this stage should develop pay systems designed to retain rather than to
attract talents. At the decline stage, firms generally deal with the existence of
an excess number of employees and need to separate qualified, well-
performing employees from others. Thus, sound performance appraisal data
can be critical at this stage to resolve how to select out those individuals least
likely to help the organisation to survive. Top management may decide either
to concentrate the decision-making or to decentralize the decision-making .
C) Nature of the Organisation
There always have been some distinctions between manufacturing and

service organisations. Service organisations differ from manufacturing in
three ways: their ‘products’ are intangible rather than tangible; customers are
actively involved in the production of services; and the consumption of
services occurs simultaneously with the production . Employees of service
organisation must be sensitive to clients’ needs and they must be trusted to
monitor their own performance. Due to the nature of service jobs, service
organisations should be more likely than manufactures to include both
employee input and clients output as sources of performance appraisal
information that includes new performance appraisal techniques like 360
performance appraisal methods. The simultaneity of the production and
consumption processes has implications for HRM practices (Jackson et al.,
69
1989). For example, quality control of service can not be achieved by the
inspect-and-correct method commonly used in manufacturing plants. In order
to maintain control over quality, service organisations seek ways of
controlling the process of service production rather than output. They need to
invest more resources to train new recruits with the objective of socialising
them to be effective monitors of their own service production behaviours.
Saha (1987) found differences in HRM practices among different types of

business. It was revealed that banks, public transport and utility companies in
Hong Kong have long-term manpower planning, and emphasised individual
development in training and performance evaluation. Human resource
executives in these organisations have actively participated in determining
business policies and strategies. On the other hand, manufacturing
companies, trading companies and hotels use their personnel departments
primarily for record keeping and short-term manpower planning. They have
high turnover rates, their HR managers are likely to have lower management
ranks and they do not have a significant role in determining organisational
policies and strategies.
D) Organisational Structure
Organisational structure can be formed in several ways. Organisations

producing a single product or service may likely to have functional
departmentation. In such organisations, creation of the product/service
usually occurs through the completion of tasks that involve sequential
interdependency among work units. Result-oriented compensation systems
are difficult to implement in this type of organisation. Broad based skill
acquisition is less important as career path encourages vertical promotion
within a function (Galbraith, 1977). On the other hand, organisations with
several products or services operate within multiple environments, and the
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contribution of each division or unit is distinguishable and measurable.

Consequently, performance appraisal and compensation practices should be
emphasised on bottom line results and in case of training and development,
more concern also be given on developing generalist rather than functional
specialists. Also, organisations that are part of larger organisations may
receive greater resources, information and technical assistance in adopting
flexible work organisation, and hence they can implement more innovative
HRM practices.
E) Technology
The term ‘technology’ used to refer the process used by organisations to

transform inputs into outputs. Mass production technologies are used to
produce standardised goods while flexible specialisation technologies
produce craft products with common mode of batch production method.
Organisations using flexible specialisation technologies require employees
with higher skill levels and a greater number of skills (Piore and Sabel, 1984).
The need for skilled employees’ leads organisations to invest more in training
and adopt compensation practices of giving HR managers the autonomy to
determine employees pays whatever takes to attract and retain those with the
required skills.
When flexible automation is used to generate more product variety, workers

must master a higher variety of more complex tasks in order to avoid
productivity or quality penalties. Flexible automation facilitates rapid
changeovers from one model to another, but effective changeovers require
flexible workers who are accustomed to rotating jobs and modifying work
methods, e.g. through their participation in work teams, problem solving
groups and on-going continuous improvement efforts. Group oriented
compensation systems that reward employees for company wide
performance are one example of personnel practice that might be used
to enhance a team orientation. Conversely, a team orientation is also
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needed in organisations using flexible specialisation in part because peers are

relied upon to conduct cross-training . In a nutshell, organisations that use
flexible specialisation technologies are assumed to have employees with
greater skill levels, more skills, more concern for product quality, more of a
team orientation, and more committed to the organisation.
2. Cultural Context as Determinant of HRM.
Apart from other organisational contingency variables, cultural differences

across the countries or regions also influence the HRM practices of the
organisations. Cultural elements such as values, symbols, attitudes, etc. affect
the perceived legitimacy of employee involvement techniques, staffing and
training decisions, the design of work and compensation systems and labour-
management relations. They determine the needs, beliefs, hopes, expectations,
aspirations, attitudes, work values and perceptions of what constitutes
desirable forms of conduct of employees. They also condition the internal
work climate or culture, which is reflected in the assumptions that managers
make about the attitudes and behaviour of the employees. While exploring
the impact of national culture on management practices, Tayeb (1988) found
that compared to an English person, an Indian person is more fearful of
people in power, obedient to superiors, dependent on others, fatalistic,
submissive, undisciplined, friendly, modest, unreserved, collectivist, caste
conscious, clan orientated, law-abiding, less self-controlled, tenacious and less
willing to take account of other’s views. This cultural background usually
reflects the Indian management practices which Sharma (1984) described as ‘
a plausible picture of the average Indian’s resistance to change, his willingness to
delegate but unwillingness to accept authority, his fear of taking an independent
decision, his possessive attitude towards his inferiors and his abject surrender to his
superiors, his strict observance to rituals and his disregard of them in practice, his
peachiness of high morals against personal immorality, and his near desperate efforts
at maintaining the status quo while talking of change’ .
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Lammers and Hickson (1979:403), while looking at cultural boundaries of the

organisation, concluded that culture and sub-culture of a society have a
potential impact on organisational forms and process. They identified three
major ways in which cultural patterns affect organisations as: because outside
agencies set cultural constraints for an organisation; because dominant elites
in an organisation design and redesign organisational life in terms of
culturally given models of organisations; because members themselves
unofficially tend to organise and to counter organise in ways derived from
sub-cultures.
Organisational structure might be affected by culture as those who enact and

shape organisational life have pre-existing notions about organisation and
what it should be. Every organisation has to take into account the degree to
which its norms or rules are compatible with the values of its significant
actors. In a high power distance culture, organisational structure always tends
to be tall and rigid, and decision making remains mostly centralised. Respect
for hierarchies hinders the development of individual responsibility and
initiatives. The greater the power distance, the more difficult it will normally
be to introduce considerable employee influence mechanisms. Career mobility
and promotion from lower grades to higher grades are less appreciable and
occupational segregation is more visible in that society.
The degree of individualism or collectivism of the society is assumed to have

ramifications for the design of work system. When people are socialised in an
individualistic self-reliant culture, they might not be enthusiastic to accept
organisational rewards based on collective achievement. Ishida (1986)
mentioned that while job analysis and sense of job ownership among
employees play an essential role in many firms in Western countries, they are
virtually non-existent in Japanese companies due to group orientation or
collective behaviour of Japanese employees.
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The motivational role of pecuniary rewards varies across cultures and may
thus influence the design of incentive systems. This also applies to both
extrinsic and intrinsic rewards . It has been believed that obtaining shares of
the company will increase employee motivation and as a consequence,
organisational performance would be enhanced. But due to cultural
variations, these employee stock ownership schemes may be a means to
motivate lower-level employees in Western countries, but at the same time is
irrelevant to employees in many Eastern countries. Differences in general
values also have impact on the efficiency of stock ownership as a means of
creating motivation and commitment. Widespread authoritarian values
strongly conserving the social order may represent an obstacle to employees
becoming stock owners, i.e. ‘crossing class boundaries’ . Rubery (1993)
pointed out that notion of stakeholder companies in which all involved in the
company, including the workforce, are recognised to have stake in the
survival and development of the company may be an idea more likely both to
find favour and to have chance of working effectively in societies where there
is a long established culture of co-operation and power sharing.
Though the cultural approach gives us a frame of reference to understand the

organisational HRM practices, it has been criticised for not providing further
explanatory framework why HRM practices vary between countries or
regions. Child and Kiesser (1979) noted that in the cultural approach,
variables have not been incorporated into a model that systematically links
together the analytical levels of context, structure, role and behaviour. The
Cultural approach focused mainly on differences between countries rather
than looking at differences within the countries or regions. Within an
organisation, people come from different social classes, religion and ethnic
groups who have different values and norms. The Cultural approach fails to
look into this issue. Based on national stereotyping, adoption of an formal
organisational policy does not necessarily mean that all groups or individuals
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will accept that policy, because there is not just one set of cultural norms and
values in a society (Rubery, 1993).
From the above discussion, it is clear that though cultural factors have
influence on organisational HR policies and practices, we need to appreciate a
wide range of societal elements, such as education and training systems,
social stratification, division of labour, etc. for explaining differences in HRM
policies and practices.
3. Institutional Context as Determinant of HRM
Institutional theorists believe that organisational processes such as training,

work organisations, industrial relations, remuneration etc. should be
considered as phenomena of a society. Their basic argument is that social
institutions influence organisational practices in a systematic way that results
in company’s adopting typical patterns. This ‘institutional argument’ better
known as the ‘societal-effect approach’ tries to determine how actors
construct organisations, and how this constructive process is influenced by
the societal fabric in which the actors operate (Muller, 1994). The societal
approach is related to the isomorphism argument that views organisations as
social entities integrated into the institutions and value structures constituting
the culture of a society. In this view, work ethics and entrepreneurial spirit
have been argued to be part of cultural identity of a nation and are directly
relevant to the HRM system. Political, social and economic institutions, such
as economic structure, trade unions, social stratification, educational systems,
and various pressure groups can exert their influences on organisational and
national HRM policies and practices (Tayeb, 1995:590). It is therefore,
necessary to examine the role of social institutions to know why HRM
practices vary from country to country as well as within the sector or industry
in any particular society.
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Components of HRM
Dessler (2000:2) asserted HRM as the synonyms of staffing and personnel

management and mentions various elements that encompass HRM. They are:
1) conducting job analysis –determining the nature of each employee’s job; 2)
planning labour needs and recruiting job candidates; 3) selecting job
candidates; 4) orienting and training new employees; 5) managing wages and
salaries; 6) providing incentives and benefits; 7) appraising performance; 8)
communicating( interviewing, counseling, disciplining) ; 9) training and
developing; and 10)building employee commitment. All these functions have
been grouped into four broad functional categories: (i) recruitment and
selection- job analysis, personnel planning and recruitment, employee testing
and selection, interviewing candidates; (ii) training and development-
orientation and training, developing mangers, managing quality and
productivity, appraising performance, managing careers; (iii) compensation-
establishing pay rules, pay for-performance and (iv) financial incentives ,
benefits and services; and labour relations and employee security-labour
relations and collective bargaining, guaranteed fair-treatment, employee
safety and health( Dessler,2000). French (1997:6) described HRM from the
systems view point that includes 1) human resource planning; 2) job and
work design;3) staffing -recruitment, selection, career transitions; 4) training
and development; 5) performance appraisal and review; 6) compensation and
rewards-wage and salary administration, incentive plans, employee benefits;
7) employee protection and representation -labour organizations and
unionization , negotiating and administering the labour agreement, employee
rights, responsibilities and justice, safety and health management; and 8)
organization improvement-participative strategies, building interpersonal
skills and team work while solving problems, inter-group problem solving
and conflict management, comprehensive improvement strategies, legal
aspects of employment improvement programs. The effective management of
this process is planned, developed and implemented through the combined
efforts of all managers, human resource specialists and frequently all
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employees in an organization (French, 1997). It always has been an integrated

part of every line manager’s responsibility, from top executive down to the
lowest level supervisors, but now they need the assistance, specialized
knowledge and advice of a separate human resource staff (Saltonstall, 1995).
HRM takes place within a complex and ever-changing environmental context

and therefore, needs to consider the strategic, legal and social environment of
HRM while designing its integral components (Griffin, 1998). According to
his suggestion, HRM consists of 1) human resource planning – job analysis,
forecasting human resource demand and supply, matching human resource
supply with demand; 2) recruiting; 3) developing –training and development,
performance appraisal; 4) maintaining human resources-compensation, career
planning ; and, 5) managing labour relations. Bateman and Snell (1996)
observed the integral constituents of HRM as 1) human resource planning –
demand forecasting and job analysis; 2) staffing- recruiting, selection,
outpacing and legal issues; 3) developing the workforce-training and
development; 4) performance appraisal- gathering performance appraisal
information, sources of appraisal information, giving performance appraisal
feedback; 5) designing reward systems- pay decisions, incentive system and
variable pay, benefits and legal issues, health and safety; and, 6) labour
relations –labour laws, un-unionization, collective bargaining. Cascio (1986)
mentioned five functions of HRM. They are: 1) attraction-identifying the job
requirements within an organization, determining the number of people and
the skills mix necessary to do these jobs, and providing equal opportunity for
qualified candidates to apply for jobs; 2) retention- sustaining employees’
motivation to perform their jobs effectively an maintaining a safe, healthy
work environment; 3) development- preserving and enhancing employees’
competence in their jobs; 4) assessment –observation and evaluation of
attitudes relevant to jobs, job performance, and compliance with
organizational personnel policies; 5) adjustment-maintain required number
and skills levels of employees .
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The contents of HRM are categorized in a different form in a text edited by

Beardwell and Holden (1994). This includes 1) resourcing the organization-
labour market analysis, human resource planning, job design, recruitment
and selection; 2) development relations-legal issues, collective bargaining,
remuneration and reward and employee involvement. Sloane (1983) used five
broad categories to identify the HRM components. The components are: 1)
procurement-manpower planning, equal employment opportunity issues,
recruitment, and selection; 2) training and development-employee training,
management development, performance evaluation; 3) compensation-wage
and salary administration, incentive pay and employee benefits; 4) security-
pension and retirement , safety and health and discipline ; 5) labour relations.
American Society for Training and Development (1983) identified nine human
resource management areas: 1)human resource planning; 2) organization and
job design; 3) selection and staffing; 4) personnel research and information
systems; 5) training and development; 6) organization and development ; 7)
compensation/benefits; 8) employee assistance ; and 9) union/labour
relations. This classification is organic and too broad.
DeCenzo and Robbins (1997) classified the areas of HRM in four broad
categories that they call “a more manageable form”. These include 1)
acquisition- human resource planning, recruiting, employee socialization; 2)
development- employee training, management development, and career
development; 3) motivation-job design, performance evaluation, rewards, job
evaluation, compensation or benefits, and discipline; and, 4) maintenance-
safety and health, employee or labour relations. In this arrangement, job
design is placed in the motivation that comes in stage three in the process. It
should be done at the stage of acquisition because manpower planning needs
jobs to be filled up. Hellriegel, Jackson and Slocum (1999) also grouped the
elements of HRM into 5(five) categories involving 1) legal and regulatory
issues-equal employment opportunity, global awareness competency,
compensation and benefits, employee health and safety, labour relations and
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collective bargaining and independent contractors; 2) staffing- human

resource planning, recruiting, selection and hiring, orientation; 3) training and
development- teamwork competency, training and development; 4)
performance appraisals –methods of performance appraisal, choosing right
appraisal; 5) total compensation systems-base wage or salary, incentive pay,
benefits.
Heneman III, Schwab, Fossum and Dyer (1983) delineated the components of
HRM into two major classes: support activities – analyzing individuals and
jobs-rewards and employee motivation ; assessing outcomes-performance
appraisal, satisfaction, attention, and retention; personnel and functional
activities-external staffing, internal staffing and development, compensation,
labour relations and work environment- work design and changes,
occupational safety and health and work hour. Bartol and Martin (1994)
suggested HRM as a process containing five elements- human resource
planning- job analysis, demand and supply analysis of human resource,
staffing-recruitment, selection, development and evaluation; training and
development, performance appraisal , compensation-designing pay structure
and employee benefits, and maintaining effective workforce relationships -
labour –management relations, current employee issues.
Stoner, Freeman and Gilbert (1997) prescribed seven basic activities of HRM
that includes human resource planning, recruitment, selection, socialization
(orientation), training and development, performance appraisal, promotions,
transfers, demotions and separations of human resource. Devanna, Fombrum
and Tochy (1981) identified five functions of HRM; they are employee
selection/placement, rewards (pay and benefits) appraisal, development and
career planning. Torrington and Hall (1995) arranged the functions of HRM
in five order of (i) resourcing -strategic aspects, employment contracts,
recruitment; selection- methods and decisions, ending the employment
contract; interactive skills- selection interviewing; (ii) performance- strategic
aspects, performance management: individual and team performance,
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managing diversity-managing employee movement within the organization-

transfer, promotion gender equality etc.; (iii) development –strategic aspects,
competence basis, management development, career development, teaching;
(iv) involvement-strategic aspects, team and total quality management aspects
of employee involvement, trade union issues, health, safety and welfare,
grievance and discipline handling; (v) pay -strategic aspects of employer-
employee objective interface and approaches to payment administrations, job
evaluation, incentives, performance pay and fringe benefits, pensions and sick
pay , negotiation.
The purpose of human resource management is to improve the productive

contribution of people to the organization in ways that are strategically,
ethically and socially responsible (Werther and Davis, 1996:8). Keeping this in
view they suggested certain activities of HRM that includes (i) preparation
and selection- job analysis and design, human resource planning, recruitment,
selection; (ii) development and evaluation-orientation, placement, and
separation, training and development, career planning and performance
appraisal; (iii) compensation and protection-wages and salaries, incentives
and gain sharing, benefits and services, and security, safety and health; (iv)
employee relations and assessment- employee relations challenges, union-
management relations, assessment and prospects-scope of human resource
audit, human resources research tools, audit report and future prospects of
human resource. Ivancevich (2001) developed 5(five)categories of HRM
activities under which various other tasks are involved. He started with
compliance with equal employment opportunity that includes legal and
environmental issues; acquiring human resources- human resources planning,
job analysis and design, recruitment and selection; rewarding human
resource- performance evaluation and management, compensation methods
and policies and employee benefits and services; development of human
resources- training and development, managing employee discipline;
maintaining and protecting human resources- labour relations and collective
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bargaining, employers’ safety and health, measuring human resource

activities and career planning.
Milkovich and Boudreau (1997) have structured the components of HRM

activities in 5(five) categories too but in different form. There are similarities
in titles in few cases but in majority they are different. They categorized
activities are: work structure-job analysis, teams, performance management
and employee involvement; staffing- recruiting, selection, separations and
diversity; training and development- careers, continuous learning and
mentoring; compensation-base pay on markets, pay for performance and
benefits or non-financial benefits; employee relations- communications,
grievance or dispute resolution, union relations, and safety/health.
Above discussions about the components or elements of functions of HRM

exhibits a fairly long list of functional elements devoting HRM. Various terms
have been used for mentioning a particular function. For example, staffing
(Weihrich and Koontz, 1995, Bartol and Martin, 1994, French, 1997, Bateman
and Snell, 1999, Hellriegel, Jackson and Slocum, 1999, Heneman III, Schwab,
Fossum and Dyer, 1983) is used to denote recruitment, selection, career
transition, legal issues relating to staffing, human resource planning, and
orientation; though Bartol and Martin (1994) have identified human resource
planning a separate important element of HRM. Others have taken a different
outlook to cluster these functional activities. Torrington and Hall (1995) and
Beardwell and Holden (1998) used resourcing the organization; Sloane (1983)
used placement; DeCenzo and Robbins (1997) used acquisition of human
resource to describe the same functional activities. Dessler (2000) attempted to
incorporate those elements into three categories, namely conducting job
analysis, planning labour needs and recruiting job candidates and selecting
job candidates. French (1997) though usessstaffing term but he did not place
human resource planning, and job and work design into it. He only placed
recruitment, selection and career transition under the category of staffing. He
then included the whole function in the category of recruitment and selection.
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Griffin (2005)) opined human resource planning and recruiting are the
elements that entail all above mentioned functional activities that are included
into staffing. Bateman and Snell (1996) though used staffing but they excluded
human resource planning from it and have shown it a separate important
element of HRM. Cascio (1986) takes the shelter of two different components
attraction and selection to denote the same functions. Other components are
unanimously placed as separate categories by all writers with a very few
exception. They are training and development, performance appraisal,
compensation and reward, employee protection and industrial relations.
DeCenzo and Robbins (1997) saw job design, performance evaluation,
rewards, job evaluation, compensation/benefits, and discipline as motivation
and safety, and health and employee or labour relations as ‘maintenance of
human resources’. Dessler (2002) mentioned labour relation issues,
counseling, and disciplining employees as building employee commitment
and communicating respectively. However, for the purpose of the research, a
compromised working description of components constituting HRM has been
taken as following:
1. Resourcing
- Human resource planning
- Job analysis
- Recruitment
- Selection
- Movement-promotion, demotion and transfer
- Separation
- Socialization/orientation of employee
2. Training and Development
- Career planning
- Training
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- Development
- Disciplining
3. Pay and Performance
- Wages and salary administration
- Incentives and gain sharing
- Benefits and services
- Performance appraisal
4. Security, Safety and Health
- Financial and non-financial security
- Safety measures
- Health protection measures
5. Employee/Labour relations
- Communication
- Grievance and dispute handling
- Union relations
Resourcing Organisation
‘Right man in the right place at the right time’ is the guiding philosophy of all
HRM. Matching the size and skills of the work force to the productive
requirements of the organization and raising the quality of individual
employees’ contributions to production, organizations can make significant
improvements to their performance (Breadwell and Holden, 1995:74). Neither
organizational effectiveness nor individual satisfaction can be achieved unless
there is a better matching of what the organization needs and what the
individuals who spend their working lives in those organizations need
(Schein, 1978:243). This matching is a dynamic process. A thorough
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understanding and analysis of the impinging factors would make such a

matching effective and productive. Human resources are key organizational
assets as organizational performance depends on the quality of employee
effort and hence, on their ability and motivation. It is the only ‘crucial asset’
that activates all other assets of the organization. Human resources (People)
design and produce goods and services, control quality, market the products,
allocate financial resources, and set overall strategies and objectives for the
organization (Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997). Without effective people, it is
impossible for an organization to achieve its objectives, not to speak of HRM
Objectives. Therefore, resourcing or manning organization with ‘right
persons’ and place them in their ‘right positions’ is the central task of HRM.
Resourcing organization involves with 1) Human resource planning, 2) Job
analysis, 3) Recruitment, 4) Selection, 5) Socialization or Orientation, 6)
Separation.
The next part will contain a theoretical description of these elements.
Human Resource Planning
HR Planning is the process of determining future human resource needs

relative to an organization’s strategic plan and devising the steps necessary to
meet those needs (Walker, 1980, Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 1988).
Human resource planning goes hand in hand with an organization’s strategic
planning. Strategic planning refers to an organization’s decision about what it
wants to accomplish (its mission) and how it wants to go about accomplishing
it (Scharf, 1991). Once the strategy in set, the HRM function must do its parts
to ensure the strategy’s success, and thereby help the organization to achieve
its objectives (Kane and Palmer, 1995). The acknowledgement of strategic
view that HR policies and practices have critical linkage with an
organization’s overall strategy is termed as strategic human resource
management (SHRM) and acts as central philosophy (Torrington and Hall,
1995, Ivancevich 2001). Merging strategic and human resource planning
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activities has become a critical source of competitiveness for all organizations.

(Ulrich, 1992:47). Stuart (1992) pointed out this while he quotes Chuck
Nielson, the vice-president of Texas Instruments. “The fact is, the only thing
that differentiates us from our competition is our people. The equipment, the
building- they’re all the same. It’s the people who make the difference”. In the
wake of increasing globalization, and technological similarities, human
resource (HR) is becoming the only resource that can bring about competitive
advantage for an organization. HR planning is also perceived in the context of
organizational need for and supply of people or employees. ‘Armed with
information about jobs and their design, HR planning systematically forecasts
an organization’s future demand for and supply of employees (Werther and
Davis, 1996:155). French (1997:129) perceives HR planning as “the process of
assessing the organization’s human resources needs in the light of
organizational goals and making plans to ensure that a competent, stable
workforce is employed”. Walker (1980:177) adds “under-changing conditions’
to fulfill the needs for human resource. Cascio (1982:145) sees the HR
planning as “an effort to anticipate future business and environmental
demands on an organization and to provide personnel to fulfill that demand”.
DeCenzo and Robbins (1988:79) emphasize on the” insurance of the right
member and kinds of people at the right places at there right time and
effectively and efficiently completing those tasks that will help the
organization achieve its overall objectives”. Dessler (1997: 119) terms HR
planning as “employment planning” and states it as “the process of
formulating plans to fill future openings based on an analysis of the positions
that are expected to be opened and whether these will be filled by inside or
outside candidates”. Thus, human resource planning translates the
organization’s objectives and plans into the number of workers needed to
meet those objectives (Decenzo and Robbins, 1988). It has direct effects on an
organisational profitability (Werther and Davis, 1996). One thing should be
kept in mind that the effectiveness of HR planning practices depend largely
on how relevant they are to practical managerial concerns and prevailing
85
demands on an organization (Walker, 1983). Human resources are considered

the most valuable yet the most volatile and potentially unpredictable
resource, which an organization utilizes (O’Doherty, 1995). If an organization
fails to plan and direct human resources in the right areas of the business at
the right time and at the right cost (Bramham, 1990: Smith, 1971), serious
inefficiencies are likely to arise creating considerable operational difficulties
and likely business failure. Management can avoid the shock of unexpected
shortage of labour, inefficient and costly surpluses and needless redundancies
(O’Doherty, 1995). Planning for human resource needs is more than a set of
techniques and a system that is part of the human resource management
functions.
Human resource planning is both a process and a plan (Ivancevich, 2001). It is

how organization assesses the future supply of and demand for human
resources. Human resource planning allows the organization to get the
following benefits:
1) Provides mechanisms to eliminate any gap that may exist between

supply and demand for manpower.
2) Integrates organizational strategy with HR strategy as HR must ‘fit’

strategically with the mission of the organization, (Milkovich, 2001).
3) Matches HR activities and future organizational objectives

efficiently.
4) Achieves economy in hiring new workers/employees.
5) Expands the HR information base to assist other HR activities and

other organizational units.
6) Coordinates different HR programs such as affirmative action plans

and hiring needs.
7) Ensures more effective and efficient use of HR.
8) Brings about more satisfied and better developed employees.
9) Ensures more effective equal opportunity planning.
86
HR planning is the on going planning that will work under the dynamic of
organization’s human resources philosophy, policies and programs in the
context of the overall strategies, plans and the changing conditions within and
outside of the organization (French, 1997).
All effective HR planning shares certain features. It is generally agreed that

HR planning involves four phases or stages (Page and Van De Voort 1989,
French, 1997, Walker, 1980). They are: 1) Situation Analysis or environmental
scanning; 2) Forecasting demand for human resources; 3) Analysis of the
supply of human resources; 4) Development of plans for action. Milkovich
and Boudreau (1997), Bartol and Martin (1994), and Werther and Davis (1996)
suggest three basic phases of employment planning similar to above.. They
are 1) analyzing HR demands, 2) analyzing HR supply, and 3) reconciling
important discrepancies between demand and supply by maintaining and
changing HR activities. All these phases of the HR planning will try to answer
the following questions: where are we now? Where do we want to be? How
do we get from here to there? How many employees, on an average, leave the
organization every year?
The chart in the next page exhibits the HR planning process with essential
components. Human Resource Planning is done under the umbrella of macro
environmental factors. One has to adjust /adapt its HR plan with the given
macro conditions. Social, political, legal challenges are easier to predict but
their implications are seldom clear (Werther and Davis, 1996). Economic
conditions determine the skills and education level of a country. Legal
situation may affect HR plan because it can restrict the capacity of the
organization from many directions, such as, the recently declared minimum
wages of workers in Bangladesh would affect the hiring capacity of small
businesses.
87
Environmental Scanning
- Economic, Social, Political features

- Governmental and Legal relation
- Population and Workforce
- Markets and competition
- Technologies
HR demand analysis HR supply analysis

- Organization and job design - Current inventory of talents.
- Plans and budgets - Forecasted attrition i.e.
- Technologies and systems voluntary separation
- Affirmative action or equal employment - Forecasted movement and
opportunities goals and plans. development
- Deaths, resignation, termination, - Effects of past HR programs
leaves of absence, retirement - Labour market analysis
- Management policies and philosophies
Development of action plans

i.e. Forecast of HR needs
- Immediate and longer term
- External hiring needs.
- Reductions and reallocations
- Improved utilization
- Development
Technology may radically alter strategic situation and therefore, HR plan. It

may also reduce the employment in one area and may increase in another
area. Downsizing, amalgamation, layoff, refreshment etc. may happen due to
unpredictability of the technological changes. Same is the case of market and
competition. All these conditions will affect both demand and supply of the
HR. The problems associated with changing environments are greater today
88
than ever before because success now depends on the ability of environmental
scanning of a firm -national and global.
Demands for HR will be affected by organizational strategies, plans, budgets,

sales and production forecast, new ventures, organization and job design as
well as employees’ actions such as retirements, resignations, terminations,
deaths, and leaves of absence etc. Management policies and philosophies
regarding growth, expansion, new product, customer service, market -all will
dictate the number and types of employees needed in the future. Affirmative
actions, voluntary or legal obligations will create new requirements for HR.
Existing technologies and production systems and the potential expansion,
obsolescence, renovation, and Balancing –Modernizing- Rationalizing (BMR)
are another key contributors to the requirements of numerous skills and
abilities that count the number of HR requirements. Budget increases or cuts
have got significant short run influence on HR need (Werther and Davis,
1996).
Once the future demand for Human resources is projected, the next concern is
filling projected openings. There are two sources of supply: internal and
external. The internal supply consists of present employees who can be
promoted, transferred, or demoted to fill expected opening. This is a case for
an old on -going firms. A new firm will have only external sources of supply
at its very inception. Internal supply may be estimated from current inventory
of talents, forecasted movements and development of employees, succession
planning i.e. the process that HR planners and operating managers use to
convert information about current employees into decisions about future
internal job placements (Werther and Davis, 1996). External supply is
estimated from labour market analysis to ascertain the availability of the skills
being sought.
Comparison of demand and supply can produce three outcomes: (1) demand
and supply are closely matched; (2) demand exceeds supply indicating
89
possible shortages; (3) supply exceeds demand indicating possible surpluses

(Milkovich and Bondream, 1997). From this comparison, qualities of
employees, their competitive diversity, cost levels and other related factors
would come out. Immediate and long-term plans are needed to make
adjustments of HR situations. HR shortages give planners very little flexibility
in the short run and put them in external staffing process to decide upon new
employees. These include recruiting from new sources, more aggressively
pursuing job candidates, lowering entrance requirements, expanding the use
of temporary or older workers, and expanding the level of productivity per
employee or time worked through training, job design, compensation,
benefits and employee relations (Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997). This
decision can also include recalling employees who were previously laid off
(Ivancevich, 2001).
Intense global competition, rapid technological change, and fear caused by

recent workforce reductions have also led many organizations to increase
their use of part time workers, subcontractors, and independent professionals
in response to changing demands (Ivancevich, 2001). The policy of using
contingent workers gives many organizations more flexibility in dealing with
temporary shortages of labour than maintaining more traditional full time
employees. Existence of HR surplus would be handled with encouraging
attrition, early retirement on a voluntary basis, layoff -a measure of short-
range surplus, demotions, terminations, reducing overtime or work hours,
sabbaticals, reducing hiring for the vacant positions, using less costly
temporary employees, formal outplacement system (Werther and Davis, 1996,
Ivancevich, 2001, Milkovich and Bondrean, 1997, Decenzo and Robbins, 1997,
French, 1997, O’ Doherety, 1995). These action plans will guide the
organization to adjust the futures situations. Even if in the situation of ‘no
difference’, HRM will prepare the contingency HR plans to accommodate any
future unforeseen changes in any facet of HRM scenario. HR planning
90
requires preparing action plans of job analysis, recruitment, selection, HR

movements -promotion, demotion, transfer.
Job Analysis
Resourceing organization involves with job analysis for getting job

information. A job is a group of positions that are similar in their duties
(Bureau of Inter departmental personnel Programs, 1973). The U.S.
Department of Labour (1997:3) views a job as a collection of activities or tasks
that comprise the work assignment of one or more workers. A different view
has been expressed by Wrether and Davis (1996:117). Their view is “a job is a
pattern of tasks, duties, and responsibilities that can be done by a person”.
DeCenzo and Robbins (1997:100) take a job as “a type of position within the
organization”, while describing a position as “one or more duties performed
by one person in an organization” (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997:99).
Sociologists view a job as “a status placing the performer within a hierarchy
of statuses comprising the social structure (Merton, 1968). Industrial engineers
frequently use the term in a ‘ job shop sense, i.e. as a piece of work to be done
or a part of a product to be made’ (Davis and Taylor, 1979:39). In this dilemma
we have taken a working definition of job as ‘the tasks, duties and
responsibilities that are required to perform by a person in a position of an
organization’.
Job analysis is a purposeful, systematic process for collecting information on

the important work related aspects of a job (Gatewood and Field, 1994:285).
The focal point here is the ‘collection of job information’ that perhaps confines
the job analysis into a very narrow field of operation. Focusing the decisional
aspects, Dessler (2000:83) opines, “Job analysis is the procedure for
determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and the kind of person
who should be hired for it”. It emphasizes upon the determination of not only
job contents but also the characteristics of the person who would better do
these tasks and activities well and should be the person to be hired. Milkovich
91
and Boudreau (1997:79) view job analysis as something centers around the job
content only and say “job analysis is a systematic process of collecting data
and making judgments about the nature of specific job”.
Thus, job analysis is a systematic exploration of the activities within a job

(Decenzo and Robbins (1997:98). Job analysis /study is done to determine the
tasks, duties and responsibilities needed for each job (Werther and Davis,
1996). The term job analysis describes the process of obtaining information
about job (Cascio 1986). These definitions may be put in two categories – one
focuses only on job information and job characteristics determination and the
other focuses job information and the man information i.e. required qualities
of the person who will do that job. For the practical purpose job analysis
should be termed as the procedure for determining the content of the job as
well as the qualities required to be possessed by the person who should be
hired for doing the job. Generally, the following information is more or less
collected through job analysis (Milkovick, 1976):
Work activities. Information is usually collected on the actual work activities

performed, such as cleaning, selling, teaching, or painting. Such a list may
also indicate how, why, and when the worker performs each activity.
Human behaviours. Information on human behaviors like sensing,

communicating, decision-making, and writing may also be collected. It
includes also information regarding human job demands such as lifting
weights, walking long distances, and so on.
Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids used. It includes information

regarding products made, materials processed, knowledge dealt with or
applied (such as finance or law), and services rendered (such as counseling or
repairing).
Performance standards. It includes information about such matters as

physical working conditions, work schedule, and the organizational and
92
social context – for instance, in terms of the number of people with whom the
employee would normally have to interact. Also included here might be
information regarding incentives for doing the job.
Human requirements. Finally, information is usually compiled regarding

human requirements of the job, such as job-related knowledge or skills -
education, training, work experience, and required personal attributes-
aptitudes, physical characteristic, personality, interest.
Job analysis is the cornerstone of HRM that influences most HR activities

(Howe 1988:66-73) such as organization structure and design, human resource
planning, job evolution, recruitment, selection, placement, performance,
training and development, performance appraisal, career path planning,
labour relations, engineering design and methods improvement, job design,
safety, vocational guidance and rehabilitation counseling, job classification
system, (Cascio,1986) matching job applicants and job openings,
compensation, discovering job elements that help or hinder the quality of
work life (Werther and Davis, 1996), evaluating environmental challenges
affecting individual jobs.
Job analysis process involves a number of steps. A general consensus is found

about six steps involved with job analysis (Werther and Davis 1996, Dessler,
2000), Ivancevich 2001), though little variation is found in the activities and
sequence of the process tasks. Six step process of job analysis are: 1)
Identification of the use of the job analysis information since this will
determine the type of data to be collected , 2) Review of the relevant
background information from organization charts, process charts and other
organizational documents to know how each job fits with the total fabric of
organization; 3) Selection of representative positions to be analyzed; 4)
Collection of data on job activities, required employee behaviors, working
conditions and human traits and abilities needed to perform the job, 5)
Review of the information with job incumbents to make the information
93
factually correct and complete; 6) Develop a job description and job

specification, the two concrete products of the job analysis.
The job description is a written statement that explains the duties, working
conditions and other aspects of a specified job (Delapa 1989, Griffin, 1998,
French, 1997). It should accurately portray job contents, environment and
conditions of employment. There is no standard format for writing job
description. Generally either of the stated two approaches may be used. One
approach is to write a narrative description in a paragraph and another
approach is to breakdown the description into several subparts, such as job
title, job code, job grade, job location, date, author, status, supervisor, job
summary, job duties and working conditions (Werther and Davis, 1996).
However, typical job description contains three sections: (Milkvich and
Bondream, 1997: 84). They are:
1) Identification: It may contain job title, number of incumbents, location of

the job, job number/ code, job grade and salary grade. Its purpose is to
clearly identify the job and to distinguish it form those with similar job
titles and duties.
2) Job activities/ performed: It shows the reasons for its existence. It

contains relationship how it fits in with other jobs and with the
organization, responsibilities and duties, behaviours of the incumbent,
standard of performance etc. It ought to provide an accurate literary
picture of the job. For managerial jobs, the size of the budget, people
under the incumbent’s supervision and reporting relations with other
managers both higher and lower organization levels are mentioned.
3) Working conditions: It contains the context in which the action takes

place. Clear statement of tools, equipments, hazards and noise levels,
physical conditions of the workplace, working hours, and other
relevant information about working conditions.
94
Job specification is a written explanation of the knowledge, skills, abilities,

traits, and other characteristics necessary for effective performance in a given
job (Bureau of Intergovernmental personnel programs, 1973). It states the
minimum acceptable qualifications that the incumbent of a given job must
possess to perform the job successfully (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997). These
requirements may include basic education, physical and health conditions,
appearance, mental ability, previous work experience, maturity, human
relation/ contact, special training, trade skills etc. Some experts argue for
behavioral specifications, particularly for managers, suggesting job
descriptions that focus on the varied behavior needed (Fondas, 1992: 47-58).
When positions cross national boundaries, linguistic, legal, and cultural
familiarities may become an important addition to the specifications (Werther
and Davis, 1996: 131).
Job description and job specification may be prepared in two different sheets
or in a single statement containing two separate part – upper part is job
description and lower part is job specification. Both of the statements should
be clear, specific, and brief. The methods usually used to determine job
elements and the concomitant knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for
successful performance are: observation, individual interview, technical
conference, employee dairy, or employee log, performance, critical incidents,
and work sampling. Either method or a combination of methods may be used
depending on the nature of the job under study. Job analysis is a complex
task. Only a person who has a good grasp of the nature and functions of
organization in a modern society, a working knowledge of the existing
methods and tools, a sound conceptual background on the relevant field can
do the job analysis successfully (Ghorpade and Atchison, (1980)).
Organizations may take any of the three options: (1) hire specialized job
analyst from outside, (2) employ full time job analysis experts, or (3) use
supervisors, job incumbents or some combination of these (Ivancevich, 2001,
Ghorpade and Atchison, 1980). The choice of who should analyse a job
95
depends on the location and complexity of the jobs, how receptive

incumbents might be to an external analyst; the ultimate intended purpose of
the results of the analysis (Ivancevich, 2001), the financial capacity and the
scope of the organization.
Identificati Collection
on of Review of the Selection of job data
Job background of the jobs by
analysis information to be acceptable
objectives/ from the analysis job
how JA organization analysis
informatio technique
n will be
useuuseduse
d
Use of
Review of Develop job Information from steps 1-6 for
the description _________________________
information and job
with job specification Job design HR planning
incumbent Recruitment Selection
Etc.
Steps in job Analysis and its relationship to other HRM activities.
The traditional concept of job, which is an outgrowth of the industrial

revolution’s efficiency demand is undergoing dramatic changes due to
accelerating product and technological change, globalize competition,
deregulation, political instability, demographic changes and trends toward a
service society and the information age (Dessler, 2000). These forces have
changed the playing fields of the competing firms, especially rapid changes,
have increased the need for capable firms to be responsive, flexible, and
capable of competing in global market (Dessler, 2000: 109). It is gradually
difficult to define the jobs of HR engaged in an organization due to enormous
flexibility, dynamism and unforeseen character of the specific future
96
conditions. It is a particular situation for managerial people and production

and marketing people in particular.
Job less or de-jobbed organizations are becoming a reality today. However, it

is not altogether departure from job description but open statement of
positional boundaries delineating least specific mention of activities. Workers
still have been assigned to jobs and these jobs require job descriptions.
Recruitment and Selection
Requirement is the next logical step of the resourcing the organization. It is

one of the first active stages of the resourcing process of the organization that
attempts to deal with shortages in its human resources needs. Recruitment is
the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment
(Werther and Davis, 1996, Douglas, Klein, and Hunt, 1985.) to fill the
positions in the organization structure (Weihrich and Koontz, 1994). It refers
to organizational activities that influence the number and types of applicants
who apply for a job and whether the applicants accept jobs that are offered
(Ivancevich, 2001:186 Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997:181). Recruitment is
directed to develop a pool of applicants for a job (Bateman and Snell, 1996,
Stoner, Freman and Gilbutor 1997). Dowling and Schuler (1990) describe
recruitment as “searching for and obtaining potential job candidates in
sufficient members and quality so that the organization can select the most
appropriate people to fill its job needs”. Griffin (1996:391) terms recruitment
as “a process of attracting individuals to apply for jobs that are open”.
DeCenzo and Robbins (1997) opine that recruitment is an exercise for not only
filling the existing vacancies but for discovering of potential candidates for
actual or anticipated organizational vacancies too. Hellriegel, Jackson and
Slocum (1999:399) view recruitment as a process of searching candidates from
both inside and out side the organization, to fill vacant positions. Bartol and
Martin (1994:350) state recruitment as a process of finding and attempting to
attract job candidates who are capable of effectively filling job vacancies.
97
Therefore, recruitment is a process of searching, finding, identifying and

attracting capable and qualified candidates sufficient in number for applying
for the present or future job vacancies so that organization can select the
appropriate people to fill job needs. Thus, recruitment plays a linking job –
bringing together those who seek jobs and those who want to fill jobs. The
process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their
applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new
employees are selected. Enterprises with a favourable public image find it
easier to attract qualified candidates but small firms, which often offer
excellent growth and development opportunities, may have to make great
efforts to communicate to the applicant, the products, services and
opportunities they offer (Weihrich and Koontz, 1993).
Recruitment is a two way communication process. It’s the front end’ of the
employer- employee relationship. Both desire accurate information about one
another and send signals about the employment relationship. Applicants
signal that they are attractive candidates and should receive job offers and try
to get organizations to give them information to determine if they want to join
organizations. Organisations, on the other hand, want to signal that they are
good places to work, they want to get signals from applicants that give true
pictures of their potential values as employee (Milkovich and Boudreau,
1997). Both parties to the relationship will attempt to influence each other’s
expectations through a process of mutual exchange of negotiation (Herriot,
1989). Certain elements of the organization may limit the capacity of the
organization to influence prospective candidates. These constraints may be
roughly categorized as social system constraints, policy constraints, financial
constraints, legal constraints (Douglas, Elein and Hunt, 1985), job
requirements and incentives (Werther and Davis, 1996) union requirement
(DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997). Social system constraints are the values,
attitude and norms as well as organizations self-concept that critically limits
the choice of recruitment source. Policy constraints includes compensation
98
policies, employment status policies, promote from within policies, hiring

part time temporary employees only etc. that may deter potential candidates
not to apply for the vacancies. The cost of identifying and attracting recruits is
an ever-present limitation (Werther and Davis, 1996). Study reveals that the
average cost of employment is over $7000 per new employee, even college
recruiting can cost as much as $ 6000 per hire, higher level recruiting cost $
30,000 per hire (Hallett, 1986:22). Laws have become increasingly restrictive
with respect to an organizations ability to recruit. Quota, equal opportunity
legislation and others constraint the options available to recruiters. Incentives
-special offers as inducements- also act as deterrent. Job requirements, some
time, restricts many from applying. Unionized organizations may have the
union screening and approval for asking prospective job applicants to apply.
This situation seriously restraints management’s freedom to open vacancies
for a wide range of applicants.
Recruitment is a process that starts with specific requisition from

departmental managers or execution of HR plan that will identify the job
openings. Job analysis information from job description and job specification
will be verified and updated with comments of manager’s to incorporate
revised expectations. A concrete form of job requirements will be set and that
will be projected through communication. At these points, terms and
conditions relevant to inducement shall be agreed upon. Survey reveals that
64% of respondents do not apply to an advertisement that does not state a
salary (Golzen, 1988). The next step is the deciding target group of applicants
who fulfills the expected qualities for the job openings. Deciding appropriate
method (s) or source(s) of recruitment would pinpoint the target potential
applicants. Then, effective communication will make a satisfactory pool of
applicants. The last stage actually is an administrative exercise by which
management evaluates the effectiveness of its recruitment along with their
short and long-term implications. On that basis, new course of action would
99
be developed, the implementation of which will improve the recruitment

process by modified HR plan. (Douglas, Klein and Hunt, 1985:211).
Job analysis Job

Job
information requirem
opening
ent
HR Plan identified
Terms &
Condi-
tions
Specific Manager’s
Request comments
from
managers/ Decide
Requisi- target
Check org.
tion group
factors
Evaluate effectiveness of Satisfactory Decide

recruitment (short and pool of appropriate
long term) and implement recruits methods of
improvement recruitment
Recruitment Process
Organization may tap many sources for getting sufficient job applicants to get
a satisfactory pool of recruits. Most organizations have to use both internal
and external sources to generate a sufficient member of applicants
(Ivancevich, 2001:193). Internal sources are the potential candidates for the
vacancies within the existing employees of the organization. The use of this
source depends on organizational policy for recruiting from within the firm. If
organizational policy does not permit, internal sources may not be of use. If
there is a union, and the jobs are covered under union contract, the situation
is routine- notification among the current employees is given for application;
100
otherwise, the procedure is more complex and varies considerably from

organization to organization (Douglas, Klein and Hunt, 1985).
However, there are four methods used for searching internal candidates.
They are: 1) Job posting: Informing employees about openings and required
qualifications and invites qualified employees to apply. Bulletin board notices
or printed bulletins can be used for this purpose (French, 1997). Any
employee who is interested may bid on the job i.e. enter the competition for
the job. 2) Employee referrals: Informal communications among managers can
lead to discover the best candidate for a job already working in a different
section of the organisation. 3) Skills inventories: Internal employee records are
used in developing inventory of talents within the organization. Today
computerized skills inventories of employees are used for this purpose. HRM
searches this inventory to identify most qualified job candidates. 4) Inside
moonlighting: Enticing people by offering bonus, overtime etc. to take up the
additional job or second job. Thus, some people will clearly be motivated to
accept the additional work if they are fairly compensated (Ivancevich, 2001).
External recruiting is for getting people from outside the organization to

apply for jobs (Griffin 1998:391). It is the process of finding potential external
candidates and encouraging them to apply for and /or be willing to accept
organizational jobs that are open (Bartol and Martin, 1994:351). There are
many external sources used by various organizations. The sources are: 1)
Advertising: It is the most familiar form for attracting job seekers. Normally,
the most useful advertisement in one that specifies the exact nature of the job,
the qualification required and the salary range (French, 1997:217). As a source
of recruitment, advertising has got many attractive merits but it is not free
from drawbacks (table …). However effective job/employment advertisement
must be attractive, interesting, desire creating, prompt action generating and
non-discriminatory and legal. (2) Placement agencies: They are the head
hunters acted on behalf of the appointing firms. Today educational
institutions, ranging from high schools to universities, generally have
101
placement offices to assist their graduates in finding work (French, 1997:217).

There are various placement agencies engaged in clientele service. They are
public agencies, private agencies, management consultants, temporary help
services, schools, colleges and universities, professional organizations,
executive recruits.
Public placement agencies are also known as employment exchange,

unemployment office, employment service or employment security agency,
act as job bank and provide service with little or no charge. These agencies
suffer from a poor image (Werther and Davis, 1996:195) as a source of
unskilled or poorly qualified works. But study in USA reveals that more than
70 percent of the company surveyed made use this service (Lynton, 1979,
Bureau of National Affairs, 1988). Private Placement Agencies receive
requests from the employer and search capable candidates and send them to
the employment organization for interview with or without any screening.
They are paid either by employer or by job seekers. Management consultants
are executive search firms supply executive on a continuing basis under
contract. They undertake screening tasks too. They are specialized in
searching. Schools, Colleges or universities have their own placement offices
where prospective employers can review credentials and interview graduates
(DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997). Vocational technical schools provide lower
level applicants; business or secretarial schools provide administrative staff
personnel, while graduate schools and universities provide managerial level
personnel. Organization may directly contact with these academic institutes
for the applicants for their vacancies. Temporary Help Service (THS) is a
viable source of employees when individuals are needed on a temporary
basis. It is useful to meet short-term fluctuations in personnel needs. Many
employers today are supplementing their permanent employee base by hiring
contingent workers i.e. temporary workers, part time workers, just in time
employees, badli workers etc and thus, the contingent work force is big and
growing (Thomson, 1995: 45). Survey reveals that 84% employers under study
102
use such agencies or services (Bureau of National Affairs, 1998: 1 –10) and
part-time workers numbered 21 million or about 17% of the U.S labour force
in 1993 (Thomson, 1995:46). This reflects that benefits of contingent workers
are obviously are higher than the difficulties involved with it. Professional
organizations like Institute of cost and Management Accountants of
Bangladesh (ICMAB), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh
(ICAB), Institutes of Personnel Management Bangladesh (IPMB), Engineers
Institute of Bangladesh, Labour organization, Military organization and other
like organizations in Bangladesh and elsewhere of the world act as standing
source of supply of qualified professionals to their respective disciplines.
Internship is a part of academic programme in which students are placed in
an organization on temporary basis under part-time or full-time employment
in a job of interest to the students. Both organization and student exposed one
another through this internship and organization may use it as a strong
source of qualified applicant for the vacancies open or to be opened.
Unsolicited applicants such as walk-ins, write-ins through letter ,e-mail etc
are one of the major sources of recruitment. Usable applications are kept in
an active file until a suitable opening occurs. A high proportion of firms
consider walk in applicants an important source of recruits, particularly for
office- clerical and production positions (Bureau of National Affairs, 1988:6-7).
Relatives and friends are also a very intimate source of recruitment. It is a
very old and traditional source for getting qualified job applicants. Employers
are turning to relatively non-traditional sources of applicants (Wender,
1990:6-15). The table contains some of those innovative external recruiting
methods generally are used for screening and attracting people to apply for
the vacancies (Fyock, 1991:32-35).
Both of the sources of recruitment are of use depending on circumstances.

