1

CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION
.

INTRODUCTION
INTR ODUCTION TO STRESS

INTRODUCTION
Stress is a part of day-to-day living of every individual. The college students may experience stress in meeting the academic demands, people on the job, business men may suffer stress to reach office in time and to complete the projects on time and even the house hole ladies may experience stress in managing the home affairs and to look for the maid servant. The reasons for the stress differ from person to person. The stress people experience should not be necessarily treated as harmful. An optimum amount of stress can always act as an energizer or motivator and propel people to apply

the efforts and complete the work. But a high level of stress can be serious threat to the personality trails of the individual and can cause physiological and social problems. MEANING Considered from an individuals point of view, stress is our bodys physical,mental and chemical reactions to circumstances that frighten, confuse,endanger or irritate us.if contolled , stress is a friend that strengthens us for the next encounter .if handled poorly,it becomes an enemy which can cause diseases like high blood pressure ,ulcer, asthama and overactive thyroid.as per the medical explanation of the term,stress is the bodys general response to environmental situations it can lead to: 1 physical discomfort 2 some kind of emotional unhappiness 3strained relationships with other people In very simple words,stress refers to an individuals reaction to a disturbing factor in the environrment.

What is Stress?
Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings.

How can I eliminate stress from my life? As we have seen, positive stress adds anticipation and excitement to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress. Deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and enrichment to our lives. Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may leave us feeling bored or dejected; on the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots." What we need to do is find the optimal level of stress, which will individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us.

How can I tell what is optimal stress for me? There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people. We are all individual creatures with unique requirements. As such, what is distressing to one may be a joy to 4

another. And even when we agree that a particular event is distressing, we are likely to differ in our physiological and psychological responses to it.

How can I tell manage stress better? Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require work toward change: changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?

The Nine Stress Management Tips:

1.Know what stresses you most. Not your co-worker, friend, husband, or wife. YOU!! Get your feelings out. Write them out and describe each situation. Share all bad feelings with a friend or in a journal. Before you can conquer your stresses you must know what is stressing you.

2.Say no. Focus on you own goals, not your spouse's or parents'. You must know yourself, your dreams, and your passions. If asked to chair another group or take on another responsibility, look at your mission statement or goals for the day. If it is does not fit it there say thank you but I just cannot. Saying no is one of the hardest things in life, but will help make you a success in your chosen field. 3.Learn to relax. Work hard but know when to take time off to be with the family, go to the beach, or read a book. Work all day if you must but when you get home play, watch cartoons, or tell your child a story. This allows stress tension to go away and helps you calm the heart's pace and digest food normally, and protect your immune system. Learn to meditate and take deep breaths to calm down. 4. Eat healthy. Eat less junk food and more fruit and vegetables for an amazing overall lowering of stress levels. We can actually lower the amount of the bad stress hormone, Cortisol, by taking vitamins. Take those vitamin pills daily.

5. Keep laughing. Keep a sense of humor. Studies show a good attitude helps lower cancer rates, makes surgery more effective, and keeps a relationship together through hard times. 6. Ask yourself WHY. Why are you doing this? Write down your wants, needs, goals, hopes,and dreams. Does what you are doing now help you get fulfill any of these things? What is your motivation? The more you understand why you doing what you are doing the less stress you will have. If you cannot come up with a good reason, then stop doing it.

7. Stay active. Exercise is a great way to relive tension and gives you a great break from exams. A healthy body makes a happy body. Even a three-minute jog is helpful at taking your mind off your pressures. You'll come back with an acute focus and renewed energy. 8. Follow your bliss. Try to know which subjects and type of people you enjoy. Structure your life around activities that you love. Joseph Campbell, a wise philosopher, advises you to follow your bliss. The more you do in life that goes with your own flow, the more passion you'll have for what you do. 9. Organize and Prioritize. Do the worst and hardest tasks first. Keep a to-do list and calendar with you at all times. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

We generally believe that the stress is caused by the external events and the dynamics of the environment. But we need to emphasis the fact that the Stress is caused by our reaction to the external environment. The manner in which we perceive and understand the changes or the particular event creates same event can bring happiness and cause stress in two different people depending upon how they react to it. When students are asked to prepare a presentation, some may take it to the other students may be perturbed by it for the fear of his weakness. So, Stress is our reaction to external events and it can be positive or negative depending upon how we react, it is the general wear and tear of the body machine that takes place due to extra demands put on it. Stress is the biggest killer in the Western world and the cause of huge losses of production in industry. But the techniques to combat stress and

Increase well being in your daily life are within your reach if you know how to go about them. REPLACING NEGATIVE WITH POSITIVE EMOTIONS The Successful Stress Management course gives you guidance on the changes necessary to overcome and reject negative emotions, and to replace them with positive ones that give you true quality of life. Your course will enable you to consider the causes and effects of the stress in todays world, and help you plan strategies for managing and controlling stress to develop a healthy sense of self-esteem. This is a much-needed course in todays world of increasing anxieties, and is invaluable whether you want to benefits yourself or make a career out of giving guidance to others. We can define stress as bodys non-specific response to any demand made on it. Stress is not by definition synonymous with nervous tension or

10

anxiety. On one side stress provides the means to express talents and energies and pursue happiness on the other side it can also cause exhaustion and illness, either physical or psychological.

Definition of stress
According to the father of stress of research, Hans Selye, stress is the spice of life; the absence of stress in death. Stress is defined as an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical, psychological and behavioral deviations for organizational participants.

According to Ivancevich and Matterson,stress is the interaction of the individual with the environment. it is an adaptive response, mediated by individual differences and/or psychological process: that is a consequence of any external action, situation or event, that places excessive psychological and/or physical demands up on a person

According to Beehr and Newman, job stress is a condition arising from the interaction of the people and their jobs, and characterized by changes with in people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning.