Organizational policy, philosophy as well as reality of the organization are the
determinants for the selection of internal or external sources. A comparative
103
picture is presented below to indicate such conditions (Bartol and Martin,

1994: 351).
Telerecruiting Phone calls to potential candidates, with names obtained

from mailing lists of professional associations, schools, and mailing list
companies.
Direct Mail Using lists from above sources.
Point of Sale Recruiting Messages Posters, literatures, messages on the back

of cash register are useful if customers are potentially qualified applicants.
Talent Scout Cards A card containing job information is given to managers

to distribute it to exceptionally friendly, helpful customer service personnel,
they encounter while doing their own shopping.
Posters Displayed on community bulletin boards, parks, Laundromats, banks,

etc.
Door Hangers Useful for recruiting in a specified geographical area.
Radio Refer candidates to open houses or large newspaper advertisements.
Billboards Fixed highway displays or electronic billboards with varying

messages. Hotlines and 800 Numbers Telephone lines with either recorded
job vacancy messages or live interviewers. Live lines are increasingly being
made available on Sunday, when most newspaper advertisements appear and
candidates have the time to follow up on openings.
Information Seminars It is for hunting skills or on topics specific to one’s

industry, such as new developments in artificial intelligence. The latter may
attract qualified professionals who would be reluctant to attend an open
house or job fair, where the recruiting purpose was more explicit.
Welcome Wagon, Relocation consultants, Realtors Organizations are

aware of newcomers to the community. Increasingly, spouses of individuals
transferred into the community are seeking work, and can be located through
these sources.
Referral Programs Employee referral systems are common, but now some
firms are encouraging their customers and suppliers to refer candidates as
well.
Outplacement Firms and Local Layoffs Skilled employees who have lost their
jobs through no fault of their own may be found by contacting outplacement
firms and by monitoring the local paper for layoffs at other establishments in
the community.
Innovative External Recruiting Methods
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Comparative Advantages and Disadvantages of Internal and External

Recruitment
Advantages Disadvantages
INTERNAL RECRUITMENT INTERNAL RECRUITMENT
1. Candidates are already 1. There may be fewer new ideas.

oriented to the organization.
2. Unsuccessful contenders may
2. Reliable information is become upset.
available about candidates.
3. Selection is more susceptible to
3. Recruitment costs are lower. office politics.
4. Internal morale is increased 4. Extensive training may be

due to upward –mobility necessary.
opportunities.
5. Candidates’ current work may
5. Good performance is be disrupted.
rewarded.
EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT
EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT
1. the probability of mistakes is
1. Candidates are potential high because of less reliable
sources of new ideas. information.
2. Candidates may have broader 2. Potential internal candidates

experience. may be resentful.
3. Candidates may be familiar 3. The new employee may have a

with competitors. slower start because of the
need for orientation to the
4. Candidates may have new organization.
specialties.
4. The recruitment process may
be expensive.
SELECTION
Once an effective recruitment programme has supplied enough job

applicants, the organization faces the task of choosing the best ones for
specific jobs (French, 1997:221.) The choosing is the selection of applicant to be
105
appointed in the vacant positions. Milkovich (2001) views selection as the

process by which an organization chooses from a list of applicants the person
or persons who best meet the selection criteria for the position available
considering current environmental conditions. The selection process involves
judging candidates on a variety of dimensions, ranging from the concrete and
measurable to the abstract and personal (French, 1997). A number of selection
devices are used in this purpose to identify the applicants who have the
highest chance of meeting or exceeding the organization’s standard of
performance. Generally, a selection process involves a series of steps, which
applicants pass. A typical set of steps is shown in figure ……. The sequence of
steps may vary from firm to firm, with some steps taking place
simultaneously (Werther and Davis, 1996). Such as step 3 and 4 may be
performed concurrently or at about the same time or some firm may start
with step 2, thus this series is not universal (Ivancevich, 2001:219). Each of
these steps represents a decision point requiring some affirmative feedback
for the process to continue.
Each step in the process seeks to expand the organization’s knowledge about
the applicant’s background, abilities and motivation and it increases the
information from which decision makers will make their prediction and final
choice (Decenzo and Robbins, 1997).
1) Initial screening or preliminary interview is an opportunity to the

organizations which have formal application blank or form for the
vacancies to screen out at the first instant at this stage without further
cost on the part of the organization and of the individual applicants.
Candidates with inadequate or inappropriate experience and /or
education can be eliminated. Moreover, this interview allows sharing
and/ or discussing job description information and of salary with the
potential applicants which helps organization to modify or improve
the initial proposal and the candidates to reconsolidate their interests
to apply
106
1. Screening or Preliminary
interview
2. Application blank/form/in R
plain paper
E
3. Employment test
J
Reference check E
4.
C
Employment Interview
5. T
Medical test/ I
Physical examination
6.
O
7. Final selection or
temporary selection
N
Indoctrination /Induction/
8. Orientation
9. Foundation training
Placement
10.
The Selection Process
107
2) Application blank or form is now given to the candidates passed the

preliminary interview or initial screening of enquires. If
organizations do not have any such form, ask directly the job
candidates to apply on plain paper or send bio-data or curriculum
vatae (CV) or resume, stating personal information. Sometimes, the
required information are disclosed in the job openings –
advertisement or circular. Its purpose is to supply the organization
with basic information about the candidate’s work experience,
previous salary and so forth (French, 1997). This makes the selection
process far more efficient first, by reducing the number of applicants
that need to be interviewed as some of the candidates will screen out
due to unfavourable personal data and, second, by allowing
interviewers to focus on other kinds of information e.g. personality,
communication skills etc. that is perhaps more difficult to obtain
(Ivancevich, 2001). Care must be taken to design application blank, as
it is subject to the legal standards, violation of which may bring
about legal suit or punishment. Only those information can be asked
that will help the organization to make a better job-related
assessment of the applicant. Applicants also like application blank as
it is free from inappropriate questions; they feel more positively
about pursuing the job; it exhibits the fairness of employee treatment;
and they can recommend the organization to friends (Saks, Leck and
Saunders, 1995 : 415-430). The traditional application blanks are
replaced by two new forms: biographical information blank (BIB) and
weighted application blank (WAB). The first one is designed to have
more information about prior behaviour and experiences believing
that these will be strongly related to an applicant’s future behavaiour
(Nickels, 1994). The second is designed to be scored more
systematically and is more like the BIB (Ivancevich, 2000:221).
Applicants who will pass the stage of screening and found minimally
108
qualified will then proceed to the text phase of the selection process –
the employment test.
3) An employment test is a mechanism that attempts to measure certain

characteristic of individual applicants such as aptitudes, intelligence,
etc. Though it is costly and difficult to design and develop a valid test
for a particular job vacancy, it is widely used selection device.
Written tests are most widely used but reliance on it has decreased
significantly in recent years in developed nations (DeCenzo and
Robbins, 1997). In our country, it is used by almost all organizations
particularly large private and public organizations. It is favoured
because test results seem to be objective, free from personal bias; and
they are usually expressed numerically, so that they lend themselves
to statistical analysis and thus can be validated (French, 1997:232).
Various kinds of tests are used for selecting employees. The types of
test or a combination of tests that is ultimately used will depend on a
number of factors, including the budgetary constraints of the
organization, the complexity and difficulty of the job, the size and
quality of applicant population and of course the knowledge, skills,
abilities, and other characteristic required by the job (Ivancevich,
2001:224). The various tests are: (1) Achievement or proficiency or
knowledge test – to measure the depth of job relevant knowledge
possessed by the candidates; (2) Aptitude or potentiality test – to
assess the candidate’s ability to learn new skills which includes short
term memory test, spatial perception test, discrimination test, and
motor ability test. (3) Mental ability or intelligence test – to assess
person’s abilities with words, numbers, logical reasoning and spatial
relationships. Generally it is known as intelligence quotient (IQ). (4)
Personality test - to construct a profile of a person’s attitudes,
behaviour and habits (French, 1997:232). A subset of personality
measurement is the use of polygraph or honesty tests, which attempt
to measure truthfulness. It gives candidates level of introversion,
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stability and motivation. (5) Interest test- to discover a person’s

likenesses and dislikenesses and gives an interest profile of the
candidate that enable the recruiter/management to place him in best-
fit position. This also ensures success of the candidate in his new job
(6) Physical ability test- to assess the static strength, dynamic
strength, body coordination, stamina, reaction time and other body
traits. (7) Substance abuse test- to measure the presence of illegal or
performance affecting drugs into the candidates. In recent years,
more and more organizations have required applicants to be tested
for substance abuse (French 1997:233). (8) Work samples – to measure
the practical work performance ability of the candidate in a real
world situation. Work samples are miniature replicas or simulations
of actual on- the- job behaviour such as shorthand, work processing
(Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997:271). This improves selection and
also provides a realistic preview of the job and saved training cost to
a large extend. Organization may select the test method or methods
on the fair analysis of the job requirements, company policy and
financial capacity. Whatever the selection method is or methods are;
it is wonderful mechanism to identify the right traits of the
candidates that fulfills the job specification.
4) Reference check: The candidates who withstand the employment test

will be selected for the interview subject to favourable reference
information. Reference check is done to verify the background
information that the applicant has given to the organization. Most
employers try to check and verify the background information and
references of the job applicants (Beason and Belt, 1974, Bureau of
National Affairs, 1976). Study reveals that on an average 87 percent of
the surveyed companies checks dates of recent job, reasons for
leaving the job, the past salary and position, and professional
references/ referees (Bureau of National Affairs, 1988; 22). Reference
check may be done directly through personal call, telephone, face-to-
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face contact, e-mail etc or by sending a structured reference form to

the referee requesting him/her to fill up the form. One survey reveals
that about 80% uses telephone inquiries to verify the reference
(Beason and Belt, 1974) and another reveals that 72% favoured the
telephone reference (Embase and Wyse, 1985: 42-46), since it allows a
more candidate assessment and provides a more interpersonal
exchange. Reference check is a very useful means to confirm the
given information. Studies reveal that organizations found
discrepancies between given and actual reality in many occasions
(Hershey, 1971, 36-39, Goldstein, 1971:491-92, Lefkuwitz and Katz,
1969:445-55). A built-in bias in favour of the applicant in precisely the
reason for criticizing the reference check as a source of useful
information (Ivancevich, 2001:229). Moreover, law suits against this
sort of enquiry have made it increasingly difficult to obtain
information about applicants beyond simple factual data (Fritz,
1988:8 Collyer and Eastus, 1991:1-4). This dilemma puts the reference
check into a big question as to its effectiveness in getting valid and
required information about the candidates.
5) Interview: The candidates who got the favourable reference will be

asked for interview. An interview is a procedure designed to solicit
information from a person’s oral responses to oral inquiries (Dessler,
2000:217). Werther and David (1989) express the view that the
selection interview is a relatively formal, in-depth conversation
conducted for the purpose of assessing a candidate’s knowledge,
skills, and abilities, as well as providing information to the candidate
about the organization and potential jobs. Thus, the interview offers a
chance for the managers to fill in gaps in the information provided by
application forms and tests (French, 1997:235). It may lead to
completely new types of information as well. In particular, interviews
are used to assess intangible enthusiasm that can’t be shown on an
application form (French, 1997:235). Selection interviews are most
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widely used selection technique. A survey reveals that 90 percent of

the responding organizations place more confidence in the selection
interview than in any other selecting method (Bureau of National
Affairs, 1976, Hakel, 1982). From 70% to 99% of organizations under
study use interviews as a selecting tool (Dipboye, 1992, Ulrich and
Trumbo, 1965). The popularity of interviews stems from their
flexibility (Werther and Davis, 1996:225). They can be used for the
selection of unskilled, skilled, semi-skilled managerial and staff
employees. They also allow for two-way exchange of information:
interviewees learn about the applicant, and the applicant learns about
the employer (Werther and Davis, 1996). In spite of its wide
application, interview has low validity (Bureau of National Affairs
BNA, 1976 Hakel, 1982, Arvey and Campion, 1982, Mayfield, 1964,
Schmitt, 1976). However, recent studies indicate that the key to an
interview’s usefulness is the manner in which it is administered
(Dessler, 1997: 223). Interview can be taken in various ways such as
one to one interview, penal interview and group interview. One-to-
one interview between the applicant and the interviewer is the most
common interview (Werther and Davis, 1996:225). Panel interview
where one candidate meets with a panel of two or more
representatives of the firm (interviewers) is also widely used (French,
1997, Werther and Davis, 1996). Group interview in which a number
of candidates are interviewed at once by one or more observers.
Generally, interviewers are allowed to discuss job related matters
among themselves and observers rate their performance. This saves
time and permits the answers and interactions of different applicants
to be compared immediately (Werther and Davis 1996:225). This type
of interview is usually considered most appropriate in the selection
of managers (French, 1997:236).
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The most common interviewing techniques are the structured

interview, the unstructured interview and the situational -problem
interview (French, 1997:236). In the structured interview, the
interviewers have a standardized list of questions to ask to all
applicants (Ivancevich, 2001). The technique produces uniformity of
data and guarantees that all applicants are treated in the same way
(French, 1997, Ivancevich 2001 Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997 Dessler
2000). On the other hand, unstructured interview has no
predetermined script or protocol i. e questions are not prepared in
advance; there is no similarity among questions asked to the
candidates (Ivancevich, 2001, Dessler, 2000). There are strong
evidences in support of the view that structured interviews are more
valuable than unstructured interview (Carlson, et. al. 1971: 1972).
Situational- problem interview offers the candidate a specific
problem to solve or a project to complete (French, 1996:237). This
interview seeks to identify whether an applicant possesses relevant
job knowledge and motivation, quality of ideas, leadership capacity
and the ablity to work with others. Sometimes, hypothetical
questions or situations, which they might encounter in future, are
asked or given. Research shows that questions about past experience
have higher validity than the future oriented questions (Pulako and
Schmitt, 1995:269-308) but the proper use would make future –
oriented questions a useful mechanism to identify the desired quality
into the candidates (Campion, Campion and Hudson Jr. 1994:998-
1002). However, interview provides a solid body of information on
which the candidates are selected and passed on to the next phase of
selection – the medical or physical examination.
6) Physical or medial examination provides health information such as

height, weight, disease, defects, drug habits etc of candidates that
help the organization to screen out unfit candidates, place candidates
in suitable jobs, and to reduce future compensation liability/ claim
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against the organization. Selection process includes this medical

evaluation of the applicants before the hiring decision is made.
7) The qualified candidates are finally selected for employment.

Telephone, letter or face- to –face conversation are used to convey the
appointment message to the selected candidates. Others, not selected
are also communicated through general notice or personal letter. The
candidate is often offer probationary appointment and not be eligible
for permanent appointment and all the benefits of the organizations
until the expiry of a stipulated probationary period. The applications
of rejected candidates are retained (panel of candidates) either for
future job openings or for the same vacant post if the finally selected
candidate does not accept the employment offer or goes away after
certain period of service. If some recruits prove to be unsatisfactory
after they are hired, the candidates are chosen from this panel.
8) The appointed candidates are then placed in the orientation

programme before placement in the assigned job. Orientation is also
known as indoctrination, induction or socialization. A few experts
separate socializations from orientation and make it a small part of
the socialization (Dessler, 2000:247, Werther & Davis 1997, DeCenzo
and Robbins 1997:213). The actual meaning of the orientation is
acquainting with the existing situation or environment (Sloane, 1983:
167). Orientation or socialization is designed to provide new
employees with the information needed to function comfortably and
effectively in the organization (Stoner, Freeman and Gilbert,
1997:389). It covers the activities involved in introducing a new
employee to the organization and to his or her work unit (DeCenzo
and Robbins, 1997:213). Socialization is the ongoing process through
which an employee begins to understand and accept the values,
norms and beliefs held by others in the organization (Oldfield,
1989:53-59, Chao et al, 1994:743). The socialization process helps the
114
organization meet its need for productive employees while enabling

new employees to meet their needs (Werther and Davis, 1996: 255).
Keep aside the debate that whether employee orientation is a part of
the socialization or an independent programme, it is well recognized
that orientation helps reduce the new employees first-day jitters and
the reality shock (Dessler, 2000, French, 1997).
Orientation programmes may range from brief informal introduction

to lengthy formal programmes (Dessler, 2000). Systematic orientation
programme may last only a few hours or may extend over several
weeks. Information may be given through interviews, group
meetings and discussions, handbooks, videotapes, tours or
combinations of these or other methods (French, 1997:249) as well as
informal lecture by the supervisor or HRM manager or chief
executive. Sometimes, a follow up programme is included into the
orientation programme. In most small firms, new employees
received their entire orientation from their supervisor (DeCenzo and
Robbins, 1996:213). In many small organizations, orientation may
mean that the new member reports to his /her supervisor, who then
assigns the new member to another employee who will introduce
him /her to those persons with whom he/she will be closely
working. This may then be followed by a ‘quick’ tour to show where
the lavatory is, how to make his/her way to the cafeteria and how to
find the coffee machine. Then, the new employee is shown his/her
desk and left to fend himself or herself (DeCenzo and Robbins,
1996:213). A typical orientation provides new employees information
about benefits, compensations, securities facilities, vacations,
working hours, office time, daily routine tour, organizations and
operations, personnel policies, promotion methods, safety measures
and regulations (Famularo, 1970, Smith, 1984, French 1997, Werther
and Davis, 1996). Well-oriented newcomers need less attention from
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coworker and supervisors, perform better and are less likely to quit.
(Gomarsall and Myers, July-August, 1966, 66-72).
9) Foundation Training: Elementary training is provided to the selected

candidates to make them fit with the jobs of the organization as well
as to identify their most potential placement. This is also used for
screening least motivated candidates. In some organizations, it is an
essential part of the selection process and in some, it is not.
10) Placement: Placement is the assignment of an employee to a new job.

After general orientation and /or foundation training, new recruits
are placed to the position where he/ she will work which is normally
the opened vacancy. Then they are posted /placed to that section.
The decisions of placement are made by line managers. The HR
department advises the line managers about the company’s policies
and provide counseling to the employees (Werther and Davis,
1996:261).
Employee Movement
Employee movement involves with the movement of human resources within

an organization and with the separation of human resources from the
organization. Sometimes, it is called internal staffing (French, 1996, Cascio,
1986) or employee placement (Werther and Davis, 1996). There are four broad
types of internal moves in any organization: up, down, over and out, the
corresponding titles are promotion, demotion, transfer and relocations and
separation- lay offs, retirements, discharges dismissals and resignations
(Cascio, 1986, French, 1996, Werther and Davis, 1996 Dessler, 2000). These are
the activities through which an adjustment in the size of work force of an
enterprise is made to cope with the changing situations; it calls for a careful
planning and use of fair and systematic procedures. Inadequate or
shortsighted attention can have negative effects on morale and productivity,
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which in turn can seriously impair the organization’s ability to attain

objectives (French, 1996:253)
a) Promotion: A promotion is a movement of an employee from a job to

another job-position that is higher in pay, responsibility privileges, benefits,
potential opportunities and / or organizational level (Werther and Davis,
1996, Cascio 1986, French 1996, Dessler 2000). It is given as recognition to
person’s past performance and future promises. Promotion helps satisfying
needs for security, belonging, and personal growth. It will affect the
employees’ motivation, performance and commitment (Dessler, 2000:398)
Promotions are usually based on seniority, merit or performance and on
mixed criteria i.e. merit and seniority together are used.
Seniority based promotions occur when an employee is promoted because of

his longest length of service with the organization (Werther and Davis 1996).
This is an objective basis. It eliminates biased promotions. Labour
organizations often seek this type of promotion to prevent employers from
discriminating among union members (Wrether and Davis, 1996:262) and
believe that it is the most objective and observable factor (Mikovich and
Boudreau, 1997:382). Yet evidence suggests that job security may not predict
future performance and training times as well as the similarity between past
and future jobs and performance (Gorgon and Fitzgibbon, 1982: 311-19,
Gordon and Johnson, 1974: 255-80, Gorgon, Coffer, McCurllough, 1986: 518-
21). In unionized situations, the collective bargaining contract/agreement will
determine the relative importance of the bases for promotion.
Merit based promotion is gradually getting popularity among organizations

due to its inherent qualities of promoting excellence. There are diversified
methods used to identify promotable employee on the basis of merit. How
merit/ competence will be defined and measured is a critical task. Past
performance and potential will determine the competence. Past performance
is used as the basis for extrapolating potential or tests are administered to
117
evaluate promotable employees (Dessler, 1993, 144-149) and to identify those

employees with executive potential (Dessler, 1993,144-149), or assessment
centers are used to assess management potentials. The problems are to
distinguish strong performance from weak ones objectively and to get rid of
the ‘Peter Principle’ which states that in a hierarchy, people tend to rise to
their level of incompetence i.e. good performance in one job is no guarantee
for good performance in another (Peter and Hull, 1969). However, merit
based promotion (a) brings rewards for meritorious work, extra competence,
achievement, and initiative; (b) encourages an employee to work hard so that
he can get early opportunity for advancement; (c) leads to increased
productivity, nay increased output for the organization.
Mixed based Promotion integrates the seniority and merit standards into one
unified standard to get benefits of both and to eliminate demerits of both. It is
the most widely used basis for promotion. Here, with the equal seniority,
merit should be the deciding factor, and with the equal merit, seniority
should be the factor upon which promotional decisions would be taken. This
policy is satisfactory to both the management and the union or employees.
Separation: A separation is a decision that the individual and the

organization should part (Werther and Davis, 1996,264). Employees may
leave the organization voluntarily i.e. attrition or involuntarily i.e. lay off,
discharge, dismissal, retirement with the fixed age limit of the service.
Employees may take early retirement voluntarily. Attrition is the normal
separation of people from the organization as a result of resignation,
retirement, or death (Werther and Davis, 1996, 265, French, 1997). Resignation
is costly from the point of view of investment made after the employee in
recruiting, selecting and training and the cost of the impact on efficiency,
morale and output. This may offset by taking exist interview or post
employment survey (French, 1996) that help the organization to identify the
mistakes and to correct it with a qualified staffing. Retirement is the natural
exit but layoff, discharge, dismissal, termination and death are unnatural exit
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/separation. A layoff frequently called downsizing is the temporary or

indefinite removal of employees from the payroll (French, 1996,260). It entails
the separation of employees from the organization for economic or business
reason (Werther and Davis, 1996, 266). According to the Bangladesh Labour
Code 2006 (GOB) lay off means the failure, refusal or inability of an employer
on account of shortage of coal, power or raw material or the accumulation of
stock or the break-down of machinery or for any other reason, to give
employment to a worker whose name is borne on the muster rolls of his shop,
commercial establishment or industrial establishment. It is resorted to as a
result of such bonafide reasons, which are beyond the control of the
employer, and that operation of the organization has to be stopped. Layoff
may last from few days to few months or years. In the case of restructuring
such as down sizing or mergers and acquisitions, a ‘temporary’ layoff may
become permanent (ELSOA, 1965). The section 9(nine) of the aforesaid Act
(ELSOA, 1965) contains that workers shall be paid half of the total of basic
pay, dearness allowance and the full amount of housing allowance; for the
next 15 days and onward, the laid off workers shall be paid one fourth of the
total of basic pay and dearness allowance and the full amount of house
allowance; and for any subsequent period, the employer may pay on such
manner or may retrench the workers. Layoff may also be done for white-
collar salaried employees. For white-collar employees, the organization goes
for golden parachute -a lump sum payment at the time of permanent
separation or may pay subsistence salary for temporary layoff.
Downsizing may adopt ‘a policy of golden handshake’ - a way of early

retirement with a lump sum amount of payment at an agreed upon terms and
condition. Besides, bumping- permit employees with greater seniority to
accept a demotion in a place from where less senior employees have been laid
off. Generally the lay off is based on ‘ reverse seniority’ but inverse seniority
is gaining some support as a way of the dilemma between reverse seniority
and affirmation action (French, 1996,260-261). ‘No layoff’ policy is no more a
119
tenable option (Miller, May, 1993, 74, Pollack, November, 1993). However,
layoff is demoralizing and therefore, handle tactfully to reduce its effects and
to keep experienced workforce with the organization after the expiry of the
layoff period. Most developed nations cushion the blow of layoffs and
terminations with unemployment insurance (Werther and Davis, 1996, 268).
Termination is forced separating from the organization on the ground of
violation of the code of conduct or economic or business reasons or any other
unfavourable conditions. The termination of services made for reasons of
physical or mental incapacity or continued ill health or such other similar
reasons not amounting misconduct is discharge and for the misconduct is
dismissal (GOB, 2006). Termination may be made for closure of shift of
business or reduction of operation on economic reason. In this case, the
workers / employees are paid severance pay or outplacement assistance. This
effort not only helps the former employee but also assure remaining
employees of management’s commitment to their welfare. The discharged
employees are also to be paid severance pay along with other benefits as per
Bangladesh Labour Code (GOB, 2006)). Study reveals that this scheme has
gained widespread support and a large number of employers under study
offer this new benefit (Duffy et, al, March, 1988, 28-33, Foxman and Polsky,
February 1990, 30, 36-37).
Training and Development
Employee capabilities are balanced through training and development. With

ongoing trends toward greater workforce diversity, flatter organizations, and
increased global competition, training and development efforts enable
employees to assume expanded duties and greater responsibilities (Werther
and Davis, 1996, 282). Training and development are processes that attempt
to provide an employee with information, skills, and understanding of the
organization and its goals (Ivancevich, 2001, 379). Wexley and Latham (1981),
and Hall and Goodale (1986) opine that training and development is a
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planned effort to facilitate employee learning of job-related behaviours in

order to improve employee performance. Though the terms ‘training' and
'development' frequently used as synonyms or mutually exclusive, (Goss,
1994), experts and practitioners separate and treat them as two distinguished
terms having different connotations (Bartol and Martin, 1994, 356). Training
denotes efforts to increase employee skills on present jobs while development
refers to efforts relevant to future jobs (Schuler and Huber, 1990). Therefore
training is both a part and a precondition for development. Goss (1994: 62)
rightly argues that the connection between training and development must be
regarded as highly interactive, each facilitating the other, in what may be
thought of as a dialectical relationship. However, HRM literatures present
training and development separately (Werther and Davis, 1996, French, 1997,
DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, Ivancevich, 2001, Dessler, 2000, Goss, 1994,
Douglas, Klein, Hund, 1985, Cascio, 1986, Beardwell and Holden (ed),
1995,Jucius, 1979) and thus the presentation follows this convention.
Training
Long Young, Secretary of State for Employment, UK (1986) states, "Training

should be an integral part of the work and development of any company or
organization, large or small. After all, a company's human resources are
among its most important assets and the skills and motivation of its workers
can be crucial to success. We all need to recognize that training is not a
luxury, but a necessity." The essentiality of the training in organization is not
over stated in any point of direction. Training is a learning experience in that
it seeks a relatively permanent change in an individual that will improve his
or her ability to perform on the job (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, 240) Similar
opinion has been expressed by Jucius (1979, 221), “any process by which the
aptitudes, skills, and abilities of employees to perform specific jobs are
increased"; Ivancevich (2001, 380) “helps employees to do their current work
better." Douglas, Klein and Hunt (1985:282) “teaching specific skills and
121
behaviour"; Stoner, Freeman and Gilbert Jr. (1997: 390) “maintaining and
improving current job performance;" Bateman and Snell (1996:300) “teaching-
employees how to perform their present job;” Dessler (2000:248) “skills they
(employees) need to perform their jobs.” The Manpower Services
Commission (1981) defines training as "a planned process to modify attitude,
knowledge, or skill behaviour through learning experience to achieve
effective performance in an activity or range of activities.”
Few experts and writers have emphasized upon the instilling of skills for
behavioural changes that will make a best match between person and job.
Milkovich and Boudreau (1997), opine that training is a systematic process to
foster the acquisition of skills, rules, concepts, or attitudes that results in an
improved match between employee characteristics and employment
requirements, French (1997) maintains the same view with little variation.
They add with it that changing behaviour or attitude of employees to improve
the organization’s effectiveness or goals. Two views have been associated
with training. One related training as 'instilling or teaching skills, attitudes
etc. to perform a present job efficiently' and the other relates training with
'changing behaviour to improve organization’s effectiveness or goals.' The
enormous contribution of training to various facets can be best learnt from the
panoramic exhibition of Tessin (February, 1978: 7).
The Benefits of Employee Training
_____________________________________________________________________
How Training Benefits the Organisation
 Leads to improved profitability and / more positive attitude toward

profit orientation.
 Improves the job knowledge and skills at all levels of the organization.
 Improves the morale of the workforce.
 Helps people identify with organizational goals.
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 Helps create a better corporate image.
 Fosters authenticity, openness and trust.
 Improves the relationship between boss and subordinate.
 Aids in organizational development.
 Learns from the trainee.
 Helps prepare guidelines for work.
 Aids in understanding and carrying out organizational policies.
 Provides information for future needs in all areas of the organization.
 Gets more effective decision-making and problem solving.
 Aids in development for promotion from within.
 Aids in developing leadership skill, motivation, loyalty, better

attitudes, and other aspects that successful workers and managers
usually display.
 Aids in increasing productivity and/or quality of work.
 Helps keep costs down in many areas e.g., production, personnel,

administration, etc.
 Develops a sense of responsibility to the organization for being

competent an knowledgeable.
 Improves labour-management relations.
 Reduces outside consulting costs by utilizing competent internal

consulting.
 Stimulates preventive management as opposed to putting out fires.
 Eliminates sub optimal behaviour (such as hiding tools.)
 Creates as appropriate climate for growth, communication.
 Aids in improving organizational communication.
 Helps employees adjust to change.
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 Aids in handling conflict, thereby helping to prevent stress and

tension.
Benefits to the Individual Which In Turn Ultimately Should Benefit

the Organization
 Helps the individual in making better decisions and effective problem

solving.
 Through training and development, motivational variables of

recognition, achievement, growth, responsibility and advancement are
internalized and operationalized.
 Aids in encouraging and achieving self-development and self –

confidence.
 Helps a person handle stress, tension, frustration and conflict.
 Provides information for improving leadership knowledge,

communication skills and attitudes.
 Increases job satisfaction and recognition.
 Moves a person toward personal goals while improving interaction

skills.
 Satisfies personal needs of the trainer (and trainees!).
 Provides trainee an avenue for growth and a say in his/her own

future.
 Develops a sense of growth in learning.
 Helps a person develop speaking and listening skills; also writing skills
when exercises are required.
 Helps eliminate fear in attempting new tasks.
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Benefits in Personnel and Human Relations, Intra- and Intergroup

Relations and Policy Implementation
 Improves communication between groups and individuals.
 Aids in orientation for new employees and those taking new jobs
through transfer or promotion.
 Provides information on equal opportunity and affirmative action.
 Provides information on other governmental laws and administrative

policies.
 Improves interpersonal skills.
 Makes organization policies, rules, and regulations viable.
 Improves morale.
 Builds cohesiveness in groups.
 Provides a good climate for learning, growth, and coordination.
 Makes the organization a better placer to work and live.
Training is a process that involves various steps. The number of steps is being
debated by writers and experts but it centers around 3 to 7 steps. French
(1997) prescribes 7 steps: determining the need for skills training, translating
skills needs into training objectives, selecting trainees, determining the
curriculum and choosing training methods, formulating the budget, selecting
and training trainers and establishing evaluation procedures. Carolane (April
1993:18) suggests five steps in training and development process: needs
analysis, instructional designs, validation, implementation and evaluation
and follow up. Werther and Davis (1996:287) maintain 5 steps: need
assessment, training and development objectives, program content and
learning principles, actual program, evaluation. Cascio (1986:224) points out
125
three phases with four steps: assess instructional need, select training media
and learning principles, conduct training and evaluation. Ivancevich (2001)
prescribes four steps: Determining needs and objectives, choosing trainers
and training, developing instruction methods and providing training. It is
designed for the study as under:
NEED ASSESSMENT
SET OBJECTIVES
SELECT TRAINEES
DETERMINE CURRICULUM
&
SELECT TRAINING METHODS
V A L I D A T I O N
DEVELOP BUDGET
SELECT
AND TRAIN TRAINERS
I M P L E M E N T A T I ON
E V A L U A T I O N
Training and Development Process
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Need assessment diagnoses current problems and future challenges to be met

through training and development (Werther and Davis, 1997:286). The
purpose of the need assessment is to identify the specific job performance
skills needed, to analyse the skills and needs of the prospective trainees.
Ivancevich (2001) maintains that the needs assessment involves analyzing the
organization's needs; the knowledge, skill, and ability needed to perform the
job; and the person or jobholder's needs. Moreover, various objectives and
strategies of the organization are to be matched with the firm's human talents,
structure, climate and efficiency. In this respect, Breadwell and Holden
(1995): 341) opine that the important consideration is the reconciliation of the
training and development needs of the individual to that of the organisation.
The training needs can be ascertained by (1) observation at the place of work
i.e. the present skill levels of employees( examination of the job); (2) interview
with the supervisors and employees; (3) comparative study of good versus
bad employees with a view to identify the gap; (4) production reports; (5)
personnel records; (6) review of the literatures on the jobs available in an
organisation and the machines used;( Khanzode, 1992:66); (7) task analysis -
an analysis of the job's requirements (Dessler 1996, Douglas, Klein and Hunt
,1985); (8) examine the problems that employees have (Khanzode, 1992:66) ;
(9) employees' suggestions and (10) the organisational needs -the number of
employees with various combinations of skills needed at each level and in
every part of the firm for specified period (French, 1996). In essence, any gaps
between expected and actual results suggest a need for training (Kirkpatrick,
January, 1996: 54-59).
Once training needs have been determined, concrete, measurable training

objectives should be set. Training and development or instructional objectives
are defined as ' a description of a performance you want learners to be able to
exhibit before you consider them competent (Cample et al., 1986:100). It is a
translation of skills needed into specific training objectives or desired
127
outcomes of training activities. Objectives specify what the trainee should be

able to accomplish after successfully completing training program (Cicero,
1973, 28: 14-17, Hales, July 1986: 87-92, Wensky and Legendre, April 1989:102-
108). Training objectives should include such matters as the specific skills to
be taught, the number of people to be trained, and from which units, and the
period within which such training should take place. Objectives for the
training program that do not relate directly to specific job skills such as
employee health and safety guidelines, promotional opportunities, and self-
study opportunities (Hoffman, August 1985, Carnevale, Gainer and Meltzer,
1988) should also be considered. Milkovich and Boudreau (1997) opine that
good objectives are measurable, specific, set a deadline, and reflect outcomes
important to key constituents. Objectives, thus, provide a focus for the efforts
of both the trainee and the trainer and a benchmark for evaluating the success
of the training program (Dessler, 2000:255).
The next logical step of the training programme is the selection of right
person/employee for the programme. Both the organization and the
individual would benefit if a deserving employee were chosen for the training
programme. Organizations will provide the right training to the right people
to create and maintain a well-trained and stable workforce. The individuals
will receive higher pay, additional prestige and greater opportunities for
promotion. There are at least four considerations important in selecting
trainees: (1) Legal guidelines, (2) employee needs and motivation, (3) skills
obsolescence and retraining, and (4) multiskilling (French, 1997: 287). Any
sort of discrimination in the selection of trainee because of race, sex, age,
disability status and the like will affect the morale of the workforce.
Moreover, lawsuit may cause financial and other damage of the organisation.
Employee needs and motivation for the training, though difficult to measure,
can be determined by previous performance evaluation, individual interview
and by supervisors' comment. Rapid escalation of technological change
pushes organisations to give higher and higher priority to worker retraining
128
(French, 1997). This also means that individual workers themselves must seek
out training opportunities to avoid having their skills obsolete. Multiskilling
is very much useful for self-managed teams or for firms wanting greater
flexibility in the case of absences due to illness or family emergency or in
sudden shift in productions requirements (French, 1997. Ivancevich, 2001,
Cascio, 1986).
The next phase would be getting training materials ready and training
method finalized.The curriculum must meet the needs of the organisation and
the participants i.e. must be consistent with training objectives. The materials
should not be beyond the trainees’ level of sophistication, nor should they be
too elementary. There should be sufficient pertinence to create optimum
motivation. The training method should fit the characteristics of the target
group, the kinds of things that need to be taught, and the organisational
resources that are available for training (Douglas, Klein and Hunt, 1985: 291).
There are various methods of training grouped into two broad methods: on -
the -job and off –the-job training. On- the- job training is a primary skills
training approach. It is the most widely used method of training. One
estimate shows that more than 60 percent of training occurs on –the- job
(Ivancevich, 2001: 393). Under this method, the employee is placed into the
real work situation and shown the job and the tricks of the trade by an
experienced employee or the supervisor (Ivancevich, 2001, Werther and
Davis, 1996, Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997, French, 1997, Dessler, 2000,
Breadwell and Holden, 1998, DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, Cascio, 1986). It is
learning by doing (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997). On-the-job training virtually
automatically creates the same environment, cues, and rewards in the training
that the individual experiences when actually doing the job (Milkovich and
Boudreau, 1997). Realism is maximised in this training. It is least costly or
virtually inexpensive. The drawbacks of the method are low quality output,
damage of machinery by the novice trainee, low quality or defective product
etc. (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997, French,
129
1997). There are several types of on-the-job training. They are: i)

apprenticeship training -employees are placed in the actual job temporarily
under the guidance of a master worker and become skilled workers through a
combination of classroom instruction and on-the job training by experienced
supervisor, managers or other in-house experts. Successful completion of
training would make employees permanent; ii) coaching -coach (supervisors
and/or managers) attempts to provide a model of work for the trainee to
copy; iii) pre-employment training -job seekers are tested and instructed in
employment fundamentals without pay by the organization and they are
rated on their willingness to work as well as on-the- job aptitude; iv) vestibule
training-giving skills training to individuals after they are hired but they are
assigned to specific jobs (French, 1997:292); 4) job instruction training (JIT) -
preparing supervisors to train operatives.
Off-the-training covers a number of techniques: i) lecturers and conferences-

quick and simple way of providing knowledge to large number of trainees
particularly in giving rules, procedures or methods. 2) programmed
computer-assisted instruction-complex computer modeling is used to initiate
some of the realities of the job and used in giving training without any risk; 3)
audio-visual based training-materials like videodiscs, videocassettes, and
films are used in skills training with the limitation that there is no interaction
between the trainer and the trainee. Videoconferencing is a growing
technique for skills training today; 4) programmed instruction- a systematic
method for training job skills involving presentation of questions or facts,
allowing the person to respond and giving the learner immediate feedback on
the accuracy of his or her answers (Dessler, 2000:260); 5) interactive video-
training--combines a computer and key-board, a video screen material stored
on a video disc, and video camera and tape into one system with a ‘doctor’
who comes at interval with questions and with correct answer after being
answered by the trainee on the screen from among options. The trainee can
repeat the exercise until he or she is satisfied. (French, 1998:295); 6) simulation
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exercise-explicitly places the trainees in an artificial environment that closely

mirrors actual working conditions. Simulation activities include case studies,
experimental exercises, complex computer modeling, and vestibule training.
Other than these training, there are training for special purpose such as
literacy training, AIDS education, values training, diversity training, customer
service training, teamwork and empowerment training, international business
training that prepares employees for special situations.
Whatever method or a combination of methods are being chosen for the

training, that must meet the minimal conditions for effective learning to take
place. That is, as Cascio (1986:238) suggested, the training method should:
- Motivate the trainee to improve his or her performance;
- Clearly illustrate desired skills;
- Provide for active participation by the trainee;
- Provide an opportunity to practice;
- Provide timely feedback on the trainee's performance;
- Provide some means for reinforcement while the trainee learns;
- Structured from simple to complex tasks;
- Be adaptable to specific problems;
- Encourage positive transfer from the training to the job.
Validation of the training programme would be made to make it effective and

result oriented. It should be listed before a representative audience. Based on
final revisions of pilot results a budget is prepared for the training
programme. It is an interactive process with other steps in the training
programme development process. Budget constraints may limit the human
resources manager's alternatives and must therefore be considered during all
phases of the development process (French, 1997:295). Training generally
involves with costs of staff planning time, trainee wages, trainer wages, and
direct expenses for materials, accommodations and meals (French, 1997:295).
131
Effective trainer is one of the fundamental prerequisites for the successful

training. Organisations may use their own staff or may bring trainers from
outside under contract or may use a combination of both the options for
giving training. Staff trainers are full-time specialists on the organisation
payroll and part-time training are less expensive than trainers hired from
outside (French, 1997). Selecting right individuals and providing him with the
tools he needs for the training are essential for success. Once selected, the
trainers must be educated in the overall process of training and in the specific
training programme in which they will be involved. This could not be done
in the case of contract trainers. But care must be taken to evaluate both the
individual trainers and the training organisation to ensure quality training.
The use of outside trainers has several advantages: productive employees are
not taken off the job, specialized and experienced training can be given, costs
of many facets have been saved, wider range of choice in selecting trainers
can be exercised and the firms have more control over the trainers in that they
can be easily replaced by more qualified external trainers (French, 1997).
Training programme is now ready for implementation. All physical facilities

are to be arranged and make fit for the trainees and trainers. People must feel
comfort, interested and committed while they are in their desired training.
The whole environment should be conducive to effective learning.
Training must be evaluated by systematically documenting the outcomes of

the training in terms of how trainees actually behave back on their jobs and
the relevance of the trainees behaviour to the objectives of the organisation
(Snyder, Raben and Farr 1980:5: 531-444). Effective criteria that are used to
evaluate training focus on outcomes. Experts agree on four outcomes of the
training programme (Kirkpatrick, 1997, 34, 9-12, Caro lan, April, 1993,). They
are: 1) Reaction-feeling of trainees to the training programme; 2) Learning or
knowledge-acquired knowledge through training experience. It uses feedback
devices or pre-and post-tests to measure what learners have actually learned;
3) Behaviour- change in behaviour resulted from the training; and 4) Results: -
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level of improvement in job performance and in organisational productivity,

quality, turnover or accident reductions etc. There are several methods
available for measuring the effectiveness of the training (Beardwell and
Holden, 1995:351). They are:
1) Questionnaire (Feedback form) or happiness sheets are a common

way of eliciting trainee responses to courses and programmes.
2) Tests or examinations are common on formal courses, which

provide a certificate, (test-retest method).
3) Projects are initially seen as learning methods but they can also
provide valuable information to instructors.
4) Structured exercises and case studies are opportunities to apply

learned skills and techniques under the observation of tutors and
evaluators.
5) Tutor reports: Report of the trainers’ about trainees’ containing

valuable assessment from a different perspective.
6) Interviews of trainees at post-course or instruction period may be

taken informally or formally, individually or in group or by
telephone.
7) Observation of courses and training by those devising training

strategies in the training department and received information
would be compared with trainee responses.
8) Participation and discussion during training needs.
9) Experimental control group method: two groups are established

which are comparable as to skills, intelligence, and learning abilities
and evaluated on their actual job performances.
10) Pre-post performance method: Each trainee is evaluated prior to

training and rated on actual job performance. After instruction is
completed the trainees are revaluated.
133
11) Test-retest method: Trainees are given a test before they begin the
programme and trainees retake the same test after completion of
the training. The resultant figure would exhibit the contribution of
the training.
For complicated training evaluation it is recommended that a combination of

these approaches be used (Beardwell and Holden, 1998: 351)
Management Development
Managers today are to face various kinds of changes. Organisations and their
environment are dynamic and constantly changing, because new technologies
are developed, competitors enter and leave markets, inflation increases and
productivity fluctuates (Ivancevich, 2001:405). Therefore, development of
managers is a continuous process in the most successful firms (Ivancevich,
2001:405). Thus, management development has become a strategic goal for
organisations today (Doyle, 1998: 375 Beardwell & Holden, 1998). Success
depends upon the way organisations choose to approach development.
Organizations must be prepared to develop individual managers and
management teams that are not only flexible, adaptable and innovative in
technical, financial and business issues, but skilled in human resource
management as well as in order to achieve success. To achieve this,
organisations are to establish, as a strategic imperative, greater investment in
continuous management education and development (Coulson-Thomas, 1989:
4). Organisations that fail to make this type of investment are unlikely to
exploit future opportunities and potential; adapt successfully in the face of
major changes; develop new markets and products; retain and motivate
employees; create and sustain an effective management team; and survive
and prosper (Doyle, 1998:374, Beardwell and Holden,, 1998).
Molander (1986) defines management development as 'a conscious and

systematic process to control the development of managerial resources in the
134
organization for the achievement of goals and strategies. Dessler (2000:280)

mentions that management development is any attempt to improve
managerial performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes or
increasing skills. This definition emphasizes upon specific organizational
goals and strategies attainment but achieving managerial ability that
contribute equally to the development of organisation too. Same idea has
been expressed by Mumford (1987). He says, "Management development is
an attempt to improve managerial effectiveness through a planned and
deliberate learning process.” French (1997: 305) says, “Management and
career development programs represent efforts to increase the organisation's
present and future ability to meet its goals by providing educational and
developmental experiences for managers and all employees above and
beyond the immediate technical requirements of their jobs." The concept
explicitly expressed that the management development is meant for non-
operative employees or incumbents and the goal is to increase the effective of
the organization through their development. Instead of managers being fed
information on a course, their managerial capacity and potential would be
developed by a wide variety of experiences, through which they would
acquire greater understanding, awareness, sensitivity self-confidence and
those other aspects of effectiveness that are regarded as most important but
which could be inculcated (Torrington and Hall, 1995). Management
development can be differentiated from other types of training in four
important ways: 1) Management development is a broader concept and is
more concerned with developing the whole person rather than emphasizing
the learning of narrowly defined skills; 2) It emphasizes the contribution of
formal and informal work experiences; 3) The concept of management
development places a greater responsibility on managers to develop
themselves than is placed on most employees to train themselves; and 4)
Managers are developed as much for jobs that they will be doing as for the
jobs that they are doing (Torrington and Hall, 1995:420).
135
Management development facilitates organisational continuity by preparing

managers for the current and future jobs so that they can assume future
positions smoothly and also socialises management trainees by developing in
them the right values and attitudes for working in the firm (Dessler, 2000).
Management development helps developing the skills that managers need to
respond faster to changes. It is an effective way to meet challenges from
managerial obsolescence, international and domestic workforce diversity,
technical changes, affirmative actions and employee term over. Management
development is a mean to make managers versatile for the higher hierarchy.
Success of management development depends on variety of forces of factors

(Fenwick-MacGrath, July 1988; Carnevale 1991; Dessler 2000; French
1997:305). s. They are: (1) extensive and visible involvement of chief executive
officer or top management support, by educating senior executives about the
program, and involving them at every stage, and frequently publicizing
successes and positive results of the program; (2) a clearly articulated and
understood development policy and philosophy; (3) careful blending of new
ways of doing things with organizational norms to make the program
polished and professional; (4) linkage of development policies and
philosophies to the business strategies, objectives and challenges; (5) ensure
compatibility between individual training and organization structure and
systems to make it adaptive; (6) use existing resources, including training
programs, information systems, and people to control costs and builds a
supportive climate; (7) create multiple feedback loops to make it more
effective; and (6) promote volunteerism and choice to ensure employee more
committed to the program.
There are certain dimensional changes took place in the organisational

environments that prompted training and development activity in all
business organisations intend to survive and prosper in today's economy.
Survey (1991) reveals those challenges that are quality improvement,
technological changes, customer service, corporate culture, new market
136
strategies, centralization of authority, productivity improvement, staffing,

decentralization, succession planning, merger or acquisition, remedial or basic
education and international competition.
Management development can be approached in a number of different ways.

Mumford (1987) describes three types of approach as below:
1) A Piecemeal Approach
Management development is either an accidental or planned process. It may

be informal managerial or formalised development programme. This
approach is chosen for resource constraints and for having lack of awareness
about linking development to business strategy. It has no management
development infrastructure. Development is largely defined in terms of a
range of universal, off-the-shelf internal or external courses and is often
focused on the needs of the organization and fails to meet the leaning needs
and aspirations of individuals and groups. There is a lack of common vision
among those responsible for management development. It is difficult to
evaluate the effectiveness of a piecemeal approach because it lacks clear
direction and established objectives.
2) An open system approach
Management development is an integral part of a wider organizational

system and is linked to the reality of managerial work. It is planned and
structured by the boss and subordinate with clear developmental objectives.
Its explicit intentions are both task performance and development and it
occurs within managerial activities. Management development is at one and
the same time a system and a process. It is composed of identifiable parts or
components, which act together in an organized way. It is integrated with,
and mutually dependent upon other organizational subsystems, activities and
processes. This approach makes management development more acceptable,
flexible, responsive and proactive in the face of organizational change and
137
turbulence. An open system view identifies the way management

development contributes to overall organizational effectiveness.
3) A unified approach
Management development is located at the very heart of the organization’s

philosophy, mission, business goals and human resource strategy. The
process is integrated and coherent across all functions and hierarchies.
Manager performance is measured and development activity can be linked
clearly to the organizational values and the achievement of strategic goals.
Management development is a systematic process that is implemented step-

by-step. Ivancevich (2001:405) prescribes 4 (four) step process that he calls ‘
diagnostic steps in development program’ containing (1) determine short –
and long-term goals of the organization; (2) examine work requirements,
specifications, and changes in work, (3) determine behaviours needed to
perform work and performance standards, and (4) develop behavioural
objectives to be accomplished through development programmes. Hilt (1987)
prescribed another development model, which is termed as ‘unified
management development programme’. This model is built on open systems
principles, which is very much adaptive in the present context of complex
socio-economic situations. The model is shown in the next page.
Creating a framework of values, beliefs and ethical standards is vital to an

effective management development programme. But creating a system of
espoused values is not enough. They must be embedded in formal and
informal philosophical statements, which are then communicated to their
wider organization.
Corporate objectives provide vision and direction and map where the
organization is going over the next 3-5 years (Doyle, 1998). Integrating the
human resource with corporate objectives is often seen as a low priority item
on the strategic agenda. People are expected to accept and adapt to the
requirements of corporate objectives.
138
Establish a corporate Establish corporate
Philosophy of management objectives of business
Determine required management
values and competences
Analyse existing management
strengths and weaknesses
Select new managers Develop existing managers
Establish individual and
Team feedback systems
Implement programme
Evaluate progress and performance
Management Development Model
Organisation is now in a position to decide and prioritize the values and

competences it requires from its managers. It, then, must analyse its current
management team to determine individual and team strengths and
weaknesses. It can use various techniques and methods for this purpose such
as review of personal files, records, performance appraisal documentation,
workshops and seminars with mangers, assessment centers and psychometric
tests.
139
The analysis of existing strengths and weaknesses and a comparison with

required competencies and values would provide the organization inputs to
decide its strategy for management development. It can take the course of
recruiting new managers or investing in existing managers. It may require
restructuring and reorganizing its management team. A set of development
plans would be prepared on the basis of requirements in consultation with
managers to take account of their personal ambition and needs.
An effective performance measurement and feedback systems need to be

created and introduced that will serve the individual and team objectives as
well as involve a system of individual and team appraisal on both formal and
informal basis. With the support and commitment of top management and
participants, the programme will now be implemented with the utilization of
different learning methods. The evaluation of the management development
programme would be made with an open system approach instead of
piecemeal approach.
There are many methods and approaches in use today for developing
managerial and supervisory abilities and for meeting the developmental
needs of the employees and of the transitions. The available techniques may
be grouped for convenience in two categories: On-the-job and off the-job
development methods. The major on-the-job management development
methods are:
1) Coaching: Coaching is an informal approach to management

development based on a close relationship between the developing
manager and one other person usually their immediate manager,
who is experienced in management (Torrington and Hall, 1995:
427). Coaching involves frequent helping activities on the part of a
supervisor toward a subordinate (French, 1997). Coaches are
managers who help employees grow and improve their job
competence on a day-to-day basis. Coaches set challenging goals,
140
inform employees what is expected of them, evaluate progress

toward those goals, appraise performance in a regular and objective
manner to prepare them for promotion (Shore and Bloom, August,
1986, Evered and Selman, Autumn, 1989).
2) Job Rotation: Moving management trainees from department to

department to broaden their understanding of all parts of the
business (Yoder et. al. 1958, Rothwell, Kazemas and Haines, 1992).
3) Understudy Assignment: Assigning an inexperienced manager to

work for more experienced managers, often on an ‘assistant to’
basis (French, 1997: 312). The understudy relieves the executive of
certain responsibilities, thereby giving the trainee a chance to learn
the job (wexley and Latham 1981: 207). Eventually, he will be
capable to perform at the same level as the experienced managers
and to assume the key positions in due course.
4) Mentoring: Mentoring is a role filled by someone other than the

immediate supervisor (French, 1997: 313) who guide, encourage,
and support young and less experienced employees or protégés
(Clutterbuch, 1991; Collin, 1988; Hunt and Michael, 1983; Kram,
1985; Megginson, 1988). A mentor is wise and trusted, counselor or
teacher (American Heritage Dictionary, 1992). Mentoring facilitates
the learners to learn of their employees, contributes to the process
of meaning -making in the organisation and hence to its
responsiveness to its environment, while meeting the
developmental needs of employees (Collin, 1998).
5) Committee Assignment/Junior Board: Assignment to a committee

or junior board provides an opportunity for the employees to share
in managerial decision making, to learn by watching others, to
investigate special organizational problems, and to make
recommendations on overall organizational policies.
141
6) Action Learning: Action learning gives managers released time to

work full time on projects, analyzing and solving problems in
departments other than their own (Fox, Sept-Oct. 1997).
Management trainees work together as a project group to compare
notes and discuss each other's projects.
Off-the-job management development techniques are wide in variety. Few of

the popular methods are discussed in a nutshell below:
1) Lectures and Conferences: Lecture courses offer an opportunity

for managers or potential managers to acquire knowledge and
develop their conceptual and analytical abilities. Conference and
seminar are structured around a small-group meeting in which a
leader trained in group decision methods, helps the group to
identify and define a problem, guides the discussion so that it is
constantly directed toward the problem, and summarizes the
principles or explanations that reflect the consensus of the group in
dealing with the problem.
2) Computer-assisted Instruction: A business problem is given to the

participants and they analyse the situation and makes a decision
with the help of computer. The trainer ascertains the correctness of
the simulation and provides feedback to the participants. Computer
models can provide participants with sufficient realism to allow
practice applications without undue risk that the organization’s
operations will be disrupted or that the firm will lose money.
3) Seminar: Participants take part in a discussion where a person

present the keynote paper and some selected discussants
participate in the discussion on the issues specified in the paper.
Participants may also take part in the discussion. Participants will
be enriched with the documents and discussions.
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4) Laboratory Technique: This is experienced based learning

workshops that utilize one or more approaches such as case
discussions/studies, incidence process, role playing, computer
simulations, management games or problem solving exercises,
and/or relatively unstructured group discussions (French, 1997:
315). Managers learn from the dynamics of the sessions and from
the application of specific managerial and supervisory techniques
in simulated work situations. Case Discussions/studies present a
trainee with a written description of an organisational problem.
The person then analyses the case in private, diagnoses the problem
and presents his/her findings and solutions in a discussion with
other trainees (Wexley and Latham, 1981). It provides stimulating
discussion among participants, as well as excellent opportunities
for individuals to defend their analytical and judgmental abilities,
thus improving decision-making abilities within the constraints of
limited information (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, Ivancevice 2001,
Cascio, 1986). The incident process requires trainees to read
individually a briefly sketched incident and then, as a group, to
assume the role of a specific person in the situation (Pigors and
Pigors, 1955). It is a specialized form of case method in which the
leader presents a problem or dilemma and the participants have the
task of drawing out the relevant facts by questioning the leader
after which a decision is made (Pigors and Pigors, 1961). Role-
playing is a device that forces trainees to assume different identities
(Werther Jr. and Davis, 1996: 294). All participants by playing
given roles experience the realistic variability that managers
actually encounter in real job situations (Pere, October: 1984,
Robinson, May-June: 1987). It is frequently used to teach skills such
as interviewing, grievance handling, performance review,
leadership styles, and effective communication. (Cascio, 1986: 274).
T-groups: It is a derived term from training groups' usually
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involves small groups, of approximately ten to twelve participants,

meeting under the guidance of a trainer (French, 1997:315-316). The
unconstrained group has a very flexible agenda and a minimum
formal leadership.
5) Transactional Analysis: It is highly participative development

technique focuses on viewing the interactions between individuals
and between groups as interactions (French 1997). Transactional
analysis is based on the concept that each person has a three-
dimensional behaviour pattern based on three ego states-parent,
child and adult (Berne, 1964). It helps managers understand others
better and assists them in altering their responses so as to produce
more effective results.
6) Behavioural Modeling: This technique of development focuses on

learning through observation or imagination. It consists of
presenting or showing participants a particular behaviour or way of
doing something and then having the participants practice the
behaviour through role playing (French, 1997:318). Thus, modeling
is a 'vicarious process’, which implies sharing in the experience of
another person through imagination or sympathetic participation
(Sims, Jr. and Manz, 1982: 58).
7) In-basket Training: This development method consists of giving

trainees a set of memos, letters, and other items that a manager
might find in the basket upon arriving at work (French, 1997:318).
The response of the participant is analyzed by the trainer and the
group to see the scope of improvements. It helps the management
trainees determine which decisions can be made quickly, which
must be or should be delayed and which should be referred to
others.
144
8) University-related Programme: Many universities and colleges

provide group, individualized and degree programmes related to
business and management. These programmes provide
opportunities to the working managers to have wide variety of
knowledge for enhancing their efficiency.
9) In-house development center: This is a organization/enterprise-

based development method for exposing prospective managers to
realistic exercises to develop improved management skills (Dessler,
2000: 292). It offers both general management programs and the
professional management programmes stress solving concrete
business problems.
10) Programmed Instruction or Manual: It condenses the materials to

be learned into highly organized, logical sequences, which require
the trainee to respond.
11) Experimental Exercise: Experimental exercises are usually short,

structured learning experiences where individuals learn by doing.
It is used to create a conflict situation where employees have to
experience a conflict personally and work out its resolution. The
facilitator or trainer typically discusses what happened after
completing the exercise and introduces theoretical concepts to help
explain the members’ behaviour during the exercise.
12) Management Games: Management games describe the operating

characteristics of a company, industry or enterprise. These
descriptions take the form of equations that are manipulated after
decisions have been made. Management games emphasize
development of problem-solving skills.
13) Behaviour Modeling: A developmental approach for improving

interpersonal skills is behaviour modeling which is also called
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interaction management or imitating model (O’Donohue and