Remember that our main definition of stress is that stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize. With this in mind, we can now look at how you can manage all of the stresses that your career will bring From our definition, you can see that there are three major approaches that we can use to manage stress; Action-oriented: In which we seek to confront the problem causing the stress, often changing the environment or the situation; Emotionally-oriented: In which we do not have the power to change the situation, but we can manage stress by changing our interpretation of the situation and the way we feel about it; and Acceptance-oriented: Where something has happened over which we have no power and no emotional control, and where our focus is on surviving the stress. Action-oriented approaches best where you have some control 11

To be able to take an action-oriented approach, we must have some power in the situation. If we do, then action-oriented approaches are some of the most satisfying and rewarding ways of managing stress. These are techniques that we can use to manage and overcome stressful situations. Changing them to our advantage. The early selections on the title bar above focus on action-oriented coping. These selections introduce skills that help you to manage your job actively, work well with your boss and co-workers, and change your surroundings to eliminate environmental stress. Emotionally-oriented approaches-subtle but effective If you do not have the power o change a situation, then you may be able to improve things by changing he way you look at it, and feel about it, by using an emotionally oriented approach. These are often less attractive than action-oriented approaches in that the stresses can recur time and again; however, they are useful and effective in their place. The section on Reducing Stress With Rational Thinking explains powerful techniques for getting another perspective on difficult situations.

Acceptance-oriented approaches-when theres no valid alternative

Sometimes, we have so little power in a situation that it is all we can do to survive it. This is the case, for example, when loved-ones die. In these situations, often the first stage of coping with the stress is to accept ones lack of power. The section on Building Defenses Against Stress looks at building the buffers against stress that helps you through these difficult periods. Arguably, the section on Useful Relaxation Techniques also fails in to this category. These different approaches to stress management address our definition of stress indifferent ways: the action-oriented techniques help us to manage the demands upon us and increase the resources we can mobilize; the emotionally oriented techniques help us to adjustor perceptions of the situation; and the acceptance-oriented techniques help us survive the situations that we genuinely cannot change.took the relationship between stress and industry very seriously.

12

Stress: What it is not

Stress is not simply anxiety or nervous tension Stress need not necessarily be damaging Stress is not always due to over stimulation Stress cannot be avoided

Levels of Stress
Eustress: Eustress denotes the presence of optimum level of stress in an individual,
which contributes positively to his performance. This may lead employees to new and better ways of doing their jobs. In certain jobs such as sales, creativity a mild level of stress contributes positively to productivity.

Distress: Distress denotes the presence of high level of stress in an individual, which
affects job performance adversely and creates many types of physical, psychological and behavioral problems. Symptoms of Stress As stated earlier Stress is caused by or reaction to the external events and bring about changes in our response and our general behavior. The presence of Stress can be estimated by the analysis of certain symptoms an individual shows. These symptoms can be divided into three different categories. They are Feelings, Behavior and Physiology. When the individual experience Stress, one or more of the following symptoms can be exhibited.

13

Feelings The individual becomes anxious become anxious about the outcomes and is scared. The person feels that he has got something to loose or something wrong will take place. In an anxious state the person does not want to be corrected or interrupted. He looks out for other areas where he can forget about the stress-causing event for a while . The person becomes irritable and moody. During high level of Stress the individual develops a negative frame of mind and suffers from low self-esteem. The person loose faith in his capabilities and is afraid of the failures. The individual does not have a focused approach and is not able to concentrate and is involved in his own plans and thoughts. Physiological and Behavioral Changes Speech problems Impulsive Behavior Crying for no apparent reason Laughing in a high pitch and nervous tone of voice. Grinding of teeth Increasing smoking and use of drugs and alcohol. Being accident-prone Perspiration/ sweaty hands Increased hear beat Trembling Nervous ticks Tiring easily Urinating frequently Sleeping problems Diarrhea / indigestion /vomiting /nausea Butterflies in stomach Headaches Premenstrual tension

14

NATURE OF STRESS 1. Stress is a neutral word 2. stress is associated with constraints and demand 3. two conditions are necessary for potential stress to become actual stress.there must be;

uncertainity over the outcome outcome must be important

4. stress is not simply anxiety 5. stress should also be differentiated from nervous tension 6. the term burn out is also closely associated with stress Sources of stress The work and non work domains of ones life are closely interrelated. Stresses generate from four sources A)Extra-organisational stressors:job stress is not limited to things that happen inside the organization,during the working hours . extra organizational factors also contribute to job stress. 1. Political factors 2. Economic factors 3. technological factors B) Organisational stressors;almost every aspect of work can be a stressor for someone. The following factors have been shown to be particularly strong in inducing stress.

1. Job related factors

Routine dull and boring Hazardous Duties and responsibilities Working conditions Interdependence between a persons tasks and autonomy 15

Security Over work load Role conflict Role ambiguity Role over loads Conflicts Poor communication Unpleasant relationship Misunderstanding Lack of social support from colleagues Inter personal relationships Level of differentiation Degree of rules and regulations Excessive rules and lack of participation in decision

2. Role related factors;

3. Inter personal and group related factors:

4. Organisational structural factors

5. organizational leadership factors ;managers create a culture characterized by tension, fear and anxiety 6. Organisations life cycle; The first and the last stage and stressful (C) Group Stressors ; 1. Group cohesiveness 2 .Lack of social support 3. Conflicts 4. Organisational climate (D)Individual stressors 1.job concerns 2.Career changes 3.Economic problems 4.Changes in life structure 5.The pace of life 16

6.Life change and life traumas

17

CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS

CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS

Consequences for the individual

Consequences for the family

Consequences for the Organisation

(A) Consequences for the individual 1. Physiological symptoms Stress Anxiety Depression Dissatisfaction Anger, Poor job performance, lowered self esteem, make decisions Lack of clarity

2. Psychological symptoms

3. Behavioral symptoms

Under creating or over eating Sleeplessness Increased smoking and drinking Drug abuse Absenteeism and turnover

(B) Consequences for the family 18

Spouse abuse Child abuse Divorc Parenting responsibilities (C) Consequences for the Organization Low performance and productivity High rate of absenteeism and turnover Loss of customers due to poor attitudes of workers Increased alienation of the worker from the job

INDIVIDUAL COPING APPROACHES: Stress can be managed by an individual, which will enable him to regain control over his life. 1. Knowledge about stress 2. Physiological fitness 3. Time management Preparing a daily list of activities to be attended to Prioritizing activities by importance and urgency Scheduling activities according to the priorities set Knowing your daily schedule and handling the most demanding parts of a job when you are most alert and productive 4. Assertiveness 5. Readjust life goal

6. Relaxation techniques
7. Plan your life in advantage

ORGANISATIONAL COPING APPROACHES Selection and placement Goal setting Improved communication 19

 Redesigning jobs Participative decision making Building team work Personal wellness programmes 1 2 3 4 Make friends Enjoy the idiot box Cultivate interests Dare to dream

ORGANISATIONAL COPING STRATEGIES 1. Role clarity Redefining the persons role Reduce overload by redistributing the work Set up procedures to prevent hindrance to work Make the job intrinsically meaningful, challenging and rewarding

2. Supportive climate 3. Clear career paths 4. Company-wide programmes Job enrichment Employee counseling Training and development programmes Establishing autonomous work groups Establishing variable work schedules Setting up health clubs and offering health facility Service benefits including marriage gifts, birthday bonus, transport subsidiary, long service bonus, family planning gifts, health clubs memberships, credit cards, housing/car loans etc.

Environmental Factors:
Economic uncertainty is created when there is a change in the business cycle. That is when people become anxious about their security. This uncertainty not only

20

affects the stress level of the organization but also to design of the organisation. By the coming up to the new innovations in the field of technology like computers, robotics, automation etc. It has become a threat to many people, which causes stress. This type of uncertainty is called Technology Uncertainty. Organizational Factors: There is no storage of factors within the organization that can cause stress. These are categorized into: Task Demands Role Demands Interpersonal demands Organizational Demands Organizational Leadership Organizations Life Stage

Task Demands: Task demands are factors related to a persons job. They include the design of the individuals job (autonomy, task variety, degree of automation). Working conditions, and the physical work layout. Working in an overcrowded room or in a visible location where interruptions are constant can increase anxiety and stress Interpersonal Demands: Interpersonal demands are pressures created by other employees. Lack of social support from colleagues and poor interpersonal relationships can cause considerable stress, especially among employees with a high social need. Organizational Structure: Organizational Structure defines the level of differentiation in the organization, the degree of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made.

OBJECTIVES

To understand the nature of stress, and the relationship between stress and managerial problems. To examine the various methods of assessing personal and organizational stress, and indicating ways of coping with stress. 21

 To identify the Factors contributing to Stress. To study and analyze the Stress Management practices at Work in HFIL. To understand how employees cope with stress at Work. To analyze and recommend suggestions to the management to eradicate causes of stress completely

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This particular study about Work Stress Management is restricted within the organization. The study is conducted on the employees of the organization. This is not because of non-availability of resources but the nature of the study itself restricts it. It studies the existence or non existence of stress among the employees in the 22

organization and identifies the factors which are contributing for stress (If any). It also provides the various steps adopted by the organization for managing the work stress of the employees, which can be used as future reference for decision-making and policy making with regard to the employees. This study reveals the morale of the employees

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION:
Under Research Methodology various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with logic

23

Behind them is discussed. The researcher methodology has many dimensions and research methods to constitute a part of the research methodology. It is necessary for the researcher to design the methodology for his problem as it may differ from problem to problem. In the process of conduction the study, the researcher has followed the following methodology Field Study: The researcher has conducted the study among the executives and offices level employees in LEO LAB IT SOLUTIONS. Since employees were operating, study on the whole system could not be undertaken as a whole and is restricted to with in the unit of the company. Collection of Data Primary Data: Primary data was colleted within the employees of organization through survey and personal interview. Secondary Data: Secondary data was collected from various published books, companies web sites and company old records. Research Design The research designs under taken for the study is in descriptive one. The methodology involved in this design is mostly qualitative in a nature. Types of Study The present study is partly exploratory, partly descriptive and partly causal. It is exploratory because it is concerned with identifying the existence and nonexistence of stress. It is descriptive as it aims to describe the various internal and external factors that contribute to stress. It is causal as it aims to analyze the causes for stress and the effect of stress in the performance of the employees.

24

Sample Design A sample of 80 employees is taken out of a total population of 250 employees (58%), based on judgment sampling. The sample is selected in such a way that it includes the employees of all ages, different designations from different educational streams with distinct experience from various departments. Hence the sample is a representative of the population and an unbiased mix of all factors. Sample Size Out of the total universe 250 employees a total of employees a total of 80 employees belonging to different units of HFIL namely: Research Instrument The research instrument used for the survey is a structured undisguised questionnaire. The questionnaire has been framed in structures and undisguised form, with a total number of 20 questions. It has both open ended and closed ended questions. The information collected through personal interview is also being used. Pre-testing was conducted to find if there were any discrepancies in the questionnaire designed necessary changes were made after designing the questionnaire for which data was collected

Diagrams used:
Bar Charts Pie Charts

LIMITATIONS

Accurate results may not be obtained by adopting the Simple Random sampling technique. 25

The Sample size is 50 which is very less when compared to the population of the Organization as such it may not reflect the true picture.

Due to the time constraint, the sample size and the departments selected for the distribution of the questionnaire was limited.

As the number of the questionnaire distributed among the employees in the administration department and in the other departments is not equal, the percentage of the satisfaction levels may not be the same.