Krasner 1995).The key to behaviour modeling is learning through
observation or imagination. Thus, modeling is a “vicarious process”
that emphasizes observation. There are four steps in the process: 1)
Modeling of effective behaviour- often by use of films; 2) Role
playing planning; 3) Social reinforcement- trainees and trainers
praise effective role playing; 4) Transfer of training to the job.
Evaluation of management development program normally is carried out at

three stages- input; process and output stage (Rae 1986). Multiple criteria are
being used for this purpose (Kirkpatrick, January, 1996). To conduct
evaluation effectively, a range of methods can be employed. They are:
1) Test-retest method: Participants are given a test before they begin

the programme and the same test is being conducted after the
development programme. The difference between results will be
the measure of result of development programme. This could be
done also by taking interview or asking participants to fill up a
questionnaire before and after the programme.
2) Pre-post performance method: This method is directly related to

job behaviour. The participants are rated on his /her work
behaviour by the immediate supervisor or by the 360-degree
methods before and after completion of the programme in the
actual work/job in the organisation. The positive outcome will
exhibit the effectiveness of the development program.
3) Experimental control-group method: This is a method to compare

the performance of the trained group with non-trained group. The
result of the performance in the same type of job would be the effect
of development program.
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4) Attitudes surveys and psychological tests: An attitude survey is

conducted after the development programme to mark the
attitudinal changes that have been brought about into the person by
the programme. This could be done by the standard psychological
tests too.
5) Observation Method: The participants are observed during the

process of development program by the trainer and are evaluated
by him about his level of improvement. The managers and others
could do this too in the jobs in and out of the organization. Their
comments about the participants would be a good measure of the
effectiveness of the development programs.
Management development is a continuing process. The qualities required for

effective managing in the context of a particular organizational situation are
not easily developable. Sisson (1994) suggests that some of the desirable
indicators for managers in the future are being an active analyst, willing to
take risks, strong personal goals and wide vision. Kanter (1989) believes that
the organization of the future will require seven particular qualities from
managers- the ability to operate without relying on hierarchy; competing in a
way that enhances rather than undercuts co-operation; a high standard of
ethics; humility to learn new things; a process focus; to be multifaceted and
ambidextrous and to gain satisfaction from results rather than contribution.
Thus, a wide range of methods would be required to develop managers’
under this complicated future conditions and expectations.
Compensation Management
Various terms have been used to denote payments to the employees of the
organization for their work. ‘Pay’, ‘remuneration’, ‘compensation’, ‘wage and
salary’ are terms with narrow and broad meanings used for the purpose.
‘Pay’, wage and salary’ carry a narrow meaning than that of other terms. Pay
147
is the money paid to somebody for regular work (Oxford Dictionary, 1999:
857). Wage and salary also denote 'the payment received for performing work
(French, 1997:364) One thing should be made clear here that 'wage' and ;
'salary' have slightly different in their meanings. Wage refers to an hourly rate
of pay and is the pay basis used mostly for production and maintenance
employees (blue-collar workers) and salary refers to a weekly, monthly or
yearly rate of pay to clerical, professional, sales and management employees
(white-collar workers) (French, 1997, 365). On the other hand, compensation
deals with every type of reward individuals receive in exchange for
performing organizational tasks (Ivancevich, 2002): ) Pattern Jr. (1977 : 01)
opines that employee compensation refers to all forms of pay or rewards
going to employees and arising from their employment. Similar opinion has
been expressed by McCaffery (1988), Fay (1989) and Milkovich and
Baudrearu (2000).
They comment that compensation consists of wages paid directly for time
worked, as well as more indirect benefits that employees receive as part of
their employment relationship with an organization. So, compensation
includes two things (i) direct financial compensations which is typically made
in cashable form that reflect direct work related compensation such as base
pay, wages and salaries, merit increases or increments, bonuses-festival or
incentive, commissions; 2) indirect financial compensation or benefits that
consists of all forms of compensation beyond direct financial compensation
such as (a) paid leave-vacations, holidays, sick leave, other leave; (b)
supplementary pay-shift pay, non-productive bonuses; (c) insurance-life
insurance, health insurance, sickness and accident insurance, long-term
disability insurance; (d) retirement and savings -defined benefit pension,
defined contribution pension; (e) legally required benefits-provident fund,
social security, preparatory leave for retirement, medicare, workers
compensation; (f) other benefits -stock ownership etc. There are non-financial
rewards like praise, self-esteem and recognition (Ivancevich, 2001) that affect
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employee motivation, productivity and satisfaction, not included in

remuneration. This also includes other forms of rewards and returns that
employee may receive such as promotions, recognition for out standing work,
feeling of accomplishment, choice office location and like (Milkovich and
Boudreau, 2000). All these elements constitute an organization’s reward
system. The diagram below shows the forms of compensation in a classified
manner:
Compensation
Direct Financial Indirect Financial Non-financial
Basic Bonuses Merit Cost of Paid Insurance Perquisites legal Rec Choice
pay Incentives increment living leave and benef ogni of

office
adjustments savings its tion
Commission and Praise
Profit sharing
Various Forms of Compensation
Pay is a necessity of life of working people and a strong tool for attracting and
motivating working people for more effective performance (Ivancevich, 2001,
Milkovich and Boudreau, 2000,) Pay is meaningful to the employees in four
dimensions (Thierry, 1992: 146-47). They are: 1) salient motives-pay is
meaningful because the employee expects that it will allow him or her to
satisfy important motives and to reach relevant goals; (2) relative position-pay
provides feedback on how the employee's task performance is progressing
with respect to the goals or targets set and about the employee's effectiveness
in comparison with others in the organization; 3) control- pay is meaningful
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because it signifies to the employees the extent to which she or he has been
successful in influencing others during task performance in order to reach
his/her goals; 4) spending-pay is meaning because it reflect the products and
services that the employee can afford to purchase, thus it is perceived in terms
of individual welfare. Thus, pay helps organization achieve its objectives, and
obtain, maintain, and retain a productive workforce (Werther and Davis,
1996: 379). Pay dissatisfaction or inadequate compensation will cause
absenteeism, excessive turn-over, job dissatisfaction, strike, poor performance
and will make replacement difficult. Therefore, it has to be managed
efficiently so that an all-party acceptable compensation package can be
developed and implemented. It is true that there is no all time adaptive
compensation. It has to change with the changes of the micro and macro
environmental factors/ forces.
Compensation has to be managed in a systematic and efficient manner in

order to make it attractive to job seeks as well as incumbents and
accommodative to future situations. Khanzode (1992) opines that wage and
salary administration refers to the establishment and implementation of
sound policies of employee compensation (see also Mamoria 1987: 482). It
includes such areas as job evaluation, development and maintenance of wage
and salary structures, compensation surveys, incentives, profit sharing,
compensation changes and adjustments, supplementary payments, control of
compensation costs, and other related pay items. The goals of an effective
compensation management, as Werther and Davis (1996: 381) point out, are to
acquire qualified personnel, retain current employees, and ensure equity.
They opine that pay is to be related to the relative worth of a job so that
similar jobs get similar pay (internal equity) and what comparable workers
are paid by other firms in the labour market (external equity), reward desired
behaviour (pay should reinforce desired behaviours and act as an incentive
for those behaviours to occur in the future such as favourable work
performance, loyalty, experience, responsibility and other behaviours),
150
control costs, comply with legal regulations of the government, facilitate

understanding among human resource specialists, operating managers and
employees and to further administrative efficiency. Compensation
management is to create a system of rewards that is equitable to the employer
and employee alike (Ivancevich, 2001 : 287). Patton (1977) suggests that in
compensation policy seven criteria should present to ensure effectiveness.
They are:
1) Adequate: Minimum governmental, union, and managerial levels

should be met.
2) Equitable: Each person should be paid fairly in line with his or her
effort, abilities, and training.
3) Balanced: Pay, benefits, and other rewards should provide a

reasonable total reward package.
4) Cost-effective: Pay should not be excessive, considering what the

organization can afford to pay.
5) Secure: Pay should be enough to help an employee feel secure and

aid him or her in satisfying basic needs.
6) Incentive providing: Pay should motivate effective and productive

work.
7) Acceptable to the employee: The employee should understand the

pay system and feel it a reasonable system for the enterprise and
himself or herself.
Torrington and Hall (1995: 562) point out two-dimensional objectives-

Employee objectives and employer objectives-that people want to achieve
through the contract for payment. The employee objectives are: 1) to have
purchasing power that determines the standard of living of the recipients; 2)
to have 'felt-fair' about the payment that it is fair for the job: 3) to have the
'rights' on the share of the organization’s profits; 4) to have 'relativities' of the
pay in relation to what others are getting in the similar jobs; 5) to have
151
'recognition' for their personal contribution to the job or the organizational

efficiency and effectiveness; 6) to have a favourable composition of pay
package. The other side of the picture is the thinking of the employers about
the range of objectives to be achieved through a compensation policy. They
are: 1) to maintain the 'prestige' i.e. pride at doing better than others; 2) to
have a sufficiently 'competitive' pay to sustain the employment of the right
numbers of appropriately qualified and experienced employees to staff the
organisation, 3) to have control over cost that will facilitate control of
operations and potentially save money: 4) to have a motivational and
performance generating pay: 5) to have a "cost effective' pay policy. Experts
here emphasized upon such a remuneration policy that will match
successfully the demands of both the participants of the organization.
HRM has to take into account the intricate and interrelated factors affecting
the pay structure of an organization and the pay scale determination for
given jobs (French, 1997, Dessler 2000, Ivancevich 2001, Werther and Davis,
1996, DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, Khanzode, 1992, Beardwell and Holden,
1998, Mamoria, 1987). The impinging factors for compensation determination
are:
1) Worth of the job -the relative influence of the size, responsibility,

requirements and objectionableness of duties differ worth of one
job from other.
2) Worth of the individual characteristics-the influence of age,

experience, seniority, general qualifications, special skills,
contribution, performance and potential of the incumbent which
cause variance in individual pay.
3) Labour market - the supply and demand of the required skills in the
labour market will dictate pay rate. Scarcity will shoot the pay
high, and surplus will lower the pay. The market will cover local
and national and often international.
152
4) Economic realities - the ability to pay of the organization and the

inflation situation of the country.
5) The cost of living- the cost of living index calls for pay adjustments
and determination of basic pay.
6) Prevailing wages and salaries-the going pay rate in the market,

particularly in the industry wherein the firm is operating.
7) Government intervention-the government directly affects

compensation through wage controls and guidelines, which
prohibit an increase in compensation for certain workers at certain
times. The Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 establishes minimum
wages, work hour, regular and over time, deductions from wages,
medical allowances, provident fund, and compensations for injuries
and deaths, and often income taxes, social security taxes etc. The
government may influence compensation in many other ways too
(Ivancevich 2002). If the government is the employer, it can
legislate pay levels by setting statutory rates, and employment-level
policy.
8) Union influences: Unionized workers have tended to be pay setters

in demands for pay, benefits and improved working conditions.
There is reasonable evidence that unions tend to increase pay levels
(Ivancevich, 2001). Other issues including time off with pay,
income security, cost of living adjustment, and various benefits like
health care are also important bargaining elements of unions
(Henderson 1980 : 88-99). The Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 and
associated legislation and court decisions legitimatized the labour
union's influential participation in this matter in Bangladesh.
9) Internal Influence: In addition to the external influences on

compensation, already discussed, several internal factors affect pay:
the size of the organization. Labour budget, remuneration policy
153
and strategy of companies, and who is involved in making pay

decisions for the organization (Ivancevich 2001: 297).
10) Equity: The need for equity is a crucial factor in determining pay
rates, specially external equity and internal equity (Dessler, 2000:
425) Externally, pay must be comparable favourably with rates in
other organizations and internally, pay rates must be such that
each employee may view his or her pay equitable as other pay rates
in the organization. Adam (1963) suggests that individuals can
change inputs i.e. can reduce effort, if underpaid; try to change
their outcomes, i.e. ask for a pay rise or promotion; psychologically
distort their own productivity ratios or those of others by
rationalizing differences in inputs and outcomes; change the
reference group to which they compare themselves in order to
restore equity. Hyman and Brough (1975) have outlined some
subjective notions that influence the perception of equity. They are
customs and tradition- occupational parochialism leading to
differing frames of reference; differences between manual and non-
manual workers; the pervasive concept of 'responsibility' as
assessment criteria within a job; the distinction between those
employees with organization -specific skills and those with
transferable skills.
Organizations establish pay rates taking into account all above-mentioned

issues and follow five steps (Dessler, 2000: 425):
1) Conduct a pay survey of what other employees are paying for

comparable jobs (to help ensure external equity).
2) Determine the worth of each job in own organization through job

evaluation (to ensure internal equity).
3) Group similar jobs into pay grades.
154
4) Price each pay grade by using wage curve.
5) Fine-tune pay rates.
Other experts and scholars have also suggested similar process. French
(1997:367-376) has suggested 1) job evolution; 2) wage and salary surveys; 3)
determining pay rates; 4) adjusting the pay structure; 5) as the process for
determining pay of the employees. This adjustment is made to eliminate
unwanted distortions and to maintain adequate pay differentials between jobs
at different levels in the organizational hierarchy. Cascio (1987: 369) has
mentioned pay setting process as a result of 4 (four basic tools: i) job analysis
and job description, (2) a job evaluation plan, (3) pay surveys, and (4) a pay
structure. Werther and Davis (1996) have recommended 3 (three) major
phases of compensation determination. They are (1) evaluation of every job,
using job analysis information to ensure internal equity based on each job's
relative worth, (2) conduction of wage and salary surveys to determine
external equity based on the rates paid in the labour market, and (3) price
each job to determine the rate of pay based on internal and external equity.
Ivancevich (2001) has opined that pay for a particular position is set through
various decisions. They are 1) pay-level decision to keep the organization
competitive in the labour market by choosing among three pay level
strategies-high, low or comparable. High pay strategy refers to a pay at
higher than average levels, 2) pay surveys in order to collect valid and reliable
data about compensation paid to employees by employers in a geographical
area, an industry, or an occupational group to gauge the exact market rates
for various positions. (3) pay structure decision that ensures a systematic
comparison of the worth of one job with that of another using job evaluation
eventually results in the creation of a wage or salary hierarchy unique to the
organization and 3) individual pay decision that encompasses issues relating
to recognition of individual differences and separations to be incorporated
into individual pay rate. Pay policy decisions requires to design a pay system
as it is envisaged by Milkovich and Boudreau (1997) that includes 1) external
155
competitiveness that refers to the pay relationships among organizations, 2)

internal alignment that focuses on similarities and differences among jobs
within a single organization, and the relative contribution of the jobs to
organization objectives, 3) employee contributions that refer to pay
relationships among employees performing the same work within a single
organization and using pay to affect employee's work behaviours, and 4)
implementation policies that refer to proper and fair administration of pay
system that must gain employee acceptance and ensure legal compliance.
Lumpton and Boway (1983: 104), Jucius (1979:305-321), Douglas, Klein and
Hunt (1985:), Torrington and Hall (1995), DeCenzo and Robbins (1997) have
also suggested the similar line of action.
The most critical stage of pay determination is job evaluation that is

determining relative worth of jobs in the organization. Ivancevich (2001) and
Milkovich and Boudreau (1997) have included job evaluation in pay structure
decision and internal alignment but all other experts have mentioned job
evaluation directly as a stage/step in determining pay. Job evaluation is a
formal and systematic process by which the relative worth of various jobs in
the organization is determined for pay purpose (Werther and Davis
(1996:382), French (1997: 369), Ivancevich (2001: 305), Dessler (2000:428),
DeCenzo and Robbins (1997:426). Job evaluation involves gathering
information about jobs and then comparing them, using specially constructed
scales. Although different approaches exist, each one considers the
responsibilities, skills, efforts, and working conditions inherent in the job
(Werther and Davis, 1996: 382) as the compensable factors for comparing
several jobs. Job evaluation relates the amount of pay for each job to the
extent to which that job contributes to organizational effectiveness
(Ivancevich:; 2001:305, French, 1997:367). The resultant hierarchy of jobs is
used to establish and justify different levels of pay for the various positions
within the organization. The job evaluation is usually performed by
analyzing job descriptions, and occasionally, job specifications.
156
Four Frequently used methods of job evaluation are (1) Job ranking , (3) Point
system, 4) Factor comparison, and 2) classification method. The following
table exhibits a summarized description along with pros and cons of each
method (Sikula, 1976; Werther and Davis 1979, Ivancevich, 2001, French, 1997,
DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997, Milkovich and Boudreau 1997) :
Description of method Discussion of pros and cons
1. Ranking method a) Relatively easy and simple to

do. It takes less time to
Jobs in an organization are ranked accomplish task. Suitable for
highest to lowest subjectively by a a less- job firm.
committee of raters in terms of total job
or task complexity and working b) There is no agreed upon
conditions. It is a non quantitative yardstick, thus leads to
judgmental system. No attempt is made erroneous measures.
to determine the critical factors in each Unmanageable when there
job. Instead, an overall judgement is are a large number of jobs.
made of the relative worth of each job Because of these problems,
and the job is ranked accordingly. ranking is probably the least
Decisions are made about the relative frequently used method of
worth of only two jobs at a time. job evaluation.
2) Classification Method a) 1) Can handle more jobs than

the ranking method
This method categorizes a job into
groups. The groups are called classes if 2. Provides specific standard for
they contain similar jobs, or grades if compensation and
they contain jobs that are similar in accommodates any changes in
difficulty but otherwise different. Each the value of individual jobs.
class or grade is defined and jobs are
assigned to a grade classification 3. Can be constructed quickly,
according to their respective level of simply and cheaply.
compensable factors. Then a job within
a grade is ranked. 4. Easy to understand and
communicate to employees.
b. 1) It is subject to the
limitations like ranking method.
2. Assumes a rigid relationship

between job factors and value
that force the jobs to fit into
categories for which feeling of
inequity can result.
157
4.0. Factor Comparison Method a) 1) Custom built for each

organization not based on
The job evaluation committee compares some fixed standard.
critical or compensable job factors-
responsibility, skill, mental efforts, 2) Relatively reliable and
physical effort, and working conditions- internally valid.
common to all the jobs being evaluated.
A factor-by-factor comparison is 3) Flexibility and instability with
performed after key jobs are initially a firm.
rated and judged. The key jobs serve as
standards for other jobs. The involved
steps are:
b) 1) Complex and less
i) determine the -critical factors understandable.
ii) determine key jobs, 2. Pay rates are subject to

constant adjustments to
iii) apportion current wages for key reflect market value change.
jobs,
3. Assumes 'universal' job
iv) place key jobs on a factor factors exist; can be
comparison chart, misleading.
v) evaluate other jobs on the basis of 4. Key jobs can change over
factor comparison chart as the night.
bench mark.
Here, final total numerical ratings are

attained for each job in terms of money
value, not points.
Comparative Profile of Various methods of Job Evaluation
Once the job evaluation is completed, its data become the nucleus for the
development of the organizations pay structure (Henderson 1982: 262-301).
Any of the four job evaluation methods can provide necessary input for
developing the organizations overall pay structure.
Pay survey is then conducted to collect data about compensation practices

within specific communities and among firms in an industry or an
158
occupational group. It helps managers to gauge the exact market rates for
various positions. To ensure external equity, the pay structures developed
through job evaluation, are adjusted with the fair wages paid by other
employer in the same area of operation.
A pay grade is developed by assigning similar jobs in terms of their ranking

or number of points. Then assign pay rates to each of pay grades to develop
a wage line to identify the target wages or salary rates for the jobs in each pay
grade. Although, it is possible for a pay class to have a single pay rate, the
more likely condition is a pay range (Ivancevich, 2001: 309). Various pay rates
may be fixed within each pay grade. Wage structure in another way to depict
the pay ranges for each grade (Dessler 2002: 485). This is known as fine-
tuning the pay rates that accommodate variations of the tasks nature into the
pay rates.
Employees can be paid for the time they work, the output they produce,
skills, knowledge, and competencies or a combination of these factors. They
may be paid daily, weekly or monthly basis wages and salary pay may also be
paid on flat or straight rate basis, incentive basis or a combination of
straight/flat and incentive basis.
The majority of employees are paid for time worked i.e. hour, day, week, and
month in the form of wages or salaries (Ivancevich, 2001: 122). This basis for
payment may be daily, weekly or monthly. The wages and salaries are
typically adjusted at some point during the year, normally at the end of
stipulated period. These adjustments have historically resulted in pay
increases due to cost of living, seniority, merit increase or a general for all
employees. The straight time-based system is used due to its attempt to
encourage cooperation among employees and recognise peoples desire for a
constant and predictable income (Shaw and Shaw, 1982:300), non
measurability of performance of many occupations, the changing need for
reliable monitoring using cognitive and judgemental skills for the advance of
159
more highly mechanised and automated technologies (Child 1984: 192), and
due to the confinement of conflict over pay rates to certain mechanisms such
as collective bargaining, and certain periods of the year (Roberts, 1998: 511).
The flat rate or straight basis of pay is common in unionized firm where
wages are established by collective bargaining (Milkovich and Boudreau,
1997:501, Ivancevich, 2001: 322). For example, all clerk typist might be paid
Tk. 10 per hour, regardless of their seniority or performance. Flat rates/
straight basis pay corresponds to some midpoint on a market survey for a
given job. Existence of flat rate does not mean that performance or experience
variation does not exist. It means that parties do not recognise these variations
with pay.
Incentive basis pay which is also known as variable pay, merit-based pay or
skill-based pay is a compensation plan that ties pay to productivity or some
other measure of the firm's profitability (Dessler, 2000:472). Gross and Bacher
(1993) define variable pay as any compensation plan that emphasized a
shared focus on organizational success, broadens opportunities for incentives
to non traditional groups and operates outside the base pay increase system".
Incentive schemes may be categorised into four broad types (Casey et al.
1992):
1) Bonus schemes which directly reward the performance of an

individual such as-
i) Piecework: A system of pay based on the number of items processed by
each individual worker in a unit of time, such as items per hour or per day.
There are two types of piece rate plan. One is straight piecework plan that
pays a set payment for each piece produced or processed in a factory or shop
and another is guaranteed piecework plan that pays a minimum hourly wage
plus an incentive for each piece produced above a set number of pieces per
hour. Taylor's differential piece rate. Merrick's differential piece rate plan, and
Emerson efficiency plan are the popular incentive piece rate plan.
160
(ii) Output and target-based bonuses: Pays an employee an hourly rate plus
a bonus when the employee exceeds the standard output target. The bonus
usually equals approximately 50 percent of the labour saved. Halsey
premium plan and Rowan premium bonus plan are such incentive schemes.
This is also known as production bonus.
iii) Commission bonuses based on sales: A commission is paid on a

percentage of sales in units or taka. It may be paid as a flat amount for each
unit sold. When no base compensation is paid, total earnings come from
commissions. A sales variation of the production bonus system pays the sales
person a small salary and a commission or bonus when he or she exceeds the
budgeted sales goals; and
iv) Measured day work: Pays an employee a day wages plus a bonus for
excess output produced or processed in that day. The output range or level is
predetermined. Spot bonus is awarded to individual employees for
accomplishments that are not readily measured by standard (Dessler,
2000:471).
Individual incentives are used in situations where performance can be

specified in terms of output. In addition, employees should work
independently of each other so that individual incentives can be applied
equitably (Ivancevich, 2001: 326).
2) Collective bonus schemes based on output, productivity of

group/section/department or the whole company. Team or group
incentive plan is a plan in which a production standard is set for a specific
work group and its members are paid incentives if the group exceeds the
production standard (Dessler 2000:474). This might be done when it is
difficult to measure individual output, when cooperation is needed to
complete a task or project, and when management feels that this is a more
161
appropriate measure on which to base incentives (Ivancevich, 2001:327).

Small-group incentive plans are one of the newest and fastest growing reward
strategies.
3) Collective bonus schemes based on profits generated. This is a

much more common incentive reward than individual or group incentives
(Ivancevich 2001:328). These organization-wide payments are usually based
on one of two performance concepts: a sharing of profits generated by the
efforts of all employees altogether and a sharing of money saved as a result of
employees’ efforts to reduce costs (Wallace and Fay 19088:257, Zingheim and
Schuster 1995:6-10). Three approaches to incentive plans are used at the
organization-wide level:
1) Suggestion scheme
2) Gain sharing
3) Profit sharing
A suggestion scheme is a formal method of obtaining employee's advice

about improvements in organisational effectiveness; it includes some kind of
reward based on the successful application of the idea (Ivancevich 2001: 328).
French (1997:408) opines that a suggestion plan is an incentive system under
which employees are rewarded if they offer useful ideas for improving
organizational effectiveness. All employees' share the cost saved and
productivity gained. Scanlon plan, Quality circle etc. are well known
suggestion systems. Research shows that about 80 percent of the suggestions
prove practical and are adopted (DeCenzo and Robbins 1997:437). Gain
sharing plans are company- wide group incentive plans that, through a
financial formula for distributing organization-wide gains, unite diverse
organisational elements in the common pursuit of improved organisational
effectiveness (Gowen III 1991: 77:99). The system share the benefits of
162
improved productivity reduced costs, or improved quality in the form of cash

bonuses (Ross and Hatcher November 1992: 81-89). Studies reveal that gain
sharing improves productivity at a faster rate, lowers labour costs and
grievance rates as well as gets favourable employees acceptance (Schuster
1984:23-28, Wagner, Robin and Callahan 1988:47-72, Welbourne and Cable
1993, O’Dell and McAdams March 1987:32, Owens December, 1988:19-28).
Profit-sharing plans allow employees to share in the success of a firm by
distributing part of the company's profit to the employees in the form of cash
bonuses or deferred bonus amounts (Ivancevich, 2001:333, DeCenzo and
Robbins, 1997: 437, Werther Jr. and Davis, 1996:421, Milkovich and Boudreau,
1997: 313). A percentage of profits usually 15% to 20% is distributed as profit
shares at regular interval (Dessler, 2000: 484). Profit sharing is more common
among senior managers (Werther Jr. and Davis, 1996: 421). There are two
systems of paying (compensation/pay) individual employee: open system
and secret system. Traditional practice is open system i.e. co-workers know
what others are getting. The secret pay system is a recent phenomenon in
which pay is regarded as privileged information known only to the employee,
his or her superior, and staff employees. Generally, unionized organizations
follow open pay system. Secret pay system is questionable for its
discriminating treatment and therefore, in many countries it is declared as not
a legitimate policy (Ivancevich, 2001: 337).
New phenomenal changes have been going on in the factors considered in the
determination of pay today. The hanging trends in the determination of pay
(Roberts 1995:-516 ) are mentioned below:
Present view of pay Changing view of pay
External determination i.e. trade Internal influences i.e. profit,

unions, government performance, value added
Collective determination Emphasis on the individual
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Pluralism Unitarism
Measurement of personality Measurement of performance
Short- term emphasis i.e. bonuses Long-term emphasis i.e. profit

for certain levels of production sharing, PRP related to long-term
organisational objectives
Input measures qualities such as Input measures such as skills,

loyalty, hard work, length of service competencies, and commitment to
organisational objectives
Output measures ‘hard’ objective Output measures ‘softer’ subjective

measures of performances such as criteria, measurement of
measured output in terms of effectiveness/contribution
product made or service given
Manual workers measuring tasks Manual workers measuring output
Measuring pure output Measuring output plus quality and,

where appropriate, customer service
Changing Determinants of Pay
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is an integral part of every organisation. It helps an
organisation achieve its goals by developing productive employees through
measuring the degree of success that individual employee has in reaching
their individual goals. Therefore, performance appraisal is a critical part of
human resource management (HRM).
164
Performance appraisal is a process of evaluating an employee's job

performance (Werther and Davis 1996: 341, Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997:
100). French (1997:331) calls it a formal, systematic assessment of how well
employees are performing their jobs in relation to established standards and
the communication of that assessment to employees. Thus, performance
appraisal is a process of estimating or judging the value, excellence, qualities
or status of person. There are many terminologies used to denote
performance appraisal: merit rating, employee evaluation, personnel review,
performance evaluation, personnel appraisal, staff assessment, behavioural
assessment, service rating etc. Some experts use them interchangeably, while
others interpret some of these phrases differently. However, the term
performance appraisal/evaluation is most widely used.
An effective performance appraisal system should have a precise definition of

excellent performance, mechanism to measure performance of employees and
to provide feedback to employees about their performance (Dessler 2000: 342,
Ivancevich 2001: 213). It is important to integrate employee performance with
organisational performance goals to achieve strategic and competitive
advantage. Most experts believe that a firms' strategy must be aligned with
employees' competencies and performance if profitability, growth,
effectiveness and valuation are to be achieved (Kay, 1999: 2-4). Performance
appraisal and system defines, measures, monitors, and gives feedback to
management and the employees that help establish congruency with short-
and long-term survival of the organisation.
Performance appraisal can be used to improve current performance, provide

feedback, increase motivation, identify training needs, identify potential, let
individuals know what is expected of them, focus on career development,
award salary increases and solve job problems (Torrington and Hall 1995: 319,
Dessler 2000, Khanzode 1992: 104-105). Beer (1985: 315) has grouped the
165
various purposes of performance appraisal into two broad categories:

evaluation goals -giving feedback to employees, developing valid data for pay
and promotion decisions and providing a means for communicating these
decisions, and helping the managers make retention and discharge decision;
and coaching and development goals-counseling and coaching employees in
order to improve their performance and develop future potential, developing
commitment to the organization, motivating employee through recognition
and support, strengthening superior-sub-ordinate relations, and diagnosing
individual and organisational problems. Randell, Packard and Slater (1984)
suggest the uses of appraisal into three broad categories: reward reviews,
potential reviews and performance reviews. Though Randell et al. (1984)
believe that the greatest advantages will be gained by the use of performance
review, others are equally useful. Werther and Davis (1996 :342) describe a
long-list of uses of performance appraisal (box below) without making any
category but include organisational, group and individual dimensions of its
application.
Uses of performance appraisal
Performance improvement. Performance feedback allows the employees,

the managers, and personnel specialists to intervene with appropriate
actions to improve.
Compensation adjustments. Performance evaluations help decision

makers determine who should receive pay raises. Many firms grant
part or all of their pay increases and bonuses on the basis of merit,
which is determined mostly through performance appraisals.
Placement decisions. Promotions, transfer, and demotions are usually

based on past or anticipated performance. Often promotions are a
reward for past performance.
166
Training and development needs. Poor performance may indicate a need

for retraining. Likewise, good performance may indicate untapped
potential that should be developed.
Career planning and development. Performance feedback guides career

decisions about specific career paths one should investigate.
Staffing process deficiencies. Good or bad performance implies strengths

or weaknesses in the personnel department’s staffing procedures.
Informational inaccuracies. Poor performance may indicate errors in job

analysis information, human resource plans, or parts of the personnel
management information system. Reliance on inaccurate information
may have led to inappropriate hiring, training, or counseling decisions.
Job-design errors. Poor performance may be a symptom of ill-conceived

job designs. Appraisal help diagnose these errors.
Equal employment opportunity. Accurate performance appraisals that

actually measure job-relate performance ensure that internal placement
decisions are not discriminatory.
External challenges. Sometimes performance is influenced by factors

outside the work environment, such as family, financial, health, or
other personal matters. If these factors are uncovered through
appraisals, the human resource department may be able to provide
assistance.
Feedback to human resources. Good or bad performance throughout the

organization indicates how well the human resource function is
performing.
167
Ivancenvich (2001: 246) points out the potential contributions of a well-

designed formal evaluation system in the field of developing manpower and
human relations, motivating employees, planning human resource and
employment, communicating job related matters to employees, maintaining
legal compliance and researching HRM. Torrington and Weightman (1989)
suggest that from the individual's point of view appraisal may be seen as a
time when they can gain feedback on their performance, reassurance, praise,
encouragement, help in performing better and some guidance on future
career possibilities. This implies that HR managers need to think more
carefully about the primary purpose of their appraisal system and make sure
that procedures, training, and individual expectations of the system are not in
conflict (Torrington and Hall 1995: 320).
The purposes of the performance appraisal are best achieved if the system
generates accurate and reliable data and this would only be achieved when a
systematic process of performance appraisal is designed, executed and
faithfully followed. With little variations, experts have suggested the
following steps in its designing and implementing (Ivancevich 2001: 249,
Torrington and Hall 1995: 329; French 1997: 336-338, and Dessler 2000: 313):
Defining the job and objectives Establish performance standards for

of department or group. each position and the criteria for
evaluation.
Review/ Gathering of data Establish performance
Evaluation of on em mployees’ evaluation policies on
Employees’ Performance by the rater how and who to rate.
performance
by raters
Make decisions and file the Discuss the evaluation with the
evaluation employees
Steps of Performance Appraisal System
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Performance Appraisal System
Performance appraisal requires dependable performance measures, the

ratings used to evaluate performance. To be helpful, they must be easy to use,
be reliable and report on the critical behaviours that defer from desired
performances. Dependable measurers also allow others to reach the same
conclusion about performance adding to the reliability of the performance
system. Performance measures also may be objective or subjective (Werther
and Davis, 1996: 346). Objective performance measures are indications of job
performance that are verifiable by others and are usually quantitative.
Subjective performance measures are ratings that are based on the personal
standards or opinions of those doing the evaluation and are not verifiable by
others. These measures are qualitative, and indirect and thus less accurate.
Human resources specialists always prefer objective and direct measures of
performance (Bernardin 1989: 239-250).
Performance criteria selection is a very critical aspect of the process. It may

include quality of work, quantity of work, cost of work, behaviour of the
incumbent or a measure of personality. Whatever the criteria, it should have
the quality of reliability, relevance, sensitivity, and practicality (Ivancevich
2001: 249, French 1997). Establishment of performance evaluation policies will
deal first with selecting person/persons to evaluate employee performance.
Variety of people may appraise individual performance. They include (a)
employees’ immediate supervisor (line manager), (b) employees’ peers/co-
workers, (e) employees’ subordinates. (g) employees’ customers or some one
outside the immediate work situation, (e) self-evaluation/ appraisal (f)
committee appraisal (committee of several supervisors). (i) 360-degree
appraisal -a combination of approaches i.e. peer, supervisor, and subordinate
appraisal.
Appraisals by the immediate supervisor are the most common (French 1997:
337, Torrington and Hall, 1995: 320). Ivancevich (2001: 250) and Dessler
169
(2000:366) opine that this system is relatively easy and makes a great deal of
sense. Peer appraisal is considered as acceptable, reliable and valid and has
the advantage of a more comprehensive view of the appraiser's job
performance (Latham and wexly, 1981). It is found very useful in predicting
candidates for promotion (Karant, 1975, Mount 1984: 687- 702, Barclay and
Harland, 1995: 39-60). Saavedra and Kwun (1993: 450-462) comment that
this approach may be useful when the tasks of the work unit require frequent
working contact among peers. The only potential problem of peer appraisal is
logrolling i.e. all the peers simply get together to rate each other high (Dessler
2000:360). Sub-ordinate appraisal is also not widely used like peer appraisal.
This appraisal is especially valuable for developmental rather than evaluative
purposes (London and Wohlers, 1991: 375-390). Its use is restricted to people-
oriented issues that are less easily observed aspects of the manager's
performance (Grote, 2000:21). Redman and Snaple (1992: 32-46) argue that
asking for the information related to management style and people
management skills from subordinates facilitates empowerment.
Customer appraisal is regarded as useful source of appraisal information.

Customer may be from internal and external sources. This appraisal is a
costly and less reliable because outsiders do not have much data as evaluators
in any other approaches. Self-evaluation or appraisal is system where
employee evaluates herself/himself with the techniques used by other
evaluators (Ivancevich, 2001: 251). Will individuals rate themselves fairly?
This question gives shade on the rightness of the appraisal method. Fletcher
(1993) argues that there is little doubt that people are capable of rating
themselves, but question is whether they are willing to do this. Meyer (1980)
reports that when employees were asked to compare themselves with others
they tended to overrate themselves. Therefore, this approach seems to be
used more often for developmental aspects of performance evaluation
(French, 1997, Kirkpatrick, 1985: 52-56 Ivancevich, 2001: 251). It is also used to
evaluate an employee who works in physical isolation (Ivancevich, 2001: 251).
170
Self -appraisal is relatively new and not heavily used at present. It has often
been met with skepticism by organizations because the self-interests of the
employee could outweigh an objective evaluation (Yu and Murphy, 1993: 357-
363). Group/ committee Appraisal is made by group of supervisors who
have a close contact with the employees. This approach has the advantage of
off-setting bias on the part of a superior and adding additional information to
the evaluation (Pray, 1987:67-72, Ivancevich 2001: 251). 360-degree
performance appraisal uses multiple appraisers, including supervisors,
subordinates, and peers of the target person. In some cases, it also includes
self-appraisals. This is a growing appraisal system to have information about
a person in full circular fashion to have all side information about the job
incumbent.
Performance criteria may be set by various ways: a) It may be set by the

owner or owner manager or manager through a careful analysis and
thoughtful exercise of their judgement; (b) A committee of experts may be
engaged to set the criteria for evaluation (c) An outside consultant may be
engaged to develop rules and standards for the performance measures; (d)
What others’ in the same field of operations are using could be employed as
the measure of performance i.e. adopt local or indigenous practices; and (e)
Performance criteria developed by intuition of the evaluator, no standard
performance measure is set.
Performance appraisal is done by the use of many approaches; it depends on

the nature of work to be measured and the philosophy of the management.
No single technique is perfect; each has advantages and disadvantages (Levy,
1989: 76-83). The most commonly used performance appraisal methods are:
1) Graphical Rating Scale Method; (2) Paired Comparison Method; (3)
Performance Check List Method: (4) Essay Appraisal Technique; (4) Critical
Incident Technique; (5) Individual Ranking Method, (6) Group Ranking
Method, (7) Forced Choice Rating Method; (8) Management by Objective
(MBO) Method.
171
1) Graphic Rating Scale Method
Graphic rating scale method is the oldest, popular and the most commonly
used method of performance appraisal (Ivancevich 2001, DeCenzo and
Robbins 1997, French 1997, Khanzode 1992, Dessler 2000). It is thus, also
called the conventional rating method (Cummings and Schward, 1973: 70). A
scale that lists a number of traits and a range of performance of each trait is
printed in a form and the employee is then rated by identifying the scores that
best describes his or her level of performance for each trait. The traits are
related to employee characteristics and contribution. Employee
characteristics include such qualities as initiative and leadership,
cooperativeness, dependability, honesty, integrity, industry, attitude,
enthusiasm, loyalty, creative-ability, decisiveness, analytical ability, emotional
state and coordination ability. Employee contribution includes the quality and
quantity of work, the responsibility assumed, specific goals achieved,
attendance, leadership offered, attitude towards supervisor and association,
versatility, and initiative taken. The contemporary version of the graphic
rating sacle is more likely to use only characteristics that are closely related to
actual job performance and to exclude such characteristic that are closely
related to actual job performance and to exclude such characteristics that are
closely related to actual job performance and to exclude such characteristics as
'loyalty.' (French, 1997: 346). Though these scales do not provide the depth of
information, the popularity gained due to the fact that they are less time-
consuming to develop and administer, they permit quantitative analysis and
comparison, and there is greater standardization of items, so comparability
with other individuals in diverse job categories is possible (Henderson, 1984:
175).
2) Paired Comparison Method
This method ranks employees by making a chart of all possible pairs of the
employees for each trait and indicates the best employee of the pair. Thus,
172
only the performance of two employees is being considered (Ivancevich, 2001:

259). The final ranking is determined by counting how many times a given
employee was chosen as the better performer across all of the comparison.
This method is tedious.
3) Performance Check List Method
In this method, the evaluator is presented with a list of positive or negative

adjectives or descriptive behavioural statements and is asked to check off all
these that apply to the employee being rated (French 1997: 346, Werther and
Davis 1996: 352, DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997: 366). Originally, all items in the
checklist approach are considered to be of equal value. Sophistication is made
in this method with the use of weights to different items depending on each
item's importance. This is called weighted checklist. Although, this method
is practical, standardized, easy to administer and economy, but the use of
general statements reduces its job-relatedness, and susceptible to rater biases.
4) Essay Appraisal technique or Method
In this method of appraisal, the appraiser is asked to write a free-form essay

describing the subordinate's performance in a number of broad categories -
the employee's strengths, weaknesses, past performance, potential and
suggestions for improvement. Henderson (1984) adds profitability and
training needs of the employee with it. Question is raised about its accuracy
and relevancy (Cascio, 1991: 85) but the simplicity and flexibility are assigned
quality of the method.
5) Critical Incident Method or Technique
This technique requires the appraiser to maintain a log or record of

behavioural incidents that represent either effective or ineffective
performance for each employee being rated (French 1997: 346, Ivancevich,
2001: 255, Dessler 2000: 251 and Werther and Davis 1996: 352). These incidents
are critical incidents. The strength of the method is that it judges behavioural
performance and the weaknesses are costly and time consuming. Generally,
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it is used in conjuncture with other method where it provides factual records

to support ratings.
6) Individual Ranking Method
This method requires the evaluator merely to list the employees in an order
from highest to lowest on some overall criterion. Only one can be the best, it
allows no ties (DeCanzo and Robbins, 1997: 371). The method is difficult and
is used less frequent (French, 1997: 346).
7) Group Ranking Method
This method requires the evaluator to place employees into a particular

classification, such as 'top- one-fifth' or 'second one-fifth". It prevents raters
from inflating their evaluation. It is affected by the 'Zero-sum game'
consideration.
8) Forced Choice Rating Method
This method is a special type of checklist where the rater has to choose
between two or more statements, all of which may be favourable or
unfavourable. The appraiser’s job is to identify which statement is most
descriptive of the employee being evaluated. This method reduces rater's bias
and distortion (DeCenzo and Robbins, 1997: 368). Raters do not like to be
fixed by force and thus they are frustrated with the method.
9) Management by Objective Method
This method requires managers to get specific measurable goals jointly set by
the superior and the subordinates for a particular period and then discuss his
or her progress toward these goals periodically. However, the term MBO
almost always refers to a comprehensive, organization-wide goal-setting and
appraisal programme that consists of six main steps: i) set the ortganisation's
goals; (2) set departmental goals; (3) discuss departmental goals with
departmental subordinates; (4) set individual goals for specific period; (5)
review performance periodically and (6) provide feedback to the performer
174
subordinates (Dessler, 2000: 357). MBO provides an objective, performance-

based method of appraisal and at the individual level, it gives individual
employee greater direction and self-control, build their self-confidence,
motivate them, improve their performance, further their growth and
development and provide them with full knowledge of all criteria on which
they will be evaluated. The primary objections against the system are time
consuming, short term oriented, too much emphasis on measurable
quantitative objectives, inflexibility and multiplicity of goals. MBO is most
likely to be used for managerial, technical and professional employees not
productive and office personnel (Cardy and Dobbins, 1994: 25-61).
It is mentioned earlier that no one method is suffice to achieve the predicted

purposes of the performance appraisal. Most firms combine several appraisal
techniques (Dessler 2000:357, Werther and Davis, 1996, Ivancevice 2001).
Researches show a very low percentage of firms use individual method
(Cardy and Dobbins, 1994: 25-61). It depends on the qualities of the raters,
nature of jobs and the incumbents, leadership style of the organisation,
organisational climate, training of the appraiser etc. to determine which
method is desirable for a specific situation.
The performance appraisal process and techniques are expected to be

employed objectively in which the evaluator is free from personal biases,
prejudices, and idiosyncrasies. Objectivity here minimizes the potential
capricious and dysfunctional behaviour of the evaluator, which may be
detrimental to the achievement of the organisational goals. It would be naive
to assume that all practicing managers could impartially interpret and
standardize the performance criteria. In the other, a completely error-free
performance appraisal can only be an idealized model (Henderson, 1984: 1-
18). With this context, studies identified a number of factors or errors that
significantly impede objective performance appraisal (Henderson,
1984,Wherry. Sr. and Bartlett, 1982, Dipboye, 1985, Ber-nardin and Beatty,
1984). Leniency error occurs when the raters tend to be easy in evaluating the
175
performance of employees. Such appraisers give employees higher ratings

than they deserve. They see everything as good and rate it favourably and
they are lenient raters. Strictness error is the opposite to leniency error; it
results from raters’ being too harsh in their evaluation. Halo effect is the
tendency of the raters to rate high or low on all factors due to the impression
of high or low rating on some specific factor (Bernardin and Beatty, 1984: 140).
It occurs when the rater's personal opinion influences the measurement of
performance (Werther and Davis, 1996: 348). This problem is most severe
when raters must evaluate personality traits, their friends or people they
strongly dislike (Nathan and Tippins, 1990: 290-296). Personal prejudice or
bias is a tendency to allow individual differences in terms of characteristics
like age, race, and sex to affect the appraisal rates apart from each ratee's
actual performance. Such prejudice prevents effective evaluations and may
violate anti-discrimination law. Central tendency error is incorrectly giving all
ratings near the middle of the scale despite large differences in individual
performance of the ratees. Such error distorts evaluations and making them
less useful for promotion, salary and counseling purposes (Dessler, 200: 360).
Low appraiser motivation occurs when the evaluator is reluctant to give a
realistic appraisal simply because there are so few benefits inherent in giving
accurate ratings and so few penalties for assigning inaccurate ratings
(Henderson, 1984:201-204, Decotiis and Petit, 1978: 635-46). Irrelevant or
subjective standards are errors of the content of the appraisal form where
such standards are set which have relevance with either performer
characteristics, or behaviour or his/her job performance. Unclear standard
occurs when given traits and degrees of merit are open to interpretation.
Unrealistic standards are the error of the form design where such standards
are set for the appraisal that could not be achieved within the given
organisational context. This results in faulty evaluation. Failure to use
appraisal data is a rater error. Here the rater has a mind to use the appraisal
results in the actual operations of the organisation that resulted in frustration
in appraisal. Lack of training on rating factors is a specific rater drawback to
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understand correctly the factors used for rating due to lack of training about
the factor characteristics. Poor feedback to employee affects the employees’
moral to participate into appraisal activity due to insufficient feedback of
appraisal results to the rated employees. Complex and time-consuming
appraisal form frustrated the raters to appraise accurately and realistically.
Fear of confrontation error occurs when appraiser restrains him or herself
from accurate ratings just to avoid any un-call for situation with the ratees
that he/she apprehend will occur if he/she rates correctly. This situation
occurs when human relations are very poor and hostile.
The problems of performance appraisal have to be dealt with judiciously to

improve the appraisal system of the organization. Rater training, selection of
right appraisal tool, combination of absolute and relative standards, ongoing
and regular feedback to the ratees, use of multiple raters, rewards to accurate
appraisers, post appraisal interview etc are the few suggested steps to
overcome the errors of the appraisal. Several reviews of the court cases
suggest the following guidelines to make the performance appraisal effective
(Barrett and Kernan 1987:489-503, Field and Holley 1982:392-406, Martin and
Bartol 1991:257-286):
1) Base performance appraisal on job analysis.
2) Provide raters with written performance standards based on job

analysis.
3) Train raters to use the rating instrument properly.
4) Provide a formal appeal mechanism and review of ratings by

upper-level personnel.
5) Document evaluation and instances of poor performance.
6) Provide counseling and guidance to assist poor performer to

improve.
177
Benefits and Services

Benefits represent an important part of every employee’s pay today. Services
are also in any form exist in organisations. Pam Farr (December, 1999:18-20)
suggests that all employer-provided rewards and services, other than wages
or salaries are benefits and services. In other words, all the indirect financial
payments an employee receives for continuing his or her employment with
the company or firm (Hills, Bergmann and Searpello 1994: 424, Beatty,
November 1994: 63-68) are benefits. Milkovich and Boudreau (1997:541) call
benefits as the indirect forms of total compensation. Because, these are
usually extended as a condition of employment and are not directly related to
performance (Werther and Davis, 1996: 432). Benefits and services represent
an increasingly expensive as task and as costs. Administering benefits and
services today require specialized skills and expertise. So far the cost is
concerned; it varies from country to country. In 1993, USA chamber of
commerce reported 41% of payroll as cost of benefits, as compared to 25.5% in
1961 (cited in Dessler, 2000: 503) . This increasing trend equally exists in all
other countries including Bangladesh. Management is now highly concerned
with controlling costs that prompt managers to examine their entire benefits
portfolio to address whether the offerings are well managed and make
strategic sense.
Benefits and services are aimed at achieving societal, organisational, and

employee objectives (Werther and Davis, 1996: 432, Milkovich and Boudreau,
1997: 573, Mamoria, 1997: 531). Societal objectives are to conserve the
precious human resource by guarantying against its unnatural erosion and
providing the climate for its development in working conditions such as life
insurance, health care, retirement benefits or benefits for accidents, ill-health
and death. Organisational objectives are the insurance of more productivity
from the employees through time off benefits and others that reduce fatigue,
turnover, labour unrest, overtime costs and enhance satisfaction. Employee
objectives denote the protection of employees from economic and other crises
178
through inflation protection, lowering tax burden, flexible work hour, cultural
recreational facilities etc.
Service has got special connotation. Services are something of a catchall

category of voluntary benefits (Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997:531). It
includes benefits like cafeterias, saunas and gyms, free parking lots, child care
assistance educational assistance etc. The following table contains the various
types of benefits and services generally offered in business organisations
(Ivancevich 2001:355, Werther and Davis1996, Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997,
Dessler, 2000, French, 1997).
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PROGRAM SERVICES
Paid leave Medical care Long-term Education

disability program
Holidays Employee Wholly employer- Tuition

coverage: financed Reimbursement
Vacations Wholly employer - Partly employer- Pre-retirement

financed financed Programs
Sick leave Partly employer- Retirement Child care

financed
Rest time Defined benefit Elder care

pension
Jury duty leave Wholly employer Financial services

financed
Funeral leave Partly employer- Relocation

financed services
Military leave Dental care Defined Social and

contribution recreational
programs
Personal leave Wholly employer Savings and thrift Other benefits:

financed
Lunch time Partly employer- Deferred profit Bicycle parking

financed sharing
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Maternity leave Family coverage: Employee stock Discount shop

ownership
Sabbatical leave Wholly employer Physical fitness

financed program
Paternity leave Partly employer- Money purchase Free coffee/tea

financed pension
and popcorn on
work break
Unpaid-leave Other insurance Miscellaneous Child