The findings of the study are confined only to the questions asked in the questionnaire and through informal interviews.

The questionnaire being mostly closed ended, might not have totally represented the perception of all the employees as regards to the STRESS MANAGEMENT AT WORK

Some of the employees did not express their views truly

26

CHAPTER-2 LITERATURE REVIEW

27

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. According to Fred Luthans Stress is an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical, psychological and/or behavioral deviation for organizational participants. 2. Steven mc Shane says Stress factors are organized into five categories task, role and interpersonal demands, organization structure and organizational leadership. 3. Randall S. Schuler defines Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraints, or demand, related to what he or she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important. 4. David A. Decenzo says Constraints and demands can lead to potential stress. When they are coupled with uncertainty of the outcome and importance of the outcome, potential stress becomes actual stress. 5. According to John M.Ivancevich and Micheal T.Matteson, Stress is an adaptive response, mediated by individual characteristics and/or psychological processes that are a consequence of any external action, situation or event that places special physical and/or psychological demands upon a person. 6. T.A.Beeher and J.E. Newman define, Job stress is a condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterized by changes with in people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning. 7. Cora Daniels says Stress in the work place is nothing new. However, a number of studies have shown that it is sky rocketing. Several factors account for this rise including increased workloads, terrorism, corporate scandals, and a poor economy.

28

8. According to Matteson, M.T& Ivancevich, Stress included 3 main components, Some environmental force affecting the individual, which is called a stressor, the individuals psychological and, physical response to the stressor. 9. Kahn and Byosiere, Sullivan & Bhagat offer five categories of behavioral responses to stress: degradation, /disruption of work itself, aggressive behavior at work, flight from the job, degradation of the other life roles, and self damaging behavior. 10. According to Ivanchevich, J.M.Matteson, M.T. Freedman, S.M & Phillips J.S. Stress management programs or interventions are defined as any activity, program, or opportunity initiated by an organization, which focuses on reducing the presence of work related stressors or an assisting individuals to minimize the negative outcomes of exposure to these stressors. 11. According to Ivanchevich Muscle relaxation and meditative techniques are then used to alleviate the underlying stress. 12. According to Lee Ann Jackson Stress reaction is a coordinated chemical mobilization of the entire body to meet the requirements of flight or flight in a situation perceived to be stressful. 13. Cynthia L. Cordes and Thomas W. Dougherty say that, Stress reaction persists until ones estimate of the relative threat to well being has been re evaluated, If distress persists long enough it can result in Fatigue, Exhaustion and Physical and/or emotional breakdown. 14. According to Cynthia L. Cordes and Thomas W. Dougherty, Sources of Job related stress are High demand - Having too much to do in a short time High effort- having to expand too much mental or physical energy over a long period of time 29

Low control- having too little influence over the way a job is done on a day - to- day basis. Low reward- receiving inadequate feedback on performance and no recognition for a job well done. 15. Max Messier tells that Depression, frustration, and loss of productivity are all symptoms of Burnout. Burnout is primarily due to lack of personal fulfillment in the job or a lack of positive feedback about performance. 16. Micheal T.Matteson says In organizations that have downsized, remaining employees can experience burnout because they feel that they must perform more work with fewer workers. Over achievers can experiences burnout when unrealistic work goals are unattainable. 17. According to Sora song Stress management counselors recommend several ways to resolve job- related stress by Building rewarding relationships with co-workers, Talk openly with managers regarding personal concerns, Relaxation techniques, Taking short breaks, from work. 18. Arthur P.Brief, Randall S.Schuler, and Mary Van sell characterize Personality characteristics such as Authoritarianism, Rigidity, Masculinity, Feminity, Extroversion, Supportiveness, Spontaneity, Emotionality, Tolerance for ambiguity, Locus of control, Anxiety, and 30

Need for achievements are particularly relevant to individual stress. 19. Thomas G.Cummings and Cary L.Cooper say, A research finding suggests that high-level stress is accompanied by high blood pressure and high level of cholesterol and can result in heart dieses, ulcer and arthritis. There may be link between stress and cancer. 20. Cynthia L. Cordes and Thomas W. Dougherty say that Some jobs, such as those in helping professions (counselors, health care professionals, and social workers) and those with continuous high stress (air traffic controllers, customer service representatives and stock brokers) are more likely to cause burn out. 21. Joseph Seltzer and Rita E.Numeroff say When people become burnout, they are more likely to complain, to attribute their errors to others, and be highly irritable. They feel alienated which drives many of them to think about leaving their jobs, to seek opportunities to become trained for new careers. 22. According to Satish Chandra Pandey Indian Philosophy approach is catching the attention of western industrially- developed countries to cope with stress. Meditation and yoga are being practiced by more and more countries. Satish Chandra pandey has developed a model for stress management based on Indian Philosophy consisting of Upanishads, Vedanta, etc. 23. Robert Krietner and Angelo Kinichi say Work stress model contains a typical model of occupational stress, stressors lead to stress, which in turn leads to variety of consequences. The model also contains several variables that help moderate the stressor-stress-outcome relationship. 24. John V.Grimaldi and Rollins H.Simonds tell that Group level stressors are caused by group of dynamics and managerial behavior. Managers create stress for employees by 1. Exhibiting inconsistent behaviors 2. Failing to provide support. 3. Showing lack of concern. 31