development
center
Maternity leave Sickness and Reimbursement Severance pay

accident: account
Sabbatical leave Wholly employer Flexible benefits Subsidised

financed plans transportation
Paternity leave Partly employer- Incentive schemes Subsidized food

financed
Life insurance Festival bonus Counseling

service
Wholly employer
financed
Partly employer-
financed
Items of Employee Benefits and Service Programme
Benefits are expensive. But management is to maintain a reasonably attractive

benefit package to recruit and keep qualified employees. How does a firm
design attractive benefit package? It requires benefit survey -survey of the
benefits offered by other firms, and identification of employee preferences
through personal interviews with a cross section of employees, meetings with
small groups of employees, and questionnaires, circulated among selected
employees. Managing of an effective benefit and service programme involves
five steps (Ivancevich, 2001; French, 1997). They are:
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1) Set objectives and strategy for benefit from among pacesetter

strategy, comparable benefit strategy and minimum benefits
strategy. The decision about which strategy to use is made on the
basis of managements' goals.
2) Involve employees and unions to make sense to find out desired in

benefits and services. Interview, discussion reports, memos etc are
the tools to know about their preferences.
3) Communicate benefits to employees so that they can understand

the value and usefulness of the organization’s benefit package.
Most studies of employees and executives indicate that they are
unaware of the benefits or significantly undervalue their costs and
usefulness (Ivancevich, 2001: 368). Many communication media
can be used: employee handbooks, company newspaper,
magazines; news letters; booklets; bulletin boards; annual reports;
payroll staffers; and reports to employees.
4) Monitor costs closely to administer correctly the benefit

programmes. The aim is to control cost of benefits and services.
Carefully developed rules and their implementation as well as
periodical costs analyses of expenditures in each benefit area are
helpful guidelines for cost containment (French, 1997: 440).
Statutory benefits in Bangladesh related to leave, retirement, death, festival

etc are mentioned in the Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006. These are:
1) Casual Leave: Every worker shall be entitled to casual leave with

full wages for 10 days in a calendar year, and if for any reason,
he/she does not enjoy such leave, it will remain in his/her credit
and leave admissible in one year can not be enjoyed in the
following year. This section will not apply for tea plantation
workers. (Sec. 115)
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2) Sick Leave: Every worker, other than the newspaper worker, shall
be entitled to sick leave for 14 days with full wages in a calendar
year. Newspaper workers shall get sick leave for a period not less
than one –eighteenth of the period of service with half wages. This
leave shall not be accumulated.
3) Annual Leave with Wages: Every adult worker sho completed

continuous service for one year in any establishment shall be
entitled to leave with wages during the subsequent period of 12
month for the service given during the preceding 12 months on the
basis of the calculation made as per rule mentioned in this Code.
(Sec. 117)
4) Festival Holidays: Every worker shall have to be allowed festival

holiday with wages for a period of 11 days in a calendar year. If a
worker is to work in festival holiday, he/she will get wages for 2
days along with a substitute holiday. (Sec. 118)
5) Retirement benefit: Any worker employed in any establishment

shall retire on the completion of 60 (fifty seven) years of age and
shall be paid all his/her dues payable to him/her. (Sec. 28).
6) Provident fund benefit: No worker who is a member of any

provident fund shall be deprived, duly to retrenchment, discharge,
dismissal, retirement, termination or cessation of service, of the
benefits which he/she is entitled as per provision provided for in
the Provident Fund Rules including the employer’s contribution.
(Sec. 29).
The Section 30 of the Code mentions that the employer shall pay all the dues
payable to a worker within 30 (thirty) working days from the date of cessation
of his/her service due to retrenchment, discharge, dismissal, retirement and
conclusion of service.
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Maternity Benefits
Benefits and service programme positively affects employee attitudes about

the fairness and adequacy of benefits. Research shows that the overall level of
benefits is positively related to employees' satisfaction (Bretz, Ash and
Dreher, 1989: 561-581).
Women workers as well as other types of women employees in Bangladesh

will get six months maternity benefit as per Bangladesh Labour Code 2006
(GOB) and Government Officers Service Rules (GOB). The same is applied to
all other autonomous and semi-autonomous organizations and all types of
private organizations. So far the worker is concerned, it is mentioned that (i)
no employer shall knowingly be able to employ a women in his establishment
for a period of eight weeks immediately after the day of delivery of her child;
(ii) no woman shall be able to work in any establishment within the period of
eight weeks immediately after the day of delivery of her child; (iii) every
woman worker shall be entitled to get the maternity benefits from the employ
for the period of preceding 8 (eight) weeks immediately after the date of
delivery and her employer shall be bound to pay her such benefit; (v) no
woman shall be entitled to such benefits if her two or more than two children
are alive at the time of her delivery; (vi) any employer shall pay maternity
benefit in accordance with the desire of the concerned woman ; (vii) the
maternity benefit shall be paid at the rate of daily, weekly or monthly
average wages as the case pay be; (viii) if a woman entitled to maternity
benefit dies on the day of her delivery or during the period of eight weeks
thereafter, the employer shall pay the maternity benefit due, if the new born
child scurvies her to the person who undertakes the responsibility of taking
care of the child and if the child does not survive her, to the person
nominated by her ; (ix) if a woman dies during the period for which she is
entitled to maternity benefit but before giving birth to a child, the employer
shall be liable to pay such benefit for the period preceding the date of her
death including the date of death. (x) if within the period of six months
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preceding before the date of delivery of a woman or during the period of

following eight weeks from the date of her delivery, any employer gives her a
notice of discharge, dismissal or removal from the employment or for
terminating her from the employment or concluding her employment in any
other way, and if that notice or order does not have sufficient ground, she
shall not be deprived of the maternity benefit which she would have been
entitled to get had no such notice or order been given. (GOB, 2006, Sec 45-50)
Welfare Measures
Statutory provisions regarding welfare of workers in any establishment are

stated in Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006 of the government of Bangladesh.
The Code contains ten provisions as under:
1) First-aid appliances: (a) In any establishment there shall be

arrangement for box equipped with first-aid appliances or almirah
equipped with appliances as prescribed by rules during all working
hours; (b) The number of such box or almirah shall not be less than
one for every 150 workers ordinarily employed; (c) a notice shall be
affixed in every work-room stating the name of such person and he
shall put on a badge so that he can be easily identified; (d) In every
establishment wherein three hundred or more workers are
employed , there shall be an ambulance room with dispensary of
the prescribed size containing the prescribed equipment or other
facilities and such room shall be in charge of physical and nursing
staff as may be prescribed. (Sec. 89).
2) Washing facilities: In every establishment (a) adequate number of

suitable bathrooms and washing facilities shall have to be provided
and maintained for the use of the workers employed therein; (b)
such facilities shall be separately maintained for the use of male and
female workers and shall be appropriately screened; (c) such
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facilities shall have to be kept neat and clean and easily accessible.
(Sec. 91)
3) Canteen: (a) In an establishment where more than 100 workers are

employed , there shall be sufficient number of canteens for their use
in that establishment and a managing committee with worker
representatives shall run and determine the quality of foodstuff to
be served therein and price thereof. ( Sec. 92)
4) Rest room etc.: (a) In every establishment where more than 50

workers are employed sufficient and suitable number of rest rooms
shall be provided and maintained and suitable dining room with
provision for drinking water where workers can eat meals brought
by them shall be provided and maintained; (b) No worker shall be
entitled to eat any food in his/her work-room if there is a dinning
room; (c) Such rest-room and dining room shall be sufficiently
lighted and ventilated and shall be maintained in clean and tolerate
temperature; (d) The establishments in which more than 25 female
workers are employed , there shall be separate rest-room for the
male and female workers, and in which less than 25 female workers
are employed, there shall be provision for separate screened space
in the rest room for the female workers. (Sec. 93)
5) Rooms for children: (a) In every establishment, wherein 40 or more

female workers are ordinarily employed, there shall be provided
and maintained one or more suitable room(s) for the use of their
children under age of six years; (b) any such room shall provide
sufficient accommodation, be adequately lighted and ventilated and
maintained in a clean and sanitary conditions, and shall be under
the supervision of woman experienced and trained in the care of
children; (c) Such rooms shall be easily accessible to the mothers of
the children and so far as is reasonably practicable it shall not be
situated in close proximity to any part of the establishment
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wherefrom vexation fumes, dust or odour come out and in which

excessively noisy works are carried on; (d) Such rooms shall have
to be soundly constructed and all it s walls and roof shall be of
suitable heat-resisting materials and shall be water-proof; (e) The
height of such rooms shall not be less than 360 centimeter from the
floor to the lowest part of the roof and the fllor-space for each child
staying therein shall be at least 600 square centimeter; (f) Effective
and suitable provisions shall have to be made in every part of such
room for securing and maintaining adequate ventilation by the
circulation of fresh air; (g) such room shall have to be adequately
furnished and equipped and specially there shall be one suitable cot
or cradle with the necessary bedding for each child and at least one
chair or equivalent seating accommodation for the use of each
mother while she feeds or attends to her child and a sufficient
supply of suitable toys for the comparatively older children; (h) a
suitably fenced and shady open air play-ground shall be provided
for the comparatively older children. (Sec. 94).
6) Recreational and educational facilities in tea plantation:

Government may direct the employer to provide: (a) recreational
facilities for the workers employed in tea plantation and their
children as stipulated in the rules; (b) educational facilities for the
children in such manner and of such standard in accordance with
the rule, where the children between the age of six and twelve of
the workers employed exceed 25 in number; (c) establish medical
centre for the workers employed in each tea-plantation and their
children in the manner as may be prescribed. (Sec. 95)
7) Housing facilities in tea plantation: In every tea plantation the

employer provide housing facilities to every worker and his family
residing in the tea plantation. (sec. 96)
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8) Facilities for daily necessities etc. In tea plantation: Every

employer of every tea plantation shall provide for the workers
facilities in easily accessible place for obtaining the daily necessities.
( Sec. 97)
9) Medical care for the newspaper workers: Every newspaper worker

and his dependants shall be entitled to medical care at the cost of
the newspaper establishment in such manner and such extent as
may be prescribe. (Sec. 98)
10) Introduction of compulsory group insurance: The establishments

where minimum 200 permanent workers are employed, the
Government may introduce group insurance scheme there in the
manner prescribed by rules. (Sec. 99).
Safety, Security and Health

Management has a responsibility to ensure that the workforce is free from
unnecessary hazards and that conditions surrounding the workforce are nor
hazardous to employees’ physical or mental health. It is not only required for
employees’ morale and increased productivity but also required for cost
savings. Research shows that average cost of a serious accident incurred by
employers is over $23,000 during 1990s (Toscani and Windau, Oct.1994: 17-
28). Research further shows that there are approximately 20 million work
related injuries each year, 3,90,000 work related illnesses, and 1,00,000 work-
related deaths (Levy and Wegman, 1983:10). Another report shows that in a
recent year, there were more than 6200 deaths and over 6.5 million injuries
resulting from accidents in 1992 (BNA Billetin, 1994:276-277). Countries under
these circumstances make laws to regulate employment relationships to
reduce burdens on society. Today, employers must compensate workers for
on-the-job injuries and comply with laws aimed at furthering societal
objectives or face legal sanctions. The intent of these laws is to help employees
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deal with hardships and protect them from future workplace hazards.
However, from a moral standpoint, employers have an obligation to maintain
a workplace that will facilitate the operation of the work tasks employees are
assigned and will minimize any negative aspects of situations affecting the
employees’ health and safety.
Safety hazards are aspects of the work environment that have the potential of
causing immediate and sometimes violent harm or even death such as poorly
maintained equipment, unsafe machinery, exposure to hazardous chemicals
and so on. Health hazards are aspects of the work environment that slowly
and cumulatively lead to deterioration of health. WHO defines health as a
state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity (Gordon and Henifin, 1981:322). According to
the joint ILO/WHO committee on organizational health, industrial health is :
(1) the prevention and maintenance of physical, mental and social well-being
of workers in all occupations; (ii) prevention of workers from ill-health
caused by the working conditions; (iii) protection of workers in their
employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; and (iv)
placing and maintenance of the workers in an occupational environment
adapted to his physical and psychological equipment. In Bangladesh, workers
health, safety and security are dealt with the former laws: The Factories Act,
1965, The Factories Rules 1979, The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923, The
Workmen’s Compensation Rules 1979, The Employer’s Liability Act 1938
which are now repelled with a new law called as Bangladesh Labour Code
2006 (GOB). The Code states accident as “an occurrence in any establishment
causing loss of life or bodily injury that compel the worker to remain absent
from the employment for more than 48 hours” (Sec. 80). The Code defines
serious physical injury as any such injury by which the use of any organ of
any person is permanently damaged or a probability of being damaged exists
which has been caused by an accident or an occupational disease, and which
arises out of, or in the course of, employment, and which would entitle such
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employee to compensate under the Code (Sec. 1(75) and 150). Accident may
cause death or disablement. Disablement is classified into two: partial and
total disablement. Partial disablement may be temporarily and permanent in
nature that incapable a person temporarily or permanently in earning income.
Total disablement incapacitates a workman for all work, which he was
capable of performing at the time of accident.
Safety, security and health management represents an organization’s

response to a number of compelling influences- legal, social and humanitarian
responsibilities as well as union, general public and international pressure.
The establishment of a safe, healthful and environmentally sound working
condition is a priority in any socially responsible organization. It is better to
go beyond the standards required by law under the context of the present
global economy. Our laws do not in many occasions comply with the
standards of the ISO 9000-9003 and the social accountability standards of the
advanced industrial nations. But firms engage in international trade have to
comply with those standards or to take the risk of losing market.
These are costly for the organization but it will also be paid back in many
kinds of return to the organization for which incurring these expenditure is
justified. The costs to an organization of accidents, injuries, and occupational
diseases are both tangible and intangible. The tangible costs are the
measurable financial expenses. The intangible costs include lowered
employee morale, less favourable public relations, and weakened ability to
recruit and retain employees.
Frequently, organizations ignore or are not aware of the tangible but

“hidden” costs of occupational illness or injury. Peterson (1976:50-53)
prepared a list of the costs associated with a single-accident in the workplace:
 The cost of wages paid to workers who are attracted to the accident site
and therefore not working.
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 Equipment or work in process that is interrupted, spoiled, or damaged;

slowdowns at later production stations caused by interruptions in the
work of the injured person as well as the work of those who came to
the scene.
 The repair of damaged equipment to work in process.
 Cleanup costs.
 Payments to the injured employee in excess of workers’ compensation.
 Dispensary services provided by the plant nurse, company infirmary,

and so on.
 The diminished productivity of the injured person after his or her

return to the job but before full work output can be sustained.
 Costs of supervisory time (incurred because accidents must be

investigated, and reports must be made and processed).
 Extra overtime costs occasioned by the initial interruption of work.
 Costs associated with the recruitment, selection or transfer, and

training of a replacement for the recuperating worker.
 Costs associated with the higher scrap, spoilage, or generally lower

efficiency of the replacement.
 Legal costs for advice with respect to any potential claim.
 Costs of rental equipment placed temporarily in service while unsafe

equipment is repaired or replaced.
The present legal framework of the country provides a lot of actions to ensure
safety, security and health protection of the working people. The statutory
provisions (Sec. 61- 78) in this respect of the Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006
are given below:
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Safety Provisions
i) Safety of building and machinery: If it appears to any Inspector that

nay building or any of its parts or any pathway, machinery or plant
in any establishment is in such a condition that it dangerous to
human life or safety, he may order the employer to take necessary
measures to be suggested by him/her. If the building or any part
thereof is imminently dangerous to human life or safety, the
inspector can prohibit its use (Sec. 61)
ii) Adopting precaution regarding fire: The following precautions

shall be taken in case of preventing fire:
a) Exit path shall be made to go out at the time of conflagration

along with at least one alternative staircase maintaining
connection with every floor and fire extinguishing appliances
in the manner prescribed by rules.
b) Exit doors shall not be locked or fastened and shall be capable

of being easily opened; and they shall be so constructed as to
open outwards;
c) Every doors, window or exit, through which persons can

escape in the event of a fire, shall be distinctly marked in
Bangla letters in red colour or by any easily comprehensible
manner. of adequate size in a language that is understood by
workers,
d) A clearly audible signaling system of giving warning at the

time of fire or danger to every worker employed therein shall
be maintained.
e) All the exits should be easily and freely accessible to all the
workers in every room in the factory premises, so that they
can easily make their escape when a fire breaks out; and
191
f) All workers shall know the means of escape and be trained

about their duty to be done at the time of fire.
g) Factories with fifty or more workers / employees shall have to

arrange a fire extinguishing demonstration at least once a
year. (Sec. 62)
iii) Fencing of Machinery: Every part of the machinery, either in motion

or in use, shall have to be strongly fenced by adequately construction
maneuvere. Every ser-screw, bolt orkey of every revolving shaft,
spindle-wheel or pinion and all spur, warm and other toothed or
friction gearing with which any worker is bound to come tin contact,
shall have to be strongly fenced with a view to making it free from
the risk of coming in such contact. (Sec. 63)
iv) Work on or near machinery in motion: The examination of any part

of machinery while in motion or to carry out any mounting or
shipping of belts, lubrication or other adjusting operations while the
machinery is in motion, shall be carried out by a specially trained
adult male worker wearing tight-fitting clothing but shall not handle
a belt at a moving pulley unless the belt is less than fifteen centimeter
in width and unless the belt-joint is flush with the belt and laced.
(Sec.64)
v) Striking gear or device for cutting off power: A suitable striking gear
or other efficient mechanical appliance shall be provided and
maintained and used to move driving belts to and from fast and slow
pulleys which form part of the transmission machinery, and such
gear or appliances shall be so constructed , placed and maintained to
prevent the belt from cropping back on the first pulleys. Suitable
devices for cutting off power in an emergency shall be provided and
maintained in every work room. (Sec. 65)
192
vi) Self-acting machines: No traversing part of a self-acting machine in any

establishment and no material carried thereon shall, if the space which it
runs is a space over which any person is liable to pass whether in the course
of his employment or otherwise, be allowed to run on its outward or inward
transverse within a distance of forty five centimeters inches from any fixed
structure which is not a part of the machine.(Sec.66)
vii) Casing of new machinery: In every machinery driven by power installed in

any establishment after the commencement of this Act (a) set-screw, belt or
key or any revolving shaft, spindle, wheel or pinion shall have to be sunk,
encased or otherwise effectively guarded so that danger can be prevented;
(b) all spur, worm and other toothed gearing which does not require frequent
adjustment while in motion shall lhave to be completely encased unless it is
situated in such a manner as to be as safe as it would be if it were completely
encased. (Sec. 67)
viii) Cranes and other lifting machinery: Cranes and other lifting
machinery along with their every part shall be excellently made of
adequately strong and sound material, shall have to be maintained
properly, and shall have to be examined by a competent person at
least once in every six months; no such machinery shall be loaded
beyond its carrying capacity marked thereon; and which any person
working in the wheel-tract of a moving crane in a place where there
is an apprehension of his being struck by the crane , effective
measure is to be adopted so that the crane does not approach within
six meters of that place. (Sec. 68).
ix) Hoists and lifts: Hoists and lifts shall be excellently made of
adequately strong and sound material, maintained properly, and
examined by a competent person at least once in every six months;
every hoist way and lift way shall be adequately protected by an
enclosure fitted with gate and shall be so constructed as to prevent
any person or thing from being trapped between any part of the hoist
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or lift and any fixed structure or moving part; the safe working load
shall have to be plainly marked on every hoist or lift and no load
greater than such load shall be carried thereon; in case of every hoist
or lift used for carrying persons shall be fitted with a gate on each
side from which access is afforded to a boarding and landing; every
gate shall have to be fitted with interlocking or other efficient device
to secure that the gate cannot be opened at the time of its descending
and that the cage cannot be in motion so long as the gate is not
closed; where the cage is supported by rope or chain , there shall be
at least two ropes or chains separately connected with the cage and
maintain its balance and each rope or chain shall be such so as to be
capable of carrying the cage together with its maximum load;
effective devices capable of supporting the cage together with its
maximum load shall have to be provided; there shall be appropriate
automatic device for controlling the excess velocity of the cage. (Sec.
69)
x) Revolving machinery: In every room of any establishment where the

process of grinding is carried on, a notice indicating the maximum
safe velocity of every grind-stone or abrasive wheel, the velocity of
the shaft or spindle upon which the wheel is mounted, the perimeter
of the pulley mounted on such shaft or spindle necessary for
ensuring the safe speed shall be fixed near each machine; the speed
mentioned shall not be superseded; effective measure shall have to be
taken so that each revolving vessel, cage, basket, flywheel, pulley-
disc or similar appliances driven by power cannot transcend their
prescribed speed. (Sec.70)
xi) Pressure plant: Where in any establishment any plant or any part of
the machinery used in a manufacturing process is operated at a
pressure above normal atmospheric pressure; necessary measures
should be taken to ensure the safe working pressure. (Sec.71)
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xii) Floors, stairs and pathways: All floors, stairs, and pathways shall
have to be soundly construction and appropriately maintained
and where it is necessary for ensuring their safety arrangement for
strong railings shall have to be adopted; there shall be provision for
safe access to every place at which any person is , at any time,
required to work; and all the floors of the working place, pathways
and stairs shall have to be clean, wide and free from any hindrance.
(Sec.72)
xiii) Pits, sumps, opening in floors, etc: While in any establishment,

every fixed vessel, pit, hole or tunnel entrance is such that it shall,
by reason of its depth, situation, construction or internal contents, it
may be the cause of danger, be either securely covered or secured
fenced. (Sec.73)
xiv) Excess weights: No worker shall be employed to lift, carry or move

any load which is so heavy as to cause him a possible injury.
(Sec.74)
xv) Protection of eyes: Suitable goggles or eye –screen shall have to be

provided for the protection of eyes of the workers if such process
involves with risk of injury to the eyes from particles or fragments
thrown off or ejected on account of the process; and risk to the eyes
by reason of exposure to excessive light or heat. (Sec. 75)
xvi) Precautions against dangerous fumes: (a) No person employed in

any establishment shall enter or be permitted to enter any room,
vessel, tank, pit, pipe, flue or other confined space in which
dangerous fumes are likely to be present to such an extent as to
involve risks or persons being overcome thereby, unless it is
provided with a manhole of adequate size or other effective
means of egress; (b) No portable electric light of voltage exceeding
24 volts shall be permitted for use inside any confined space and
195
where the fumes present are likely to be inflammable lamp other

than of flame proof construction shall be permitted to be used in
such space; (c) No person shall enter or be permitted to enter any
such confined space unless all practicable measures are adopted for
removing fumes therefrom and for preventing any ingress of fumes
and either a certificate is taken from a competent person on the
basis of tests indicating that the space is free form dangerous
fumes and fit for persons to enter or the concerned worker wears a
suitable breathing apparatus and a belt securely attached to a rope,
the free end of which is held by a person standing outside the
confined space; (d) Suitable breathing apparatus, reviving
apparatus, belts and ropes shall be kept ready for instant use close
to any such confined space and such appliances shall have to be
periodically examined and certified by a competent persons and
there shall be provision for imparting training to workers about its
use and method; (e) No person shall be permitted to enter any
boiler, boiler furnace, flue, vessel, tank, pipe or any confined space
for the purpose of working or carrying on any examination thereon
until it has been sufficiently cooled by ventilation otherwise made
safe for persons toe enter. (Sec.77)
xvii) Explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.: (a) Where in any

establishment ejected gas, fume, vapour, or dust on account of any
manufacturing process is of such character and to such extent as to
be likely to explode on ignition, all practicable measures shall have
to be taken to keep the plant or the machinery effectively enclosed
while in use, to remove or prevent the accumulation of such dust,
gas, fume or vapour and to keep all possible sources of ignition
effectively enclosed; (b) Where the establishment is not constructed
to withstand the probable pressure produced at the time of
explosion, all practicable measures shall have to be taken for
196
preventing the spread of explosion or its effect by making

arrangement for the use of chokes, baffles, vents or any other
effective appliances is such plants or machinery; (c) Any part of
any plant or machinery is under pressure greater than normal
atmospheric pressure, that part shall not be opened except before
opening the entrance of gas or vapour is stopped by a stop-valve or
by any other means, all practicable measures are taken to reduce
the pressure of the gas or vapour, and where loosen fastening is
repaired, preventive measures are taken to control explosion until
the fastening has been secured or securely replaced; (d) Where any
plant, vessel or tank contains or has contained nay explosive or
inflammable substance , no work of welding or cutting can be
carried on therein buy using hear unless adequate measure have
first been taken to remove such substance or fume or transforming
into not –explosives or non-inflammable , and no such substance
shall be allowed to enter such plant, vessel or tank after any such
operation until the concerned metal has cooled sufficiently to
prevent any risk of igniting the substance. (Sec.78)
Health and Hygiene Provisions

The Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006 of the Government of Bangladesh
contains the provisions from Section 51 to 60 that deal with health and
hygiene of the working people. The statutory provisions are:
i) Neatness and Cleanliness: Every establishment shall be kept neat

and clean and free from effluvia arising out of any drain, latrine
or other nuisance and in particular the dirt and refuges from- (a)
The floors, workrooms , staircases, passages of the establishment
shall have to be removed daily by sweeping in a suitable manner;
(b) The floor of every workroom shall have to be washed at least
197
once in a week and ,if necessary, disinfectant is to be used in the

washing task; (c) Where the floor becomes wet because of any
manufacturing process to such an extent that drainage of eater
becomes necessary, adequate arrangement is to be made for
draining water; (d) All inside walls, partitions, ceilings, staircases,
passages shall (i) where they are painted or varnished, be repainted
and revarnished at least once in every three years, (ii) where they
are painted or varnished and have smooth outer surface, be
cleaned at least once in every fourteen months in the manner
prescribed by rules, (iii) in other cases, white-washing or colour-
washing be done at least once in every fourteen months. (Sec.51)
ii) Ventilation and temperature: (a) Adequate provision for ventilation

by circulation of fresh air in every work-room of the establishment
shall have to be made; (b) In every such room suitable arrangement
for securing and maintaining such temperature shall have to be
made so that the workers employed therein can work in reasonable
conditions of comfort and injury to the health of the workers is
prevented; (c) Walls and roofs of the rooms shall have to be made in
such a manner so that such temperature does not increase and is
kept as low as practicable; (d) Where the nature of work carried on
in any establishment is such that it is likely to produce excessively
high temperature , such adequate measures as are practicable shall
have to be taken for separating the source from which such
temperature is produced or its hot parts from the work-room of the
workers by insulating them with non-conducting material; (e) If it is
possible to reduce the excessive high temperature of any
establishment by white-washing , spraying or insulating oar
screening side-walls, roofs or windows or by raising the level of the
roof or by any other special method, Government can direct to do
so. (Sec. 52)
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iii) Dust and fume: Effective measures shall have to be taken to prevent
the accumulation of dust and fumes in any work-room and its
inhalation by workers. Exhaust appliances, if necessary, shall be
installed as near as possible to the source of such dust, fume or
other befouled matter and that place is to kept enclosed as far as
practicable. No internal combustion engine shall be operated
unless the exhaust is conducted into open air and no internal
combustion engine shall be operated in any work-room unless
effective measures have been taken to prevent the accumulation of
such fumes given off therefrom as are likely to be injurious to the
health of the workers. (Sec. 53)
iv) Removal of waste and effluents: Proper arrangement is to be made

in every establishment for the removal of wastage and effluents
originating from the manufacturing process carried on therein. (Sec.
54).
v) Artificial humidification: In any establishment where the humidity

of the air is artificially increased, the water used for that purpose
shall have to be collected from the Government water supply
system or from any other source of drinking water or shall have to
be suitably purified before it is used. (Sec. 55).
vi) Overcrowding: No work-room in any establishment shall be

overcrowded to such an extent injurious to the health of the
workers employed therein, and in every work-room there shall be
at least 9.5 cubic meter space for every worker employed therein.
(Sec. 56).
vii) Lighting arrangement: (a) In every part of any establishment where

the workers work and passes there shall be arrangement for
sufficient lighting, natural, artificial or both. (b) All glazed windows
and skylights used for lighting the work rooms of every
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establishment shall be kept clean on both sides and free from

obstruction as far as possible. (c) In every establishment effective
provision shall have to be provided for the prevention of glare
emanated or reflected from any transparent substance or form any
lamp and the formation of such shadows as to cause strain on the
eyes or creation of risk of accident to any worker. ( Sec. 57)
viii) Drinking water: (a) There shall be arrangement for the supply of
sufficient pure drinking water in nay convenient place of every
establishment for all the workers employed therein. (b) Every point
of water –supply shall be legibly marked in Bangla “cvb Kwievi cvwb"
(drinking water). (c)All those establishments, in which ordinarily
250 or more workers are employed, shall have to make
arrangement for the supply of drinking water by cooling it during
the summer reason. (d) If dehydration is caused to workers
because of working close to a machinery which gives out heat to the
extent of excess over limit, provision for oral dehydration therapy
shall have to be made for those workers. (Sec. 58)
ix) Overcrowding: No workroom shall be overcrowded to an extent

injurious to the health of the workers employed therein.(Sec.17)
x) Lighting: Sufficient and suitable lighting , natural or artificial or

both, should be made available in the factory premises. (Sec. 18)
xi) Drinking water: Effective arrangement shall be made to provide

and maintain at a suitable point conveniently situated for all
workers employed a sufficient supply of wholesome drinking water
and shall be legibly marked “Drinking Water” in a language
understandable by the majority of the workers and no such point
shall be situated within twenty feet of any washing place, urinal or
latrine. (Sec. 19)
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xii) Latrines and Urinals: Necessary number of latrines and urinals of

prescribed types shall be provided in convenient places so that the
workers employed therein can use them easily during the working
hours. Enclosed latrines and urinal shall be provided separately
for male and female workers. Such latrines and urinals shall be
adequately lighted and ventilated and be maintained in a clean and
sanitary condition at all times with suitable detergents or
disinfectants.(Sec.59)
xiii) Waste –basket and Spittoons: (a) In every establishment, sufficient

number of waste-baskets and spittoons are to be provided and
these are to be kept clean and in hygienic condition. (b) No person
shall be allowed to throw waste-matters or spit anywhere other
than in such waste-baskets or spittoons.
In order to institutionalize the safety and health programmes into the

organization several basic elements are to exercise. French (1997:546) pointed
out five elements to maintain in this regard. They are:
1) Management policy, assigning and supporting responsibility,

setting of an example, and involving employees into planning
process.
2) Continual analysis of work environment to identify all hazards and

potential hazards.
3) Placing methods for preventing or controlling existing or potential

hazards and to maintain them in order.
4) Train managers, supervisors, and employees to understand and

deal with worksite hazards.
5) Make a comprehensive, ongoing effort to help employees at all

levels to manage stress. Lack of fit between the person and the
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environment results stress. The relationship between stress and

accidents and stress and illness is well documented; therefore,
organizations must pay careful attention to the psychological and
emotional climate of the work setting, as well as to mechanical and
physical conditions (Jones, DuBois and Wuebker, June1986: 41-44) .
It may costs an organization in premature death of employees,
higher rates of accidents, increased disability payments and many
other areas.
Financial Security
Employees are financially dependent on a pay cheque. Anything that keeps
them from earning a pay cheque threatens their financial security. Because
retirement, disability, layoffs, and injuries limit the earning power of many
employees, government has intervened with the law for giving compensation
to workers besides organizational efforts to reduce the financial hardship. The
Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006 of the Government of Bangladesh provides the
following financial securities for the workers:
1) Permanent Total Disability Benefit: Where permanent total

disablement takes place as a consequence of the injury, the
concerned workers if he is an adult, shall be entailed to get Tk.
125,000; and if the concerned worker is a minor, he shall be entitled
to Tk. 10,000. (Sec. 151)
2) Permanent Partial Disablement Benefit: Where permanent partial

disablement occurs as a consequence of the injury, the concerned
workers will get the amount from Tk. 125,000 proportionate to the
percentage of the loss of earning capability caused by the injury.
(Sec. 51)
3) Accidental Death Benefit: Where death occurs owing to the injury,

the concerned worker shall be entitled to get TK. 100,000. (Sec. 51)
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4) Occupational Disease Benefits: In case of chronic occupational

diseases, half of the monthly wages during the period of
disablement for a maximum period of two years shall be paid. (Sec.
51)
5) Normal Death Benefit: If any worker during the continuous service

for more that three years under any employer meets death, the
employer shall pay 30 days wages or gratuity whichever is greater
for the service of each full year or for a period of more than six
months to the nominated person of the deceased worker. (Sec. 19).
Employee/ Labour Relation
Concept of Employee / Industrial Relations

Employee or labour relations are significant aspect of human resource
management (HRM) to maintain a peaceful working environment in the small
and medium enterprises (SMEs). Employees need to have involvement in the
managing of human resources that affects their interests. A well thought-out
structure of employee participation system, grievance system, dispute
handling management, disciplining system and labour representation system
maintain conducive labour relations in the organization which will ultimately
ensure interrupted operations, progress and prosperity of the firm.
Kapoor (1998) describes employee relations as a dynamic and developing

concept which is not limited to the complex relations between trade unions
and management but also refer to the general web of relationships normally
obtaining between employers and employees – a web much more complex
than the simple concept of labour-capital conflict. International Labour
Organization (ILO) understands employee or industrial relations are the
relationships between the state on the one hand and the employers’ and
employees’ organizations on the other or are the relationships among the
occupational organizations themselves. It involves with freedom of
association and the right to organize; and the application of the principles to
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the collective bargaining, conciliation, arbitration, and the machinery for

cooperation between the authorities and the occupational organizations at
various levels of the economy. Labour or industrial relations are an integral
aspect of social relations arising out of employer- employee interaction in
modern industries, which are regulated by the state in varying degrees, in
conjunction with organized social forces and influenced by the existing
institutions.
The Encyclopedia Britannica (2005) refers labour or industrial relations

include individual relations and joint consultation between employers and
work people at the place of work, collective relations between employers or
the organizations and the trade unions, and the part played by the state in
regulating these relations. Industrial relations system provides the structure
and the machinery for the functional relationship between the managers and
the managed in any industrial society.
Ivancevich (2001) opined that labour relations is the continuous relationship

between a defined group of employees and management and it includes the
negotiation of a written contract concerning pay, hours, and other terms and
conditions of employment as well as the interpretation and administration of
this contract over its period of coverage.
Employee or industrial relations do not constitute a simple relationship, but a

set of functional, inter-dependent complexities involving with the conditions
of work, levels of wages and security of employment, social conflict, attitudes
of the working people, the government, the press, cultural interactions, legal
aspects of disputes, technological aspects, the control of temperature and the
introduction of rationalization of disputes, human rights and other rights and
privileges ensured by the laws and constitution of the country as well as
international agencies.
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Functions of Industrial/Employee Relations

Industrial Relations are one of the most delicate and complex problems to
modern industrial society. It embraces diversified issues into a consolidated
manner to deal successfully with the complicated scenarios of the industry
and its society. The functions that industrial relations perform for this
purpose are stated below:
1) Employer- employee Relations: Personal attention given by the

employers /management to their employees. It involves with the
Wages and salaries administration; career prospects and promotion;
retirement benefits and medical cover; redress of grievance and
discipline; training and development of employees; counseling;
compensation on accidents, insurance cover etc.
2) Labour- management Relations: Industrial relations promote

healthy labour- management relations. It involves with the group
relations. It covers the aspects of recognition of union and
bargaining agent; collective bargaining; industrial disputes;
bipartite and Tripartite dispute settling machinery; welfare
measures and benefit schemes;health and safety etc.
3) Industrial Peace and Productivity: Industrial relations try to

maintain the peace in the industry so that the productivity of the
industry maintains a systematic standard. It involves with the
aspects of improving union- management relations; avoiding
strikes and go-slow tactics; preventing lock out and layoffs;
upgrading technology and production method; secure employees
cooperation in improving productivity; minimize loss of man days
per year; retraining and redevelopment of surplus labour etc.
4) Industrial Democracy: Industrial democracy is a mechanism to

ensure the dignity and welfare of the individual so that he may
develop into a good citizen- a citizen free from domination,
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regimentations or arbitrary authority. Industrial relations should be

based on an integrated and synthetic approach and should aim at
the development of a common social, cultural and psychological
understanding on the one hand and restraining the conflict or
struggle on the other. Industrial relations with its application of the
industrial democracy will bring about solutions of conflicts between
labour and management, between objectives and values, between
the profit motive and social gain, between discipline and freedom,
between authority and workers, between bargaining and
cooperation. Therefore, It deals with humanism in industry; focus
on employees; public relations; social orientation of business; public
relations; participative management; formation of works
committee, etc.
5) Liaison: Industrial relations maintain strong communication and

public relations with the parties who have influence upon the
industry and its associated forces. This gives a broad network of
relations that helps establish, maintain and promote relations of
mutual interests for the benefit of all parties.
Employee relations are being shaped by many actors and forces which can be
segmented into two parts inner and outer actors and forces. Inner actors and
forces are constituted with the (1) Government i.e. Legal and political
environment such as Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 , Minimum Wages Board
etc (2) Management of the enterprise ; (3) Workers Union. The outer actors
and forces are constituted with (1) United Nations Organization (UNO) (2)
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (3) WTO World Trade Organisation
(WTO) (4) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (5) Regional
Pacts i.e. SAARC, SAFTA, NAFTA, ASEAN etc. (6) Bilateral Agreements
between countries (7) Non Government Organizations (NGOs) i.e. human
rights organizations, labour rights awareness development organizations etc.
(8) Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCIs) and Federation of the
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Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FCCIs) (9) International Trade Union

Confederations (ITUCs) (10) Pressure Groups i.e. Green Peace Movement,
Anti-pollution Group etc.
Disciplining Employee
Discipline is one of the most challenging areas in the human resource
management function (Ivancevich, 2001:463). The promotion and
maintenance of employee discipline is essential for the group to be effective or
productive. Employee morale and industrial peace are definitely dependent
upon proper maintenance of discipline. If the members of the organization do
not abide by the rules of the organization, it may collapse. Chaos, confusion,
disobedience, disloyalty and antisocial or anti organizational activities
develop to the detrimental of everyone.
The word Discipline is derived from the word “disciple” meaning “ a

follower,” the implication is that good discipline presupposed good
leadership (Megginson, 1970:563).
Discipline connotes that the members of a group should reasonably conform

to the rules and regulations i.e. the code of conduct/behaviour, which have
been framed for it or by it so that everyone may benefit by them. Oxford
Advance Learner’s dictionary and others define discipline in different ways.
They are:
1) Discipline is the training or control aimed at producing obedience

to rules, self –control , character, orderliness, and efficiency;
2) It is a controlled or ordered behaviour resulting from such training;
3) It is a system of punishment;
4) It is the acceptance of, or submission to, authority and control;
5) It is system of rules or methods;
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6) It is a treatment that corrects or punishes;
7) It is a branch of knowledge or learning.
Spriegel and Schultz (1957) said, “Discipline is the force that prompts an
individual or a group to observe the rules, regulations and procedures which
are deemed to be necessary to the attainment of an objective. It is force or
fear, which retrains an individual or a group from doing certain things, which
are deemed to distractive for group objectives. It is also the exercise of
restraint or the enforcement of penalties for the violation of group
regulations”. Lead (1993) said that “Discipline is the orderly conduct of affairs
by the members of an organization who adhere to its necessary regulations
because they desire to do0operate harmoniously in forwarding the end which
the group has in view, and willingly recognize that, to do this, their wishes
must be brought into a reasonable union with the requirements of the group
in action”. Werther and Davis (1996) opined that “Discipline is management
action that encourages compliance with organizational standards”.
Megginson (1970, 5630 has given various dimensional views of discipline

while he said that “The term discipline bears all of the three meanings in its
practical purpose or use: (1) self- discipline- discipline is the training that
corrects, molds, strengthens perfects. In this sense, it refers to the
development of an individual, i.e. his /her efforts at self –control for the
purpose of adjusting himself to certain needs and demands. This may be
called self-discipline; (2) the necessary condition for orderly behaviour - it
considers discipline as the condition necessary to obtain orderly behaviour in
an organization. This implies keeping order and individual employee control
among a group of workers by using methods that build morale and esprit de
crops; (3) the act of training and punishing – this concept considers discipline
as a judicial due process based upon training and punishing. Thus, discipline
is a form of punishment, which a person incurs as a result of an undesirable
act. Its function is not to change past behaviour but to prevent a recurrence of
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the act in the future (Maier,1965: 189-92,213). Dessler (2000:596) has taken
discipline in terms of its punitive dimension. He defined, “Discipline is a
procedure that corrects or punishes a subordinate because a rule or procedure
has been violated”. Bittel (1994: 304) observes the discipline in the same
direction. He opined that discipline plays the dame role as law plays in the
society; discipline is called for when one of these rules or regulations is
violated. French (1997:188) also viewed the disciplinary action in the similar
manner while he describes it as “the penalty or punishment associated with
violation of a rule”.
Thus, discipline is a process of training an employee through positive and

negative manner so that he /she can develop self – control and can become
more effective in his/her work. It is an attitude of mind, a product of culture
and a particular environment which impels an individual to willingly so-
operate in the observance of the rules of the organization to which he/she
belongs. This conformity and willingness to work for the objectives of his
organization have to come from within, though at times they may have to be
imposed by an external agency.
Discipline is essential for the smooth running of an organization and for the
maintenance of industrial peace, which is the very foundation of industrial
democracy. Without discipline, no enterprise would prosper (Fayol, 1951:23).
It would help to obtain a willful acceptance of the rules, regulations and
procedures of an organization so that organizational goals may be attained; to
impart an element of certainty despite several differences in informal
behaviour patterns and other related changes in an organization; to develop
among the employees a spirit of tolerance and a desire to make adjustments;
to give and seek direction, and responsibility; to create an atmosphere of
respect for the human personality and human relations; to increase the
working efficiency and morale of the employees so that their productivity is
stepped up, the cost of production brought down and the quality of
production improved; to ensure maintenance of equipments and other assets;
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to preserve self-respect and respect for the organization; to improve work

relations between and among employees ;to attain a smooth functioning of
the activities of an organization; to develop a self disciplined workforce in
order to maintain industrial peace.
There are three basic philosophies pertaining to how employees should be

disciplined. The distinction between these value systems is based upon the
weight given to the rights of individual employees versus the needs of the
organization. These philosophies have been called authoritarian, anarchic,
and due process (Phelps, 1959:01).
1) Authoritarian Philosophy: A system of discipline considers the

organization to be overpowering. An extreme example of this
philosophy is the military in time war. The responsible authority
dispenses judgment and execution, with no appeal other than
personal and exceptional arrangements for review. Conduct is
customary, understood, and rigidly fixed. All decisions are
discretionary at the will of the superior.
2) Anarchic philosophy: The anarchic philosophy prevails if the

rights of the individual take precedence over those of the
organization. Conduct of the subordinates is self-determined; the
responsible authority either permits such action as a matter of
policy or has insufficient power to compel contrary behaviour.
While this system is usually regarded as the antithesis of discipline,
it actually may be one form of cooperative activity.
3) Due –process philosophy: This is a intermediate philosophy which

is based on a body of recognized rules and is administered under
some form of judicial procedure. The key factor in this system id
formality, where specific penalties for various acts of misbehavior
are stated, and formal methods are followed in charging,
investigating, proving, and punishing. Channels of appeal are
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provided for the accused, and discipline is either in the hands of a

third party or the final stage of appeal is reserved for someone in a
judicial position.
Discipline involves the conditioning or moulding of the future behaviour of

employees by the offer of rewards and penalties. A disciplinary action is the
means by which the various procedures, techniques and methodologies are
used to bring about this controlled state of affairs.
There are two types of discipline i.e. disciplinary action: preventive and
corrective ( Werther and Davis, 1996:515)
1) Preventive Discipline: It is action taken to encourage employees to

follow standards and rules so that infractions are prevented. It
refers to rewards, appreciation, constructive support, reinforcement
of approved personnel actions and behaviour, invective payments,
and promotions to motivate employees to extend their co-operation
to the management and work willingly, effectively and
competently (Mamoria, 1987: 852). It involves the creation of an
attitude of mind and an organizational climate in which employees
willingly conform to rules and regulations. This discipline is
achieved when the management applies the principles of positive
motivations; when supervisors properly exercise leadership; and
when the entire organization is efficiently managed. Positive
discipline emphasizes the concept of self-discipline and self-control,
and is also known as co-operative discipline or determinative
discipline. Self discipline, when developed from within, leads to
team spirit, mutual respect, respect for established rules,
regulations and procedures, respect for supervisors, appreciation of
company goals and policies, high employee morale, greater
freedom for development and for self-expression, and willingness
to co-operate and co-ordinate. . It develops programmes to control
absences and grievances, communicates standards to employees
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and encourages workers to follow them, and encourages

employees’ participation in setting standards, since workers give
greater support to rules they have helped create. Employees also
give more support to standards that are stated positively instead of
negatively, such as “Safety first!” rather than “Don’t be careless!”
Effective discipline is a system relationship, and so the HR
department needs to be concerned with all parts of this system.
2) Corrective Discipline: It is an action that follows a rule infraction. It

seeks to discourage further infractions and ensure future
compliance with standards. Typically the corrective or disciplinary
action is a penalty, such as a warning or suspension without pay.
Therefore, it is known as negative discipline. The purpose of this
discipline is to scare others, to keep others in line, and to ensure
that they do not indulge in undesirable behaviour. These actions
are usually initiated by an employee’s immediate supervisor but
may require approval by a higher-level manager or the HR
department, especially when the worker is a union member.
Approvals exist to guard against subsequent labour or legal actions
and to assure uniform application of rules throughout the
organization. An appeal then goes to higher levels in the company
and in the union hierarchy. However, this kind of discipline
ensures only the minimum standards of performance on the part of
employees, so that they may avoid penalties ( Mamoria, 187: 853).
3) Progressive Discipline: The discipline would be taken gradually

from softer action to harder actions. It allows the person to correct
and develop himself and the organization to absorb an
undisciplined employee in a corrected manner.
There are various approaches used to apply disciplinary actions. They are:
212
1) The Judicial Approach: Follow the legal course of actions that are
prescribed in the law of the land. Various kinds of misconduct are
listed in the employment of labour standing order Act and
penalties are also mentioned. The decisions of the Supreme Court
on various cases also serve as guidelines. It is commonly followed
in Bangladesh.
2) The Human Relations Approach: It calls for treating an employee

as a human being and considers the totality of his personality and
behaviour while correcting faults that contribute to indiscipline. His
total personality is considered, as is his interaction with his
colleagues, his family background, etc and then appropriate
punishment for misconduct is awarded.
3) The Human Resources Approach: This approach calls for treating

every employee as a resource and as asset to the organization.
Before punishing the worker, the cause for indiscipline has to be
ascertained. An analysis of the cause is made, to find out whether
indiscipline is due to the failure of his training and motivating
system or the individual’s own failure to meet the requirements,
and accordingly corrections are made.
4) The Group Discipline Approach: The management, in this

approach, sets and conveys well-established norms of conduct and
tries to involve groups of employees in the process of discipline.
The group as a whole controls indiscipline and awards appropriate
punishments. The trade union may also act a disciplinary agency.
5) The Leadership Approach: The approach states that every

supervisor or manager has to guide, control, train, develop, lead
and administer the rules for discipline as a leader whatever may be
his position on the organizational hierarchy.
A disciplined organization requires teamwork, which is instantly responsive

to management’s direction. The manager’s aim should be to create a habit of
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response to superior action. When it becomes necessary to increase the

frequency and intensity of orders, discipline may be deteriorating.
The management should take disciplinary action only when it becomes

abundantly clear that subordinates are losing their habit of giving the
appropriate response (Megginson, 1970: 571). Inappropriate responses are
called the “act of indiscipline or misconduct”. Misconduct is a transgression
of some established and definite rule, which does not leave any discretion of
action to the employees. It is an act or a conduct which is prejudicial to the
interests of the employer, or which is likely to impair the reputation of the
employer, or create unrest among other employees; it id an act of misconduct
even when such activities are performed outside the organization, or before or
after the employee’s duty hours (Mamoria, 1987:853). In other words, it is for
the management to determine what constitutes misconduct. It is wise to
ascertain the justifiability of the cause of subordinate’s disobedience or
misconduct before trying to rebuild his/her habit.
Disciplinary problems may be classified on the basis of the severity of the

consequences, which flow from them. They are generally divided into three
categories:
i) Minor infraction: The act which does little or no harm or which

when viewed in isolation, result in very few serious consequences,
but which may become serious if they accumulate. Some of the
examples of these minor infractions are: negligence, horseplay,
minor violation of rules, carelessness etc.
ii) Major infractions: These are acts, which substantially interfere with
the orderly operations of an organization, which damage morale, or
which are so serious that they are apparent to any reasonable
person; or act which, are an accumulation of minor offences. Most
of these manor violations centre round refusal to carry out orders,
laying, cheating, stealing or violating safety rules etc..
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iii) Intolerable offences: These are offences of such illegal and drastic
nature that they severely strain or endanger employment
relationships and are full of threat and menace to most people.
These offences arise out of the possession of, and the threat to use
weapons; the use of hard drugs on the job; theft or fighting which
results in serious harm to others etc.
In this respect, French (1997:188), and Mamoria (1987:854-857) have listed

some grounds for disciplinary action/ misconduct that are as follows:
Dishonesty, deception, or fraud, Repeated tardiness

including computer fraud
Unexcused absence Excessive absence
Leaving work without permission Alcohol or drug abuse
Possession of liquor or illegal drugs Theft of property, including trade

secrets
Sleeping on the job Failure to report injuries
Failure to meet quality or quantity Safety –rule violation

standards
Use of abusive or threatening Discourtesy to customers

language
Willful damage to material or Fighting

property
Horseplay Gambling
Insubordination Carrying concealed weapon
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Sexual harassment Age, racial, or national origin

harassment
Working for a competitor Violation of grooming or dress

code.
Lack of qualifications Unsatisfactory performance

(Dessler,2000:601) (Dessler,2000:601)
Changed requirements of the

job(Dessler,2000:601)
Grounds for disciplinary action/ misconduct
The Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 has prescribed a list of acts and omissions
that shall be treated as misconduct in its Section 23 that mentions the
following acts shall be treated as misconduct:
a) Willful insubordination or disobedience, whether alone or in

combination with others, to any lawful or reasonable order of the
superior;
b) theft, fraud or dishonesty in connection with the employer’s

business or property;
c) taking or giving bribes in connection with his or any other worker’s

employment under the employer;
d) habitual absence without leave or absence without leave for more

than ten days;
e) habitual late attendance;
f) habitual breach of any law or rule or regulation applicable to the

establishment;
216
g) riotous or disorderly behaviour in the establishment or any act

subversive of discipline;
h) habitual negligence of work;
i) habitual brfeach of any rule regarding service, discipline or conduct

approved by the Chief Inspector;
j) altering, forging illegally tampering, damaging or causing loss to

official records of the employer.
Discipline is the result of a training of body and mind by which a person

subjects him to someone’s authority for his own development and advantage.
In order to understand the causes of indiscipline and consequent friction in an
establishment or factory, the whole problem needs to be analysed not only in
terms of specific individuals or groups, but also in terms of the actual
situation and the underlying motives behind an act of indiscipline. Mamoria
(1987) observes that this is rooted into the violation of the rights of the
individual, non-performance of the obligation by the employers and the
employees. The main causes of indiscipline may include the following:
1) Non- placement of the right person on the right job which is

suitable for his qualifications, experience and training;
2) Undesirable behaviour of senior officials, who may have set a

pattern of behaviour which they expect their subordinates to
follow; but their expectations are often belied, and an infringement
of rules follows;
3) Faulty evaluations of persons and situations by executives leads to

favouritism, which generates undisciplined behaviour;
4) Lack of upward communication, as a result of which the thoughts,

feelings and reactions of employees cannot be conveyed to the top
management. This may lead to aggressive or rebellious behaviour;
217
5) Leadership which is weak, flexible, incompetent, and distrustful of

subordinates is often an instrument which h makes for the creation
of indiscipline among the employees, particularly when a decision
is taken in haste and withdrawn under pressure;
6) Defective supervision and an absence of good supervisors who

know good techniques, who are in a position to appreciate critically
the efforts or their subordinates, who can listen patiently to them,
who are capable of giving definite and specific instructions, and
who believe in correcting their men rather than in uprooting them;
7) Lack of properly drawn rules and regulations, or the existence of

rules and regulations which are so impracticable that they cannot
be observed ; and the absence of service manuals and a code of
behaviour;
8) The “divide and rule” policy of the management, as a result of

which friction and misunderstanding are created among the
employees which destroy their team spirit;
9) Illiteracy and the low intellectual level of workers as well as their

social background; for example, there may be indebtedness,
drinking habits, casteism and other social evils from which an
employee may suffer;
10) Workers’ reactions to the rigidity and multiplicity of rules and their
improper interpretation;
11) Workers” personal problems, their fears, apprehensions, hopes and

aspirations; and their lack of confidence in, and their inability to
adjust with, their superiors and equals;
12) Intolerably bad working conditions;
13) Inborn tendencies to flout rules;
14) Absence of enlightened, sympathetic and scientific management;
218
15) Errors of judgment on the part of the supervisor or the top