4. Providing in adequate direction. 5. Creating high productivity environment. 6. Focusing on negatives while ignoring good performance. 25. Steven Mc Shane and Mary Ann Von Glinow say other serious interpersonal stressors are the rising ware of physical violence and aggression in the workplace. It is estimated that more than 1000 employees are murdered each year in U.S. work place violence include assaults, rape and threats of using a weapon. 26. According to The Hindu news paper Behavioral scientists are of the opinion that Stress has behavioral, cognitive and physiological consequences. Researches proved that stress produces harmful physiological outcomes. Research is now in progress to co-relate stress with work related behaviors and cognitive outcomes. These studies indicate that stress is negatively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment and performance and positively related to turnover. 27. According to Don Hellriegel Overtime, emotional exhaustion leads to depersonalization, which is the state of psychologically with drawing from ones job. This finally results in a feeling of being unappreciated, in effective or inadequate. The additive effects of these three phases are a host of negative attitudinal and behavioral outcomes 28. Ivancevich says Organizational coping strategies aimed at eliminating stress often includeImprovements in the physical work environment Job redesign to eliminate stressors, Structural reorganizations, Work shops dealing with role clarity and role analysis. 29. According to Ivancevich and Matteson Programs of stress management targeted at perceptions and experience of stress and outcomes of stress include: Team building, 32

Behavior modification, Workshops, On time management, Physical fitness programmes, Training in relaxation techniques. 30. Jerald Greenberg and Robert A. Baron say Prolonged or repeated exposure even to mild levels of stress may interfere with effective performance. The greater the complexity, the lower the levels of arousal at which a down turn in performance occurs. 31. According to Baron Pertman and E.Alan Hartman Between 1974 and 1982, forty eight attempts were made to define burnout, chronic emotional stress with, a) Emotional and/or physical exhaustion. b) Lowered job productivity c) Over depersonalization. 32. Christina Maslach and Susan E. Jakson say Emotional exhaustion can also manifest itself when workers who care in the business of dealing with the other people lose their ability to be at the peak performance in dealing with others.

33

CHAPTER 3 COMPANY PROFILE

34

COMPANY PROFILE

INDUSTRY PROFILE

Leo Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

has built a reputation of delivering software and business companies in Hyderabad, India.

management solutions that provide measurable results. It has been recognized as one of the fastest growing

Leo Labs growth can be attributed to the company's focus on quality, consistency, and long-term vision. While many Software companies chased the market to find revenue in the latest fads, Leo Labs IT Solutions remained focused on delivering proven business solutions to its clients Utilizing our project management methodology that has produced esteemed results for our clients, we are strategically establishing new offices in markets that offer opportunity. This methodology, combined with the extraordinary talent of the local managing directors and exceptional consultants with their years of experience, will develop offices to serve our clients and partners.

In order to thrive in an interconnected economy, the service offerings by Leo Labs IT Solutions meet the demands of an ever-changing business environment. Leo Labs delivers fresh solutions with seasoned professional developers and consultants who 35

have one singular focus: Ensure that everything we do delivers value to our clients and moves their businesses forward giving them the edge in the demanding business world.

VISION

We provide our customers with the highest levels of service, quality, and efficiency. The enduring and personal relationships we hold with our clients, gives us the advantage of a loyal, well-established client and partnership base. We offer the assurance that company needs will be met now and in the future.
MISSION

To be globally recognized as a provider of a trusted, reliable resource to quality Information Technology (IT) solutions. To build worldwide partnerships for success. To give the clients a competitive edge. To enhance the operational efficiency and financial advantage to clients. SOLUTIONS Business Intelligence Business Strategy E-Business/Web Services Enterprise Application Integration Integrated Marketing It Strategy Development Process Development

36

Business Intelligence Leo Labs IT Solutions Business Intelligence solutions are designed to empower organization with information. In today's highly competitive and dynamic business environment, Information is vital to survival.Organizations spend millions of dollars on business solutions that are designed to capture data, but little is done to transform this data into meaningful business information. That's where Leo Labs IT Solutions Business Intelligence solutions come in. Using our proven methodology, we deliver key business metrics to desktop in a timely fashion, with a format that is both intuitive and highly interactive. Our Business Intelligence solutions are designed to give you direct access to the information that you need, when you need it. This effectively removes IT from the middle of the information-delivery chain, freeing this critical resource to focus on other business problems. Leo Labs Business Intelligence solutions are designed to empower organization with the information necessary to make critical business decisions. Our team delves into operational systems and transforms data into meaningful information. Our solutions are differentiated from traditional reporting applications by presenting information in a format that is simple to understand, easy to navigate and extremely powerful in its analytic capabilities. Traditional reporting systems just present the data. Our Business Intelligence solutions allow the business user to actively participate in the analysis of multiple interrelated business metricsall within the context of a simple user interface. For example, using our Business Intelligence solutions sales management can identify the mostor leastprofitable product lines, geographical regions, customers, and sales reps in less Mouse clicks. Our solutions are able to seamlessly cross the functional boundaries within organization. This means that sales, services, operations, logistics, and finance are all working off the same vision of customers, products, orders, inventory, and acquisitions. Each department seamlessly works with the same information and is able to analyze this information in a format most conducive to getting its particular job done all without the involvement of IT resources. Leo Labs Business Intelligence solutions are customized for specific informational needs. In addition to delivering custom 37

business metrics, we leverage our experience in order to deliver standard business metrics that are important to all organizations. Leo Labs Business Intelligence team has delivered solutions across a wide range of industries. Our consultants are versed in the latest trends, tools, and technologies. Having successfully participated in numerous Business Intelligence engagements, our consultants are well equipped to deploy the solution most suited for particular business challenges. Leo Labs IT Solutions has an entire practice dedicated to delivering Business Intelligence. Our focus is on delivering solutions that will be effective in unique environment. Unlike many companies that resell technology, Leo Labs IT Solutions believes that technology is only an enabler of the business solution. This approach gives us the freedom to choose the best technology for particular business equivalents. Organizations have invested a lot of time, effort, and financial resources into the applications that run business. Leo Labs Business Intelligence solutions are designed to maximize those investments by harvesting data and rendering it in new and innovative waysgiving the organizations a competitive advantage in the market place.

Leo Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

helps public sector and commercial clients build their

organizations by delivering measurable improvementsevery time. Whether through enhancing productivity, improving operational efficiencies or increasing revenue and growing profitability, Leo Labs understands both the immediate and long-term goals that work for todays organizations. Our proven experience and innovative solutions are designed for one purposeto give the edge. Business Strategy: BUSINESS CONSULTING The greatest accomplishments begin with an architect plan. We believe that Leo Labs IT Solutions is the advisor that the company needs most as you begin to conceptualize the business road map. 38

Our business consulting team is the cohesive mortar that unites our various disciplines. By focusing on company's strategic objectives, we are able to design, develop, and implement the solutions that will produce measurable change across the enterprise. As the foundation of Leo Labs IT Solutions, this business-centric philosophy permeates our various discipline leaders. Whether a developer or a designer, the goal of producing custom business solutions is paramount.

DEFINING DIRECTIONS Our ability to offer guidance throughout the highest levels of leadership is cultivated by our ability to architect and execute solutions that matter most. This focus on sound strategic direction provides a high-level road map that can manage and expand channels, enhance revenue, and penetrate markets that may have previously been inaccessible. Our knowledge and use of business intelligence tools allows our clients to make calculated decisions based on real-time data, thus providing accurate and effective results FORMING A STRUCTURE Our skill in analyzing company's internal structure enables Leo Labs IT Solutions to enhance business processes, operational efficiencies and manage or reduce overall costs. By optimizing supply chain through supplier collaboration and rationalization we can improve the relationships that support business. EXTENDING RELATIONSHIP By helping to orientate leadership direction and formulate operational practices, Leo Labs IT Solutions can also effectively refine how company goes to market. By 39

improving the ways in which the company deploy their sales force, manage traditional customer relationships and build an integrated marketing and communications plan, we can help the craft every touch point between the company and customers.

E-Business/Web services: E-Business is much more than buying and selling over the Web. In the simplest sense, it is the use of Internet technologies to improve core business processes. And, while technology makes e-business possible, e-business isn't about technology. It's about connecting core business systems and processes to customers, suppliers, and employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. E-business? E-Business can help companies meet today's business challenges head-on. Whether it's increasing revenue or decreasing costs, reaching new customers or better serving existing ones, a solid e-business infrastructure provides the foundation to deliver true value to stakeholders.

Important reasons to become an e-business include the following:

Increase revenue Decrease costs Improve employee efficiency Expand market reach Strengthen business relationships Improve customer satisfaction

40

At Leo Labs IT Solutions, we know that the success of our company depends on our ability to provide world-class, e-business solutions with real business value to our clients. We understand the business impact of e-business. Our experts have helped many companies leverage the Internet with the following solutions: E-commerceallows companies to buy and sell products and services online. Business intelligenceallows companies to acquire data about their customers to provide better service. Customer relationship managementprovides the ability to support and retain profitable customers . Supply chain managementstreamlines end-to-end processes associated with the flow of products.
Enterprise Application Integration

Leo Labs IT Solutions development team is designed to partner with our clients to address many business critical issues and objectives. Leo Labs IT Solutions knows how to use state-of-the-art technologies to provide targeted, world-class integration solutions that address unique business needs. THE NEED Are the companies getting the most out of the Web and core business-system implementations? Are these applications connected throughout the organization? Does the company question whether or not the integration between applications is able to support the company changing business process needs? Do your business associates have access to accurate, relevant, and timely information for critical decision-making? With ever-increasing pressure to be as efficient as possible, Enterprise Application Integration is becoming vital to organizations of every size. EAI is used to interconnect existing information systems, prior technology investments, and business partners systems and data. As enterprises grow and recognize the need for their information to be shared between systems, companies are investing in EAI to streamline processes and keep disparate elements of the enterprise interconnected. THE SOLUTION 41

SAP--This solution provides end-to-end functionality for business analytics, financials, human capital management, operations, and corporate services -- and allows you to upgrade to the full range of SAP solutions.

Enterprise Resource Planning [ERP]--Seamless ERP Implementations and Upgrades, Efficient Support and Quicker Return on Investment (ROI) on their Enterprise Applications is what every organization dreams of.

Leo Labs ERP team has over 50 highly qualified Consultants, offering a unique blend of business vertical knowledge and technical expertise that meets its customers' Enterprise Application requirements from a Short-Term Goal Realization perspective, as well as a Long-Term Total Cost Operations Reduction Leo Labs solutions are implemented using a framework that enables your organization to integrate and extend your business applications across and beyond the enterprise. Our solutions address specific business challenges such as:

Finding cost savings by integrating business applications and processes with flexible and scalable long-term solutions

Maximizing the return-on-investment from the Web site and core business system implementations by creating tight inter-application integration Having real-time access to more accurate and timely business data to make better decisions, reduce cycle times and increase operational efficiencies Selecting the right technical architectures and vendor products to maximize efficiencies and compliment your existing and future state enterprise architecture

Creating integration between co-existing business units as well as for the assimilation of mergers and acquisitions Linking to and collaborating with a variety of customers and partners with different needs or standards directly or through market exchanges

OUR EXPERIENCE

42

Leo Labs IT Solutions development team continues to deliver solutions across a wide range of industries and functional areas. Our solutions are aided by our strong partnerships with leading industry vendors. As a result, our consultants are well versed in the latest trends, tools and technologies best suited for the particular business and technical challenges.