management;
16) Discrimination based on caste, colour, creed, sex, language, and

place in matters of selection, promotion, transfer, placement, and
discrimination in imposing penalties and handing out rewards;
17) Undesirable management practices, policies and activities aiming at

the control of workers; e.g., employment of spies, undue
harassment of workers with a view to creating a fear complex
among them, and the autocratic attitude of supervisors towards
their subordinates;
18) Improper coordination, delegation of authority and fixing of

responsibility; and
19) Psychological and sociological reasons, including

misunderstanding, rivalry an distrust among workers and
supervisors, an absence of fellow-feeling, a widespread sense of
injustice, or apathy on the part of the management.
A sound disciplinary system should have the following ingredients:
1) Disciplinary policy formulation and declaration: Disciplinary

rules and regulations are to be followed by the employees. They are
to behave in a responsible manner. Therefore, it should be
formulated by taking all parties and their opinion into
consideration. The rules should be framed in a clearly
understandable language. The policy should be communicated t the
employees well ahead so that they can understand the codes to be
followed and refrain themselves from doing inconsistent actions.
So, the employee should be adequately warned of the consequences
of his or her alleged misconduct (Dessler 2000:597).
219
2) Location of responsibility: The responsibility for maintaining

discipline should be entrusted to a responsible person e.g. a line
executive, though it is the human resource officer who should be
entrusted with the responsibility of offering advice and assistance.
One thing should be kept in mind that the burden of proof of
misconduct is on you.
3) Reasonable and legitimate rules and regulation: Disciplinary

rules should be practicable in normal working conditions for an
average employee. The standards should be attainable and within
the capacity of the employee to follow. Employees tend to lose
respect for rules that either seem illogical and out of date or are not
enforceable. There shall be no rule contrary to the law of the
country and to the international laws. Therefore, the rule that
allegedly was violated should be reasonably related to the efficient
and safe operation of the particular work environment (Dessler
2000:597).
4) Impersonality of action: It should be applied with out any bias to

everybody irrespective of his/her position and identity. All
defaulters should be treated alike, depending on the nature of their
offence. Therefore, the applicable rules, orders, or penalties should
be applied evenhandedly and without discrimination (Dessler
2000:597).
5) Consistency of action: Disciplinary actions should be consistent

and there shall on inconsistency between actions. The discipline
should be in line with the way management usually responds to
similar incidents (Dessler 2000:597). It will jeopardize the purpose
the code and encourage employees to violate.
6) Privacy of action: Disciplinary action, if taken in the presence of

others, may offend the sense of dignity of the employee and impair
220
his social standing with his colleagues. So, “Do not rob your
subordinate of his or her dignity”(Dessler 2000:597)
7) Promptness of the action: Justice delayed is justice denied. If the

penalty is imposed long after a violation of rules had been
committed, it loses its positive and corrective influence, and may
even induce resentment, which may not have developed if the
penalty had been imposed in time. Care should, therefore, be
exercise to ensure that a penalty is imposed soon after an
infringement of a rule has occurred, and that the punishment is not
unfair.
8) Innocence is presumed: An individual is presumed to be innocent

until he is proven to be guilty. It is for the management to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that a violation or an offence has been
committed before any punishment is awarded.
9) Get sufficient evidence: Anfuso (February 1994:50-59) observes

that the arbitrators dismissed disciplinary charges against
employees on the ground that “ the evidence was not persuasive
against the employee”. Thus, Dessler (2000:597) suggests, “ make
sure the evidence supports the charge of employee wrongdoing”.
So, management must adequately investigate the matter through
fair and objective manner before administering discipline. The
investigation should produce substantial evidence of misconduct
(Dessler 2000:597).
10) Action should be taken in cool atmosphere: “Don’t act while

angry” (Dessler 2000: 597) is a desired guideline when one takes
disciplinary action. The employee under investigation should be
told specifically what and how he is violating a diplomacy rule. A
rational and sensible judgment could not be taken while someone is
angry.
221
11) Natural justice: Studies shows that “arbitrators normally reverse

discharges and suspensions that are imposed in a manner that
violate basic notions of fairness or employee due process
procedures” (Bohlander 1994: 76-76). Anfuso (1994) opines that
typically due process and procedural errors committed by
employees include failing to follow established progressive
discipline procedures, denying the employees an opportunity to tell
his or her side of the story, lacking probable cause to discipline the
employee; and not providing the employee a formal charge of
wrongdoing.
12) Treat the disciplined subordinate in a normal manner: Once an

employee is disciplined, he should be treated with a clean state as if
there had been no violation and punishment.
13) Don’t back down when you are right: Never back out from your
announced action if you are right. It will make the rules and
penalties weak and frivolous.
14) Opportunity for self-defence: The employee should be given

opportunity to defend himself with his point of evidence and logic.
He is to be provided sufficient time for it.
15) Respect for the human personality: The management should state
the charge against the employee and should constitute the enquiry
body with due respect to his personality and status. It should be
done in such a manner so that it would not humiliate him in any
way.
16) Involvement of employee: Employees, by their union or by

representative, should be involved in framing disciplinary rules
and regulations. This participation would promote employees’
commitment and allegiance to the code of conduct.
222
17) Follow corrective discipline: Disciplinary action should be treated

as a corrective and constructive way and be handled in a positive
manner. It would bring the employee home.
18) Get the facts: Don’t base your decision on hearsay evidence or on
your general impression.
Disciplinary measures have serious repercussion on employees; they should,

therefore, be based on certain principles so that they may be fair, just and
acceptable to employees and their unions and associations. Yoder et.al. ( 1958
: 14-61) have prescribed the following principles in this regard:
1) Principle of Correction: Disciplinary proceedings and punishment

should be seen as the “means of an end” and not an “end by itself”.
In other words, it must not be thought of as a punitive action. The
intention should be to correct the mis-doer or the behaviour of the
employee.
2) Principle of Progressive actions and Punishments: Every action

must be progressed through a series of sequential steps, so that
punishment awarded in each step increases in steps of severity. For
example, first offence may lead to an oral warning which is
followed by a written one. Later, repetitive of offence may lead to
suspension or some such punitive actions like fines or loss of
seniority or increment. If the employee continue to flout rules and
regulations it might then lead to dismissal or some such harsh
punishment.
3) Principle of Natural Justice: Natural justice is a universal code that

states that every accused is innocent and must be given all
opportunities to defend himself beyond any doubt. So, the
disciplinary action procedure should be designed and followed in
223
such a way so that it is just, fair, legal and reasonable from every
point o f assessment.
4) Principle of Hot-stove: McGregor (1960) has proposed this rule of

handling undisciplined employees. It is derived from the
characteristics of hot-stove: immediate response, adequate warning,
consistent and impersonal. The disciplinary action should be like
the behaviour of hot-stove which will make a just and fair
disciplinary environment in the organization.
5) Principle of Collaboration: Disciplinary rules should be framed in

collaboration or cooperation with the representatives of the
employees. Their opinion and acceptance are vital for its
implementation and effectiveness.
6) Principle of Appeal: There should be definite and precise

provisions for appeal or review of all disciplinary actions should be
expressly mentioned in the employees’ handbook.
There is no specific standardized procedure for taking disciplinary action,

which is universally acceptable. But it is expected that any code of
disciplinary action should contain the above-mentioned principles. Lest we
forget that the disciplinary action is a quasi-judicial process. It is very
essential that meticulous care is taken to follow a systematic procedure. The
generally accepted procedures are as follows:
1) Statement of Problems: The charges of misconduct or indiscipline

against an employee must be clearly stated. The allegation should
be recorded in writing against employee. It is popularly known as
framing charge sheet. The employee shall be given a reasonable
time for giving explanation.
2) Consideration of explanation: The through examination of the

explanation may lead to either of the following action: (a) In case
224
the accused pleaded guilty, further enquiry can be dispensed with

and the management can proceed in awarding punishment.(b) If
management is satisfied with the explanation, further action against
the accused can be cancelled and the charges quashed; and (c) If
management is not satisfied with the explanation, or if he contest
the charges by pleading not guilty, a formal enquiry is ordered.
3) Issue of show cause notice by the disciplinary authority/

committee. The accused is issued a show cause notice giving
minimum three days time to explain further his point of view.
4) Notice of holding enquiry: A notice is given/served to the accused

employee giving time, date and venue/place together with the
name of the enquiry officer wherein such an enquiry will be
convened and the accused is given personal hearing, if such a
prayer is made. The enquiry officer must not be one who has issued
the charge-sheet because it is a principle of natural justice that a
person is disqualified to act as a judge if he is a party to the dispute.
5) Enquiry Proceedings: The enquiry officer will conduct the enquiry

on the preset time, date and place in the presence of the charged –
sheeted workman. At the commencement of the enquiry, the
enquiry officer should explain the charge sheet to the accused
workman. If the accused workman pleads not guilty the enquiry
should be preceded. If he pleads guilty in writing, the enquiry need
not be preceded. The accused is given full opportunity to cross-
examine witnesses and documents produced by the management.
He is allowed to bring his own documentary evidences and
witnesses. The enquiry officer takes down the proceedings properly
and record them. The enquiry must be fair and accused is given
reasonable opportunity to defend himself. The enquiry officer must
submit his report stating charges that are substantiated by the
225
evidences and those which are not. He may then recommend the
nature of action to be taken.
6) Decision: Management will take necessary action with or without

considering the recommendations made by the enquiry officer but
that deemed fit in the case. A due consideration is given to the
previous records of the accused. Punishments should be given in
accordance with the standing orders. The order of punishment
should be served to the accused workman on due process. The
management may repeal the punishment too. By and large
penalties and punishments can be divided under the following
categories: oral warning , written warning , suspension ,demotion ,
fines/pay cuts, discharge or dismissal , withdrawal of increment ,
suspension of increments , adverse remarks on the service book
,censure or simple reprimand. The punishment should be
appropriate to the gravity of the offence. It should be such as
would prevent a recurrence of the offence.
7) Follow up: A disciplinary action should be evaluated in terms of

its effectiveness after it has been taken. It is necessary to keep vigil
to know the effect upon the punished employee.
In Bangladesh, the Employment of Labour (Standing) Order Act 1965 has

specified a procedure of punishment against any employees in Section 18
which is mandatory for all organizations of follow while taking disciplinary
actions. Jucius (1979) suggested a disciplinary procedure that contains the
following steps: (1) statement of disciplinary problems; (2) collection of full
information; (3) selection of tentative penalties; (4) choosing the best from the
alternative penalties; (5) application of penalty; and (6) follow-up. Pigors and
Myers ((1973) have suggested another procedure. However, the Bangladesh
Labour Code 2006 in its Sec. 24 has prescribed a procedure to take
226
disciplinary action for conviction and misconduct (procedure for punishment)

as follows:
1) No order of punishment can be given against a worker unless -
a) the allegation against him is brought in writing;
b) he is given a copy thereof and not less than 7 (seven) days time
to explain;
c) he is given an opportunity of being heard;
d) he is decided to be guilty after enquiry;
e) the employer or the manger approves of the order of

dismissal;
2) A worker charged for misconduct may be suspended pending

enquiry into the charges against him and unless the matter is
pending before any court, the total period of such suspension shall
not be more than sixty days; provided that during the period of
such suspenstion, a worker shall be paid by his employer a
subsistence allowance equivalent to half of his average wages,
dearness allowance and ad-hoc or interim wages, if any.
3) Any order of suspension shall be in writing and shall take effect

instantaneously on delivery to the worker.
4) Any person employed in his establishment or nominated by him

shall be able to help the worker found guilty on enquiry.
5) Any person against whom oral evidence is adduced by any party

shall be entitled to cross-examine that party.
6) If on enquiry, a worker is found guilty and punishment is inflicted

upon him under section 23(1), he will not get any wage for the
period of suspension, but he shall get subsistence allowance for that
period.
227
7) If the worker is found not guilty, he shall be deemed to have been

on duty for the period of suspension and shall get wages for that
period and the subsistence allowance shall be adjusted accordingly.
8) In cases of punishment, a copy of the order of punishment shall be

served upon the worker concerned.
9) If a worker refuses to accept any notice, letter, charge –sheet, order

or any other document addressed to him by the employer, it shall
be deemed to have been served upon him if a copy thereof has been
exhibited on the notice board and another copy has been
transmitted to the address of the worker availed of from the records
of the employer by registered post.
10) In awarding punishment, the employer shall take into account the
previous records of the worker, gravity of the offence or any other
extenuating circumstances that may exist.
Punishment for Conviction and Misconduct
Section 23 of the Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 mentions that
1) Notwithstanding anything regarding layoff, retrenchment,

discharge and termination of service provided elsewhere in this Act
, a worker may be dismissed without notice or pay in lieu thereof ,
if (a) he is convicted for any criminal offence; or (b) he is found
guilty of misconduct under Section -24.
2) A worker instead of being dismissed for becoming guilty of

misconduct under sub-section (1) may be, under extenuating
circumstances, given any of the following punishment, such as :-
a) termination;
b) demotion to lower post, grade or pay-scale for not more that

one year;
228
c) holding up of promotion for one year;
d) holding up of increment of wages for one year;
e) fine;
f) suspension for not more than one week without wages for
without subsistence allowance;
g) censure and warning.
3) The employer shall pay as compensation fourteen days wages or

gratuity , which is higher, if payable, to a worker dismissed under
sub-section (1) or retrenched under sub-section 2(a) if the length of
his continuous service is minimum one year; provided that a
worker dismissed under sub-section 4(b) for misconduct shall not
be entitled to any compensation.
Grievance Handling Procedure

There is hardly an organization which functions without any grievance or
complaint. It is an expression of individual dissatisfaction or discontent either
from worker or from management. Grievances have considerable significance
as harbingers of industrial dispute. Unresolved grievances can become an
industrial dispute and may cause serious disruption in the organisation’s
operations system.
A grievance is defined as any real or imagined feeling of personal injustice

that an employee has about the employment relations (Davis, 2001, 299).
Jucious (1979) also took the same dimension of grievance and stated that a
grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction, whether expressed or not,
whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected with the company
which an employee thinks , believes or even fees to be unfair , unjust or
inequitable. Beach (1985, 583) opined that a grievance is any dissatisfaction or
feeling or injustice in connection with one’s employment situation that is
229
brought to the notice of the management. All these concepts of grievance does
not emphasized on expression of discontent or dissatisfaction as a priori
condition. But Flippo (1976, 430) has made expression of discontent as priori
condition to be a grievance. He opined that the grievance is a type of
discontent which must always be expressed but he agreed with the condition
that it must be connected with the company operations or policy though it
may be valid or ridiculous.
There is a debate whether grievance is dissatisfaction only or a complaint.

Yoder (1972) considered it as a written complaint filed by an employee and
claiming unfair treatment. International Labour Organization (ILO) also took
the same line. It defined grievance as a complaint of one or more workers in
respect of wages, allowances, conditions of work and interpretation of service
stipulations, covering such areas as overtime, leave, transfer, promotion,
seniority, job assignment and termination of service. So, both Yoder and ILO
pointed out grievance as complaint but others are not.
Thus, grievance is a feeling of injustice arising out of employment situation

into human resources working in the organization. This feeling does not
have to be expressed to become a grievance, neither does it has to be true or
correct; a feeling that arise from imaginary conditions or from incorrect
reasoning is still a grievance if it caused a feeling of injustice.
Human resource management has to handle this grievance with well thought
out strategy so that it can be prevented or can be handled with a systematic
procedure to resolve it satisfactorily and ensure the peaceful human and work
environment into the organization. Because, grievance or mishandling of
grievance causes loss of employee interest in work reduces morale and
commitment, lower productivity and quality of production, increases wastage
and costs of operations, makes employees indisciplined, increases turnover
and absenteeism, and at the end, may lead to unrest.
230
An effective grievance handling system will have well designed procedure,

simple, fair, easy to understand, communicated to all, prompt and speedy,
accepted by employees, designated authorities to handle grievance and must
ensure natural justice to the aggrieved person. In this respect, there exists a
conventional practice which is encoded in law to deal with grievances of
employees that includes (1) Receive of the grievance; (2) Issue show cause to
the incumbent to explain his/her position in person / in writing; (3) Give
personal hearing; (4) Examine the personal records of the employee; (5)
Consult organizational and legal provisions to find out appropriate action; (6)
Take appropriate action. Similar grievance procedure is found in the
Bangladesh Labour Code 2006.
The Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 has prescribed a grievance handing

procedure in its Section 33 (Grievance procedure) . The Section says that ( 1)
an worker including such worker whose employment came to an end on
account of being laid off, discharged, dismissed, terminated or for any other
reason, who has grievance about any matter under this chapter and if he
desires to get any relief regarding that matter under this section, he shall
submit his grievance in writing to his employer within thirty days from the
date of being informed of the cause of the grievance by registered post:
provide that the submitting of the grievance not by registered post shall also
suffice if the appointing authority acknowledges directly in writing the
receipt of the grievance. (2) The employer shall inquire into the grievance and
by giving the worker concerned a chance of being heard inform him of his
decision about the matter within 15(fifteen) days from the date of the receipt
of the grievance. (3) If the employer fails to give a decision under sub-section
(2) or if the worker is dissatisfied with such decision, he may lodge a
complaint with the Labour Court within 30 (thirty) days from the date of the
expiry of the time allowed under sub-section (2) or within thirty days as the
case may be, from the date of the employer’s decision. (4) The Labour Court,
after receiving the grievance, by serving notice upon both the parties shall
231
hear them about the grievance and give such decision as it deems fit and
proper in the circumstances as per its discretion. (5) The Court by its order
passed under sub-section (4) may, amongst other relief’s, give direction to
reinstate the complainant with or without back wages and transform the
order of dismissal, termination or discharge into minor punishment as
provided for in section 23(2). (6) Any worker aggrieved by the order of the
Labour Court may prefer an appeal before the tribunal within 30 (thirty) days
from the date of the order and the decision given on the appeal shall be final.
(7) No court-fee is payable for lodging any complaint or appeal under this
section. (8) Any complaint under this section shall not be treated as a criminal
prosecution under this Act. (9) Notwithstanding anything provided for in this
section, no complaint can be lodged against the order of termination given
under section 26, unless the order of termination is given on account of the
worker’s trade union activities or complaint is made to the effect that the
impugned order was given being actuated by motivation or unless he is
deprived of the benefits which he is entitled under that section.
This chapter embodies an elaborate discussion of theoretical framework of

human resource management with its various functional areas which are to
be investigated into small and medium enterprises operating in Bangladesh.
It also contains a conceptual framework of the doctrine of human resource
management and its various determinants that differentiate it from personnel
management to justify the distinct ideological theme of it. The research has
been made on its application in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of
Bangladesh. The next chapter is the analysis and discussion of the field level
data collected from the sample SMEs for the purpose of the thesis.
232
CHPATER FIVE
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
233
CHPATER FIVE
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter exhibits the findings of the research done on the small and
medium enterprises in Bangladesh relating to their human resource
management practices and provides a logical and systematic analysis of the
facts revealed in the study in order to synchronize the relevant issues
involved with it and to expose those so that we can make conclusions from it.
The discussion will lead us to a thoughtful synthesis of ideas about the
practices of human resource management in the small and medium
businesses of Bangladesh. This will also direct us to the avenues of solution
to handle with the issues of success and failure of managing small and
medium size firms through ensuring a delighted and productive human
resource in the organization.
General Characteristics of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
1) Nature of the organization
The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under study are of different
categories. 58.4% firms are sole tradership, 28.3% firms are private limited
companies and partnership firms are 13.3%. Table –1 exhibits the findings in
detail. It shows that the majority of the small and medium enterprises are
sole-tradership or proprietorship. It reflects the general preference to the sole
proprietorship in Bangladesh though private limited company has got
obvious advantage in terms of tax and other benefits. It also confirms the
general findings of other researchers too ( Sarder, 2000, Rahman, 1981).
234
Table–1: Distribution of sample SMEs on the basis of their nature of

organization
Nature of SMEs Frequency percent
Private Limited Company 34 28.3
Partnership 16 13.3
Sole Tradership 70 58.4
Total 120 100.0
2) Nature of the market
Table–2 exhibits the nature of the market in which the small and medium
businesses are operating. 85% of the sample small and medium enterprises
are functioning in a competitive market while only 11.7 % of SMEs are
operating in an oligopoly market. The rest of the small and medium
enterprises / businesses are working in the monopoly market, which is very
insignificant i.e. only 3.3%. This indicates that the majority of the small and
medium businesses in Bangladesh are doing their businesses in a competitive
market. The result also shows the competitive ability of the small and
medium enterprises engaged in business are tested with their survival. The
situation is depicted in the chart-1 below too.
Table -2: Distribution of SMEs under study on their nature of market
Name of market No. of SMEs Percentage
Monopoly 4 3.30
Oligopoly 14 11.70
Competitive 102 45.00
Total 120 100
235
Chart-1: Nature of the market in which the small and medium enterprises
are operating in Bangladesh.
Bar Chart
100
80
60
40
20
Percent
0
monopoly oligopoly competitive
nature of the market
3) Organizational Life Cycle Stage
The organizational life cycle stages of the small and medium enterprises
under study are depicted in the Chart-2, where we observe that the majority
of the sample small and medium enterprises or firms are at their maturity
stage of their business operation. More than 50% SMEs are matured firms
while about 15% firms are at their declining stage without any initiative for
turnaround strategy. It is further observed that a very small number of firms
has taken turnaround strategy and become successful in their efforts to come
back in the market with competitive edge. Out of the 120 firms, about 36
SMEs are at the growth stage while only 3% SMEs are found at their
introduction stage. It indicates the success of the management of small and
medium ventures as they have overcome shake of introduction and growth
stages and now settled down at maturity stage. The finding also shows that a
236
handsome number of small and medium firm’s capability to turnaround their

declining stage into a potential fortune. It exhibits their managerial capability
and excellence in handling the declining business situations successfully too.
Chart-2: Organizational Life Cycle Stage of the Small and Medium

Enterprises under study
Bar Chart
60
50
40
30
20
Percent
10
0
introductory growth maturity decline turnaround
organisational life cycle stage
4) Capital Investment
The study on the capital investment of the sample small and medium
enterprises shows that 71.7% firms have below Tk. 2 crore capital. 12 firms out
of 120 firms that is 10% firms have their capital base within Tk. 2 crore to Tk.
4 crore and only 5% firms have got only Tk. 4 crore to Tk. 6 crore capital. The
same amount of firms have also capital base of Tk. 6 crore to Tk. 8 crore.
Table –3 and the Chart-3 both exhibit the findings the amount of capital
investment in the respondent small and medium firms.
237
Table -3 : Distribution of SMEs on their amount of Capital Investment
Range of investment in crore taka Frequency Percent
Below Tk. 2 crore 86 71.7
Above Tk. 2 crore to Tk. 4 crore 12 10.0
Above Tk. 6crore to Tk. 8 crore 06 05.0
Total 120 100.0
Chart-3 :Capital Investment of the respondent Small and Medium

Enterprises
Bar Chart
80
60
40
20
Perc
ent 0
Below 2 2 to 4 4 to 6 6 to 8 8 to 10
Capital of the firm in crore
238
5) Debt-Equity Ratio of Investment
The small and medium enterprises under study show that the majority of
those are self-financed firms i.e. 72 percent. There is no all debt firm found in
the study. Only 10 percent of the firms have 50:50 debt-equity ratio of
financing and 9.17 percent of the firms are 60 percent debt financed. A very
low percentage of firms have 80 percent debt. Table-4 exhibits the situation
from which we can understand that small and medium businesses in
Bangladesh are very shy in taking debt to run their firms. It also shows their
weak capital base because of inability of an individual entrepreneur to
provide a large finance from self. Though the industrial policy 2006 of
Bangladesh provides an scope to invest 10 crore taka in SMEs but 86 percent
of the small and medium businesses have below Tk. 2 crore capital (table-3).
This happens because of their tendency to build up on their own fund.
Table-4 : Proportion of debt-equity in the capital of the respondent small

and medium enterprises
Debt-equity ratio No. of Firms Percent

All Debt 00 00.00
80:20 06 5.00
70:30 11 09.17
60:40 19 15.83
50:50 12 10.00
All Equity 72 60.00
Total 120 100.00
6) Sources of Capital
Small and medium enterprises or businesses in Bangladesh collect initial

capital from multiples sources. Non-institutional sources are the dominant
239
sources of finance to the small and medium enterprises, while institutional

sources are the least contributors.
Table- 5: Frequency and percent distribution of the respondent SMEs on

their sources of capital.
Sources of Capital No of firms Percent

Personal loan 16 13.33
Family loan 55 45.83
Financial Institutions 48 40.00
Individual shareholder 01 00.84
Total 120 100.00
Table-5 shows that the maximum number of firms has got their fund to start
ventures from family loan i.e. 55 percent. Financial institutions have financed
40 percent firms. This indicates that the small and medium enterprises
/businesses are heavily dependent upon family financing. The findings are
consistent with the earlier result of the proportion of debt and equity in the
capital (table- 4) of the small and medium firms in Bangladesh.
7) Years of Operation
Table–6 shows the age of the sample small and medium enterprises. It is
observed that majority of the firms are 6 to 10 years old. About 22 percent
firms are below 5 years of which only 8 firms are 1 year old. and 3.33 percent
firms that is 4 SMEs are above 31 years old. Rest of the firms are 11 to 30
years old. 16 firms i.e.13.33 percent firms are 11 to 16 years old and about 12
percent firms are within the age bracket of 21 to 25 years. About 7 percent
firms fall within 16 to 20 years and 26 to 30 years of age. Different ages of
firms exhibit that the sample is well represented. Thus, the findings could be
taken as representative of all categories of firms operating in the small and
medium arena of businesses.
240
Table- 6: Frequency and percentile distribution of years of operation of the

sample small and medium enterprises
Years of Operation Frequency Percent

1-5years 26 21.67
6-10 years 44 36.67
11-15 years 16 13.33
16-20 years 08 06.67
21-25 years 14 11.67
26-30 years 08 06.67
31 years and above 04 03.33
Total 120 100.00
8) Managerial Human Resources
The study observes that 20 percent of sample small and medium enterprises
are run by 1(one) managerial person, 18.33 percent are run by 2 managerial
persons and 11.67 percent firms have 3 managerial employees. Only 3.33
percent firms have 15 managerial employees and rest of the firms have got 4
to 10 managerial employees. Table -7 exhibits the frequency distribution of
number of managerial human resources employed in sample enterprises. It
shows that small and medium enterprises are generally reluctant to employ
more that 1 (one) managerial human resource. The exception occurs due to
increment of investment limit i.e. 10 crores that makes a firm financially
strong to go for employing sufficient management people to ensure their
returns.
241
Table- 7 : Frequency distribution of the managerial human resources of

SMEs under study
No of managerial Frequency Percent

employees
1 24 20.00
2 22 18.33
3 14 11.67
4 16 13.33
5 20 16.67
6 08 06.67
10 12 10.00
15 04 03.33
Total 120 100.00
9) Clerical Human Resources of the Sample SMEs
Table –8 shows the state of affair of the employment of clerical people in the
small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh. About 27 percent firms have no
clerical staff while 23 percent firms have 1(one) clerical person employed to
look after accounts and administration. 12 percent firms employs 2 and 12
percent firms employ 3 clerical staff. 4 to 10 staff are appointed by 32 firms
while only 2 firms employs 20 clerical persons. The observation shows that
due to low volume of operation of the small and medium firms and their cost
consciousness, they do not appoint large number of clerical staff. It is further
observed that those who do not appoint any clerical staff, their managers do
the whole job. Personal conversation explicitly focuses their problems. “I am
over burdened”; “I have to work till 10 p.m. each day”; “ It makes my life
hell” etc statements are inevitable exhibition of manager’s annoyance with the
present job pressure. It would be better to analyze jobs of the organization
242
and accordingly appoint such a number of clerical persons that are suffice to
carry out works smoothly.
Table-8: Frequency Distribution of the Clerical Human Resources of SMEs

under Study
No of managerial Frequency Percent

employees
0 32 26.60
1 28 23.30
2 14 11.70
3 12 10.00
4 8 6.7
5 2 1.7
6 6 5.00
7 6 5.00
8 6 5.00
10 4 3.30
20 2 1.70
Total 120 100.00
10) Production workers: Regular
The study reveals that there is no small and medium enterprise which has got
4 regular production workers but at least 5. According to table- 9, the highest
32 firms i.e. 26.6 percent of the sample SMEs have 5 to 10 production workers.
16.7 percent firms have employed 11 to 15 workers and 18.3 percent firms
have a production worker force of 16 to 20 workers. 10 percent firms have
employed 36 to 40 production workers. It is observed that 11.80 percent firms
have employed more than 50 workers of which only 1 (one) firm have 241
workers and 6 firms have got 115- to 195 workers. In all, 87 percent SMEs
have employed 50 production workers. Our observation shows that 13 small
and medium businesses have got 51 to 100 workers, which is 11.80 percent of
the total sample firms. It is also found from the study that higher labour
employment is made in higher capital- base firms.
243
Table-9 : Frequency distribution of SMEs on their number of regular

production workers
Class Interval of 5 No. of firms Percent

workers
00 to 04 None -
05 to 10 32 26.60
11 to 15 20 16.70
16 to 20 22 18.3
21 to 25 08 06.70
26 to 30 02 01.70
31 to 35 06 05.10
36 to 40 12 10.10
41 to 45 08 06.70
45 to 50 04 03.30
51 to 100 13 11.80
Total 120 100.00
11) Production workers: Irregular
The findings are presented in the table-10 below. It shows that 50 percent of
the sample SMEs have no irregular production workers. The highest irregular
workers employed are 30, which is only 1.7 percent of the observation. In all,
10 percent SMEs have employed more than 10 but less than 31 irregular
production workers. It exhibits the small and medium firms’ regular
production operation and also their intention to keep workers on a continuing
engagement in work. It is observed that the irregular workers are generally
less committed and of low productive (Chakma, 1991). Therefore, it is no
244
good to keep a large number of workers on irregular payroll. The small and
medium enterprises follow the right direction in this regard.
Table-10 : Frequency Distribution of the irregular employees of SMEs
No of irregular Frequency Percent

employees
00 60 50.00
1 02 01.70
2 04 03.30
3 10 08.30
4 08 06.70
5 06 05.00
6 04 03.40
7 06 05.00
8 02 01.70
10 04 03.30
11 02 01.70
15 04 03.30
20 08 03.30
25 02 01.70
30 02 01.70
Total 120 100.00
12) General Business Strategy of the Organisation
It is observed from the study that 25 percent small and medium enterprises
follow market niche strategy. Market nicher is a firm in an industry that
serves small segments that other firms overlook or ignore (Kotler and
Armstrong, 2001:689). Nichers are often smaller firms with limited resources
(Ibid, 693). The key idea in niching is specialization and a market nicher can
specialize along any of several market, customer, product, or marketing mix
lines. Our observation shows that 18 (thirteen) small and medium businesses
are product nichers, that is, they have got specialty products with which they
concentrate in the market and other 12(twelve) firms follow customer niche
strategy. It is further observed that 75 percent of the small and medium firms
245
follow high volume operation with low cost strategy. Their products are
standardized popular products. Table-11 exhibits the results.
Table-11: Frequency distribution of the small and medium enterprises

firms on the basis of their general business strategy.
Business strategy Frequency Percent

Market niche strategy 30 25.00
High volume/Low cost
strategy 90 75.00
Total 120 100.00
13) Departments in the organization
The small and medium enterprise is generally operated by owner-managers

and it has little functional specialization. These characteristics are also found
from the study too. Table-12 shows that 35 percent of the sample small and
medium enterprises are single unit organization, that is, they operate under
no specialized departments. Production department/section, administrative
departments/ sections and account/finance department/section are the most
prominent departments in the small and medium business firms, 56.67 and
54.17 percent respectively. 13.33 percent firms hold marketing department,
which shows small and medium firms’ a little interest in developing
specialized marketing people and operation. It also shows there is a little
stake in the market. The most meager number of firms, 19 firms holds
separate personnel/human resource department/section that shows a low
profile to the human resources.
246
Table-12: Frequency distribution of the small and medium enterprises on

the basis of types of departments they hold.
Name of the department No. of firms Percent

Single unit organization 42 35.00
Production department /section 68 56.67
Marketing department/section 26 13.33
Administrative department 68 56.67
Account/Finance department/section 65 54.17
Personnel/HRM department/section 19 15.83
14) Type of market deals with
Table- 13 shows that the majority of the small and medium enterprises
operate in local market, 90 percent and only 10 percent deals with foreign
market. A few of the firms dealing with foreign markets are working as a
backward linkage industry of a large 100 percent export oriented industry
and the rest are directly engaged with foreign market with their products.
Table-13: Frequency distribution of the small and medium firms dealing

with various markets
Type of market Frequency Percent

Local market 108 90.00
Foreign market 12 10.00
Total 120 100.00
247
Chart - 4: Nature of market deals with by the respondent SMEs
Supply of products Pie Chart

foreign market
local market
15) Production method
Table-14 shows the production method that is used by the respondent SMEs.

the basis of production methods followed.
Types of Production Frequency Percent

method
Lean/Flexible 14 11.70
Mass 48 40.00
Process 50 41.70
Batch 08 06.70
Total 120 100.00
248
The observation exhibits that the largest number of small and medium
enterprises are using process production method of manufacturing their
goods, 41.70 percent. A process production method is composed of a group
of activities that take one or more inputs , transform them and provide one or
more outputs for its customers ( Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2007,4).
40 percent are using mass production method of manufacturing goods. The
mass production method refers to a line process that produces a particular
product in high volume and allows resources to be organized around that
product which is standardized ( Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2007).
Mass production method uses the make-to-stock strategy. Lean /flexible
production method is being used by 11.70 percent. Lean system is an
operations system that maximizes the value added by each of a company’s
activities by paring unnecessary resources and delays from them (Krajewski,
Ritzman and Malhotra, 2007). Only 6.70 percent uses batch production
method of manufacturing. A batch production method is a process that
produces products in a batch with flexible process flow with no standard
sequence of steps throughout the facility (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra,
2007).
16) Method of establishment
The form with which the small and medium enterprises started is
investigated in the study. It is exhibited from the Table-15 that the majority of
the small and medium enterprises are established as a new venture, that is
Greenfield sites, 88.30 percent and only 11.70 percent firms are started
through acquisition of other on-going firms. It shows the popularity of the
scratch strategy as a way of establishing small and medium businesses as well
as the entrepreneurial zeal of the people too.
249
Table-15: Frequency distribution of small and medium enterprises on the

basis of method of establishment.
Method of establishment Frequency Percent
Acquisition 14 11.70
Greenfield sites 106 88.30
Total 120 100.00
Chart – 5 : Method of Establishment of SMEs
Method of establishment Pie Chart
acquisition
greenfield sites
17) Existence of Organization chart
It is evident from the Table-17 that almost all the small and medium
enterprises do not have any formal organisation chart. Only 27.50 percent
small and medium firms have got formal organogram, which they follow over
the years. It also shows that large number of small and medium enterprises is
run on adhoc projection of organization structure and the requirement of
positions at various levels of organization. It is also understood that a very
250
few management of the small and medium enterprises give little emphasis
upon structural relationship as a production value of the organization.

the basis of the existence organogram/ Organisation chart
Response type Frequency (No. Percent

of SMEs)
Yes (Have organogram) 33 27.50
No (Have no organogram) 85 72.50
Total 120 100.00
Resourcing Small and Medium Enterprises
The discussion is made on the results of the study related to human resource
planning, and recruitment, selection and placement of human resources
within the small and medium enterprises of Bangladeshi.
Human Resource Planning, Recruitment and Selection/Acquisition
Resourcing the organization entails the total activities or recruiting, selection

and placement of employees including human resource planning. The whole
process is also known as staffing. Following section deals with the findings of
staffing function of sample small and medium enterprises.
Importance of Staffing Function
Human is the most vital asset of the organisation. Filling and keeping filled
positions in the organisation structure is, therefore, the most critical function
of management. It is generally known as staffing. The observation shows that
almost all the respondents, 91.7 percent, have recognized staffing as an
251
important function of owner-managers or managers of small and medium

enterprises while only 8.3 percent did not recognize the significance of
staffing (Table-17). This recognition shows the awareness of the small and
medium business management about the criticality of human resource, which
is a fundamental belief of human resource management.
Table-17: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of their

views on the importance of staffing as an important function
Type of response Frequency Percent
No 10 08.30
Yes 110 91.70
Total 120 100.00
Human Resource Policy and Its Form
We know that planning precedes every action of management and so human

resource management starts with human resource planning. It is a blueprint
of future needs of human resources at various levels of organisation. It also
helps placing right person in the right place and thus helps getting right
product and production at the right time, not to speak of other great number
of advantages of human resource planning. From Table-18, it is evident that
76.67 percent firms do not have any human resource policy. Only 23.33
percent of the respondent small and medium business firms confirmed the
existence of human resource policy.
Table-18: Frequency distribution of the respondent SME firms about

existence of human resource policy
Yes 28 23.33
No 92 76.67
Total 120 100.00
252
The study also shows that only 18.33 percent firms have made the human
resource policy in written form and another 92 firms out of 120 firms that is
76.67 percent small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do not any human
resource policy. They work on their own sense of judgement on the basis of
needs. 6 SMEs have unwritten human resource policy (Table-19).
Table-19: Frequency distribution of the respondent SME firms about the

forms of human resource policy
Frequency Percent
No policy guidelines 92 76.67
Written policy guidelines 22 18.33
Unwritten policy guidelines 06 0.05
Total 120 100.00
Need For Human Resource Planning (Policy)
It is good that the majority of the small and medium enterprises have
recognized the need for human resource planning for their organizations. The
fact could be observed from the Table-20 below that only 37.75 percent of the
sample SMEs do not recognize the need for human resource planning/ policy
while 62.50 percent do.
Table-20: Frequency distribution of the respondent SME venturists about

the need for human resource planning for their firms.
Yes 75 62.50
No 45 37.50
Total 120 100.00
253
Mode of Job Assignment
It is observed from the Table-21 that a very few small and medium firms have
written job description for the positions and that is the basis for assigning job
to the employees, only 10 percent. 30 percent assigns duty from respondents’
planned thought about one’s duty in a particular position. Majority of SMEs
assign job just on the whims of the owner-managers that he thinks fit for the
position. It is praiseworthy that all SMEs at least use planned thought, formal
or informal, in the process of assigning duty to the employees.
Table-21: Frequency distribution of the respondent SMEs about the mode

of job or duty assignment to employees
Modes assigning duties to employees Frequency Percent
From your mind that you think fit 72 60.00
From your planned thought about one’s duty 36 30.00
From a written job description that you have 12 10.00
Total 120 100.00
Job Specification
So far the job specification is concern, it is only 8 firms, i.e. 6.67 percent SMEs
have a ready list of qualities to needed to perform each type of job position.
Table –23 shows above-mentioned response along with the fact that 93.33
percent SMEs do not have any type of job specification or not have job
description for each type of job position. It is also evident that though 19 SME
firms have got separate human resource/personnel department (Table-13),
but they do not perform all relevant activities. It is recommended by all
human resource experts that a well-built job specification is the fundamental
tool for identifying right person for the right job (French,2007; Dessler, 2007;
254
Werther and Davis, 2008). Its absence seriously affects job performance and
productivity leading to higher cost and loss of time. It affects competitive
edge of the firm too.
Table-22: Frequency distribution of the respondents SMEs regarding the

existence of job specification for each type of position.
No 112 93.33
Yes 08 06.67
Total 120 100.00
It is observed that the management generally enquires about the qualification

of the job applicant by asking questions like ‘Do you know this and this job?’
‘Can you do this job?’ etc. for operating people. For higher positions like
Accountant, Assistant Manager etc, they specify qualifications while
searching prospective candidates in advertisement, circular or oral
communication.
Replacement Policy
It is evident from the Table-23 that a very few SMEs that is 10.83 percent has a
formal replacement plan for the retiring personnel at all levels of the
organization. The rest 89.17 percent of small and medium enterprises have
not such plan. It is just a belief to them that the ‘assistant to’ will replace the
higher ups after his/her retirement. But there is no plan for the situation if the
second person himself/herself resigns. None of the SMEs has any
replacement plan for turn over or for sudden resignation of the incumbents.
They just start a new selection process when post is vacant. It takes much time
255
to get the replacement as well as it makes a selection bad that thwart smooth
and efficient functioning of the firm.
Table-23: Frequency distribution of the respondent SMEs on the basis of

their replacement policy.
Type of Firms with Percent Firms Percent

response replacement replacement
policy for policy for
retiring personnel turnover /
resignation
Yes 13 10.83 00 00
No 107 89.17 120 100.00
Total 120 100.00 120 100.00
Employment of Relatives
It is found that 93.33 percent small and medium enterprises have given
employment to relatives at various functional levels and 6.67 percent did not.
Table-24 exhibits the picture that indicates a bias of owner-manager or
management people toward relations as the basis of employment. The
respondents argued, “Relatives are reliable and dependable. We can trust
them for many matters”. It is further observed that 1st degree relations such as
brothers, sisters, brothers of wives, cousins etc are preferred relations for
employment and trust.
Table- 24: Frequency distribution of the respondent small and medium

enterprises on the basis of the employment of relatives
Types of response Frequency Percent
Yes 112 93.33
No 08 06.67
Total 120 100.00
256
Mode of Placement of Relatives
Relatives are appointed and placed in positions where owner-managers feel

that they are fit. No formal employment test is taken. A few are appointed
through informal practical test and interview. Table –25 shows that 80.83
percent small and medium firms placed relatives where they deemed fit and
12.50 percent are placed through one kind of informal test or interview. None
is appointed through formal test/interview.

firms on the basis of the mode of placement of relatives
Placed where deems fit 97 80.83
Placed through a formal test/interview 00 00.00
Placed through informal test/interview 15 12.50
No response 8 .06.67
Total 120 100.00
Categories of Positions to Relatives
Table –26 presents the categories of positions where relatives are placed in the
small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh. 88.33 percent SMEs have placed
relatives in managerial/officer positions while 100 percent firms have given
relatives in staff positions. On the other hand, technical positions are occupied
by relatives in 60 percent SMEs . It indicates that small and medium business
operators are specially careful about the production efficiency that they
believe should not be hampered due to inefficiency of the relatives. The
257
general comments about clustering of relatives in staff or managerial

positions are: “They can do routine work well”, “Its paper work, they can
do”. “We can keep matters in secret with relatives”, “He is my son, he will
take up my job after me”, “My brother is trustworthy”, “He is my nephew,
where can I place him? Well, its officer” etc.
Table-26: Frequency distribution of the respondent small and medium

firms on the basis of categories of positions offered to relatives.
Categories of staff from relatives Frequency Percent
Managerial/Officer 106 88.33
Clerical/Administrative/Office Staff 120 100.00
Production workers 72 60.00
Recruitment and Selection Policy
Majority of the small and medium enterprises do not have any policy
guideline for the recruitment and selection of employees of all categories in
their organisations. From the Table-27, it is exhibited that 63.33 percent firms
in managerial, 77.50 percent firms in clerical/administrative staff, and 54.17
percent firms in production workers categories do not have any policy
guidelines. They go on the whims of owner-managers. Only a very meager
percentage of firms, 7.50 percent firms in managerial/officer, 11.50 percent
firms in clerical/administrative staff, and 22.50 percent firms in production
worker categories, have written policy guidelines for recruitment and
selection of employees. The higher number of firms having written policy
guidelines for production workers exhibits their higher concerns for
production and the least number of firms have written policy for managerial
people that show their least concerns for the importance of managerial
258
efficiency. The rest of the firms have got unwritten guidelines for recruitment
and selection of employees for all levels.
Table- 27: Distribution of the respondent small and medium business firms
on the basis of the existence of policy guidelines for recruitment and
selection of employees.
Categories of Not at Unwritten Don’t Written Highly Total

employees all guidelines know guidelines specific
%
guidelines
Managerial/Officer 76 35 ---- 09 -------- 120
63.33% 29.17% 07.50% 100%
Clerical/administrative 93 13 ---- 14 ---------- 120

staff
77.5% 10.83% 11.67% 100%
Production workers 65 28 ----- 27 --------- 120
54.17% 23.33% 22.50% 100%
Sources of Recruitment
Our search for the sources of recruitment in small and medium enterprises turns the
results that are shown in the table. It is exhibited from the Table-28 that personal
search is the most popular mean of filling vacancies managerial positions, 60 percent
and the next popular mean is ‘friends and relatives’, 31.67 percent. It is also exhibited
that managerial personnel are recruited from apprentice 18.03 percent, from external
advertisement 13.33 percent, from non-regular employees 6.67 percent, from
universities 3.33 percent, from recruitment agencies 2.50 percent, and from trade
associations 1.67 percent. None of the officers are ever recruited from vocational
schools and colleges and from competing firms. It also evident that internal source is
the primary source of recruitment of managerial people in the organisation. Clerical
or administrative staves are recruited primarily from personal search, 58.33 percent
and from friends and relatives, 31.67 percent. Equal percentage i.e. 15 percent of them
259
has come from respondents of external advertisement and from apprentice personnel.
A very meager percent, 1.67 percent has come from competing firms and 6.67 percent
are recruited from non-regular employees. It is also evidenced that internal sources
are the vital sources of recruitment of clerical or administrative staff in the small and
medium enterprises in Bangladesh. Recruitment of production workers is not an
exception. They come from internal sources too. 70 percent have come from personal
search, 25 percent come from each of the apprentices and friends and relatives, and 15
percent from non-regular employees. Only 8.33 percent production workers have
come from advertisement, 3.33 percent from vocational colleges and schools and a
very insignificant percent, 1.67 percent have come from competing firms.
Table-28 : Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of

entry-level recruitment sources for managerial/Officer, Clerical/
administrative staff and Production workers
Means of filling vacant Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

positions Officer Staff workers
08 08 18
From non-regular employees
6.67% 6.67% 15.00%
16 18 10
Advertise externally
13.33% 15.00% 8.33%
Use of recruitment agencies 03 2.50% 0% 0%
22 18 30
From apprentices
18.30% 15.00% 25.00%
72 70 84
Through personal search
60.00% 58.33% 70.00%
04
From universities 0% 0%
3.33%
38 38 30
From friends and relatives
31.67% 31.67% 25%
From trade associations 02 1.67% 0% 0%
From vocational schools and 04
0% 0%
colleges 3.33%
02 02
From competing firms 0%
1.67% 1.67%
120 120 120
Total
100% 100% 100%
260
Best Source of Recruitment
The majority of the owner-managers/ key managerial people believe that

personal search is the best source of recruitment for all types of employees-
managerial, clerical and production workers. Table –29 shows that it is told by
46.67 percent respondents on an average. It is also consistent with their
practices (Table-28 exhibits). Table-29 also shows that 22.23 percent firms on
average prefer external advertisement as best source of recruitment for all
categories of employees but it is inconsistent with their practices; only 12.22
percent firm uses advertisement as a source of recruitment (Table-28).

their opinion about the best source of recruiting employees.
Sources of recruitment Best source of Best source Best source

recruiting of of
employees recruiting recruiting
(managerial) employees employees
(clerk/staff) (production
workers)
Non-regular employees Count 4 3.3% 4 3.3% 8 6.7%
% 30 25.0% 30 25% 20 16.7%
Advertise externally Count 4 3.3% 4 3.3% 10 8.3%
% 58 48.3% 50 41.7% 60 50.0%
Apprentices Count % 0 .0% 2 1.7% 0 .0%
Personal search Count % 16 13.3% 22 18.3% 5 8.3%
Universities Count % 8 6.7% 8 6.7% 12 10.0%
Friends and relatives Count %
Competing firms Count %
The respondents shown in the table 29 further preferred, 6.7 percent,

competing firms as a best source of recruitment of managerial people, but in
practice no one was found using it as it is exhibited in table 28. Though a very
261
meager percent of firms, 4.83 percent, have given their best choice in this
regard to apprentices, but a much higher number of firms, that is average
19.43 percent, use this source in getting potential qualified employees for their
firms. Same thing happens in the case of the source ‘friends and relatives’.
Average 13.3 percent respondent SMEs have preferred it as the best source
while average 29.45 percent uses it in getting potential employees of all count.
Apart from this, there found a consistency in preference and use for non-
regular employee and the universities as sources of recruitment.
Policy for Filling Vacant Positions of Different Categories of Human

Resources
The study found that small and medium enterprises use diversified sources to
fill vacant positions with human resources. It is evident from the Table-30 that
majority of the small and medium enterprises have filled vacant positions in
all categories of employees from outside the organization. 70 percent
managerial, 72 percent clerical/administrative staff and 74 percent production
worker vacant positions are filled in from outside. Rests of the vacancies are
filled in from within the firm. This exhibits their concerns for having new
blood to instill and promote new thoughts and initiatives into the
organization. Researches show that filling positions from outside obviously
increase efficiency and productivity as well as competitive edge of the firm.

enterprises on the basis of their choice of policy regarding filling vacant
positions of different categories
Types of policy Managerial Clerical/Admin Production

Positions istrative staff workers
position position
From within policy Count % 36 30.0% 48 40.0% 46 38.3%
From outside policy Count % 84 70.0% 72 60.0% 74 61.7%
262
Bases of Internal Promotion
Table–31 shows that the majority of the small and medium business firms
have followed a mix of seniority and performance/merit as a sound basis of
internal promotion. 68.33 percent firms have filled managerial positions, 60
percent firms have filled clerical/administrative staff and 63.33 percent firms
have filled vacant positions on the mixed basis. This reflects the
considerations for both the continued commitment and service of the human
resource for the firm and the individual performance. It is evident from other
researches that mixed basis of internal promotion has got obvious advantage
over other types of bases (Rahman, 1981). Merit basis is used by 33.89 percent
firms but this is use more in clerical positions, 38.33 percent rather than other
positions, 33.33 percent in both managerial and production worker positions.
Seniority basis is never used by any firm in managerial positions but very
meager percent firms, 1.67 percent, have used it in clerical and productive
worker positions. Other considerations, though unspecified by the
respondents, are used in all the positions in very insignificant cases.
Table-31: Distribution of respondent small and medium enterprises on

their choice of bases of internal promotion
Bases of promotion Manageria Clerical/ Productio

l personnel Administr n workers
ative staff
Seniority basis Count 0 2 2
% .0% 1.67% 1.67%
Merit/Performance basis Count 36 46 40
% 30% 38.33% 33.33
Mixed basis Count 82 70 76
% 68.33% 60% 63.33%
Others bases Count 2 2 2
% 1.67% 1.67% 1.67%
263
Order of the Selection Factors
Table-32 shows an order of the selection factors for the new employees as
have been made by the respondent owner –manager/ managers of small and
medium enterprises. It exhibits that none has considered family background
of the candidates as the selection criterion for any category of positions. For
managerial staff selection, educational qualification is taken as vital factor
followed by experience, trainability, skill, age, relative/friend’s
recommendation, institutional/non-relation reference. For selecting clerical/
administrative staff education is again takes the top criterion followed by
skill, trainability, relative/friend’s recommendation, experience, and then age.
It does not consider institutional reference. For production worker the order
takes skill first and then experience, education, trainability, age,
relative/friend’s recommendation, and institutional reference is at the end. It
is observed that for both managerial and clerical/administrative jobs
education is the primary factor but for production workers skill is the primary
factor. Reference of both criteria comes late. It shows the respondents’ concern
for efficiency and productivity of human resources as well as organisatonal
compatibility and continuity.
Table-32: Distribution of the selection factors on the basis of spondents’

ranking
Name of the factors Managerial Clerical/ Production

/Officer Administra workers
tive Staff
Educational qualification 1 1 3
Experience 2 5 2
Reference –institutional /non-relation 7 X 7
Skill 4 2 1
Trainability 3 3 4
Family background X X X
Relative/Friend’s recommendation 6 4 6
Age 5 6 5
264
Human Resource Selection Process
Small and medium business enterprises or firms do not have any structured
process of selection of employees of any kind. Their responses are arranged in
a systematic manner in the Table-33. It is found that 56.7 percent firms
conduct preliminary screening interview for managerial/officer cadre, 53.3
percent for administrative staff and 12 percent firms for production workers.
It is done for walk-in candidates only. It is observed that none of the firm has
printed application blank. It is also found that 80 percent small and medium
enterprises take application on plain paper from the job candidates for
managerial positions, 78.3 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff and
45.0 percent firms take for production workers. Written employment test is
taken by a very meager percent of small and medium firms, 16.7 percent
firms for managerial cadre and 8.3 percent firms for clerical/administrative
staff but nothing such type of test is taken for production workers. It is found
that sample job test is taken for clerical/administrative staff, 16.7 percent
firms, and for production workers, 97.7 percent firms, to understand their
skill for handling the given manual job. Reference check is found a very
popular method of selection as the respondents commented, “This is a way of
verifying genuineness of the candidates”, “This is how we can test the
honesty and reliability of candidates”, “How can we know about the
candidates without genuine reference?” It is further observed that majority of
references are known persons like relatives, friends, teachers, neighbours,
current employees or someway known to the entrepreneur-managers. Table -
33 also shows that 90.0 percent firms check reference for managerial cadre,
80.0 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff and 75.0 percent firms
check references for production workers. All firms take interview and it is the
only method by which employees are directly employed in many cases.
Medical examination is done only 8.67 percent firms for managerial cadre and
3.3 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff. None of the workers are
done medical check up but physical fitness is tested through visual
observation by 93.0 percent firms. All small and medium enterprises give
265
probationary employment to the candidates finally selected for various

positions. It is also understood from the table that all small and medium
enterprises give orientation or induction in any form but none of the small
and medium business firms conducts foundation training for the newly
recruits.
Table-33: The selection process of small and medium enterprises arranged

on the basis of their responses.
Steps in selection Process Managerial Clerical/Staff Production

/Officer (%) workers
(%) (%)
Preliminary Screening 56.7% 53.3% 12.0%
Interview
Application Blank/on plain 88% 78.3% 45.0%
paper
Employment Test in writing 16.7% 8.3% 0.0%
Sample Job Test 0.0% 16.7% 97.70%
Reference Check 90.0% 80.0% 75.0%
Interview 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Medical Test/Physical 8.67% 3.3% 93.0%
Examination
Final Selection & Probationary 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Appointment
Orientation/Induction 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Foundation Training 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Placement 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
266
Types of Employment Test Applied
Table- 34 shows the various types of tests applied in the small and medium
business firms to select employees in various categories of employees.
Achievement test is the most popular test, which is applied by 100 percent
firms to know about the depth of knowledge so far earned by the candidates.
It is tested either by written examination or by taking interview. It exhibits the
concern of small and medium enterprises owner-managers or management to
get right jobs done by right persons. The candidates’ ability to learn new
skills is examined by aptitude test that is applied in 30 percent firms for
managerial cadre, 10 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff and 3.3
percent firms for production workers. It is exhibited that a certain percent of
small and medium enterprises recognized the need for acquiring new
knowledge to deal with future changes under the doctrine of globalization
and open economy. From the table it is understood that none of the firm
applies mental ability/intelligence test, personality test, and substance abuse
test. Interest test is applied 13.4 percent firms for managerial personnel, 7.0
percent firms for clerical/administrative staff, and 15.0 percent for production
workers. It is understood by asking questions at the time of interview and
from the candidates’ past academic records and experiences. Motor or
physical ability test is conducted for clerical/ administrative staff and
production workers only, 15.0 percent and 97.7 percent firms respectively for
assessing the candidates’ strengths and proficiency in performing given
manual jobs. 7.0 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff and 23.6
percent firms for production workers conducted miniature job test for
apprentice, understudy or probationary staff and workers. It is a good
attempt to make a person right before placing him/her in a given job.
267
Table- 34: Types of tests taken by the respondent small and medium
enterprises to select employees.
Types of Test Managerial Clerical/Staff Production

/Officer workers
Achievement Test 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Aptitude Test 30.0% 10.0% 3.3%
Mental ability/Intelligence .0% .0% .0%
Test
Personality Test .0% .0% .0%
Interest Test 13.4% 7.0% 15.0%
Motor/Physical ability test .0% 15.0% 93.0%
Substance Abuse Test .0% .0% .0%
Work Sample Test 0.0% 67% 97.7%
Miniature Job Test 0.0% 7.0% 23.67%
Method of Reference Check
Small and medium enterprises check references of the candidates but not all
firms do. Those SMEs that use reference check to verify authenticity of the
candidature, they also do not use multiple methods. Table-35 shows that
small and medium enterprises conduct reference check through direct
personal enquiry only. 90% of respondent SMEs do it for managerial people,
75% for clerical staff and 75% for production workers. It is found that small
and medium business firms in Bangladesh generally do not employ strangers;
somehow the candidates are known by any source of contact. Owner-
managers directly contact with the referees orally, either face-to-face contact
or over telephone.
268
Table-35: Distribution of the respondent small and medium enterprises on

the basis of their chosen method of reference check.
Method of reference Managerial/ Clerical/Staff Production

check Officer (count and %) worker (count
(count and and %)
%)
Direct personal enquiry 108 96 90
90.0% 80.0% 75.0%
Sending a structured 00 00 00
form to referee 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Medical/Physical Examination Method
A very few small and medium enterprises used medical/physical

examination for the new recruits for managerial and clerical staff (see Table-
33). From Table-36, it is evidenced that none of the small business firms used
qualified medical officer to check medical/physical fitness of the candidates.
All SMEs used visual check of goodness of health. It is done large in number
for production workers, 93 percent firms (see Tabe-33). It shows their concern
for continuing production, as physical fitness is a necessary condition for
having regular work and production from workers.
Table-36: Distribution of small and medium enterprises, which conduct

medical/physical examination of new recruits on the basis of their used
method of such examination.
Medical/Physical Managerial/ Clerical/Staff Production

examination method Officer (count and %) worker (count
(count and and %)
%)
Visual check by owner- 11 04 112
manager/ staff 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Check by medical officer 00 00 00
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
269
Administration Method of Interview
Interview administration method varies with the category of employees.

Table-37 shows that 90.0 percent small and medium enterprises used panel
interview method for selecting managerial resource, 35.0 percent firms used
for clerical staff and 45.0 percent firms used for selecting production workers.
On the other hand, 40.0 percent firms used one-on-one interview for
managerial cadre, 90.0 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff selection
and 70.0 percent firms used the method for selecting operative workers. It
also shows that none of the sample firm used group interview method. It is
understood from the observation that firms used a mixture of panel and one-
on-one interview methods on their convenience. It is further understood that
panel interview method is popular in selecting managerial people and one-
on-one method is popular in selecting clerical staff and production workers.
Table-37: Percent distribution of respondent small and medium firms on

the basis of interview conduction method.
Administration method Managerial/ Clerical/Staff Production

of interview Officer worker
Group interview 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Panel interview 90.0% 35.0% 45.0%
One-on-one interview 40.0% 90.0% 70.0%
Interview techniques Used
Table-38 shows that unstructured interview is employed by 90.0 percent firms

for selecting managerial personnel, 100.0 percent firms used it for both
clerical/administrative and production workers selection. Only 10.0 percent
firms used structured interview for managerial cadre selection only.
Situational problem solving is used by 30.0 percent firms for clerical staff
selection and 95.0 percent firms for production worker selection. It shows
270
that the management of small business firms is careful about selection of

technical hands.
Table-38: Percent distribution of respondent small and medium enterprises

on the basis of their employed interview techniques
Techniques of interview Managerial Clerical/ Production

/Officer Staff worker
Structured interview 10.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Unstructured interview 90.0% 100.0% 100.0
Situational problem solving 0.0% 30.0% 95.0%
Written Handbook
None of the 120-sample small and medium enterprises has written

handbook for any category of employees. New recruits orally learn their jobs
from supervisors. Table- 39 shows the picture below.
Table-39: Distribution of respondent small and medium enterprises on the

basis of existence of written handbook.
Types of response Managerial/ Clerical/Staff Production

Officer (count and %) worker (count
(count and and %)
%)
Yes 00 00 00
No 120 120 120
271
Training and Development in Small and Medium Enterprises
Training and development are the twin feathers of the same programme that
is undertaken to make the human resource competent for the present and
future environmental demand. Small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh
are not that much concern for this aspect of human resource management.
The observations are presented in the following descriptions.
Orientation/Induction programme
Orientation/induction programme is well understood as an essential activity

to make the new recruits familiar with the job as well as other aspects of the
organisation. Many small and medium enterprises do not understand the
concept as it theoretically stands, but when they are explained the idea, they
understand it. It is observed from the Table-40 that all sample small and
medium business firms provided formal/informal orientation/induction
training to the new recruits. Majority of SMEs do it by just introducing the
new recruits with the colleagues and giving a brief about the jobs to be done
by the supervisor.
Table- 40: Frequency distribution of respondent small and medium

enterprises on the basis of having formal/informal induction programme
Categories of Always Sometimes Don’t Less Not in

employees know often/rarely practice
Managerial / Officer 120 ------- ----- ---------- ------
100.0%
Clerical/Administrative 120 ----------- ----- ----------- ------
Staff 100.0%
Production workers 120 ---------- ----- ----------- -------
100.0%
272
Aims of Orientation/Induction Program
Orientation/induction programme is conducted with manifold aims in small

and medium businesses. Table-41 exhibits that ‘to make familiar with work
and inmates’ is the primary aim of all firms for all categories of employees.
‘To create interest in job and in the firm’ is another aim of all firms at a varied
degree, 64.17 percent firms for managerial cadre, 56.67 percent firms for
clerical/administrative cadre and 45.0 percent firms for production workers.
76.67 percent small and medium enterprises pointed out ‘to inform
organisational policies and practices’ as the aim of orientation programme for
managerial cadre employees and 21.67 percent firm mentioned it for clerical
employees and none pointed for workers. To inform about the organisational
Table-41: Distribution of respondent small and medium enterprises on the

basis of their stated aim/aims of the orientation/ induction programme
Aim of Orientation/ Managerial/ Clerical/Staff Production

induction programme Officer (count and %) worker (count
(count and and %)
%)
To inform organisational 40 16 00
philosophy 33.9% 13.6% 0.0%
To inform organisational 92 26 00
policies and practices 76.67% 21.67% 0.0%
To make familiar with 120 120 120
work and inmates 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
To create interest in job 77 68 54
and in the firm 64.17% 56.67% 45.0%
philosophy is the aim of 33.9 percent firms for managerial cadre and is the
aim of 13.6 percent firms for clerical staff. It is not an aim of any firm for
operating workers. From the table it is exhibited that a good of small and
273
medium business firms felt the need for making new recruits acquainted with
the job, inmates, policies and practices, and philosophy of the firm in order to
create loyalty and commitment to the firm. Workers are neglected in
providing information about policies, practices and philosophy of the firm. It
shows managements’ least concern for and confidence on workers as an
essential productive force, which is not favourable for the continuing
conducive coexistence of workers and management for higher productivity
and competitive sustainability of the SMEs in the doctrine of open market.
Methods of Orientation /Induction Program
It is observed from the table 33 that all small and medium enterprises provide
orientation/induction to new recruits. Various methods are applied for
conducting this program. Table-42 has listed it and from it we can see that all
small and medium business firms use work head to give a brief about the job
to the new recruits of all cadres and none of the SMEs has printed handbook
of jobs to give to the new employees to learn about their jobs.
Table-42: Distribution of SMEs on the basis of methods of orientation/

induction program used in small and medium enterprises for the new
recruits.
Means of orientation Managerial Clerical Worker

(Count and (Count and (Count and
percent) percent) percent)
Give a brief formal lecture on 24 14 00
organizational issues 20.0% 11.67% 0.0%
Give them printed handbook 0.0% 0.0 0.0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Ask a senior staff to show 42 00 00
everything 35.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Ask the work head to give him 120 120 120
a brief of the job 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Give just an informal lecture 65 78 35
54.17% 65.0% 29.17%
274
Formal lecture by key executives on organizational issues is used by 20.0

percent firms for managerial cadre, and 11.67 percent firms for clerical cadre.
Informal lecture is used for all categories of new recruits, 54.17 percent firms
for managerial cadre, 65.0 percent firms for clerical cadre, and 29.17 percent
firms for workers. Senior staff is entrusted to show everything of the
organization is applied only for managerial cadre in 35.0 percent firms.
Objectives of Training Programme
Training is provided with multidimensional objectives. Table-43 exhibits that

training is a generally accepted human resource management activity in all
the small and medium enterprises / businesses in Bangladesh. 100.0 percent
SMEs provide training for current work tasks to the managerial cadre,
clerical/administrative staff and to operational workers. Training is provided
on anticipated future work due to change in production /process to
managerial staff in 8.33 percent SMEs, to clerical/administrative staff in 7.5
percent firms and to the operational workers in 1.67 percent small and
medium firms. 5.0 percent small firms provide for a wide range of skills to
the managerial cadre, 1.67 percent to the clerical/administrative staff and
none of the production workers are provided with such type of training.

enterprises/business firms according to the objectives of training
programme
Objectives of the training Managerial Clerical/ Production

programmes /Officer Staff worker
(count and (count (count and
%) and %) %)
Training conducted for current 120 120 120
work tasks 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Training conducted in 10 9 2
anticipation of future production 8.33% 7.5% 1.67%
or process change
Training undertaken for a wide 6 2 00
range of skills 5.0% 1.67% 0.0%
275
Methods of On-the-Job Training and Development Used
It is found that none of the small and medium businesses in Bangladesh

provides Off-the –Job training and development to their employees of all
cadres. Only On-the-Job training and development is provided. The methods
used for this purpose is shown in Table-44.

enterprises/business firms on the basis of methods used for providing on-
the-job training and development to the employees.
Means of providing Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

training and Officer (count Staff (count worker (count
development and %) and %) and %)
Apprenticeship 8 54 84
6.67% 45.0% 70.0%
Pre-employment 00 00 6
training 0.0% 0.0% 5.0%
Vestibule training 0 2 0
.0% 1.7% .0%
Job Instruction 6 2 00
training 5.0% 1.67% 0.0%
Coaching 30 32 28
25.0% 26.7% 23.3%
Job Rotation/Transfer 36 28 10
30.0% 23.33% 8.33%
Understudy 6 6 2
assignment 5.0 5.0% 1.67%
Committee 18 0 0
assignment/Junior 15.0% .0% .0%
Board
Mentoring 12 5 24
10.0% 4.16% 20.0%
Action Learning 0 0 4
.0% .0% 3.3%
It shows that apprenticeship is the most popular method of training and

development for clerical and operational staff, 45 percent and 70 percent firms
respectively. Only 6.67 percent firms used it for managerial cadre. Coaching
is equally used method for all employees, 25.0 percent firms used it for
276
managerial cadre, 26.7 percent firms for clerical/administrative staff and 23.3
percent firms for operational workers. Job rotation/transfer is used in 30
percent firms for managerial staff, 23.33 percent for clerical staff, and 8.33
percent firms used it for production workers. Mentoring is applied for
managerial cadre in 10.0 percent small firms, 4.16 percent firm for clerical staff
and 20.0 percent firms for production workers. Understudy assignment is
applied in 5.0 percent firms for managerial staff, in 5.0 percent firms for
clerical staff and in 1.67 percent firms for production workers. Job instruction
training is provided in 5.0 percent small business firms for managerial cadre
and 1.67 percent firms for clerical staff. Committee assignment or Junior
board is used only for managerial cadre in 15 percent small and medium
enterprises. Vestibule training is provided in 1.7 percent small and medium
firms for clerical staff only. Pre-employment training is given in 5.0 percent
firms for production workers only and action learning is used in 3.3 percent
small and medium firms for production workers only too.
Designers of Training Programme
Small and medium enterprises do not employ any training specialist or

external experts to design their training and development programme for any
type of employees. Table –45 shows that owner-managers design the
programme in 70.83 percent small and medium business firms for managerial
cadre, in 37.5 percent firms for clerical staff and in 26.6 percent firms for
production workers. The table also shows that managers/supervisors design
the programme in 29.17 percent firms for managerial cadre, in 62.5 percent
firms for clerical staff and in 73.33 percent firms for operational workers. It is
evident that most training and development programme for managerial cadre
is designed by owner-manger and that for clerical and production workers is
designed by managers/supervisors.
277
Table-45: Frequency distribution of respondent small and medium

enterprises /businesses on the basis of types of people designing the
training and development programme
Types of people Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

designing the training Officer (count Staff (count worker (count
and development and %) and %) and %)
programme
Training specialists 00 00 00
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Owner-manager himself 85 45 32
70.83% 37.5% 26.67%
Manager/Supervisor 35 75 88
29.17% 62.5% 73.33%
External expert 0 0 0
.0% .0% .0%
Factors Considered in Designing Training and Development

Programme
It is understood from the research that multiple factors are considered while
designing a training and development programme. Table-46 shows that
“Filling up the skill deficiency” and “Need fulfillment of the employee, job
and career needs” are the two major factors that are considered most in the
small and medium businesses, 100.0 percent and 87.5 percent respectively,
during designing a training and development programme. ‘Skill
obsolescence’ is considered in 12.5 percent firms, ‘mutiskilling’ is considered
in 11.67 percent firms, ‘human resource plan of the organization’ is
considered in 7.5 percent firms, ‘ organizational culture and climate’ in 9.17
percent firms, ‘organizational adaptation and improvement’ is considered in
3.33 percent firms. It can be noted from the observation that small and
medium enterprises people are very much concern with doing right thing and
278
right manner as they are interested in making the staff right in doing the job
in right way.

enterprises/ business firms regarding the factors considered while
designing a training and development programme
Factors considered while designing a training and Frequency

development programme Count and %
Human resource plan of the organization 9 7.5%
Multi-skilling 14 11.67%
Organizational adaptation and improvement 4 3.33%
Organizational culture and climate 11 9.17%
Organizational effectiveness 00 0.0%
Need fulfillment of the employee, job and career needs 105 87.5%
Filling up the skill deficiency 120 100.0%
Union attitude 00 0.0%
Skill obsolescence 15 12.5%
Preferred Issues/Matters for Providing Training and Development
Table-47 shows the issues/ matters that small and medium businesses prefer
for giving training and development. It is observed that managerial staff is
given training and development for the issues with the order of problem
solving, 53.33 percent; quality control/management, 35 percent; learn to
another relevant job, 33.33 percent; team working, 21.7 percent; strategy
formulation, 15 percent; computing skills, 8.33 percent; health and safety, 5
percent; and improving communication, 3.33 percent .
Problem solving again is the pioneer preference to small and medium

enterprises / businesses for providing training to clerical staff, 68.33 percent.
Then team working, 25.0 percent; quality control/management, 21.7 percent;
computing skills, 12.5 percent; learn to another relevant job, 10.0 percent;
279
health and safety, 8.3 percent; improving communication, 5.0 percent;

strategy formulation, 4.16 percent; operation of new equipment, 1.7 percent.
Production workers are given training primarily for problem solving, 100.0
percent. The order of other preferred issues are quality control/management,
41.67 percent; health and safety, 36.67 percent; operation of new equipment,
30.0 percent; team working, 28.3 percent; learn to another relevant job, 25.5
percent; computing skills, 16.67 percent; improving communication, 13.33
percent; and the least preferred issue is strategy formulation, 3.33 percent.

enterprises/business firms on the basis of preferred issues for providing
training and development to employees .
Name of the training Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

matters Officer (count Staff (count Worker
and %) and %) (count and
%)
Strategy formulation 18 5 4
15.0% 4.16% 3.33%
Problem solving 64 82 120
53.33% 68.33% 100.0%
Team working 26 30 34
21.7% 25.0% 28.33%
Quality 42 26 50
control/management 35.0% 21.7% 41.67%
Improving 4 6 16
communication 3.33% 5.0% 13.33%
Computing skills 10 15 20
8.33% 12.5% 16.67%
Operation of new 0 2 36
equipment .0% 1.7% 30.0%
Health and safety 6 10 44
5.0% 8.3% 36.67%
Learn to another relevant 40 12 30
job 33.33% 10.0 % 25.5%
280
Challenging Factors That Motivate to Initiate Training and

Development
Small and medium enterprises or business firms initiate training and

development for their employees when they face the challenge of increasing
productivity and quality of product. Table-48 shows that all firms have
mentioned these two factors as the primary motivating factors. 92 percent
firms said about customer service, 49 percent firms mentioned technology
change, 42 percent firms mentioned succession plan, 34 percent firms
mentioned corporate culture and 23 percent firms mentioned new market
strategy as the driving challenging factors for initiating training and
development in their firms. Productivity and quality are the twin most
important considerations of SMEs in Bangladesh. This exhibits the concern
for market competition, reduction of cost and continuous attention to the
maintain ace as well as expansion of market by keeping customers satisfied
with both cost and quality. It also shows the alertness of the SMEs
management about the critical issues that affect their market and their
awareness of impacts of such factors upon the organizational effectiveness,
prospects and sustainability.

business firms on the basis of the order of challenging factors for initiating
training and development
Challenging Factors Frequency

Productivity 100%
Quality 100%
Customer service 92%
Technology change 49%
Succession plan 42%
Corporate culture 34%
New market strategies 23%
281
Training and Development Process
All small and medium size business firms follow all steps of a systematic
process of training and development except the step of validating the
programme. It is found that there is no standard practice of training and
development in any of the SMEs. They do not have also any training expert
or formal structure of training and development. The steps arranged in Table
–49 are made on the basis of their responses but things are done not as
systematically as it is arranged in the table. The action in each step is not
critically done, rather causally informally done by the owner-managers or
managers. Table-49 shows that only 15 percent of the respondent firms
develop budget for the training and development, all others do not make any
separate budget for this purpose. It also shows that 20 percent firms conduct
some kind of evaluation and follow up.
Table-49: Frequency distribution of respondent small business firms on the

basis of their selected steps in the process of training and development
Steps of the process Frequency

1. Need analysis 100%
2. Selecting objectives 100%
3. Select trainees 100%
4. Determine curriculum 100%
5. Select training method and media 100%
6. Develop budget 15%
7. Validate the program 0.0%
8. Select trainers 100%
9. Conduct training and development 100%
10. Evaluate and follow up 20%
282
Selection of Trainees
Table-50 shows that the selection of trainees for the training and development
is done by checking job description in none of the small and medium
enterprises ( SMEs) , as they do not have any structured job description. 100
percent firms check skill requirements as the owner-manger or immediate
supervisors understand it, as none of the SMEs has any written structured job
specification, 80 percent firms analyse the present job performance of the
incumbents to their skill deficiencies, 12 percent firms check the need for
skills and abilities in the next higher position to which the prospective person
would be placed in near future, and 5 percent firms conduct the analysis of
the need for the skills and abilities in the next assignment or posting. The
overall assessment of this count shows a great concern of SMEs for training
employees to uplift skills and expertise to increase productivity and quality.
The awareness of management of SMEs to select appropriate person for the
right training is the indication for training effectiveness too.

their mechanism to select trainees
Mechanism of trainee selection Frequency
Check job description 0.0%
Check skill requirements 100%
Present performance analysis 80%
Need for skills and abilities in the next higher position 12%
Need for skills and abilities in next assignment or posting 5%
283
Evaluation of Training and Development Effectiveness
All small and medium business firms do some kind of evaluation of the
training and development conducted for the employees. Table-51 shows that
100 percent small and medium business firms conduct pre –post performance
method to understand the effectiveness of the training and development
programme. If performance increases then it is understood that the training
and development programme is successful. No other methods are applied in
small business firms for understating the skill deficiencies of the incumbents.
It shows the high concern of SMEs management for production and
performance of employees in the organization. It is good that at least they
understand the necessity of testing the effectiveness of the training and
development programme to make it improved for the betterment of the
human resource and the organization as whole.
Table-51: Frequency distribution of respondent small and medium

business firms on the basis of method applied to evaluate training and
development effectiveness.
Methods Frequency
Test-retest Method 0.0%
Pre-post performance Method 100.0%
Experimental Control group Method 0.0%
Off-the –Job Training and Development
It is observed from the study shown in Table-52 that none of the small and
medium enterprises conduct any off–the–job training and development
programme and even they do not recognize that it is their responsibility to
conduct such type of programme to make their human resource competent
for their benefit. Almost all respondents comment that ‘We think it is not our
284
job’; ‘We shall take those who will have that skill and knowledge’; ‘We don’t
have capacity to do that’; ‘We could not spare out employees from their job’
etc. These exhibit their no concern for off-the-job training and development
programme and also their high concern for cost for such programme which
they think unnecessary for the organization.
Table- 52: Distribution of respondent SMEs on types of off-the –job

training and development they use for employee
Method of training Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

Officer (count Staff (count worker (count
and %) and %) and %)
Lecture and Conference 00 0.0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
Computer-assisted 00 0 .0% 00 0.0% 00 0 .0%
Instruction
Seminar 00 0.0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
Laboratory training 00 0 .0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
T-group 00 0 .0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
Transactional Analysis 00 0.0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
Behavioural Modeling 00 0.0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
In-basket training 00 0.0% 00 0.0% 00 0 .0%
University-related 00 0 .0% 00 0.0% 00 0.0%
programme
In-house development 00 0.0% 00 0 .0% 00 0.0%
center
Programmed 00 0 .0% 00 0 .0% 00 0.0%
Instruction/Manual
Experimental Exercise 00 0 .0% 00 0 .0% 00 0.0%
285
Pay Administration and Performance Appraisal in Small and

Medium Enterprises
Pay or remuneration administration is a vital mechanism to attract and retain

qualified human resources in the organization. The observation about the
state of affair of pay administration system prevailing in small and medium
enterprises in Bangladesh is presented in the following section of discussion.
Pay Structure or Grade
The majority of the small and medium enterprises or businesses do not have
any well-designed pay structure or grade; they go on their whim, which is
influenced by current pay rate or level in the industry or relevant region of
operation. Table- 53 shows that 92.5 percent SMEs do not have any structured
pay grade but only 7.5 percent small and medium firms have pay
structure/grade for various classes of job and others do not. It exhibits that
they do not have any concern for consistency of pay or any reasonable basis
for having pay grade for all types of employees.

enterprises/ businesses on the basis of the existence of pay structure or
grade for each grade or class of job.
Yes 09 7.5
No 111 92.5
Total 120 100.0
286
Way of Determining the Pay Structure
The study reveals that owner-mangers set pay for their employees, no expert
opinion or no other knowledgeable persons are consulted to determine pay or
no survey is conducted to do so. Only a general guess or understanding or
informal information collected by the owner-manger is used to determine the
pay of employees of various levels in the organization. It is observed from the
Table-53 that in almost all SMEs, that is 90 percent, owner-managers’
determine the pay structure for managerial people and for clerical staff on
their own sense of judgement and knowledge , and in 100 percent SMEs ,
same basis has been undertaken by owner-managers for production workers.
A very little number of small and medium businesses, 10 percent, follow
competitors’ pay structure as the guideline for determining firm’s pay
structure for managerial cadre and clerical staff only. It shows the
predominance of whims, common sense, and informal information in setting
pay structure for employees in small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh.

enterprises / business firms on the basis of way of determining pay
structure
Way of pay determination Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

Industry wise collective 00 00 00
bargaining 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Collective bargaining 0 0 0
.0% .0% .0%
Owner-managers’ 108 108 120
decision 90% 90% 100.0%
Competitors’ pay 12 12 0
structure 10% 10% 0.0%
287
Methods of Fixing pay (wages and salaries) for the Employees
The study reveals the method or methods used in small and medium
enterprises to fix wages and salaries for the employees. Table-55 shows that
majority of the small and medium enterprises or businesses set their wages
and salaries of the employees on the judgement of the owner-managers or
managers. 66.7 percent respondent firms fix pay of their managerial
employees, 62.7 percent for clerical employees and 55 percent for production
employees by this method. It is also evident from the table that 30 percent
firms used other firms’ pay as the benchmark for setting pay for their
managerial employees, 33.9 percent for clerical employees and the same
percent of firms took other firms pay as the basis for setting pay for their
production employees. A very meager percentage of firms did job evaluation
for setting pay for all categories of employees, only 1.7 percent. Only 5
percent SMEs negotiated with job seekers to set pay for production
employees, and 1.7 percent firms did it for clerical and managerial employees.
It is understood from the observation that SMEs set differentiated pay on the
presumed difficulties and significance of the job to the production and profit
and it is made by owner-managers on their own perception.

business firms on the basis of their employed methods of fixing pay for
their employees
Methods of fixing pay Managerial

Clerical Productio
employees employees n
employees
By own judgement Count 80 74 66
% 66.7% 62.7% 55.0%
By collective bargaining Count 00 00 00
% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
By comparing with other firms Count 36 40 40
% 30.0% 33.9% 33.9%
By doing job evaluation Count 2 2 2
% 1.7% 1.7% 1.7%
By negotiation with job seekers Count 2 2 6
% 1.7% 1.7% 5.0%
288
Basis of Wage and Salary
The most popular method of wage and salary payment in small and medium
business firms in Bangladesh is monthly pay for all cadres of employees.
Table- 56 exhibits that all SMEs are found to follow this basis for managerial,
clerical employees and 44 percent for production workers. For the payment
of wages to operation workers, daily basis of pay is used in 56 percent firms
simultaneously with the monthly pay system that is a section of production
workers are paid on daily basis besides monthly basis. Weekly basis is not
found in any small and medium firm.
Table- 56 : Distribution of the respondent small and medium enterprises

according to their bases used for setting wage and salary
Wage and Salary Policy Managerial/ Clerical/Staff Manual/
Officer Productive
Employees
Daily basis 0.0% 0.0% 56%
Weekly basis 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Monthly basis 100.0% 100.0% 44.0%
Responsibility of Pay Determination
Table-57 shows that owner-managers determine the pay of the employees in

96 percent small and medium business firms except in 4 percent small and
medium enterprises firms in which managers conducts the task of
determining pay for the employees subject to the final approval of the
owners. None of the SMEs take help of external expert or consultants in this
respect.
289
Table-57: Distribution of the respondent small and medium enterprises

regarding the responsibility of pay determination
Responsible person Frequency
Owner-manager 96.0%
Manager 4.0%
External expert/Consultant 0.0%
Time of Setting Wage and Salary
The study also reveals the time of setting wage and salary for the employees
of the small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh. The result is exhibited in
the Table- 57. The table shows that majority of the firms set their wage and
salary on the very point of starting the venture that is 65 percent firms follow
action to thought strategy while rest of the firms, 35 percent, set a plan for
compensation well ahead of starting their ventures.

enterprises (SMEs) on the basis of time of setting wage and salary of the
employees.
Time of Setting Number of firms Percentage of firms
Before the beginning of 42 35.00

the enterprise
On the point of starting 78 65.00

the venture
Total 120 100.00
290
Pay Policy
Pay policy denotes general guidelines to determine pay of employees. It may

be individual or secret pay policy that is, pay is being set through individual
bargaining and negotiation. Each employee’s pay is kept secret to others.
Structured pay policy indicates a policy to set a flat and well structured pay
for each category of employees which is made public. Both pay policies have
relative merits and demerits. It is observed from the study that all SMEs take
individual pay policy for their managerial and clerical employees, and only
25 percent SMEs undertake secret pay policy for production workers( Table
59). It is also exhibited from the table-58 that none follows structured pay
policy for managerial and clerical employees but 75 percent firms take
structured pay policy for production workers. It indicates that individual
judgement of owner-managers or managers about the situations of the firm
and qualifications of the applicant get dominance in SMEs in taking the policy
of pay. It also shows the lack of corporate culture regarding pay and it is
highly personalized.

enterprises regarding their pay policy/policies
Pay Policy Managerial Clarical /Staff Production

/Officers workers
Individual/Secret 120 120 30
Pay 100% 100% 25%
Structured Nil Nil 90
Sectoral Pay 75%
Total 120 120 120
100% 100% 100%
291
Profit Sharing Scheme
It is revealed from the study that profit sharing scheme is not at all known to
almost all of the SMEs under study. Table -60 exhibits that 58.33 percent
SMEs do not even know the system of profit sharing scheme applicable for
managerial employees, 83.33 percent for administrative staff, and 91.67
percent of SMEs do not hear that there is such a scheme for production
workers. A very meager number of SMEs follows profit sharing scheme, only
8.33 percent, for managerial employees but that also very irregularly while
66.67 percent not at all adopt it in their organization. All SMEs , that is 100
percent, do not at all follow it for clerical and production workers.
Table -60: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs regarding adaptation

of profit sharing scheme.
Categories of Not at Less Don’t Sometimes Always

employees all often know
Managerial/ 80 00 70 10 00
Officer 66.67% 58.33% 8.33%
Clerical/ 120 00 100 00 00
administrative 100% 83.33%
staff
Production 120 00 110 00 00
workers 100% 91.67%
All firms have responded that they do not do nor practice profit sharing
scheme for clerical and production workers. So, it is evident from the study
that profit sharing scheme is not in operation in SMEs in Bangladesh. This
exhibits the lack of awareness of profit sharing scheme as a motivation tool to
the management of small and medium enterprises. But it has got a strong
impact on whole-hearted and committed involvement of employees with the
organization. It creates a strong sense of ownership and belonging with the
292
organization among employees too (Weihrich and Koontz, 2006, Kreitner,

1989, Garrison and Noreen, 2005).
Individual Incentive for Achievement
It is understood from the study that a good number of SMEs gives incentives
for the individual achievement of employees in their respective field of
operation particularly those who engage in the production and marketing
areas. Table – 60 (1) shows that 33.33 percent SMEs always give and equal
percent of SMEs not at all give incentive for individual achievement to
managerial employees, 20.83 percent some times give and only 12.5 percent
SMEs rarely give incentive to managers for their individual achievement. In
the case of administrative employees, 4583 percent SMEs sometimes give,
29.16 percent always, and 25 percent SMEs rarely give incentives for
individual achievement. It is also evident from the table-60 (1)
Table-60 (1): Distribution of the respondent SMEs on the basis of their

incentive scheme for individual achievement
Categories Not at Rarely Don’t Some Always Total

of employees all know times
Managerial/ 40 15 00 25 40 120
Officers 33.33% 12.5% 20.83% 33.33% 100%
Percentage
Clerical 00 30 00 55 35 120
/administrative
Staff
Percentage 25% 45.83% 29.16% 100%
Production 00 12 00 60 48 120
workers
Percentage 10% 50% 40% 100%
293
that highest number of SMEs always give individual incentive for

achievement to production workers, 48 firms that is 40percent. It further
exhibits that 50 percent SMEs sometimes give and 10 percent SMEs rarely
give incentive to production workers for their individual achievement. But it
is understood that all SMEs know that there is a practice of giving incentive to
all types of employees for their individual achievement in the workplace and
as such all firms under study are found practicing this incentive scheme too.
Pay Determining Factors
The study reveals that almost all small and medium enterprises consider a set
of factors to determine and structure the pay of the employees. “Employees
are paid on their ability and skill”; “ Wages are to be given according to the
worth of the job”; “ I can not pay more because of financial inability” etc
statements exhibit the factors that SMEs management consider most in setting
wage and salary structure for the employees of their enterprise. The results of
the study that is exhibited in the table-61 shows the most considered factor for
setting pay for managerial employees and production workers is worth of
the employees, 100 percent and 83.33 percent respectively. But in case of
administrative staff, ‘financial capacity of the firm’ is the most considered
factor for setting pay, 91.67 percent SMEs. The second most considered factor
for pay setting is ‘financial capacity to pay of the enterprise’ in case of
managerial employees, 80 percent SMEs; in case of administrative staff, the
second most considered factor is ‘worth of the employees’, 62.5 percent; and
in case of production workers, it is ‘both financial capacity of the enterprise
and worth of the job’ , 66.67 percent SMEs. The third considered factor is the
‘worth of the job’ for managerial employees, 62.7 percent of SMEs; and for
administrative staff, 61.7 percent; but for production workers, it is prevailing
‘wages and salaries of the industry’, 61.67 percent SMEs. This factor is
considered at the forth level for setting pay for managerial and administrative
294
staff, 41.67 percent and 15 percent respectively. It is further known that the
SMEs only consider the ‘prevailing pay structure of adjacent localities for
Table-62: Frequency distribution of the respondent SMEs about the

considered factors for setting wage and salary structure
Considerable factors Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

Officer Staff (count worker (count
(count and and %) and %)
%)
Worth of the job 74 74 80
62.7% 61.7% 66.7%
Worth of the employee 100 75 120
83.33% 62.5% 100.0%
Prevailing wages and salary 50 18 74
of the industry 41.66% 15.0% 61.67%
Financial capacity of the 96 110 80
enterprise 80.0% 91.67% 66.67%
Economic realities i.e. cost 6 6 6
of living & inflation 5.1% 5.0% 5.0%
Government regulation 0 0 8
00% 00% 6.7%
for managerial employees where the respective SME is operating, not

industry as a whole. The least considered factor is economic realities like ‘cost
of living and inflation’ by all SMEs, it is only 5 percent. No firms consider
‘government regulation ‘for setting pay for managerial and administrative
staff but only 6.7 percent SMEs have taken this factor into consideration. It
shows their least attention, awareness, and care to the existing governmental
laws, rules and regulation for managing human resources that are made to
295
ensure rights and privileges of the working people in the industry. It also calls
for increasing supervision of enforcing agencies to ensure application of pay
related legal provisions, developing awareness about this, and persuading
SMEs management to ensure their application into their enterprises.
Compensating Factors
Pay is the compensation paid to the human resource for their efforts or
expenditure of energy, use of skill or expertise, taking trouble and
responsibility etc. While setting wages and salaries of employees, the
contributing elements are determined along with their levels to employment
so that those are rightly compensated in order to make the pay satisfactory
and motivating to the people working and to the job seekers. It is found in the
study on SMEs of Bangladesh regarding the compensating factors taken by
the management of such SMEs to set pay for different categories of
employees that almost all factors except ‘originality required’ and ‘judgement
exercised’ are taken into consideration. From table-63, it is understood that
education and experience are the first and foremost compensating factor for
managerial employees, 50 percent; then know-how, 46.67 percent; then
responsibility, 31.7 percent, then difficulty of the job, 20.83 percent, then
supervisory responsibility, 20 percent, then both outside contacts and work
environment, 8.3 percent; then job complexity, 5 percent; relationship, 4.16
percent, then rental requirement, 3.3 percent; and physical demand, 1.7
percent. Other compensating factors like responsibility of equipments, and
judgement exercised are not at all considered for being compensated.
It is further revealed from the study and exhibited in Table-63 that in case of
setting pay for administrative staff or clerical employees, know-how is the
foremost compensating factor for setting pay of SMEs, 50 percent; next is
education and experience , 41.7 percent; next is difficulty of the job, 26.7
percent; next is responsibility, 25 percent; next is work environment, 8.3
percent; next is supervory responsibility, 6.7 percent; and physical demand is
296
the last compensating factor that is taken into consideration, only 3.3 percent.
Other factors like physical requirement, responsibility of equipments, outside
contacts, judgement exercised, relationship, and originality required are not
compensated as they are not understood and considered at all as
compensating factors for this category of employees.
Table-63: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of the

compensating factors for determining worth of the job.
Compensatory Factors Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

Difficulty of the job 25 32 76
20.83% 26.7% 63.3%
Responsibility 38 30 16
31.7% 25.0% 13.3%
Know-how 56 60 120
46.67% 50% 100%
Education and experience 60 50 26
50.0% 41.7% 21.7%
Relationships 5 0 0
4.16% 0.0% 0.0%
Mental requirements 4 0 2
3.3% 0.0% 1.7%
Supervisory 24 8 2
Responsibility 20.0% 6.7% 1.7%
Responsibility of 0 0 2
equipments 0.0% 0.0% 1.7%
Outside contacts 10 0 0
8.3% 0.0% 0.0%
Work Environment 10 10 12
8.3% 8.3% 10.0%
Physical demand 2 4 24
1.7% 3.3% 20.0%
Job complexity 6 6 24
5.0% 5.0% 20.0%
Judgment exercise 0 0 0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Originality required 0 0 0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
297
It is exhibited from the table-62 that for the production workers, the most
widely used compensating factor in the SMEs here in Bangladesh for
determining worth of the job is know-how, 100 percent; then is difficulty of
the job, 63.3 percent; next is education and experience , 21.7 percent; next is
physical demand and job complexity, both 20 percent; next is responsibility,
13.3 percent; next is work environment, 10 percent; then all of mental
requirements, responsibility of equipments, 1.7 percent. Others like
supervisory responsibility; outside contacts, judgement exercised, originality
required, and relationship have not been considered in this category of
employees.
Pay Increments Bases
It is evident from the study that all small and medium enterprises give
primary consideration to ‘performance and seniority together’ for giving
increment to the employees. It is exhibited in the Table-64 that most SMEs
give priority to performance along with both performance and seniority for
all categories of employees, 73.33 percent performance for managerial
employees; 66.67 percent for administrative or clerical staff; and 83.33 percent
for production workers.
Table-64: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the bases they use

for pay increments
Basis of pay Managerial clerical/ Productive

increments /Officers adminis- workers
trative
Individual performance/ 00 00 00
achievement
Individual seniority 00 00 00
Performance 88 80 100
and seniority together 73.33% 66.67% 83.33%
but performance gets
priority
Performance and 32 40 20
seniority together but 26.67% 33.33% 16.67%
seniority gets priority
298
Rest of the small and medium firms gives priority to seniority along with both
performance and seniority as a basis for giving increment to the employees. It
is understood further from the results of the study, shown in Table -64, that
23.67 percent SMEs management is very much performance oriented and they
give recognition for better performance in the form of giving increment to the
employees. So, it is evident from the study that the most dominant basis is the
combined performance and seniority basis with greater emphasis on
performance only.
Need for Effective Pay Administration
The management of small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh recognizes

that a well designed and planned pay management is a necessity for the SMEs
as it will ensure consistency of pay over years, motivate employees, effective
system of pay management as well as adaptability of pay. Table -65 exhibits
that all SMEs feel equally the need for an effective pay administration to
maintain competitiveness and sustainability of pay in the organization.
Table-65: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the bases of their

managerial perception regaring an effective well designed pay
administration
Nature of pay administration Yes No

Well designed and planned pay administration 120 00
100%
Spot pay administration 00 00
Information Sharing or Suggestion Scheme Practice
On kind of informal suggestion scheme or information sharing is practiced in

small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh for all types of employees but it
is not frequently done. ‘ They tell us about pay change or inadequacy of pay
giving examples of other firm as well as cost of living situation’; ‘Sometimes
299
our subordinates give us their opinion about pay’; ‘Suggestions come in the
form of request’ etc are a few examples for type of suggestions or information
provided by the employees to the owner-managers or managers of SMEs. It is
evident from the Table- 66 that informal and infrequent suggestion or
information sharing scheme is practiced in all small and medium enterprises.
Table-66: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the bases of their

suggestion scheme or information sharing scheme in practice
Nature of Regularly Frequently Sometimes Less Not in

pay often/rarely practice
administration
Managerial 00 00 00 120 00
/Officer 100%
Clerical / Staff 00 00 00 120 00
100%
Manual / 00 00 00 120 00
Production 100%
employees
Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is a system of evaluating the performance of

individual employees for many reasons. Some pitfalls may make obstacles for
its right and appropriate use and contribution to the managing human
resources efficiently and effectively and to make them worthy for the
organisation. All small and medium enterprises (SMEs) also use one kind of
performance appraisal system which has come out of the study.
Existence of Performance Appraisal System
It is exhibited from the Table -67 that all the SMEs under study use
performance appraisal system in any form and it is being used regularly. 100
percent SMEs use performance appraisal regularly for managerial employees,
83.33 percent use it regularly for staff but 16.67 percent SMEs reported that
300
they use it sometimes for the same category of employees. On the other hand,
all small and medium enterprises use regularly performance appraisal system
for the production workers.
Table-67: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs regarding the

existence of performance appraisal system
Categories Regularly Some Don’t Less Not in

of times know often/ practice
employees rarely
Managerial/Officers 120 00 00 00 00
100%
Clerical /Staff 100 20 00 00 00
83.33% 16.67%
Production workers 120 00 00 00 00
100%
Means of Performance Appraisal
It is revealed from the study that majority of small and medium enterprises
use informal performance appraisal system with very little documentation.
Table 68 shows that this practice is followed by 85 percent SMEs for
managerial, 62.5 percent for staff employees but 93.33 percent SMEs for
production workers. Only a small percentage of small and medium
enterprises use formal structure of performance appraisal. Only 6.67 percent
of SMEs use it for both managerial and clerical employees where a printed
form is needed to be filled up and that is processed at regular interval. On the
other hand, only 3.34 percent SMEs use formal system for production
workers. In all, a meager number of SME management is aware of formal
methods of performance appraisal. It is due to their lack of educational
background on human resource management or any training on management
of venture. “We observe them (employees) and their performance over years
and that gives us knowledge about how good they are”; “We know who is
301
good and who is not in his performance”; “We do not need any record, just
observe”; -such statements of respondent SME managers show their
unwillingness to go for formal method of performance appraisal or to learn
about the system to apply in future to make it systematic and more rewarding
to the organisational output. Their reluctance comes of their favourable
results of their ventures that they are going fine with their present conditions.
They don’t have any strong desire to improve for they do not know there is
ways scope for improving such conditions.
Table 68: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs regarding formal or

informal practice of performance appraisal system
Means of performance Managerial clerical/ Production

appraisal employees staff workers
Formal. Forms are filled and 8 8 4
processed at regular intervals 6.67% 6.67% 3.34%
Informal. Very little 102 75 112
documentation is made. 85% 62.5% 93.33%
No response 10 37 4
8.33% 30.83% 3.33%
Total 120 120 120
100% 100% 100%
Method of Performance Appraisal
It is observed from the study that only 4 (Four) SMEs follow graphical rating
scale method for evaluating the performance of managerial employees and
equal number of firms follow performance check list method which exhibited
in Table -69. It is further evident that for the staff, no other but the
performance checklist system is widely applied among four SMEs that use
formal structure. For the production worker, the same performance check list
method is used only too. The form of performance appraisal is not well
302
designed but it serves the purposes of SME managers as they perceive. It is

further understood that managers of SMEs do not have any knowledge of
other methods of performance appraisal and they do not have any interest to
go for other methods too as very little of them have any academic background
on human resource management.
Table-69: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of

method used for performance appraisal
Means of appraisal Managerial/ Clerical Production

Officer /Staff worker
Graphical Rating Scale 4 00 00
Method
Paired Comparison Method 00 00 00
Performance Check List 4 8 4
Method
Essay Appraisal Method 00 00 00
Critical Incident Method 00 00 00
Individual Ranking Method 00 00 00
Group Ranking Method 00 00 00
Forced Choice Rating 00 00 00
Method
Management By Objectives 00 00 00
Method
Existence of Standard Criteria for Performance Appraisal
It is found from the study that none of the small and medium enterprises
under study has any well thought out predetermined set of policies,
standard criteria and design for performance appraisal of employees of all
categories- managerial, clerical/staff and production worker, which is
303
exhibited in Table-70. It is understood from their responses and conversation

that they just set it on individual whim, judgement or assumption of owner-
manager or manager who is responsible for taking decision which is generally
called administration that is apex administrator.

having standard criteria, policies and design used for performance
appraisal
Performance criteria Yes No
Standard policies 00 120 100%
Standard criteria 00 120 100%
Standard design 00 120 100%
Who does Performance Appraisal
It is revealed from the study which is exhibited in the table-71 that the owner-
managers/chief executives of small and medium enterprises, who are in
charge of administration, do the performance appraisal of managerial
employees or officers in 91.67 percent SMEs. The performance of clerical
employees or staff is evaluated by the immediate supervisors who, in majority
of the SMEs are owners themselves, in 69.17 percent SMEs and that of
production workers is appraised by the immediate supervisor in 96.67 percent
SMEs. Rest of the SMEs do not do performance appraisal, though they are
very meager in number, only 10 SMEs that is 8.33 percent in case of
managerial employees, 37 SMEs that is 30.83 percent in staff and 4 SMEs
that is 3.33 percent in productive workers.
304
Table–71: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs about who does the

performance appraisal
Who does Managerial Clerical /Staff Productive

performance employees / workers
appraisal Officers
Immediate 00 83 116
Supervisor 69.17% 96.67%
Subordinates 00 00 00
Chief Executive/ 110 00 00
Owner-manager 91.67%
Self 00 00 00
Peer colleagues 00 00 00
Rating 00 00 00
/Appraisal
Committee
No Response 10 8.33% 37 30.83% 04 3.33%
Total 120 100% 120 100% 120 100%
Objectives of Performance Appraisal
Small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh use performance appraisal for

multiple purposes. Table 72 shows that majority SMEs, 83.33 percent, do it
for giving feedback to employees about their level of performance from the
view point of management for the managerial people, and 54.17 percent SMEs
do performance appraisal for determining compensation for the managerial
employees, But only 16.67 percent SMEs use it for both deciding
promotability of the employees as well as to make retention and discharge
decision about the managerial employees. On the other hand, 13 percent
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do it for identifying future needs of the
305
employee development, and only 8.33 percent SMEs use performance

appraisal for motivating people through recognition and support.

objective or objectives of performance appraisal
Reasons for doing Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

performance appraisal Officer Staff (count worker
(count and and %) (count and
%) %)
Giving employee feedback so 100 114 120
that they know where they 83.33% 95% 100%
stand
Using Performance appraisal 20 12 50
result to decide upon 16.67% 10% 41.67%
promotion of the people
Using performance results to 20 18 32
make retention and discharge 16.67% 15.0% 26.67%
decision
Using Performance appraisal 65 62 80
result to determine 54.17% 51.67% 66.67%
compensation
Using Performance appraisals 16 10 18
to identity the future needs of 13.3% 8.33% 15.0%
the employee development
Motivating people through 10 14 28
recognition and support 8.33% 11.67% 23.33 %
Strengthening superior- 00 00 00
subordinate relation 00% 00% 00%
Diagnosing individual and 00 00 00
organizational problems 00% 00% 00%
306
None of the respondent SMEs tells about strengthening superior-subordinate

relation and diagnosing individual and organizational problems as the
objectives of performance appraisal. For the clerical or staff people the most
widely mentioned objective is giving employee feedback so that they know
where they stand from the viewpoint of the management’s desirable level of
performance i.e. 95 percent SMEs. On the other hand, 51.67 percent SMEs do
performance appraisal to determine compensation of clerical employees. It is
also observed from the Table -72 that 15% SMEs use performance results to
make retention and discharge decision; 11.67 % uses it for motivating people
through recognition and support; 10% SMEs use performance appraisal to
decide upon promotion of the staff or clerical people. A very meager
percentage of SMEs, only 8.33 percent SMEs do it for identifying the future
needs of the employee development for the same group. None of the
respondent SMEs does it for strengthening superior –subordinate relation and
for diagnosing individual and organisational problems for clerical as well as
for production workers. In case of production workers, 100 percent SMEs
does the performance appraisal for giving employee feedback so that they
know where they stand from their desired level of performance; 66.67 percent
uses performance appraisal result to determine compensation; 41.67 percent
small and medium enterprises uses performance appraisal result to decide
upon promotion of the people; 26.67 percent uses performance results to
make retention and discharge decision; 23.33 percent SMEs do it for
motivating people through recognition and support; and only 15 percent
SMEs use performance appraisal to identity the future needs of the employee
development.
It is observed from the study that majority of the small and medium
enterprises does performance appraisal for giving performance feed back to
all types of employees –managerial, clerical/staff and production workers.
The next popular objective is determining compensation or salaries and
wages for the employees. For the promotion purpose, performance appraisal
307
result is used in large scale for production workers as there is a set of

promotional hierarchy among them, but for other cadres, it is not evident as
there is no upper hierarchy in the managerial and clerical levels of people.
The lack of promotional hierarchy in the SMEs is a cause of lack of motivation
for the managerial and staff people to stay, but there exists an increment of
salaries and wages with irregular interval.
Determination of Performance Appraisal Criteria
It is observed that almost all the small and medium enterprises under study
gets performance appraisal criteria from the rules and standards set by the
owner or owner-manger or manager out of their own experience and
judgement.
Table – 73: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of

how they decide performance appraisal criteria
Sources of performance appraisal Managerial Clerical Production

criteria Employees Employees workers
Rules and standards set by 115 100 90
Count 85% 83.33% 75%
the owner/ owner-manager/ %
manager 00 00 00
Rules and standards Count 00 00 00
set by a committee % 2 2 15
Rules and standards Count 1.67% 1.67% 12.5%
developed by a consultant % 3 18 15
Adopt local/indigenous Count 2.5% 8.33% 12.5%
practices Count % 3 18 15
Criteria developed by Count 2.5% 8.33% 12.5%
intuition % 120 120 120
Total 100% 100% 100%
308
It is exhibited from the table-73 that 85 percent SMEs decides the criteria from
this source for evaluating performance for managerial people; , 83.33 percent
firms follow this source for clerical and 75 percent SMEs use this source for
setting appraising criteria of production workers. A very negligible percent
of SMEs gets the criteria from intuition, 2.5% for managerial, 8.3% for clerical
and 12.5% for production workers. On the other hand, only 1.67% respondent
firms use local or indigenous practices in order to set criteria for performance
appraisal for managerial and clerical employees and 12.5% firms for
production workers. They do not use any consultant or committee or any
expert knowledge for doing this task of setting criteria, though 34 respondent
SMEs are private limited companies and many of the firms under study are
quite matured firms and functioning for a long time. They still go on the rule-
of-thumb method in this respect.
Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Performance Appraisal
It is observed from the studies that performance appraisal is affected by many

factors and therefore, the purpose of the appraisal is lost or the effectiveness
of it is reduced (Werther and Davice, 2005, Milkovich and Boudreau, 1997).
The small and medium enterprises under study in Bangladesh are not from
those errors too. It is found from this study that the effectiveness of 58 percent
SMEs’ performance appraisal is greatly affected by bias or prejudice error as
shown in Table-74. The next major error is irrelevant or subjective judgement
error which is disclosed by 54.17 percent respondent SMEs. The next
dominant error is central tendency, 41.67 percent. The table further shows
that 40 percent SMEs feel that their performance appraisal is affected by the
failure to use appraisal data for the development or rewards to the employees
and therefore, the purpose of the performance appraisal is lost. 25 percent of
the SMEs disclose that halo effect and poor feedback to employee affect much
of the effectiveness of the performance appraisal. 20.83 percent SMEs feel that
lack of training on rating factors of raters affect the effectiveness of such
309
appraisal. It is understood from the results of the study that small and
medium enterprises in Bangladesh are in the problem of making effective
performance appraisal due to overwhelming presence of many strong errors
which have to be corrected. The people who are involved with it they also
recognize that these pitfalls affects seriously the improvement opportunities
of the human resources and of the organization itself. It requires training and
development of administrators/ owner-managers involved with this job.
They are to be more knowledgeable and attentive to the high consequences of
such errors on the performance of the people, sustained growth of the
organization and competitiveness of the firm.
Table-74 : Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of their

mentioned factors affecting the effectiveness of performance appraisal
Factors affecting the effectiveness of performance Number of SMEs

appraisal Count %
Leniency /strictness error 00 00%
Halo effect error 30 25%
Low appraiser motivation error 00 00%
Irrelevant/subjective judgement error 65 54.17%
Lack of training on rating factors of raters error 25 20.83%
Poor feedback to employee error 30 25%
Failure to use appraisal data error 48 40%
Unclear standards error 00 00%
Bias or prejudice error 70 58.33%
Central tendency error 50 41.67%
Fear of confrontation with appraisee error 00 00%
Complex and time consuming appraisal error 00 00%
Unrealistic standards error 00 00%
Constant error 00 00%
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Protection Programmes (Benefits, Safety, Security and Health)
Protection programmes that is benefits, safety, security and health

programmes have the most influence on the satisfaction and performance of
the employees of all types of organisation. Other than the pay, these are also
most desirable protection to the employees too.
Existence of Protection Programmes
In the course of the study on small and medium enterprises of Bangladesh,

investigation is done to know the existence of benefits, safety, security and
health programmes and all SMEs have confirmed that they have these
programmes other than the pay. It is exhibited in the table-75below:

existence of benefit programmes.
Benefit Managerial Clerical Manual/Production

Programmes employees employees/staff employees
/Officers
Count % Count % Count %
Yes 120 100% 120 100% 120 100%
No 00 00 00
Total 120 120 120
Types of Benefits Offered
It is found from the study that all small and medium enterprises offer a
multiple benefits to their employees. It is praiseworthy that management of
SMEs has understood the contribution of benefit programmes to the
productivity, job satisfaction and motivation of the employees. It is evident
from the comments too. “We think it will serve out purpose too”; “It will
make employees loyal and responsible”; “Benefits will motivate people to
311
work and to the firm”. It is exhibited from the Table-76 that no SMEs have
pension, group insurance, paid vacations, employee education, medical
expense payments, accident insurance, tax assistance, and dearness allowance
programmes. All firms give benefit of paid holiday and rest pause to their all
types of employees. 68.3 percent SMEs pays festival bonus to managerial
employees, 70 percent pays to clerical employees and 66.67 percent pays to
production workers. Loans or advances are generally paid to all types of
employees. Respondents argue that this benefit makes employees obliged to
the management or owner, so we get reliable service from them. “We pay
advances/loans against their salary/wages that help employees to overcome
their immediate financial crises and that make them obliged to the owner or
management and responsible to the job”, this comment exhibits the perceived
purpose of exercising the practice. The table shows that 61.7 percent SMEs
gives loans/advances to managerial employees, 60 percent to clerical
employees and 58.3 percent SMEs to production workers.