THE ADVANTAGE Leo Labs IT Solutions focus is on delivering solutions that will be effective in the unique environment. Our experience and vendor neutral position allows us to choose the best mix of technologies for the particular environment. May organization has invested significant time, effort, and financial resources into the applications and information systems that run business. Leo Labs IT Solutions, solutions are designed to minimize these investments by identifying and simplifying the processes that will provide secure and timely access to your companys information assetsgiving the organization a strong competitive advantage. Integrated Marketing: Successful Integrated Marketing solutions take three key elements in order to produce value: solid strategy, quality design, and measurability. SOLID STRATEGY By understanding competitive landscapes, identifying audiences, and estimating the return on investment, Leo Labs IT Solutions can help out making intelligent marketing decisions that provide maximum returns. We analyze the company business objectives and determine a path of communication that will reach the consumer or client base on a more consistent basis. QUALITY DESIGN

43

Integrated Marketing utilizes a variety of media and channels. It employs designers that understand these mediums and can translate their designs into effective communications. Leo Labs designers have the expertise to match visual design with the appropriate language and elements, essential in improving response rates and reaching near to intended audience.

MEASURABILITY Leo Labs IT Solutions specializes in business intelligence tools that can analyze data, response rates, and demographics. By having access to this information in real time, we can effectively tailor communications to increase response rates, measure return on investment, and make intelligent decisions on the media best suited for your business objectives. Leo Labs IT Solutions can enable the company to take advantage of the technology and talent that is available to drive consumer demand, sales, and the message of the organization. IT Strategy Development Over the past few years the role of technology in business has become a critical success factor. Many organizations leverage information technology to help them deliver their products and services. But few organizations truly realize the business benefits that can be achieved from an effective technology strategy. The rapid pace of change in technology provides companies with new, cost-effective mechanisms to communicate with their customers, suppliers, employees, and key business partners. Properly harnessed, technology initiatives can enrich customer relationships, shorten supply chains, and streamline a number of internal processes so that a true return on investment is realized. The first step is to create alignment and consensus within the organization and build an action plan around those initiatives that will deliver the highest return.

44

STRATEGIC PLANNING SOLUTIONS Leo Labs IT Solutions Strategic solutions leverage a proven methodology to help our clients fundamentally align and leverage technology in order to achieve enterprise business objectives. We devise these strategies by examining the current infrastructure, IT organization, business processes, organizational objectives, and key stakeholders. Then we align technology solutions in a way that ties these stakeholders to the business systems and processes within the organization. Strategic Planning Service Features

Aligns technology infrastructure and initiatives with high-priority business processes and organizational objectives Focuses on the needs of the key stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees) and not on the limitations of technology. Provides qualitative and quantitative measures of the success of the strategy or business continuity plan. Creates alignment, consensus, and accountability for the prioritized initiatives among executive leadership and line of business management.

Our strategic planning solutions can be used to help the organization during its annual planning, or throughout the year as industry and market trends demand. Strategic planning may be necessary in the following situations:

When a competitive advantage is needed to demonstrate quality of service When the organization seeks to expand while maintaining existing operational infrastructure (capital and human resources) When audits have identified gaps or weaknesses in business or IT capability 45

When structural organizational changes occur (acquisition, merger, or divestiture) When no business continuity, disaster recovery, or emergency management plan exists

Process Development Leo Labs Business Process Improvement solutions are designed to help the company to streamline the processes that are critical to managing business.

Organizations need to optimize the business process, but seldom do. Thats where Leo Labs Business Process Improvement solutions come in.

Using our proven methodology and toolsets, we deliver key business results in a timely fashion. We help to achieve improved customer service, cost reductions, and capacity expansion.

THE NEED Are the company key performance metrics out of alignment with the competitors? Are the customers reducing their lead times? And do the company employees continually executive a process that is loaded with no valueadd tasks?

These are the questions that many organizations are faced with on a daily basis. The reality is that most organizations could be handling these processes much more efficiently, providing significant business value and competitive advantage. THE SOLUTION

46

Leo Labs IT Solutions Business Process Improvement solutions are designed to position the organization to take advantage of the opportunities and quickly address the challenges. Our solutions are able to seamlessly cross the department and operational boundaries within the organization. Our focus is to ensure that participants within a process are all working off the same vision and driving toward the same goals. Leo Labs IT Solutions Business Process Improvement solutions are customized to your specific needs. In addition to delivering the customer business metrics, we leverage our experience in order to rapidly deliver best practices that have proven to be important to many of the organizations that we have worked with.

OUR EXPERIENCE Leo Labs IT Solutions Business Process Improvement team has delivered solutions across a wide range of industries. Our consultants are versed in the latest trends, tools, and technologies being deployed as part of these solutions. Having participated in numerous Business Process Improvement engagements Our consultants are well equipped to architect and deploy the solution most suited for your particular business. Our solutions are aided by our strong focus on economic and financial analysis.

THE ADVANTAGE Leo Labs IT Solutions has an entire practice dedicated to delivering Business Process Improvement solutions. Our focus is on delivering solutions that will be effective in the unique environment. We believe that our vendor focus on economic and financial analysis is a key differentiator from our competition.

47

Many Organizations has invested a lot of time, effort, and financial resources into the applications and information systems that run your business. Leo Labs IT Solutions Business Process Improvement solutions are designed to minimize those investments by identifying and simplifying the processes that support the company, giving the organization a strong competitive advantage.

Services: Product Development: Leo Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. fosters rapid, framework and component-based development approach to build mission critical, off-the-shelf products and applications. We have developed products and solutions on leading technologies with a strong orientation toward standards-driven architecture.

Our process driven approach forms the foundation for engaging with customers, to build high quality, cost-effective products and applications. Over and above, we lay our thrust in understanding customer needs to devise optimum design and development strategies that would enable them to market their product quickly.

Leo Labs IT Solutions has the concept of Framework and "Component Based Development" for product / application development and reusability and provides costeffective services to our customers for outsourced product development.

PRODUCT MAINTAINANCE AND SUPPORT Leo Labs IT Solutions offers maintenance and support services to the customers as part of its service offering. Leo Labs has a clearly laid down methodology for such maintenance engagements. Over the years we have gained substantial experience in

48

providing 24/7 maintenance support remotely, to the customers. Leo Labs has the expertise and ability to meet the needs and expectations to support the applications.