offered benefits.
Benefits other than Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

basic pay Officer (count Staff (count employees
and %) and %) (count and %)
Pension 0 0 0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Group Insurance 0 0 0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Discount on goods 24 24 24
/service purchase 20.0% 20.0% 20.0%
Free medical treatment 16 16 18
13.3% 13.3% 15.0%
Free lunch 4 4 8
3.33% 3.33% 6.67%
Subsidized lunch/ meal 25 10 12
20.83% 8.33% 10.0%
Paid sick leave 66 68 62
55.0% 56.7% 51.7%
Payment for meal 45 50 75
37.5% 41.67% 62.5%
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Rest break 120 120 120

100% 100% 100%
Paid vacations 00 00 00
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Paid holiday 120 120 120
100% 100% 100%
Festival bonus 82 84 80
68.3% 70.0% 66.7%
Employee education 0 0 0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Compensation for 00 6 85
injury during work 0.0% 5.0% 70.83%
Medical expense 00 00 00
payment 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Employer’s 8 10 8
contribution to the 6.7% 8.3% 6.7%
provident fund
Accident insurance 0 0 0
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Legally required 24 24 48
payments 20.0% 20.0% 40.0%
Transport 4 2 2
3.3% 1.7% 1.7%
House rent 18 14 14
15.0% 11.7% 11.7%
Entertainment 18 00 00
allowance 15.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Loan /advances 74 72 70
61.7% 60.0% 58.3%
Tax assistance 0 0 0
Traveling allowance 30 26 20
25.0% 21.7% 16.7%
Dearness allowance 00 00 00
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
It is observed from the study that paid sick leave is another popular benefit
given to all types of employees. It is evident from the Table -76 that 55 percent
SMEs has this programme for managerial employees, 56.7 percent for clerical
/staff employees, and 51.7 percent SMEs has paid sick leave benefit for
production workers. It is further understood from Table- 76 that 45 SMEs i.e.
37.5 percent respondent small and medium enterprises maintains a benefit
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programme of ‘payment for meal’ to managerial people, 41.67 percent to staff

employees and 62.5 percent SMEs gives it to production workers. Traveling
allowance in the form of kind and cash is paid to all types of employees too. It
is observed that 25 percent SMEs pays it to managerial people, 21.7 percent to
staff and 16.7 percent pays to production workers.
It is revealed from the study on benefit schemes of SMEs in Bangladesh that a

good number of firms give goods or services to their employees at a certain
discount. It is exhibited from the Table - 76 that 20 percent SMEs maintains
this benefit scheme for all types of employees- managerial, staff and
production. Another benefit, subsidised meal/lunch, is also found in small
and medium enterprises in Bangladesh too. It is understood from the same
table that 20.83 percent SMEs gives subsidized lunch or meal to their
managerial employees, 8.33 percent to clerical employees and 10 percent
SMEs gives it to their production employees. It is further understood that a
few SMEs has a benefit policy to give all legally required payments to their
employees.
It is evident from the Table - 76 that 20 percent SMEs pays legally required
payments to managerial and clerical employees, and 40 percent SMEs pays it
to production workers. Free medical treatment is provided to all types of
employees while they are affected during work. 13.3 percent SMEs gives it to
managerial and clerical employees, and all firms give it to production
workers. House rent is separately paid in a very few firms. “We pay
consolidated salary or wages which includes all.” So, it is found as a
separately mentioned benefit in 15 percent SMEs for managerial employees,
11.9 percent for both clerical and production employees. Compensation for
injury during work is paid to clerical and production workers only. It is found
that 5 percent SMEs gives it to clerical workers and 70.83 percent gives it to
production workers (Table-76).
314
The study also reveals that a very few small and medium enterprises
maintains ‘Employers’ contribution to provident fund’ benefit programme.
Only 6.7 percent SMEs has this benefit for managerial people, 8.3 percent
firms for clerical staff and 6.7 percent firms has it for production employees.
Free lunch is also offered in 3.33 percent SMEs for both managerial and
clerical employees and 6.67 percent firm for production workers (Table-76). It
is further observed that transport facility is also provided by a few SMEs for
all categories of employees. It is understood from the Table -76 that 3.3
percent firms provides transportation service to managerial employees while
only 1.7 percent firms gives it to both clerical and production employees.
Safety Programmes
Safety is a vital concern for all manufacturing firms. From the study on small
and medium enterprises, it is found that a good number of firms have safety
measures. It is observed from the study and exhibited in the Table - 77 that 8.3
percent firms provides safety training to managerial employees, 10 percent
SMEs provides it to clerical people and 100 percent provides it to production
employees. But this is provided on informal basis. There is no structured
safety training system. It is further evident from the Table -77 that 23.3

safety programmes
Safety programs Managerial/ Clerical/ Manual/Prod

Officer Staff (count uction
(count and and %) employees
%) (count and %)
Protective dresses 4 4 45
3.3% 3.3% 37.5%
Safety training 10 12 120
8.3% 10.0% 100%
Prohibition of smoking in 28 28 32
the workplace 23.3% 23.3% 26.7%
Safety rules of the 16 16 45
Bangladesh Labour Code 13.3% 13.3% 37.5%
2006
315
percent firms have prohibited smoking in the workplace for managerial and
staff employees and 26.7 percent SMEs have done it for production workers.
A very meager percentage of firms 13.3 percent SMEs have exactly
implemented safety rules of the Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 for
managerial and staff employees and 37.5 percent SMEs have done it for
production workers (Table -77) . It is exhibited from the study that large
number of SMEs do not have concern for safety measure even the legally
required measures of safety. They have taken a few safety measures which the
owner-manager or managers feel to be needed to protect assets and people.
Safety Actions
It is observed from the Table-73 that largest number of small and medium

accident reducing actions
Actions taken to reduce Yes No

accidents Count % Count %
Regular check up and 84 70% 16 30%
remove unsafe
conditions
Screen out accident 98 81.67% 12 18.33%
prone employees
Establish safety rules 64 53.33% 56 46.67%
Set specific safety goals 106 88.33% 18 11.67%
Encourage and train 90 75.0% 10 25%
Regular health and 106 88.33% 18 11.67%
safety inspection
enterprises, 106 SMEs out of 120 sample SMEs, that is 88.33% SMEs, have set
specific goals for reducing accidents as well as conduct regular health and
safety inspections to reduce accidents in their enterprises. It is further evident
from the same table that 81.67 percent SMEs has undertaken action to screen
out accident prone employees to reduce accidents. It is understood from the
Table -78 that 75 percent small and medium enterprises have undertaken
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‘encourage and train’ employees to reduce accidents. The respondents

argued, “It is taken rigorously for production workers because they made
maximum number of accidents and that will be costly to us. Thus, training
about safety rules and regulations as well as encourage them with oral
persuasion, positive and negative physical motivation is done regularly”. The
statement of owner-managers and /or mangers has shown their high concern
for preventing accidents. The table also exhibited that 70 percent SMEs have
been doing regular check up of the safety tools, equipments and other
physical instruments and remove unsafe conditions to keep their working
conditions free from accidents. It is also evident from the table number 78 that
53.33 percent SMEs have establish formal safety rules but the rest has
informally establish safety rules and maintain those carefully. Majority of the
respondent SMEs said,”We know and tell employees to do that”. So, it is
appeared that they are concerned with the safety rules to prevent accidents
but they did not make in formal structured fashion.
Objectives of Health and Safety Programme
The owner-managers and/managers have shown different types of reason for

having health and safety programme. It is observed from the study and
shown in the Table - 79 that all SMEs have undertaken the health and safety
programmes to enhance employee morale and none has any intention behind
this programmes to avoid unionization. 25 percent small and medium
enterprises think that they have undertaken it for attractive recruitment and
for retaining qualified employees into their organizations. Only 16.67 percent
SMEs mentions safety propaganda as their motivation to start and maintain
health and safety programmes.
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objectives for health and safety programmes
Objectives Yes No
Count % Count %
Enhance employee morale 120 100% 00
Avoid unionization 00 120 100%
Compare with other organizations in 30 25% 70 75%
recruiting and retaining qualified
employees
Safety propaganda 20 16.67% 80 66.67%
Sources of Health and Safety Plans
Small and medium enterprises have set their health and safety plans from a
specific source that inspires owner-managers and/or managers to undertake
such a course. It is observed from the study that all small and medium
enterprises get the idea from the industrial laws that have made specific
health and safety measures compulsory for all types of manufacturing and
Table-80: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the of sources of

making health and safety plans
Sources Yes No
Count % Count %
Competing firms 60 50% 60 50%
Industry survey 20 16.67% 100 83.33%
Own idea 00 00
Law 120 100% 00
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service industries(Table-80). 50 percent SMEs has got the idea from competing
firms and rest does not. Only 20 percent SMEs has taken the idea from
industry survey and rest of the SMEs does not have the idea from industry
survey. “We got the idea from various sources” that indicates that multiple
sources have been used for initiating health and safety plans in the SMEs.
Existence of Specific Health and Safety Actions
The study has made a categorical search in specific actions taken so far to
ensure health and safety within the enterprise. The results are shown in Table
-81. It is evident from the study that all small and medium enterprises ( 100
percent firms) have provided safety and health training to all employees
Table-81: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the of specific

actions taken for health and safety
Specific Actions Yes Action

Count % Needed
Count %
Safety committee or group that allows 00 120 100.0%
participation of employees in safety and
health activities.
Safety and health training for all 120 100.0% 00
employees requiring such training and
it is documented.
All persons know what to do in 120 100.0% 00
emergencies.
A procedure for handling employee 50 41.67% 70 58.33%
complaints regarding safety and health.
Electrical /mechanical installations in 100 83.33% 20 16.67%

hazardous dust vapour areas have
protections as per Code.
Rotating machines have clean and 65 54.17% 55 45.83%
tightly closed cover.
All machines are visible and 120 100.0% 00
unobstructed.
All safety and health instructions are 80 66.67% 40 33.33%
marked with readily visible signs and
319
properly illuminated.
Sufficient exits to escape in 90 75% 30 25%
emergencies.
Adequate number and type of portable 55 45.83% 65 54.17%
fire extinguishers.
Local fire office is informed of our 75 62.5% 45 37.5%
plant, location and specific hazards.
Fire extinguishers are mounted in 55 45.83% 65 54.17%
readily accessible locations.
Plant employees are instructed in the 120 100.00% 00 00
use of extinguishers and fire protection
procedures.
‘No Smoking’ signs are prominently 78 65.0% 42 35%
posted in areas containing combustibles
and flammables.
Toilet facilities meet the requirements 25 20.83% 95 79.17%
of applicable sanitary codes.
Washing facilities are provided. 120 100.0% 00 00
All areas of business are adequately 110 91.67% 10 8.33%

illuminated.
All machines or operations that expose 88 73.33% 32 26.67%
operators and other employees to
rotating parts, pinch points, flying
chips, particles or sparks are adequately
guarded.
Mechanical power transmission belts 120 100.0% 00 00
are guarded.
All flammable liquids are kept inside 94 78.33% 26 21.67%
building stored in proper storage
containers or cabinets.
Hospital, clinic or infirmary for medical 75 62.5% 45 37.5%
care is near business.
All employees are trained in first aid. 90 75.0% 30 25.0%
Employed doctor. 00 00 120 100%
Protective goggles or glasses are 120 100.0% 00 00

provided and worn in situations of
danger of flying particles or splashing
corrosive materials.
Protective gloves, aprons, and shields 120 100.0% 00 00
or other means are provided for
protection from sharp, hot or corrosive
materials.
320
requiring such training which is in a few cases documented and all

employees know the actions to be taken in case of emergencies; have taken
measures to make all machines visible and unobstructed ; have provided
washing facilities to all ; have guarded all mechanical power transmission
belts and pinch points; have provided protective goggles or glasses to all
employees and ensured wearing those in time of operation where there is any
danger of flying particles or splashing of corrosive materials; and have
provided all concerned employees with protective gloves, aprons, shields or
other means for protection from sharp, hot or corrosive materials. None of
the sample SMEs has any safety committee or group that allows participation
of employees in safety and health activities. None of the SMEs has any
employed doctor too.
It is evident from the same table (Table -81) that 41.67 percent SMEs has a
procedure for handling employee complaints regarding safety and health
while 58.33 percent SMEs has not. It says that majority of the SMEs does not
have institutionalized procedure to act on the complaints of employees about
health and safety and therefore, lacks improvement opportunities in this area.
It is further evident from the study and depicted in the table that almost all
the small and medium enterprises have met the provisions of the Bangladesh
Labour Code regarding safety, security and health of workers working with
electrical/mechanical installations in hazardous dust vapour areas, 83.33
percent SMEs. Rest of the SMEs does not conform with the provisions till
now, but they admit the need for and the legal obligations of such action.
54.17 percent SMEs has machines tightly closed with cover and regularly
cleaned, while 45.83 percent SMEs does not have. It presents a safety threat to
the working people. “We shall cover those immediately”-is the comment of
the owner-manager or managers of respondent SMEs. It means they are
concerned with it and they understand the consequences of such neglect. The
Table -81 also shows that 66.67 percent SMEs has safety marks and warnings
with readily visible sign that is properly illuminated while others, 45.83
321
percent firms do not. Majority of the SMEs, 75 percent as evident from the
Table - 81, has sufficient exits or passages and staircases to ensure prompt
escape in case of emergencies but rest 25 percent SMEs does not have such
facilities which stands as a serious safety hazard for the all types of working
people in those firms.
It is observed from the study that only 55 SMEs , that is 45.83 percent, has
adequate number and types of portable fire extinguishers in their firms while
rest 54.17 percent firms does not have. It is found that a few firms do not have
any portable fire extinguisher but almost all the firms have portable fire
extinguishers but insufficient number. The minimum number of fire
extinguishers that a firm should have is mentioned in the Bangladesh Labour
Code 2006. It is understood from the Table - 81 that only 75 out 120 sample
SMEs under study that is 62.5 percent firms have informed local fire
department about their plant, location and specific hazards, while rest of the
firms do not. It is legally mandatory for all manufacturing concerns that they
should keep local fire office well informed with their plant, location and
specific hazards. This negligence may cause serious damage to property and
lives due to delay in fire service at the time of emergencies and lack of
preparation of the firefighting office with sufficient equipments and training.
It is further observed from the study, as it is shown in the Table - 81, that 55
SMEs i.e. 45.83 percent firms have fire extinguishers that are mounted in
readily accessible locations, but rest of the firms, that is 54.17 percent SMEs do
not have fire extinguishers located in readily accessible locations which is a
direct violation of the directions give by the law. The respondents have felt
embarrassment while asked about the violation as they are well aware of the
danger for not having fire extinguishers in the right place. “We shall make the
passage clear immediately”; “We shall replace those in right location now” etc
are their replies. It reflects their good intension to make the place safe for
working people. All SMEs under study, that is, 100 percent firms, have
provided plant employees with instructions for the use of extinguishers and
322
fire protection procedures. It shows the managerial alertness to make

employees informed, understood and trained on the use of fire extinguishers
in the proper manner.
It is evident from the Table - 81 that 65 percent SMEs have ‘No Smoking’ signs
that are prominently posted in areas containing combustibles and flammables
but 35 percent respondent SMEs do not maintain it, though is it clearly
mentioned in the Labour Code 2006. This shows managerial carelessness to
fire hazard and enormous damage that may cause out of it. Every respondent
said, “We know” while asked about the danger. This situation is in no way
acceptable. A strong supervision on the part of the inspectors of factories will
ensure this and will protect lives and properties from future destruction. It is
understood from the Table – 81 that only 25 SMEs maintain toilet facilities
that meet the requirements of applicable sanitary codes, and the rest 95 SMEs,
that is 79.17 percent firms do not maintain that. The number, convenient
location, lighting, water, air passing facility, cleanliness and hygiene condition
of the latrines and urinals do not properly maintained all the time. This causes
health hazard for the employees and reduces commitment to the firm. The
majority of the respondent SMEs, that is 91.6 percent firms have all areas of
business adequately illuminated, and a small portion, only 8.33 percent SMEs
do not have adequate illumination in all areas of the firm.
It is exhibited from the observation shown in Table – 81 that 73.33 percent of

the respondent SMEs have all machines or operations that expose operators
and other employees to rotating parts, pinch points, flying chips, and particles
or sparks adequately guarded with cover and/or fencing, but 26.6 percent
firms do not have all guarded with protective cover. The SMEs that do not
have such guarded machines and equipments violet the strongly mentioned
safety provisions of the law that says that all machines, either in motion or in
use, shall have to be strongly fenced by adequate construction maneuver with
a view to making it free from the risk. It is further observed that majority of
the respondent SMEs, that is 78.33 percent, have kept all flammable liquids
323
inside the building stored in proper storage containers or cabinets, but 21.6
percent SMEs do not maintain well protected containers or cabinets to store
flammable liquids. This exposes total business to the danger of destruction at
any time. Management is found careless, though the a law strongly suggests
that.
So far the health care of the employees is concerned, the SMEs are found fairly
aware and careful. It is exhibited in the Table – 81 that majority of the SMEs
have been maintaining first aid facilities within the venture, and have
maintain a close link with nearby hospitals, clinic and pharmaceutical
facilities. 62.5 percent SMEs are found located with hospital, clinic or
infirmary for medical care near business and rest, 37.5 firms do not have such
services nearby. On the other hand, only 25 percent SMEs have provided
their employees with first aid training while 75 percent firms have not done it.
Employee Relations
Employee relations or industrial relations are maintained to ensure smooth

functional relationships with the workers, government and other employers
in the industry to have a conducive environment for performing
organizational operations successfully. Small and medium enterprises need
to maintain good employee relations for their own interests. Trade union is an
organized formal entity of employees to protect and promote interests of
employees that act as an agent to bargain with and to maintain mutually
benefiting relations with management or employer in any organisation.
Existence of Trade Union
It is found in the study that none of the respondent small and medium
enterprise has trade union or any informal association of any categories of
employees who have legal right to form trade union as it is exhibited in Table-
82. So, none of the small and medium enterprise has any experience of
324
bargaining with trade union. It is understood from the dialogue with owner-
managers or managers of sample SMEs that issues are settled individually.
Table-82: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the of the

existence of trade union of employees
Existence trade union of employee Yes No

category Count % Count %
Trade union of workers 00 0% 120 100%
Trade union of non-productive, non- 00 0% 120 100%
supervisory employees
Suggestion Scheme
Suggestion scheme is primarily undertaken to get reengineering information

from different categories of employees so that operations process or systems
can be improved. It is believed that employees can give better suggestions
about the problems or difficulties in the methods, process, rules, policies or
any area of working conditions with which organization can improve its
overall efficiency and effectiveness through cost reduction, increasing
output, reducing wastage of resources or may increase customer satisfaction.
With these ends, many organizations installed suggestions scheme. It is
evident from the sample survey as shown in the Table – 83 that a large
number of small and medium enterprises, 72.5 percent, exercises suggestions
scheme frequently with their managerial employees, but they do not do it
regularly and 16.67 percent SMEs, sometimes exercise it. It is also observed
that 10.83 percent small and medium enterprises do not have any kind of
suggestions scheme for managerial employees. It is also observed that this
scheme is not formal and structured; suggestions are taken informally by the
owner-managers or chief executive. For taking suggestions from the staff or
clerical employees, it is evident from the Table – 83 that only 25 SMEs out of
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120 that is 20.83 percent using suggestions scheme and rest 95 SMEs that is
79.17 percent do not execute any programme to take suggestions from the
staff or clerical employees. It shows that management of SMEs does not feel
clerical employees competent for giving any suggestions in their area of
operation. It is also found that suggestions scheme for production workers is
in force in a few small and medium enterprises, only 12.5 percent of SMEs
taken under study (Table - 83) and rest 87.5 percent SMEs do not have such
suggestions scheme for production workers. ‘What will workers tell about
production improvement? They are not competent’ such is the statement of
owner-managers or managers of SMEs under study.
Table-83: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the of the

existence of suggestion schemes
Categories of Regul Frequently Sometimes Less often Not in

employees arly Count % Count % /Rarely practice
Count Count % Count %
%
Managerial 00 87 72.5% 20 16.67% 00 00 13 10.83%
Staff/Clerical 00 00 00 25 20.83% 95 79.17%
Production 00 00 00 15 12.5% 105 87.5%

employees
Communication Method used for Suggestion Scheme
The small and medium enterprises which use suggestions scheme for getting
valuable opinions or suggestions for improving the existing systems or
operations, do not have any formal communication method. All SMEs use
informal communication to get suggestions from the employees (Table # 79).
Employees of all types – managerial, clerical and production workers-
326
communicate their suggestions through their immediate supervisors as it is

depicted in Table - 84. No other method like quality circle, regular meeting,
trade union etc is used for communication of suggestions.
Table -84: Frequency distribution of sample SMEs on the basis of method

used to communicate suggestions
Employee Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

communication methods Officer (count Staff (count employees
and %) and %) (count and %)
Through immediate 120 120 120
superior 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Through trade union or 0 0 0
work council 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Through regular 0 0 0
workplace meeting 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Through quality circle 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
No formal method 120 0.0% 120 0.0% 120 0.0%
Others, please specify 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Existence of a System of Keeping Employees Informed about

Strategies and Policies of SMEs
Human resources are to be informed about the strategies and policies of

SMEs to make them involved with strategic decisions and policies of the
firm so that they will be totally committed to goals and objectives of the
organization along with a strong commitment to their achievements. Human
resource management does it with installation of a system of employee
involvement. The study reveals that all small and medium enterprises
practice a system of keeping employees informed about strategies and
policies of SMEs . Majority of the owner-managers or managers of small and
medium enterprises in Bangladesh practices it regularly as it exhibited in
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Table -85 which 79.17 percent of SMEs under study. The rest, that is, 20.83
percent SMEs does it frequently (Table -85). On the other hand, 58.33 percent
SMEs does it frequently for clerical or staff employees; 29.17 percent less
often; and 12.5 percent does not practice it at all (Table - 85).
Table – 85 : Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of the

existence of any system to brief employees about their strategies and
policy related issues.
Categories of Regularly Frequently Don’t Less often Not in

employees (Count (Count and know /rarely practice
and % ) %) (Count (Count and (Count
and %) and %)
%)
Managerial/ 95 79.17% 25 20.83% 00 00 00
Officer
Clerical/staff 00 70 58.33% 00 35 29.17% 15 12.5%
Manual/ 00 20 16.67% 00 25 20.83% 75 62.50%
production
workers
In the case of manual or production workers, it is found that only 16.67

percent keeps them informed about the firm’s strategies and policies
frequently; 20.83 percent less often and the rest 62.50 percent does not exercise
it at all in their organizations (Table -85). It is evident from the study that
managerial and staff employees are kept informed about the strategies and
policies of SMEs because owner-managers or managers believe that they are
the key employees for executing and achieving such decisions. ‘The managers
should know strategy and policies and they are to involve in the process of
crafting such plan’; ‘Managers and staff are the key employees who will
implement SMEs strategies and policies through operating people, so they
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must be involved and informed’; ‘Production workers will be informed by

their supervisors, so they need not to be informed by the management’; etc
are the observations of the owner-managers or managers of SMEs about the
necessity of the system of keeping employees informed about strategies and
policies of SMEs . These statements reveal that owner-managers or managers
of SMEs understand the significance of keeping employees informed about
SMEs strategies and policies for the successful designing and implementing
those to achieve goals of the organization. Thus, majority of small and
medium enterprises maintains the system.
Existence of Grievance Handling System
It is observed from the study that none of the small and medium enterprises
in Bangladesh has a formal system of grievance handling in black and white
form but almost all small and medium enterprises follow an informal
mechanism to handle grievance of employees of various cadres – managerial,
clerical and production workers. This fact is exhibited in Table - 86.
Table - 86: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of the

existence of any grievance handling system
Categories of employees Yes No

Count % Count %
Managerial /Officers 00 120 100%
Clerical/Staff 00 120 100%
Manual /Production workers 00 120 100%
Method used to Resolve Individual Grievance or Conflict in a

Meaningful Way
Conflict is inevitable in all formal and informal organizations. Grievance is

any kind of dissatisfaction or discontent that affects a person negatively and
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makes him/her unproductive and frustrated. So, it is desirable to provide

employees with a structure of grievance handling system through which
people may ventilate out their dissatisfaction amicably and feel good with the
organization that it takes care to resolve their grievance in a satisfactory
manner. It is observed that small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh
under study have an informal way but no formal structure to resolve
grievance. The Table - 87 exhibit that in all SMEs, immediate superior or line
managers handles individual grievance and there is no others means SMEs
use to handle individual employee’s grievance or conflict such as through
trade union, departmental representative committee, formal official
procedure etc.
Table - 87: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of the

method used for resolving individual grievance
Grievance Handling Managerial/ Clerical Manual/

Procedures Staff /Staff Production
Count % Count % Employees
Count %
Through representative trade 00 00 00
unions
Through departmental 00 00 00
representative system
Through immediate superior or 120 100% 120 100% 120 100%
line manager
Through formal official 00 00 00
procedure
Through other way 00 00 00
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Existence of Employee Representative System
It is observed from the study that in majority of small and medium

enterprises do not have any employee representative system as it is evident in
the Table- 88 that it is 100 percent SMEs that do not give attention to maintain
an employee representative system in any form to keep employee relations
smooth and benefiting to both the parties of the organization. The
respondents are asked to mention whether they have any kind of employee
representative system like work council, shop floor committee etc other than
trade union in their organisations. All the respondents have answered
negatively and mentioned that no such system is in practice in their
organisations which is shown in Table - 88.
Table- 88: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of

employee representative system
Categories of Regularl Frequently Don’t Less Not in

employees y Know often/ Practice
Rarely
Managerial/Office 00 00 00 00 120
r 100%
Clerical/Staff 00 00 00 00 120
100%
Manual/Productio 00 00 00 00 120
n Employees 100%
Disciplinary or Grievance Handling Procedure
It is observed that small and medium enterprises do not follow a written

standardized procedure but all SMEs follow some kind of process to resolve
or settle grievance of employees or to take disciplinary action against
employees. The steps that are sequentially followed in various forms by the
respondent SMEs are shown in the Table - 89 as a flow diagram. It is evident
from the table that only 16.67 percent SMEs receive grievance or notification
of offence in writing from the aggrieved employee and 83.33 percent takes it
orally. It is also evident from the Table- 89 that 16.67 percent SMEs issue
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formal show cause notice in writing to the aggrieved incumbent and ask to
explain his/her position in person or in writing to the authority that issues the
show cause, generally that is owner-manager or manager or immediate
supervisor. But large number of SMEs i.e. 83.33 percent, follows oral method
to ask the aggrieved person to explain his/her position personally to the
owner-manager or manager or immediate supervisor. It is found in the study
that all firms, that is, 100 percent SMEs gives personal hearing to the
aggrieved employee or to the person against whom disciplinary action is
going to take for serious violation of organizational norms or rules.
‘It gives us detail picture of the situation’; ‘We understand well the reasons
that make the person aggrieved’; ‘In person, people open their mind and that
gives us a scope to mitigate the problem amicably’; etc comments of owner-
managers or mangers show that they find personal hearing a very good
avenue to have a clear picture of the situation and that helps them to handle
the problem satisfactorily.
It is found in the study that all small and medium enterprises examine
personal records of the employee to know his/her past good or bad
behavioural records. It is particularly done in case of taking disciplinary
action. Though it is observed that majority of the small and medium
enterprise does not keep personnel file for employees, and thus, they verify
the past record of a particular employee from their memory. All SMEs
consults organizational norms, practices, rules etc in relation to a particular
situation in hand before giving decision to an aggrieved person or to an
undisciplined person. A very little number of SMEs has a very few written
rules, norms etc. So, owner-managers or managers do it to keep consistency
with the past action, custom, norms or presumed norms that they feel good
for the organization.
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Table -89: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of steps

undertaken to handle grievance or take disciplinary action
Steps in grievance handling or disciplinary action Yes No

1. Receive grievance or notification of offence in 20 100
writing 16.67% 83.33%
1a. Receive grievance or notification of offence 100 20

orally 83.33% 16.67%
2. Issue show cause in writing to the incumbent 20 100
to explain his position in person or in writing 16.67% 83.33%
2a. Ask the person orally to explain in person 100 20

his/her grievance 83.33% 16.67%
3. Give personal hearing 120 00
100% 0.00%
4. Examine personal records of the employee 120 00
100% 0.00%
5. Consult organizational and legal provisions 15 105
12.5% 87.5%
5a. Consult organizational provisions 120 00

100.0% 0.00%
6. Take appropriate action. 120 00
100% 0.00%
It is evident further from the table that a small number of SMEs, 12.5 percent,
consult legal provisions of the existing industrial and labour laws in the
country and the organizational standing provisions or practices while taking
decision about the grievance or indiscipline situation. But it is observed that
all SMEs consult with organisational norms in this regard, that is 100 percent.
It is further observed from the field survey that none of the owner-managers
or managers has thorough knowledge on existing industrial and labour laws
under which SMEs are governed. Even, none of them has completed any
course on industrial and labour law from any education or training
organization, but many of them claim that they could handle the situation
very well. ‘I am a graduate in English literature and I am working as
manager well though I did not go through any of the industrial and labour
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law;’ “I don’t know much of any law but I am running my venture very well;”
are a few statements from owner-manager or manager that shows
unequivocal confession of their ignorance in law and fallacious belief about
their capabilities as managers working in manufacturing SMEs.
The study reveals that all small and medium enterprises take action that
individual owner-manager or manager deems fit in a given situation.
Generally, it is consistent with organizational practices with exceptions in
unusual situations in which owner-manager or manager gives decision on his
own best judgement.
Discharging Employees
Discharge means termination of the service of worker by the employer on

account of physical or mental disability (GOB, 2006). The Bangladesh Labour
Code 2006 further says that a discharged worker will get compensation at the
rate of 30 days wages or gratuity if he or she completes one year continuous
service. For the clerical staff and managerial employees, it depends on
organizational culture that with what benefits they will be discharged. It is
understood from the study that 79.16 percent small and medium enterprises
(Table # 90) give minimum one month and maximum three months wages to
the discharged workers at a time as benefit on humanitarian grounds and/or
maintain legal formalities. In case of managerial and clerical/staff employees,
it is found and depicted in table # 83 that 62.5 percent SMEs give one to three
months salary as benefits to managerial employees in case of their termination
as discharge and 50 percent SMEs give the same for clerical /staff employees
under such case of discharge. This is paid only on humanitarian ground and
as per organizational practice. It is further evident from the Table # 90 that
37.5 percent SMEs do not pay anything to managerial employees in case of
discharge, 50 percent SMEs do not give anything to clerical/staff in such case
and 20.83 percent SMEs pay nothing to workers in case of discharge. Workers
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have got legal right to get wages or gratuity in this case but a few SME do not
bother for that.
Table - 90: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of

actions taken during discharging employees.
Mode of action Managerial/ Clerical/ Manual/

Officer Staff (count Production
(count and and %) employees
%) (count and %)
Give him one/two/three 75 60 95
months salary/wage 62.5% 50.0% 79.16%
Hold a terminal interview 00 00 00
0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Give him nothing 45 60 25
37.5% 50.0% 20.83%
None of the small and medium enterprise is found to conduct a terminal

interview with the discharged employee with an aim to get insight
information about the unfavourable situations that exist in the organisation.
The management is found unconcerned with this aspect of terminal
interview at the time of discharge in order to improve human and non-human
environment of the venture with fearless disclosure of facts of physical and
human environment thwarting desired achievement and progress of the
organization which is a significant task of human resource management.
Actions with Dissatisfactory Performers
It is observed from the study that all types of SME follow a gradual process to
deal with a dissatisfactory performer in all types of employee – managerial,
clerical/staff and production workers. Table # 91 exhibit that 100 percent
SMEs give warning to an employee who does not perform satisfactorily so
that he/she could get time for improving him/herself through self learning or
taking special self financed training from outside sources. This shows
organizational intention to give opportunity to and retain an employee even if
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he or she does not work well now. It is also understood from the Table # 91
that 60 percent SMEs provide training to a dissatisfactory performer while the
Table - 91: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of their

of nature of actions with dissatisfactory performer.
Actions with Dissatisfactory Yes Count No Count

Performers % %
Give him/her warning to improve 120 00
100% 0.00%
Give him/her training 72 48
60.0% 40.0%
Dismiss him/her 48 72
40.0% 60.0%
rest 40 percent SMEs do not give any training to any employee to enhance
his/her quality of work. It is also evident from the same table that 40 percent
SMEs dismiss those employees who do not work well after giving him/her
warning to improve and could not improve within the expected time. But 72
percent SMEs do not dismiss employees but train and retain them unless the
individual employee is appeared as totally incapable to improve oneself.
Mode of Dealing with Resigning Employees
Respondent small and medium enterprises have been asked about their mode
of dealing with employees who want to resign from the organisation. It is
observed from the study that 66.67 percent small and medium enterprises
try to retain employees who want to resign and rest 33.33 percent SMEs do
not try to retain resigning employees as exhibited in the Table # 92. It is
further evident from the same table that 33.33 percent SMEs allow the person
immediately to resign and leave the organisation without any hesitation and
66.67 percent SMEs do not allow employees to leave the organisation
immediately. The owner-managers or managers who allow the employee to
leave and accept their resignation immediately comment that “Why shall I
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retain those who have already withdrawn their minds from my

organisation?”; “The person who is unwilling to work for my organisation,
what service I shall get from him/her if I retain him/her”; “He/she will leave
one day if he/she desires to leave, so it is better to allow him/her to leave”.
But all of them confess that they allow employees to leave only after either
surrender of one month salary /wage or getting one month notice for leave.
They remark that this time is required to get alternative employee. It is
understood from the comments of those owner-managers or managers of
SMEs who try to retain their resigning employees. They do it because
Table - 92: Frequency distribution of respondent SMEs on the basis of their

mode of dealing with resigning employees.
Mode of dealing with Yes No

resigning employees Count % Count %
Try to retain him/her 80 66.67% 40 33.33%
Allow him/her to leave 40 33.33% 80 66.67%
immediately
(i) trained and experienced employees are assets of the enterprise; (ii)
searching for new employees takes time; (iii) losing of employees with well
experienced, skilled and knowledgeable about enterprise is costly to the
venture; (iv) Unknown persons are always risky. So, they feel that it is better
to convince the resigning employee to retain even with negotiated rewards for
the benefit of the enterprise.
This discussion contains an elaborate description and analysis of different

field level scenarios in such a way so that we could understand what exactly
is happening in the area of human resource management of small and
medium enterprises of Bangladesh. The next chapter will deal with over all
findings and conclusions of the study.
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CHAPTER - 06
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
338
CHAPTER - 06
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

Findings
The discussion and analysis of study results in previous chapter have pointed
out multidimensional aspects of existing human resource management
practices in small and medium enterprises of Bangladesh. It exhibits an
elaborate picture of the present state of art of human resource management
practices which is so far not unveiled. It is understood that many areas of
human resource management are to be improved while many areas are to be
introduced and many other areas are to be redesigned to make it effective and
contributive to the smooth functioning of the SMEs in Bangladesh. However,
the findings are narrated below in a fashion of functional categories of human
resource management along with findings of general characteristics of small
and medium enterprises of Bangladesh:
A. General Characteristics of SMEs
1. The majority of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under study
are sole-trader firms (59 percent). The rests are private limited
company (28 percent) and partnership firm (13 percent). It is evident
that the sole- tradership is the predominant form of business in
the SME sector in Bangladesh.
2. The SMEs in Bangladesh is operating in a predominantly

competitive market (85 percent) and rests few SMEs are functioning in
oligopoly market(14 percent) and monopoly market (4 percent) only.
3. A little bit above than fifty percent of the SMEs under study are at
maturity stage of their life cycle. From among the rests, 30 percent
SMEs are at the maturity stage, about 15 percent SMEs are at decline
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stage, and 3 percent SMEs are at their turnaround stage and little
above than 1 percent SMEs is at their introduction stage.
4. The capital investment in the majority of the SMEs (72

percent) is below Tk. 2 crore. The rests of the SMEs are found with
the capital from Tk. 2 to Tk. 10 crore.
5. The majority of the SMEs are found self financed firm, about 60
percent and rests of the SMEs have various combination of debt-
equity capital.
6. Family is the biggest source of fund/capital of the majority of the

SMEs in Bangladesh (46 percent). The next biggest source is bank
(35 percent) and rests are other sources.
7. The SMEs under study are 1 to 31 years old. Majority of the SMEs
under study is 6 to 10 years old (36 percent). 1 to 5 years old SMEs
are 22 percent, 11 to 15 years old SMEs are 13 percent, 21 to 25 years
old SMEs are 12 percent and rests are with various years.
8. Managerial employees vary from one to fifteen in the SMEs under

study. The highest 15 managerial people are found in 4 SMEs
and lowest one manager is found in 24 SMEs. Rests of the SMEs
have 2 to 10 managerial persons.
9. Highest 20 clerical staff is found in only 2 SMEs and no

clerical staff is found in 32 SMEs. One staff is found in 28 SMEs
and rests of the SMEs are found with 2 to 10 clerical staff.
10. The highest number of regular production workers is found in 13

SMEs with 51 to 241 and the lowest 5 to 10 production workers are
found in 32 SMEs. Rests of the SMEs have 11 to 50 regular
production workers with varying number.
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11. The SMEs under study also use irregular workers. 60 SMEs are
found with no irregular worker but rests are found with irregular
workers from 1 to 30.
12. The SMEs under study are found with various business strategies to
sustainin the market. 75 percent SMEs are found using low-cost
/high volume strategy and 25 percent SMEs use market niche
strategy.
13. It is found that 35 percent SMEs is single unit organisation having

no department, but majority of the SMEs have two and more
departments naming production, administration and accounts
finance. A very little number of SMEs has separate marketing and
personnel departments.
14. Almost all the SMEs deal with local market (90 percent) and only 10
percent SMEs deal with foreign market besides local market.
15. Majority of the SMEs under study operates with either process or
mass production methods. Rests of the SMEs operates with lean
method (12 percent ) and batch method of production (7 percent).
16. Majority of the SMEs ( 90 percent ) starts their ventures from scratch
that isunder Greenfield method and rest of the SMEs ( 10 Percent)
starts their ventures through acquisition of other on-going
businesses.
17. Majority of the SMEs does not have any organisation chart ( 73 percent)
and only 27 percent SMEs has organogram.
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B. Resourcing organisation: Human resource planning, recruitment,

selection and placement
1. The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh do not give

any emphasis on staffing and therefore, they do not make any short-
term and long-term human resource plan in black and white terms.
They also do not have any human resource policy but a few has
unwritten policy guidelines in this regard. Though majority of SMEs
have admitted the need for a sound human resource policy but rests
did not even admit the necessity of human resource planning and
policy.
2. The SMEs do not have any systematic job description, job specification
and thus, they could not assign jobs to the incumbents systematically.
3. Almost all the SMEs assign jobs to their employees as they feel good
instantly. It obviously makes the job assignment imperfect and
ambiguous. It also makes the employee confused and misunderstood
about the jobs to be done in proper manner which will lead low job
performance and non-attainment of goals on stipulated time.
4. They do not have any well thought out replacement policy too i.e.
succession plan for any kind of employee- workers, clerical staff and
managerial except a very negligible SMEs. This generally makes
organisation short of efficient, talented and competent successor of
higher vacant positions. Even, new entrants could be the most
desirable persons. Most serious matter is that it will reduce SMEs
competence to sustain in present open market economy and may be a
threat to even their very existence in the economy.
5. Almost all the SMEs reported that they employ relatives- close and
remote - in various categories of job as they feel them reliable,
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dependable and trustworthy. They do not take any formal interview

but make a casual talk and understand their ability and place them in a
position which owner-managers /managers feel good for a particular
job. Almost all managerial and clerical staff positions are employed
from first degree relatives. A few production workers are employed
from outside as relatives are inadequate in number to fulfill
employment need. This practice is not objective oriented that serves
the purpose of the efficiency and competitiveness and thus obviously
affects the performance of various functional units as well as
effectiveness of the organisation.
6. The SMEs do not have any written policy guidelines for recruitment
and selection of employees of any category but unwritten in case of a
very few. They do it as they feel good on situation. This condition does
not make SMEs effective with competent personnel due to lack of focus
on right way of attracting and selecting most desirable candidates for
the open positions.
7. The SMEs use personal search and references from friends and
relatives as their major sources of recruitment of all categories of
employees which are considered as the most effective sources of
recruitment. These have obvious benefits but these also seriously limit
the scope of choices. The SMEs will ultimately suffer from talents.
8. The majority of SMEs have policy of filling their vacant positions from
external sources except a few from internal sources only. This one
sided policy affects employee morale and motivation negatively.
9. The small and medium enterprises follow a mixed basis containing

merit and seniority to give promotion of employees which is
favourable to employee motivation, productivity, commitment and
employment continuity.
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10. They use educational qualification, experience, skill, trainability, age

etc selection criteria for managerial and administrative staff. On the
other hand, for selecting production workers, SMEs consider
candidate’s skill, experience, educational qualification, trainability etc
in sequential order. This obviously makes the selection effective if
carefully and sincerely administered.
11. In the selection process of employees – managerial, staff and worker-

interview is the only instrument of selection that is widely used along
with reference check. Other tools like employment test, medical check
etc are not used that much. This makes the goal for the selection of
right persons for the right positions ineffective and thus, organisations
suffer from overall inefficiency, incompetitiveness and lack of profit
viability.
12. Reference check is made through personal enquiry only for all cadres
of people in SMEs. It is done with face –to-face contact or over
telephone. Other forms of check are not used. So, SMEs do not get
scope for cross-checking of information and thus, suffer from lack of
reliability and authenticity of quality of employees.
13. The SMEs do not take any medical check up for any kind of employee.
Physical fitness is checked with visual examination of the body of new
workers. It is evident that medical examination will disclose hidden
diseases that may be fatal or contaminatable and will prevent
organisation from medical cost burden and production disruption.
This is not taken care of in the SMEs in Bangladesh.
14. Panel and one-on –one interview methods are used in almost all small
and medium enterprises. These are effective and widely applied
methods of interview but their effectiveness is heavily dependent on
their unbiased application. Therefore, multiple methods are to be
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applied to avoid any kind of selection flaw and ineffective selection

due to bias of any kind.
15. Unstructured interview technique is widely used technique of

interview in SMEs for screening applicants for management, and staff
positions. It requires competent interviewer for making the interview
most effective and goal oriented. But the owner-manager or managers
themselves take such interview without any competence. So, the
purpose of interview is lost. For worker selection, situational problem
solving technique is used equally with unstructured interview
technique. This makes the evaluation and selection free from flaws.
16. None of the small and medium enterprises has any written hand book
that contains job description for any category of employee –
managerial, staff and worker. All employees just learn their jobs from
their supervisors orally. This does not make employees fully
understood about their jobs and keep them in vague, confused and
camouflaged state of understanding of jobs. This obviously affects
negatively the job performance, commitment to the job, motivation to
learn the job and job related knowledge and skills, and also motivation
to stay in the organisation of employees. The organisation will suffer
from lower job performance and reducing competitiveness.
C. Training and Development
1. The focus of orientation programme of all small and medium

enterprises is not long term but immediate. All the SMEs give
orientation training to all newly appointed employees only to make
them familiar with work and inmates besides to create interest in job
and in the firm. But very small number of firms provides it to inform
organisational philosophies, and to inform organisational policies and
practices to employees except managerial recruits. This detraction from
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the purpose of the orientation does not create a sense of affiliation,

motivation and career dream into new recruits.
2. No formal induction is given in any small and medium enterprise but

new employees are given informal presentation by the departmental
heads about jobs. A meager number of SMEs engage senior staff in this
program only for managerial employees. There is no printed hand
book of information for any types of employee.
3. All the SMEs under study agree that they provide training with the
employees of all kinds to make them competent to perform current
work tasks efficiently. No other objectives such as future job
requirements, wide range of skills development are considered. This
approach is of limited contribution to the purpose of the organization
as it does not optimize the use of time for providing other types of
knowledge to trainees within training period that will make a person
multi-skilled and knowledgeable about present and future jobs as well
as about organisational culture as a whole.
4. The SMEs in Bangladesh widely use apprenticeship, not any other

method of on-the-job training and development, for providing training
to clerical/staff employees and production workers but it is
insignificantly used for managerial employees.
5. A very small number of the SMEs, 25 percent on an average, uses

coaching and job rotation for all categories of employees. This limited
use of methods, does not fulfill multi-various dimensions of skills and
knowledge required in the course of quality performance or progress
of the organization.
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6. A very few SMEs sue understudy assignment, committee

assignment/junior board, and mentoring methods for managerial
employees in providing training and development. This indicates that
SMEs are gradually becoming aware of this type of methods which is
widely accepted as most effective for developing managerial
employees. Mentoring is also used for production workers in a very
few cases. Mentoring is quite an effective method of making
production workers competent within a short period.
7. None of the SMEs uses pre-employment training, vestibule training,

job instruction training and action training for any type of employees.
These they consider not required for SMEs. This is a wrong perception
and exhibits their knowledge about these methods and their effects.
8. In the SMEs under study, on–the-job training and development

programmes are designed by the owner-managers themselves who are
neither qualified nor specialists in this area. In a few cases, these are
designed by managers or supervisors but they are also found not even
educated in the discipline of management or human resource
management. So, they are equally unqualified for designing an
effective need-based training and development programme. They do it
as they feel good. This type of design obviously does not give desired
results expected from a training program.
9. It is evident that SMEs do not have any concern for successful

succession planning, making employees compatible with versatile
knowledge, that is, multi-skilling, adaptation to organizational culture
and climate, re-skilling due to skill obsolescence, and making
employees oriented to organisational effectiveness through training
and development. It is found that only ‘need fulfillment of the
employee, job and career needs as well as filling up the skill deficiency’
are the three factors that are considered most in designing on-the-job
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training and development programmes. This will make SMEs

vulnerable to sustain in today’s competitive open market economy of
Bangladesh.
10. The SMEs do not have strategic consideration or focus in designing

and providing training and development as it is observed that strategy
formulation is least preferred issue. This is a serious flaw in human
resource management of SMEs that will not only make employees
incapable to face future job needs, but also handicap the organisation
to sustain in the market.
11. The SMEs do not give any importance to develop computer operation
skill and team working of employees in designing and executing
training and development programmes which are the bear necessity in
every organisation of today in the age of information technology and e-
business. The lack of attention to this necessary skill and quality of
employees will make SMEs incompetent in future to survive in
competition. Even. Quality work and quick adaptability will suffer
from incompetence of workforce of SMEs.
12. The SMEs are found equally less concerned for health and safety and
quality control /management while giving training and development.
Neglect to these issues makes SMEs incompatible under the codes of
International Organisation for Standardization (ISO), Bangladesh
Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) and Bangladesh Labour Code of
2006. This incompatibility will discard SMEs and their product from
the market any day in future.
13. It is found that the SMEs are totally negligent to improve

communication skill through training and development of all types of
employees – managerial, clerical/ staff and workers. Even, they are not
concern for its essentiality for maintaining good human relations
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within the firm as well as all external actors. It will seriously handicap
organisational adaptability and functionality. It will also delimit SMEs
competitiveness in the market.
14. The SMEs consider productivity and quality as the two most vital
challenging factors that motivated them to initiate training and
development programme for the employees. All the SMEs under study
have agreed unanimously with these two factors.
15. They do not even consider making people quality conscious and
knowledgeable about its control mechanism as it is a less considered
issue in providing training and development to the employees. It is
undesirable under the present day of quality operations and product.
The SMEs must initiate quality management and control for making
employees committed to total quality management which is the most
demand of the day.
16. Almost all the SMEs admitted that customer service is the second
challenging factor that motivated them to initiate training and
development program in their organization, but it is not a factor that
has been taken into account for designing such program. This lack of
attention to the customer service focus will make SMEs at loss of
present and prospective customers in future due to lack of competence
of employees in handling customer care and service in desired manner.
17. The respondent SMEs placed technology change in third place,

succession plan in fourth place, corporate culture in fifth place and
new market strategies in the sixth place in order of preference but the
most astounding fact is that none considers in designing a training or
development program except strategy which is also least considered
factor. This inconsistency makes SMEs mismatch with the reality of the
market.
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18. None of the SMEs under study provides off-the-job training and
development to their employees. This limits the required capacity
development of employees which in turn affects efficiency and
productivity of the organisation.
19. SMEs do not follow any structured pattern of training and

development process but sporadic actions are taken that are
incidentally coinciding with systematic process.
20. SMEs do not prepare training/development budget except a very

few and do not validate the designed program with any expert. Non-
preparation of budget shows that they do not assess training
/development program on cost-benefit basis but it is just done on
whim. On the other hand, the success potential of a training /
development program decreases if validity of such program is not
ensured with expert and knowledgeable persons before executing it.
21. SMEs do not have any job description and job specification and
therefore they do not check those to select employees for training
/development. But they have a mental picture of job requirements of
an incumbent which all SMEs reported that they check it as well as
present performance of an employee to select any one for
training/development. This is self defeating and contradictory.
22. They do not consider ‘need for skills and abilities for next higher
position or next assignment’ to select employees for training
/development which thwart organizational performance in future and
affects productivity and efficiency seriously. For making an employee
capable and skilled for higher position, job specification for that
position or assignment is the primary consideration for giving
training/development to an incumbent.
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23. Evaluation of the effectiveness of training and development

programme is done by pre-post performance method only. Though
other methods are required to do for understanding the effectiveness of
training and development programme but it is praiseworthy that they
use pre-post performance method to know the effectiveness of such
programme and to make improvements.
D. Pay Administration and Performance Appraisal
1. Almost all the small and medium enterprises do not have any well
designed structured pay scale for employees of all kinds. It is being
set on whim or set with the knowledge and consideration of owner
–manager or managers. This practice does not motivate employees
to join with the organization and to stay in for a long time.
2. Owner – managers or managers of SMEs determine the pay

structure on their own sense of judgement and knowledge though
majority of them do not have any relevant education on business
management and economics. This situation could not make SMEs
attractive to job candidates and incumbents due to improper setting
of pay. A very least number of SMEs follow competitor’s pay
structure in this regard which gives a better and competent pay for
the employees of the SMEs.
3. The pay fixation that is wage rate and salary amount is set on the
judgement of owner-mangers or managers in majority of SMEs that
could not make it compatible with the going rate of pay in the
industry which is demotivating to the employees. A least number of
SMEs follows a comparative rate with other firms in the locality
that somewhat makes the rate attractive to the incumbents as well
as to new entrants.
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4. Monthly basis of pay is popular in small and medium enterprises in

Bangladesh for all kinds of employees besides daily basis of pay
that is used for production workers in many SMEs.
5. Owner-managers are sole responsible persons to determine pay in

the small and medium enterprises without taking any expert help
or opinion from external sources although the owner-managers do
not have any competence in this area. They do it on their whims
and judgement as the feel good.
6. Wages and salaries are set on the point of starting the venture in
majority of SMEs on the need basis of hustle decision except a few
SMEs which sets pay before the beginning of the enterprise with
well thought out plan. It is always desirable to set pay in advance
with consideration to the entire relevant factor that will make pay
compatible and acceptable to all.
7. Almost all the small and medium enterprises follow individual or

secret pay policy for managerial and administrative staff to
recognize individual knowledge, expertise, experience and
educational qualification separately but majority of the SMEs follow
a structured pay policy for production workers to maintain a
consistency of pay for the workers and to avoid discontent among
workers regarding discrimination in pay. The policy is compatible
to the demand of the day.
8. No profit sharing scheme exists in small and medium enterprises

and even they do not know about it except a very few SMEs that
follow it for managerial employees only. It is evident that
employees feel motivated, committed and fully involved if they
have a share in profit. It also increases productivity and production.
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9. Individual incentive scheme for achieving target performance is

well understood and frequently used in SMEs for all types of
people. Nearly half of the SMEs under study apply this scheme
regularly and rest is irregularly. It is noteworthy and productive for
the firm.
10. Majority of the SMEs uses standard factors to determine wages and
salaries of their employees. . Worth of job, worth of employee,
financial capability of the firm and prevailing wages and salaries of
the industry are taken into consideration in this regard. If these are
considered honestly and effectively, then the pay would be fair and
just for the employees.
11. The compensable factors that SMEs consider for setting wages and
salaries are almost same for all cadres of employees. The most
common compensable factors are education and experience, know-
how, difficulty of job. For managerial people, responsibility, work
environment, outside contact (public relations) and supervision are
additional compensable factors. For administrative and clerical
people, responsibility is the only major additional compensable
factor. For production workers, physical demand, job complexity
work environment and responsibility are the additional
compensable factors. Here, it is found that the management of small
and medium enterprises takes into account the generally accepted
compensable factors for setting wages and salaries of employees.
12. Most of the SMEs consider ‘performance and seniority together but
performance gets priority’ rule most to increase pay of all types of
employees. Moreover, for giving pay increment ‘performance and
seniority together but seniority gets priority’ rule is also considered
in some cases for managerial, administrative and workers too.
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13. All owner-managers or managers of small and medium

enterprises strongly feel that a well designed and planned pay
administration is a necessity for consistency and sustainability of
firms successfully in the industry and in the economy. This
understanding and recognition to this critical action is praiseworthy
and a notable matter. Though it is not executed today in any SME,
but their feeling is the fore-step in this path of having written, well
though-out and designed pay policy and structure in future.
14. All the SMEs use some sort of suggestion or information sharing
scheme for setting, revising and adjusting existing pay to make it
dynamic and accommodative to all. This is a good practice that will
enrich and improve pay situation and reduce pay conflict in the
SMEs.
15. Performance appraisal is regularly done in all SMEs in Bangladesh.

Management of all SMEs feels that this is very much required for
making improvement in individual and organizational
performance. It is regularly done for managerial and production
employees but not frequently done for administrative and clerical
employees. Performance appraisal should be done regularly for all
types of employee in order to get its benefits for the organisation
and for the employees.
16. Performance appraisal is done in SMEs in informal way with very

little documentation in almost all cases. Only a very few does it in
formal manner with regular interval. It is a point of concern that
majority does not do it formal and regular fashion which is
essential for improvement of skills, performance and commitment
of employees.
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17. Those SMEs which use formal performance appraisal follow check
list method for all types of employee but a few SMEs uses graphical
rating scale too for managerial people only. Any method will serve
the purpose if rightly administered and objectively directed.
18. No standard criteria is used for designing and conducting

performance appraisal either formal or informal method. It
depends on the whim, judgement or assumption of owner-manager
or manager. This obviously affects the quality of appraisal system
and reduces the effectiveness such appraisal.
19. Performance appraisal in the SMEs is done by chief executive

/owner-manager himself for managerial people. Performance
appraisal of clerical or administrative staff and production workers
is done by the immediate supervisor.
20. The reasons for performance appraisal are many which

sequentially stands as (1) giving employee feedback so that they
know where they stand in the eye of the firm, (2) determining
compensation, (3) deciding promotability of the employees, (4)
identifying future needs of the employee development, and (5)
motivating people through recognition and support.
21. Performance appraisal criteria are determined on the basis of rules

and standards set by the owner-manager or manager of the SMEs.
It is also set by the intuition too by the owner-manager or manager.
It does not make the appraisal successful due to improper criteria
setting.
22. The effectiveness of performance appraisal in the SMEs is greatly

thwarted by firstly, bias or prejudice error, secondly, irrelevant or
subjective judgement error, thirdly, central tendency error ,
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fourthly, failure to use appraisal data error, fifthly, halo effect and
poor feedback to employee errors, sixthly, lack of training on rating
factors of raters error. These pitfalls affect the success of
performance appraisal and the management of SMEs should try to
overcome these flaws to make the system effective.
E. Benefits, Security, Safety and Health
1. All small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have benefit programme

in any form. It is recognized by the management of all SMEs that
benefit programmes contribute to the productivity, job satisfaction,
and motivation of the employees as it make them loyal, responsible,
committed and motivated to the job and to the firm.
2. No SME has pension scheme, group insurance, paid vacations,

employee education programme, medical expense payments,
accident insurance, tax assistance, and dearness allowance
programmes. SMEs show their financial incapacity and their
smallness as responsible reasons for not having such programmes.
3. All SMEs give benefit of paid holidays and rest pauses to their
employees of all types as all of them recognize the necessity of such
benefit schemes to retain employees.
4. Majority of the SMEs pay festival bonus to all types of employees

who are working for at least one year in the firm in the form of basic
pay. Rests of the firms do not pay such festival bonus. But all SMEs
do not pay two festival bonuses with full basic pay in each festival
but nearly one third of them pay it as half of the basic pay in each
festival in two Eid festival days for Muslim employees and others
are paid with equal amount in one festival occasion.
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5. All types of employees get loans or advances as it is understood by

the SME management that it makes employees obliged to the
management or owner that ensures reliable service from them. This
benefit is practiced by nearly sixty percent SMEs and others do not.
6. A slightly higher than fifty percent of SMEs (54 percent on an

average) pay paid sick leave to all types of employees regularly
and rests of the firms do not take any responsibility for bearing
wage or salary burden for sick employees. As per law, ten days sick
leave with pay is payable to all workers which is not maintained in
many of the SMEs under study.
7. Nearly fifty percent of SMEs under study gives cash payment for
meal at the noon to all types of employees of which production
workers are large in number. It is highly motivating to employees
and therefore, others should introduce it in their SMEs.
8. A small percentage of SMEs pays traveling allowance to employees

for the work of the organization. But in other SMEs, it is paid by the
employee himself. It is an unjust burden upon employees and thus,
it should be paid by the firm.
9. A very low percentage of SMEs pays the goods or services

produced in the firm to the employees at a discount price but other
firms do not have any such scheme. This practice of giving discount
on firm’s product obviously make employees obliged to the firm
and make them more committed and involved with the firm.
10. A very low number of SMEs gives subsidized lunch or meal to their
employees but this benefit is provided largely for managerial
employees, not other staff or production workers. This
discrimination may be harmful to the overall environment of the
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firm and thus it should be removed or minimized as early as

possible. Those which are not giving such facility can introduce it
for the employees as a compensation package to reduce financial
burden and to motivate them to the work and to the organisation.
11. A very low number of SMEs gives all legally required payments to
their employees but in case of production workers, this compliance
is high, 60 percent. This non-compliance of legal obligation is
unacceptable and derogatory to the morale employees besides
negative legal consequences.
12. In all SMEs, free medical treatment is given to all types of

employees while they are injured during work. It is given to all
production workers but very low number of other employees gets
it, only 14 percent SMEs give it to managerial and administrative
staff.
13. A very few SMEs pays house rent separately. They pay it as a part
of consolidated pay to employees.
14. Majority of the SMEs pays compensation to workers for injury

during work. Only 5 percent SMEs pays such benefit to clerks but
no such benefit is given to managerial employees.
15. A very few SMEs maintains contributory provident fund which is

less than seven percent on an average.
16. A meager number of SMEs gives free lunch to employees that is

only six percent among the lot.
17. Only two percent SMEs provides transport facility to the employees
in which managerial people are the most. Workers are generally not
given this facility.
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18. All production workers are provided safety training in all the SMEs
under study but not to managerial and administrative employees.
This is not consistent with the law as well as safety management
rules.
19. Fifty percent of SMEs provides protective dresses to production

workers but not to managerial and clerical people who work in
factory.
20. Only a small percentage of SMEs (24 percent) prohibits smoking in

workplace without any concern for danger or compliance with law.
SME managers also do not have any knowledge of safety measure
that is legally obligatory to maintain in the firm particularly in
manufacturing concern.
21. Large number of SMEs, nearly 70 percent, do regular check up of

safety tools , equipments and other physical instruments and
remove unsafe conditions for reducing accidents in their enterprise
but rest 30 percent SMEs do not take any such action. It makes their
work place vulnerable to accidents.
22. Almost all the SMEs have undertaken steps to screen out accident
prone employees to reduce accidents and it is done on the basis of
past observation only.
23. Only half of the SMEs under study establish formal safety rules for
all employees particularly for production workers and rest of the
firms do not do it. A few SMEs maintains informal safety rules in
their firms.
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24. Almost all the SMEs under study have set specific safety goals to
reduce accidents and it shows their concern for accidents and
measures to reduce accidents.
25. The management of SMEs is found highly concerned for safety

issues. Two third SMEs under study encourage and train employees
on safety matters and the rests do not do that. They encourage
employees with oral persuasion, positive and negative motivation
on regular basis. It is a point of concern that one third SMEs are
under high safety threats.
26. Almost all the SMEs are found to make regular safety and health
inspection to ensure maintaining their set practices whatever those
are. It shows their concern for safety and health matters for smooth
functioning of their operations.
27. The overall safety situation of SMEs is not at all satisfactory. It is

evident from the study that large number of SMEs do not have any
concern for safety measures even the legally required measures of
safety are not executed. Owner-managers or managers just do what
they feel good for the safety of assets and people.
28. So far the objectives of health and safety measures are concerned; it
is found that SMEs maintain those to enhance employee morale. A
very few SMEs has done it for safety propaganda and for getting
advantages in over other organizations in recruiting and retaining
qualified employees.
29. All the SMEs have got the safety and health idea from the relevant
law which is now Bangladesh Labour Code 2006. Besides that, half
of the SMEs under study have got it besides law from competing
firms and a few has got that from industry survey. It is evident that
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small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh have knowledge

about relevant law but are not very much concerned to comply with
law in this respect even if they know that it will help them to make
continuous operations of the firm without any hazards.
30. None of the SMEs has safety committee or group that allows
participation of employees in safety and health activities. It
seriously deteriorates safety conditions of SMEs.
31. All the SMEs provide safety and health training to all employees
who need to take such training and it is documented. Owner –
managers or managers are highly concern for the prevention of
accidents that will cause damage to their property, not for the
working people.
32. All the SMEs have ensured that all employees know what are to be
done in time of emergencies. This is provided through oral
instructions, not by formal training.
33. Majority of the SMEs under study has no established procedure for
handling employee complaints regarding safety and health quickly
and rest of them has a set of established procedure to handle such
complaints.
34. Almost all the SMEs, except a very few, have protected electrical
and mechanical installations situated in hazardous dust vapour
areas as per the Code.
35. Only 65 SMEs out of 120 have rotating machines with clean and
tightly closed cover and rest of SMEs have not. It shows managerial
carelessness as well as ineffective inspection that are to be made by
the inspector of factories. It is quite alarming that a large number of
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SMEs are operating with such dangerous working conditions for

the people and for the firm.
36. All machines are visible and unobstructed in all SMEs which
conform with the Code.
37. Two third SMEs under study have found with all safety and health
instructions marked with readily visible signs and properly
illuminated but rests are not.
38. Majority of the SMEs have sufficient exits to escape in emergencies

but 25 percent SMEs do not have such facility which endangers
people of those SMEs in emergency situations.
39. Only 46 percent SMEs have adequate number and type of portable
fire extinguishers and others have got no such facility. It is a matter
of high concern that majority of the SMEs are operating with out
any fire extinguisher.
40. A bit higher than fifty percent SMEs (62.5 %) have informed the
local fire office about their plant, location and specific hazards and
others do not inform fire office about anything of their operations.
It puts those firms in highly hazardous condition and also puts local
fire office in difficult position to serve at the time of emergency.
41. Less than half of the SMEs (45.33%) under study has placed fire
extinguishers in readily accessible location within the premise and
the majority of SMEs ( 54.17%) do not. It exhibits the managerial
neglect to the safety matters.
42. All the SMEs have provided plant/factory employees with

instructions for the use of extinguishers and fire protections
procedures though not in systematic way in many firms.
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43. Majority of the SMEs (65%) have posted prominently ‘No Smoking’
signs in areas containing combustibles and flammables but rests
(35%) have not done it. It keeps a good number of SMEs vulnerable
to fire hazard.
44. A very meager percentage of SMEs , only 20.83 percent, has met the
requirements of applicable sanitation provisions of the law and the
rest 79.17 percent, the large majority of SMEs do not have right
number of sanitation facilities as per the law which have adverse
effects on the hygiene and health conditions of the working people.
45. All the SMEs have washing facilities for the employees in the office
and factory premises but with interrupted water supply. It is being
fulfilled with tube wells to ensure supply of water.
46. Almost all the SMEs have adequate light facilities except a very few
and that provides sufficient illumination in the work place but that
is interrupted with load shedding in regular fashion which is
fulfilled with small generator or IPS in many SMEs. A small number
of SMEs are found functioning with such extra facility of power
supply during load shedding.
47. Nearly two third of the SMEs under study have kept guarded all
their machines or operations that expose operators and other
employees to rotating parts, pinch points, flying chips, particles or
sparks . Others do not do that and people in these SMEs are under
threat of physical injury which is no good a situation for human
resources working there.
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48. All the SMEs are found to have their mechanical power belts well
guarded too. This covers the legal as well as ethical standard of the
human resource management.
49. Majority (78.33%) of the SMEs have kept all flammable liquids
inside their building stored in proper storage containers or cabinets
but rests of the SMEs do not store these flammable materials in
safety conditions. It is highly risky as fire may cause any time and
put people under death and injury hazard. It is also a violation of
legal codes of Bangladesh Labour Code 2006.
50. Majority of the SMEs ( 62.5 % ) are located in such areas where
hospitals, clinic or infirmary for medical care are available within
easy reach so that in case of accident immediate medical help can be
provided to accident victims but rests of the SMEs do not have such
near facilities. These SMEs do not have any employed doctor and
health care center too. This is a totally illegal and unethical
situation under which people are working.
51. Only 25 percent of the SMEs under study have provided first aid
training for their employees and rests do not which has kept 37.5
percent SMEs at under-trained employees in first aid. The
management of these SMEs does not have much concern about
providing training to all employees in first aid too. It needs to
change.
52. None of the SMEs has employed a doctor in the firm. All have said
that they bring doctors from outside or take patient to the nearby
hospitals or clinics. But many SMEs are not located nearer to any
hospital or clinic and that takes long time to carry injured or sick
employee to medical facility.
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53. All the SMEs have provided protective their employees with
goggles or glasses who are working within the situation of danger
with flying particles or splashing corrosive materials and ensure
wearing of such goggles and glasses during such dangerous work.
54. All the SMEs have provided their employees with protective gloves,
aprons, and shields or other means for protection from sharp, hot or
corrosive materials. This has kept working people free from
physical hazards.
F. Employee or Industrial Relations
1. It is found that none of the SMEs under study has any trade union.
Neither labourers are interested to form trade union nor are owners
interested to allow labourers to form trade union as there exists an
informal relationships between management and workers. There is
also a fear among owner-managers of trade union as it will create
problem for them.
2. Majority of the SMEs have a suggestion scheme for managerial people

and owner-managers take frequent suggestions from them to run their
ventures successfully or to resolve a problem to overcome a particular
situation. But though rarely used, a very meager number of SMEs has
used this suggestion scheme for clerical and production workers.
3. The SMEs using suggestions scheme generally use informal

communication to get suggestions from their employees. No formal
communication method is used in this respect. Therefore, it is not
institutionalized but owner-managers or managers recognize its
potentials and contribution to the organisation. So, all SMEs can utilize
suggestion scheme for the promotion of human environment, sense of
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belonging among the people and also for getting innovative ideas from
the people that will contribute to the organisational effectiveness.
4. The SMEs using the suggestions schemes get suggestions through

immediate supervisor not directly from working people. They can use
other means by which people may feel free and unobstructed to
communicate their suggestions.
5. Almost all of the SMEs use a mechanism to brief managerial employees

about firm’s strategies and policy related issues regularly. Only a
meager percentage of SMEs (21%) do it frequently but not regularly
with managerial employees. Majority of the SMEs (58%) also inform
administrative employees about organizational strategies and policy
issues frequently and a small percentage of SMEs (29%) inform them
less often and rests of the SMEs do not inform them any time. A
meager number of SMEs inform production workers about
organizational strategies and policy issues frequently to make them
motivated and committed to the work for achieving target output;
nearly same number of SMEs informs production workers less often
and majority of the SMEs do not do it with workers.
6. All of the SMEs under study have grievance handling system of any
kind- formal or informal, systematic or unsystematic. This shows SMEs
intention to handle and resolve grievance in order to pacify working
people so as to make them satisfied, motivated and committed. This
practice is good for both the organisation and the employees.
7. All SMEs mitigate or resolve grievance among managerial employees,

administrative employees or production workers through immediate
supervisor or line manager.
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8. None of the SMEs has any kind of employee representation system in

any type in the organization. There is no welfare committee or trade
union or any other form of body where workers can represent their
interests.
9. SMEs follow chronological steps to handle grievance or to take

disciplinary action against any employee. Many grievances are
resolved with oral discussion and resolution. Others have followed
written and documented systematic steps to resolve the dispute and
grievance but the steps are not well conceived and understood.
Whatever the method of resolution of grievance or disciplinary action,
it takes systematic steps: Firstly, receive grievance or notification of
such offence in writing or in oral presentation. Secondly, ask the
person orally or in written form to explain his or her position. Thirdly,
give personal hearing to the person against whom charge is being
brought in. Fourthly, examine personal records of the employee to
know his/her past behaviour / activities and actions so far taken
against him/her. Fifthly, consult organizational provisions, legal
provisions related to such type of offence or grievance. Sixthly, take
appropriate action as per law and convention of the organization. But
these are sometimes overlooked.
10. None of the SMEs under study has owner-managers or managers who
have degrees that contain courses like industrial and labour laws or
knowledge about employment related laws of the country. But
surprisingly they claim that they are able to handle such kind of
situations. It is a fallacious belief they hold about themselves.
11. Majority of the SMEs (62 percent) give one or two or three months
salary or wages along with other legally permissible benefits to the
employees who are being discharged in case of managerial,
administrative staff and production workers.
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12. Nearly forty percent (38 percent) SMEs do not give any salary or wage
equal to any month to the discharged managerial employees and fifty
percent of the SMEs do not give anything to discharged administrative
employees though it mentioned in the law to give admissible pays. But
in the case of production workers, least number of SMEs does not pay
anything to them while they are being discharged.
13. None of the SMEs conduct terminal interview with the discharged or
terminated or retired employees. Though many SMEs have recognized
the need for such type of interview for it is a good avenue for getting
information for improvement of organisational environment.
14. All the SMEs under study give warning first to dissatisfactory
performers of all categories of employees - managerial, clerical or
production workers- so that they can improve themselves.
15. Majority of the SMEs (60%) give training to concerned dissatisfactory

performer to enhance their skill or knowledge to match with the
demand of the job but rests of the SMEs do not provide any such kind
of training with deficient employees.
16. A significant number of SMEs (40%) dismisses or terminates the under

performer employees at the end of the observation period of
improvement after warning but rests of the SMEs do not dismiss them
in the hope that they will be able to improve with continual advising,
mentoring and training until the individual employee is appeared as
totally incapable to improve himself.
17. Majority of the SMEs under study, nearly 67 percent, is found to retain
employees who want to resign from their jobs by influencing them and
others immediately accept their resignation without any effort to retain
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them. Those SMEs who try to retain resigning employees believe that
they will loose efficiency and further employment with be costly in all
senses such as (i) trained and experienced employees are assets of the
enterprise; (ii) searching for new employees takes time; (iii) losing of
employees with well experienced, skilled and knowledgeable about
enterprise is costly to the venture; (iv) Unknown persons are always
risky. So, they feel that it is better to convince the resigning employee
to retain even with negotiated rewards for the benefit of the enterprise.
But the SMEs which do not take any effort to retain resigning
employees believe that they are unwilling people and have already
withdrawn their minds from the organization and therefore they will
be problem persons if we retain them.
Conclusions
The research is undertaken to project the existing human resource

management practices in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) functioning
in Bangladesh. With this end, the rationale of the study is reasonably
presented with necessity of human resource management in making SMEs
successful besides a description of the essentiality of SMEs for the socio-
economic development of Bangladesh in chapter one.
The methodology of the study describes all essential elements that are
relevant to it. For the purpose of the research, 120 small and medium
enterprises have been selected at random from the Dhaka district. A
questionnaire is designed with both closed and open ended questions to
collect data from the primary source which is finalized after a pilot testing. All
necessary analysis techniques are used to analyze and interpret data.
A thorough literature review is made to project the findings of other

researches so far being made in the SMEs of Bangladesh regarding their
human resource management practices. It is evident from the literature
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survey that no such study is ever made in Bangladesh and thus, this study is a
maiden study on human resource management practice in small and medium
enterprise of Bangladesh.
A theoretical framework is designed with all aspects of human resource

management. It contains a description of the normative level of human
resource management in a systematic manner which is needed to make
successful management of human resources in all types of organizations and
therefore, in SMEs of Bangladesh. The employment laws in Bangladesh
particularly Bangladesh Labour Code 2006 (as amended) is cited in brief that
are obligatory to maintain.
The existing scenario of human resource management practices in small and

medium enterprises (SMEs) of Bangladesh is presented systematically in this
thesis taking all facets of human resource management. The findings will
provide academics, future researchers and practitioners with insight
information about present human resource management practices in small
and medium enterprises of Bangladesh.
It is observed from the study that there are lots of opportunities to improve
the existing human resource management practices in SMEs of Bangladesh.
The practice does not conform to the normative standards of human resource
management in many situations. The existing human resource management
also does not maintain legally obligatory provisions of labour laws and other
civil laws applicable in the people management. The universal fundamental
human rights as well as constitutional rights are not maintained for the
unwillingness of owner-managers/managers of SMEs but for their
unawareness of rights.
It is found that the people involved in managing human resources do not

have relevant educational background on human resource management and
employment laws. So, their ignorance causes deviations much bigger. They
370
also do not have interest to take such education and training from academic
institutions to make them qualified to run their SMEs successfully by
maintaining a conducive people –oriented environment in which individuals
can work together in a group with satisfaction. To that effect, they need
education and training on human resource management and employment
laws from academic and/or training institutes to make their managing people
successful which will lead to venture success.
The findings of the research would be benchmark information about the

human resource management situations in the SMEs of Bangladesh upon
which further in-depth research can be made to investigate into specific
aspect of such management critically. Since, this research is a virgin study in
the field of human resource management in SMEs of Bangladesh; it will
provide teachers and students of human resource management with basic
field level operational information in this area which will enrich their
knowledge.
Every human effort always has an eternal destiny besides the motive of
serving immediate target of this world. The effort which I have given to
conduct the whole work of preparing this thesis bears a motive to contribute
to the knowledge world regarding practices of human resource management
in the existing small and medium enterprises of Bangladesh and to
participate in the progress of society and civilization. This thesis if becomes a
little part of this destiny will achieve its success.
The End
371
Appendix 1
Questionnaire
On
Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises
of Bangladesh
Dear Respondent Sir/Madam
I am a doctoral researcher in the Department of International Business,

University of Dhaka, studying under the supervision of Professor Dr. Abu
Hossain Siddique. My research topic is: Human Resource Management
Practices in f Small and Medium Enterprises of Bangladesh. The study will
explore the various HRM practices in small and medium enterprises
operating in Bangladesh. The findings will contribute to the development of
appropriate HRM practices in SMEs of Bangladesh.
I, therefore, request you to co-operate fulfilling the questionnaire by giving

required information of your organization as well as providing other
necessary information in this regard. The provided information will be kept
confidential and will be used only for academic purposes. Findings will be
made available to you at later stage.
Yours sincerely,
Muhammad Mohiuddin
Professor
Department of Management
University of Dhaka
372
Questionnaire
on
Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) of Bangladesh
(All information are strictly confidential)
Personal information of the Respondent

(Please give tick in appropriate places)
Name of the respondent………………………………….

Position /designation ……………………………
Gender: Male Female
Education (last degree obtained) SSC HSC Graduation
Master
Subject/discipline………………
1. Name of the Organisation: --------------------------------------------------------------

2. Nature of the organisation:
a. Public limited company
b. Private limited company
c. Sole Tradership
d. Partnership Firm
3. Total capital (Taka) Below 2 crore

2 crore to 4 crore
4 crore to 6 crore
6 crore to 8 crore
8 crore to 10 crore
4. Debt / equity capital Ratio ---- :------

5. Sources of capital
 Personal loan
 Family loan
 Local banks
 Local financial institutions
 Individual shareholders of Bangladesh
6. Year of starting business/operations:
7. Method of starting /establishing business:
373
a. Acquisition
b. Greenfield sites (newly established)
8. Total number of employees:
Categories of employees Number

Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Administrative Staff
Regular Production Workers
Irregular workers/staff
Total employees
9. What is the general business strategy of the organisation?

Business strategy Please tick here in appropriate box
Market nice strategy i.e.
specialty products
High Volume/low cost
strategy i.e. Standardized
product
10. How many product/service divisions do you have in your organisation?

Single unit organization
Production Department
Marketing Department
Administrative Department
Accounts/Finance Department
Personnel /Human Resource
Management Department
11. Do you have any organizational chart? Yes ---- No-----

12. How do your production systems could be best described?
Production system Please tick here
Production is tailored to meet the local
demands.
Some of the products are exported to
foreign markets.
13. What types of market does the organization operate?

Nature of the market Please tick here
Monopoly i.e. virtually no

competition in the market
Oligopoly i.e. a few competitors in
the market
374
Competitive i.e. fierce competition in

the market
14. Could you please indicate the present ‘Life Cycle Stage’ of your
organisation (tick the appropriate).
Life Cycle Stages Please tick as you assume
Introductory
Growth
Maturity
Decline
Turnaround
15. What type of production method exists in your organization? Please tick
the most prevalent.
Production system Please tick here
Lean/flexible
Mass
Process
Batch
Questions related to Human Resource Planning, Recruitment and

Selection/Acquisitions
1. Do you think staffing is a very important task of you ? Yes No
2. Has the firm any human resource policy? Yes No

3. If yes, what is its form? Written Unwritten
4. Do you have any formal human resource plan? Yes No
5. Do you think that the human resource planning is needed

for your organization? Yes No
6. How do you assign job or duty to your employees?
From your mind that you think fit

From your planned thought about ones duty
From a written job description that you have
7. Do you have any ready list of qualifications or qualities required for

each type of positions? Yes No
8. When you recruit any employee do you specify skills, qualifications etc
for each position? Yes No
375
8. Do you have a plan about how a post will be filled up when the
incumbent will retire? Yes No
10. Is there any of your relatives working here? Yes No
11. If yes, how they have been recruited?

Just placed where they were deemed fit
Through a formal test
Through a informal test
12. What are their positions?
Categories of Staff Number
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/ Administrative /Office Staff
Production Workers
13. Do you have any policy guidelines in the recruitment and selection of
employees in
your organisation?
Categories of Not at Unwritten Don’t Written Highly
employees all guidelines know guidelin specific
es rules
Managerial /Officer
Clerical/administrat
ive staff
Production workers
14. Generally how have you filled entry-level vacant positions in your
organisations?
Means of filling vacant positions Manageri Clerical Production
al/Officer /Staff workers
From current non-regular employees
Use of recruitment agencies
From Apprentices
Through personal search
From universities
From your friends & relatives
From Trade Associations
From Vocational Schools and
Colleges
From Competing Firms
15. Which source do you think best for recruiting employees ?

Means of filling vacant positions Managerial/ Clerical Production
Officer /staff workers
376
From current non-regular

employees
Recruitment agencies
Apprentices
Personal search
Universities
Friends & relatives
Trade Associations
Vocational Schools and Colleges
Competing Firms
16. To fill a vacant post what policy do you follow ?

Basis for promotion Managerial Clerical Production
/Officer /Staff workers
From within the firm
From outside the firm
If you have any internal promotion system, then

17. What are the bases for internal promotion? (Please rank the following)
Basis for internal promotion Managerial Clerical Production
Seniority
Performance/Merit
Performance/Merit and seniority
together
Others
18.Do you have specific job description (duties and responsibilities) for all the
positions to be performed by individual employees?
Categories of Not at Very Don’t Fair Highly
employees all little know guideline specific
s
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/administrativ
e
Production employees
19. Would you please rank the importance of the following factors in selecting
new employees?
Name of the factors Managerial Clerical/ Production workers
/Officer Staff
Educational qualifications
Experience
Reference
377
Skills
Trainability
Commitment
Family background
Relatives/Friends
recommendations
Age
20. Please indicate the steps you follow in selecting employees for a new
position?
Steps in selection Process Managerial Clerical Production
Preliminary Screening Interview
Application Blank/on plain paper
Employment Test in writing
Reference Check
Interview
Medical Test/Physical Examination
Final Selection & Probationary
Appointment
Orientation/Induction
Foundation Training
Placement
21. What test or test do you apply to select your employees ?

Types of Test Managerial Clerical/ Productio
/Officer Staff n workers
Achievement Test
Aptitude Test
Mental ability/Intelligence Test
Personality Test
Interest Test
Physical ability test
Substance Abuse Test
Work Sample Test
Miniature Job Test
22. How do you verify the reference of a new employee?

Mode of reference check Managerial Clerical Productio
/ / n
Officer Staff workers
Direct Personal Enquiry
Sending a structured Form to referee
378
23.How do you conduct the physical examination of your employees during

selection ?
(If there is no physical examination system during the selection, please skip
this question)
Physical examination method Managerial Clerical Productio
/Officer /Staff n
workers
Visual check by you /your staff
Check by Medical Officer
24.How do you conduct your interview process ?
Types of interview Managerial Clerical Productio
/Officer /staff n
workers
Group Interview
Panel Interview
One-on-one Interview
25. What is your technique of interviewing employees?

Techniques of Interview Managerial Clerical Productio
/Officer /Staff n worker
Structured Interview
Unstructured Interview
Situational Problem Solving
26. If you have any orientation program for the new recruits, how have you
done that ?
Means of orientation Managerial Clerical Productio
/Officer /Staff n worker
Give a brief formal lecture on
organizational issues
Give them printed handbook
Ask a senior staff to show everything
Ask the work head to give him a brief
of the job
Give just an informal lecture
27. Do you have any written handbook ? Yes ------ No--------
B: Questions related to Training and Development

Do you provide any formal training (induction programme) for the new
employees after joining at your organisation?
Categories of Alway Sometimes Don’t Less Not in
employees s know often/rarely practice
Managerial/
Officer
379
Clerical/Staff
Manual
What is the aim of this induction programme?

Aim of the induction programme Manageria Clerical Production
l/Officer /Staff worker
To inform company philosophy
To learn company policies and
practices
To familiar with work and inmates
To provide hands on experience
Could you please indicate the main objectives of your training programmes?
Objectives of the training Managerial Clerical/ Production
programmes /Officer Staff worker
Training conducted for current
work tasks
Training conducted in anticipation
of future production or process
changes
Training undertaken in a wide
range of skills
4. Who does design the training programmes in your organisation?

Managerial Clerical/ Production worker
/Officer Staff
Training specialist
Owner –manager himself
Manager
External -expert
How do you provide on-the-job training and development to your

employees?
Means of providing training Managerial Clerical/ Production
Apprenticeship
Pre-employment training
Vestibule training
Job Instruction training
Coaching
Job Rotation
Transfer
Understudy assignment
Committee assignment/Junior
board
380
Mentoring
Action Learning
6. How do you provide off-the –job training and development to your

employee ?
Method of training Managerial Clerical/ Production worker
/Officer Staff
Lecture and Conference
Computer-assisted
Instruction
Seminar
Laboratory training
Case studies
Incidence Process
Role Playing
T-group
Transactional Analysis
Behavioural Modeling
In-basket training
University-related
programme
In-house development
center
Programmed
Instruction/Manual
Experimental Exercise
7.Which of the following do you think guided you most to initiate training
and development programme in your organization ? Please tick .
a. Management careers are in a state of flux as new jobs are opening up and
traditional, stable jobs disappearing ---------
b. People want tot know more about their immediate jobs, other jobs in their
organization and about their organization as a whole.--------------
c. As more emphasis is placed on teams and team work, supervisor and

managers need to acquire additional skills in interpersonal
communications,
group decision making and chairing meeting. -------------
d. Employees need their organization’s help to help themselves. --------------
e. Basic skills are still important and cannot be overlooked. --------------
381
f. Many career transitions represent ideal training opportunities. ---------
8.What factors do you consider while designing a training and development

program?
a. Human resource planning of the organization.
b. Multi skilling
c. Organizational adaptation and improvement
d. Organizational culture and climate
e. Organisational effectiveness
f. Need fulfillment of the employee, job and career needs
g. Filling up the skill deficiency
h. Union attitude
i. Skill obsolescence
9. It is believed that the training and development is a process. The following

is the process. Will you please point out what steps of this process do you
follow ?
a. Need analysis
b. Setting objectives of the training and development
c. Select trainees
d. Determine curriculum
e. Select training method and media
f. Develop budget
g. Validation of the program
h. Select trainers
i. Conduct training and development
j. Evaluation and follow up
10. How do you select a trainee for the training and development programme
?
Check job description
Check skill requirements
Performance analysis/present skill level
Need of skills and abilities in the next post of promotion
Need of the next assignment or posting
11. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of the training and development ?
(Tick please)
a. Test-retest Method --------------
b. Pre-post training and development performance method-------
c. Experimental control group method -------
12. Which of the followings do you think cause challenges to you that have
motivated you to initiate training and development programme ? Please tick
a. Quality improvement ----------
382
b. Technological changes -----------

c. Customer service ----------
d. Corporate culture ----------
e. New market strategies ----------
f. Centralization of the authority ---------
g. Productivity improvement ----------
h. Decentralization ----------
i. Succession planning ----------
j. Acquisition or merger ----------
k. International competition ----------
13. Is there any system to rotate across jobs or tasks for the employees at your
organisations?
Categories Regularly Sometime Don’t Less Not in
of s know often/rarely practice
employees
Manageria
l/Officer
Clerical/
Staff
Manual
14.Do you provide any multi-skill ( more than one task or job) training to
your
employees?
Categories of Regularly Sometim Don’t Rarely Not in
employees es know practice
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Production worker
Discussion with the employees and the supervisors in this regard. If

possible, about their outcomes as well.
15.What kinds of matters your organisation prefers in providing training to
employees? (please rank)
Name of the training Managerial Clerical/ Production
matters / Staff worker
Officer
Strategy formulation
Problem solving
Team working
Quality
control/management
Improving communication
Computing skills
Operation of new
383
equipment
Health and safety
Learn to another relevant
job
Operational Skills
C: Questions related to pay and performance appraisals

1. Do you use any performance appraisal system for individual employees at
your organisation?
Categories of Regularl Someti Don’t Less Not in
employees y mes know often/rarely practice
Managerial/Offi
cer
Clerical/Staff
Production
worker
2. Could you please indicate how performance appraisal in being done in

your organisation?
Means of appraisals Managerial
/Officer Clerical/ Production
Staff worker
Performance appraisals are very
formalized. Forms are filled and
proceed at regular intervals
Performance appraisals are very
informal. There is very little
documentation
Collect some manuals and other materials used in employee performance

appraisals. Discussion with employees and first line managers, HR
managers.
3. Could you please indicate what method of performance appraisal in

being done in your organisation?
Means of appraisals Managerial/ Clerical/ Production

Officer Staff worker
Graphical Rating Scale Method
Paired Comparison Method
Performance Check List Method
Essay Appraisal Technique
Critical Incident Technique
Individual Ranking Method
Group Ranking Method
384
Forced Choice Rating Method

Management By Objective
Method
5. Do you have any established policies, standard criteria and design for
performance appraisal system? Yes----- ( Collect related materials)
No-----
6. Who does the appraisal?
a. Immediate Supervisor d. Self
b. Subordinates e. Peer colleague
c. Chief Executive/Owner-manager f. Rating/Appraisal Committee
4. Could you please indicate why performance appraisal is being done in

your
organisation?
Reasons for doing appraisals Managerial Clerical/ Production

/ Staff worker
Officer
Giving employee feedback so that
they know where they stand
Using Performance appraisal
results to decide upon promotion
of the people
Using performance results to
make retention and discharge
decision
Using Performance appraisal
results to determine
compensation
Using Performance appraisals to
identity the future needs of the
employee development
Motivating people through
recognition and support
Strengthening superior-
subordinate relation
Diagnosing individual and
organizational problems
From among the below, what factor/factors do you think affect/affects your
appraisal ?
a. Leniency/ strictness h. Unclear Standard
b. Halo-effect i. Bias /Prejudice
c. Low appraiser motivation j. Central Tendency
d. Irrelevant /Subjective standards k. Fear of confrontation
385
e. Lack of training on rating factors l. Complex and time consuming

appraisal
f. Poor feedback to employee m. Unrealistic standards
g. Failure to use appraisal data n. Constant error
8. How do you determine the performance appraisal criteria in your

organisation?
Level of performance criteria Managerial Clerical/ Production

setting /Officer Staff Worker
Follow the rules and standards set

by the owner/owner-
manager/manager
Rules and standards set by a
committee
Rules and standards developed
by a consultant
Adopt local/indigenous practices
Criteria developed by intuition
9. Do you include any type of individual performance elements in

determining basic pay for individual employee?
Categories of Regula Sometim Don’t Less Not in
employees rly es know often/ practice
rarely
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Production worker
If yes
10. What measures of performance are used to determine the amount of
performance related pay? (Please tick the appropriate one, or if more than
one, rank them with preference)
Means of performance measures Managerial Clerical/ Production
/ Staff worker
Officer
Individual performance
Group performance measures
Workplace based measures
Organisation based measures
Others please specify.
386
11. If individual performance, how is individual performance or output

measured?
Measure of individual Managerial/ Clerical/ Production
performance Officer Staff worker
Piece rate
Other measures of output
Assessment by supervisor
Acquisition of
skills/competencies
Pre-set /Target objectives
achievement
Other, please specify.
Collect in-depth information and examples in this regard.
12. How do you determine the pay structure of your organisation?

Levels of pay Determination Managerial Clerical Manual/
/Officer /Staff Production
employees
Industry wise collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Management decisions/Own
analysis
Competitors pay structure
13. How do you fix wages / salaries of your employees?

Ways of fixing remuneration Managerial Clerical Manual/
/Officer /Staff Production
employees
By your own judgment
By collective bargaining
By seeing other firm’s wages for the
same job
By doing job evaluation
By negotiation with the job seekers
14. Do you have any pay range or structure for each grade/class of job? Yes--
No--
15. Do you think your wages and salaries are competitive? Yes--------
No----
16. If yes, how so you know that?
From wages and salary survey in the industry -----------
From competitors wage and salary scale -----------
From your personal belief -----------
17. What basis pf wage and salary policy do you follow ?
387
Wage and salary policy Managerial Clerical/Staff Manual/

/ Production
Officer employees
Daily basis
Weekly basis
Monthly basis
Straight basis
Incentive basis
Straight plus incentive basis
18. Who does the task of determining the wage and salary of the employees ?
Owner -------
Owner-manager-----
Manager-------
External expert/ Consultant-----
19. When is the wage and salary structure set ?

Before the beginning of the enterprise--------
On the point of starting the work --------
20. How do you determine the pay for your employees ?

Pay policy Managerial Clerical/ Production
Individual Pay/Secret Pay
Structured Sectoral Pay
21. Do you have any profit sharing scheme at your organisation?

Categories of Not at Less Don’t Sometime Always
employees all often know s
Managerial /Officer
Clerical/administrative
Staff
Production worker
22.Do you give any incentive for individual achievement at your

organisation?
Categories of Not at Rarely Don’t Sometime Always
employees all know s
Managerial /Officer
Staff
Production worker
23.What are the bases for pay increments at your organisation? ( if more than
one, please rank the following)
388
Basis for pay increment Managerial Clerical/ Production worker

/Officer Staff
Individual performance
/achievement
Individual seniority
Performance & seniority
together but performance
get priority
Performance & seniority
together but seniority get
priority
Others, please specify
24. What factors do you consider while designing the wage and salary
structure of employees?
Considerable factors Manageria Clerical/ Production

l/ Staff worker
Officer
Worth of the job
Worth of the employee
Prevailing wages and salary of
the industry
Financial capacity of the
enterprise
Economic realities i.e. ability to
pay, cost of living & inflation
Government regulation
25. When you measure the worth of the job, what compensatory factors do
you consider determining the worth of the job?
Compensatory Factors Managerial Clerical Production

/ / worker
Officer Staff
Difficulty of the job
Responsibility
Know-how
Education and experience
Relationships
Mental requirements
Supervisory Responsibility
Responsibility of equipments
Outside contracts
Work Environment
389
Physical demand
Job complexity
Judgment exercise
Originality required
Knowledge required
D: Questions related to employee relations

1. Are the employees in your organisation represented by a union? (If yes,
please specify the number of unions and the percentage of employees in the
various categories who have been unionised. If no, please write no).
Employee category No of unions
Production workers
Non-production , non-supervisory employees
Collect relevant information from the HR manager.

2. How would you describe the state of union-management relations in your
organisation? (You may rank if more than one category is relevant).
a. Confrontational (due to inter-union rivalry). d. Harmonious

b. Confrontational (due to mistrust of management). e. Accommodative
c. Political (due to politicisation of union). f .Harmonious,
if accommodative
Discussion with employees and trade union officials.
3.Have you recognised trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining?
Categories of Not at Less Don’t Sometime Always
employees all often know s
Managerial/Officer
Production employees
If yes,
4. What issues do usually you include in the bargaining agenda? (Please rank
your preferences )
a. Basic pay
b. Welfare activities
c. Organisation of work
d. Issues related to individual working conditions
e. Individual grievance and conflict solving methods
f.
Collect materials on previous bargaining agendas. Discussion with
employees, trade union officials and HR managers.
5.Do you follow any information sharing/ suggestion scheme practices in

your organisation?
Categories of Regular Frequen Sometim Less Not in
employees ly tly es often/rar practice
ely
390
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Manual/Productio
n employees
If yes,
6.What methods are usually used by employees to communicate their views
to management?
Employee communication Managerial/ Clerical/ Manual/Productio

methods Officer Staff n employees
Through immediate
superior
Through trade union or
work council
Through regular
workplace meeting
Through quality circle
Through suggestions box
Through attitude survey
No formal method
7.Do you have any system to brief employees about company strategies and
other policy related issues?
Categories of Regula Frequently Don’t Less Not in
employees rly know often/rar practice
ely
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Manual/Productio
n employees
8. Do you have any departmental committee to discuss the issues related to

daily or routine work of the department or work division?
Categories of Regula Frequent Don’t Less Not in
employees rly ly know often/rar practice
ely
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Manual/Productio
n employees
9.Do you have any individual conflict resolution/grievance handling system

at your organisation?
391

ely
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Manual/Productio
n employees
If yes
10.How you try to resolve individual grievance/conflict in a meaningful way?
Grievance handling Managerial/ Clerical Manual/

procedures Staff Production
employees
Through respective trade
unions
Through departmental
representative system
Through immediate superior
or line manager
Through formal official
procedure
11.Do you have any employee representative system like work councils,
shop floor committees’ etc. other than trade unions at your organisation?
ely
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Manual/Productio
n employees
If yes,
12.What are these representative systems?
Categories of Employees Name of the representative body
Managerial/Officer
Clerical/Staff
Manual/Production employees
12.Is any of the following practices followed in your organisation?
a. Common uniform for all the employees.

b. Common canteen for all the employees.
392
c. Common transport for all the employees.

d. Common medical care for all the employees.
e. Common educational facilities for all the employee dependants.
f. Common uniform for officers and employees.
14. Please tick on the right space to indicate the steps you follow to take
disciplinary action or to handle grievance of your employees
a. Receive of the grievance / offence

b. Issue show cause to the incumbent to explain his position in person /in
writing
c. Give personal hearing
d. Examine the personal records of the employee
e. Consult organizational and legal provisions
f. Take appropriate action.
15. What do you do while discharging an employee ?
Mode of action Managerial/ Clerical/ Manual/Productio

Officer Staff n employees
Give him one/two/three
months salary/wage
Hold a terminal
interview
Give him nothing
16.Before discharging key employees, do you think it is better to consider

carefully the impact of his leaving on the production/efficiency of the firm ?
Yes------ No-------
17.What do you do with an dissatisfied performer ?
a. Give him warning to improve------
b. Give him training -----------
c. Dismiss him -----------
18. If any of your employee want to leave your firm, will you try to retain
him or allow him immediately ?
Try to retain him------ Allow him to leave ------
E: BENEFIT, SAFEY AND HEALTH PROGRAMME
1. Do you have any benefit plan other than the basic pay for the employees ?
Benefit plan Manageria Clerical/ Manual/Productio
l Staff n employees
/Officer
393
Yes
No
2. What are benefits you offered to your employees? Please tick
Benefits other than basic Managerial Clerical/ Manual/Productio

pay /Officer Staff n employees
Pension
Group Insurance
Discount on goods
/service purchase
Free medical treatment
Free lunch
Subsidised lunch/ meal
Paid sick leave
Payment for meal
Rest break
Paid vacations
Paid holiday
Festival bonus
Employee education
Compensation for injury
during work
Medical expense payment
Employer’s contribution
to the provident fund
Accident insurance
Legally required
payments
Transport
House rent
Entertainment allowance
Loan /advances
Tax assistance
Traveling allowance
Dearness allowance
2. What health and safety programmes do you have in your firm for the
employees ?
Health and safety Managerial Clerical/ Manual/Productio

programs /Officer Staff n employees
Wages paid to injured
Dispensary services
Compensation for injury
394
Protective dresses
Regular health checkup
Safety training
Prohibition of smoking in
the workplace
Safety rules of the
Factories Act, 1965.
4. Why do you think that health and safety programmes are good ? Please
give tick.
a. To enhance employee morale ------
b. To avoid unionization -------
c. To compete with other organizations in recruiting and retaining
qualified employee.------
d. Safety propaganda.-------
5. What actions have you taken to reduce accidents? Please tick from among
the
below:
a. Regular check up and remove unsafe conditions.------------
b. Screen out accident prone employees. -------------
c. Establish safety policy. -------------
d. Set specific safety goals. --------------
e. Encourage and train. ------------
f. Regular health and safety inspections. --------------
6. How do you set these plans ?

a. From competing firms-------- b. From industry survey ------
c. From own idea ------- d. From the law ----
Yes
Action
needed
7. Do you have a safety committee or group that allows participation
of employees is safety and health activities
8.Do you provide safety and health training for all employees requiring
such training and is it documented?
9. Do all persons know what to do in emergencies?
10.Do you have a procedure for handling employee complaints regarding

Safety and health ?
395
11.If you have electrical/mechanical installations in hazardous dust

Vapor area , do they meet the factory act’s provisions ?
12. Are rotating machines mounted in clean , tightly closed cover ?
13.Are all exists visible and unobstructed ?
14. Are all exists marked a readily visible sign that is properly
illuminated ?
15.Are there sufficient exists to ensure prompt escape in case of

emergencies ?
16. Are portable fire extinguisher provided in adequate number and type
17. Are fire extinguishers mounted in readily accessible locations?
18. Are plant employees instructed in the use of extinguishers and

fire protection procedures ?
19. Is your local fire department well acquainted with your plant,
location and specific hazard ?
20. Are NO SMOKING signs prominently posted in areas containing

combustibles and flammables ?
21.Do your toilet facilities meet the requirements of applicable

Sanitary codes?
22. Are washing facilities provided ?
23. Are all areas of business adequately illuminated ?
24. Are all machines or operations that expose operators and other
employees to rotating parts, pinch points, flying chips, particles or
sparks adequately guarded ?
25. Are mechanical power transmission belts and pinch points guarded?
26. Are all flammable liquids that are kept inside building stored in
proper storage containers or cabinets?
27. Is there a hospital , clinic or infirmary for medical care near your
business?
396
28. Do you have one or more employees trained in first aid?
29. Do you have any employed doctor?
30. Are hard hats provided and worn where any danger of falling
objects exists?
31. Are protective goggles or glasses provided and worn where there
is any danger of flying particles or splashing of corrosive materials?
32. Are protective gloves, aprons, shields or other means provided

for protection from sharp, hot or corrosive materials?
397
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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

Thesis submitted to the University of Dhaka in fulfillment of

in part or full for any other diploma or degree of any university.

Professor Dr. Abu Hossain Siddique Muhammad Mohiuddin

“Human Resource Management Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises

(SMEs) of Bangladesh” is the outcome of the work carried out by Muhammad

Mohiuddin under my supervision.

of the requirement for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in International

Date: Professor Dr. Abu Hossain Siddique

MRS. AMENA KAHATUN (Late), let almighty Allah, the most

I, from deep of my heart, give my gratefulness and respect to my

I am greatly indebted to the owner-managers and/managers who have

I would like to give my gratefulness to my beloved mother, father and mother

I am further grateful to Ms. Hafiza Begum for her constant encouragement. I

At the end, I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to my

Dhaka Professor Muhammd

Chapter One : Introduction 1-20

Chapter Two : Methodology of the Study 21- 30

Chapter Three : Literature Review 31-42

Chapter Four : Theoretical Framework of the Study 43-222

Chapter Five : Analysis and Discussion 223-327

General characteristics of SMEs 223-241

Chapter Six : Findings and Conclusions 328-361

Bibliography 388- 430

An Overview of the Bangladesh Economy

Bangladesh emerged as an independent country on March 26, 1971. Till then,

The economy of Bangladesh is characterized by traditional agricultural sector

Poverty is a general feature or characteristic of the economy of Bangladesh.

Definition of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME)

SMEs may be defined on the basis of quantitative criteria: the number of

also be raised about the inclusion or exclusion of professionals, farmers, and

The Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce (DITC) of the Government

In the European Union, SME is defined on the basis of employment. A

1) Any entity which is a company whose capital or total amount of

2) Any entity which is a company whose capital or total amount of

3) Any entity which is a company whose capital or total amount of

4) Any entity which is a company whose capital or total amount of

Bangladesh. Both of the definitions of small industry and medium industry

The first systematic definition of Small-Scale Industry in East Pakistan,

After the independence, on March 26, 1972 the Government of Bangladesh

The Department of Industries of the Government of Bangladesh gave a new

The Industrial Policy 1986 defined small industry as “an industrial

The Industrial Policy 1991 says “Small Industry means an industrial

service) sector as “Medium industry shall mean those industrial enterprises

The National Taskforce on Development of Small and Medium Enterprises

Working Definition of SME for the Study

a) SMEs in manufacturing industry will mean enterprises having

b) SMEs in service industry will mean service enterprises having up to

e) SMEs will mean those enterprises which are operating in private

f) SMEs will mean those enterprises that are engaged in business

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Perspective

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, as a part of the erstwhile Pakistan, virtually had no large

1969-70 1972 After

Source: Sobhan and Ahmed (1980:192)

Rationale of the Study

Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bangladesh like all other countries of

According to UNESCAP, SMEs accounted for upwards of 90% of all firms in