ONSITE MAINTAINENCE In this approach, the Leo Labs team at onsite will carry out all the maintenance and support for the application. However the offshore team based at Leo Labs development center will be extending the support for the onsite team on any technical issues that they may have. They act as a backup and in the event of any emergency; can immediately act as a replacement. OFFSHORE / REMOTE MAINTAINENCE The remote maintenance approach adopted by Leo Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to carry out the maintenance is explained below.
Receiving the issue:

The onsite technical support team receives the issue from client

either through any of the following media like e-mail, telephone, mobile phone or instant messenger services. A ticket number generated would help the offsite team identify each issue.
Study and Analysis:

Once the problem Ticket issue is received, the Onsite technical

team makes a careful study of the issue and analyzes its complexity.
Estimation:

After a through analysis the work estimation is made and it is placed before

the client through an offsite support Manager. Based on the estimated time and priority, the issue is then scheduled to be resolved either by the onsite team or by the offshore team.

Scheduling:

Identify the best suitable team member(s) for solving the issue and assign

the tasks to that particular resource(s). 49

Solution:

The assigned team member(s) provides the solution as specified in the given

task document in a scheduled time adhering to the quality standards, he also provides a standard document describing the work done.
Testing:

Test the changed code as per the Maintenance Manual. Update the

documentation as required
Log Maintenance:

Logs will be maintained for future use by the offsite as well as

offshore team for all the support issues that have come up.

Application Development With increasing demands, enterprises worldwide are finding it difficult to implement, and support new applications, while at the same time, maintaining and upgrading their existing systems. To overcome the situation, companies must seek to expand development capacity, accelerate time-to-market, and build flexible distributed delivery models to negotiate risk.

There are benefits in building software to improve existing business processes rather than changing proven procedures in order of work within the constraints of off-the-shelf applications. Leo Labs addresses these issues and will help you to remain in step with and ahead of your competition by continuously improving your information technology-based business solutions.

We remain focused on developing the best solution to respond to each client's individual business needs. Through our advanced consultative approach, Leo Labs assists in clearly defining organizational goals and determining where the current systems meet these goals, where they fail, and how they can be improved through our custom applications solutions. Our experienced team will work on the project from its conceptualization through and beyond its completion and implementation. Our focus areas include extranet, intranet, business-to-business, e-commerce solutions, software, database and other industry applications. 50

Our Services in these areas are focused on:

Application Development - This includes web based, client/server application development and enhancements to legacy applications. Migration and Customization - This includes version Upgrade Services, Database migration, Re-engineering, Functionality upgrades and Porting. Implementation Support - Routine Maintenance and Functional Enhancements. Development and Testing - Component Development and Unit Testing, System and Integration testing

Application Maintenance Leo Labs IT Solutions provides comprehensive software application maintenance services for medium to large enterprises. Services range from undertaking maintenance of existing applications to adding new functionality. Deep experience in understanding and maintaining large applications coupled with an expertise in new technologies help to not only prolong the life of existing applications but also infuse fresh blood into the system. A team of dedicated software engineers are available round the clock both onsite and offsite to handle all maintenance related issues from defect fixing to adding new products and functionality. Application maintenance deals with

Promptly fixing software problems that cause the system to be non-operative or to perform incorrectly Implementing changes, improvements, and enhancements to the system.

Interaction Leo Labs IT Solutions has rich experience in successfully executing large IT outsourcing projects with well-established Infrastructure. Leo Labs Interactions, the BPO arm of Leo Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Aims about reducing the operational costs for its Clients by improving the outsourced processes and increasing their productivity. The strong parentage of Leo Labs IT Solutions provides the right mix of Infrastructure, 51

People and Processes to the clients. The partnership offers technical expertise coupled with global call center expertise. To keep pace with today's economic environment, organizations need to focus on their core competence. The easiest way of doing this is to partner with a service provider like Leo Labs Interactions, who understands the company business and solves non-core, yet critical business processes. Leo Labs Interactions interest lies in a long-term partnership addressing all aspects of the outsourcing requirements from clients. Leo Labs Interactions gives the very best in bringing cost efficiency with quality processes, round-the-clock operations, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a committed people force.

It offers Industry-specific services to customers. For instance, in the Insurance and Healthcare sector, it addresses Claims Processing, Policy Issuance, Premium Accounting, etc. It also offers Front Office services like Contact Centers for Customer Service. It provides Product Support & Technical Help Desk services as well as BackOffice Processes in the areas of Accounting, HR and other Transaction Intensive activities. Business Process Outsourcing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has changed the way the world does business, and this trend is only likely to accelerate. BPO is quickly emerging as a key enabler of all high performing organizations. More and more businesses and governmental leaderscross industry, organizational size and geography are turning to BPO to help them elevate their organizations performance.

Through the right mix of business process improvement, labor arbitrage and technology enhancements, BPO is aimed at reducing cost, increasing service levels and thus improving the enterprise value of the business processes. Blending qualified workforce and faster adoption of well-defined business processes leads to higher productivity gains without compromising on quality.

52

The availability of cost effective skilled resources - that is well educated and able to converse in English, well-developed communication infrastructure and software sector as well as an appropriate time difference with other countries, help in making India a favorite destination for the BPO industry.

R&D Outsourcing The story of Research and Development Outsourcing in IT in India dates back to 198586 when Texas Instruments (TI) established its development center in Bangalore. Today, the R&D services outsourced to Indian companies include product development, embedded technology, software engineering, encryption and network security and chip design services. After IT services (ITS) and IT-enabled services (ITES), a new opportunity for Indian companies is the arena of related product and technology services for independent software vendors (ISVs).
The factors driving the increasing momentum of R&D off-shoring / outsourcing industry are:

Availability of highly skilled manpower Cost-effectiveness Proximity to fast-growing Asian markets Benefit of follow-the-sun schedules Information security solutions

Organizations worldwide have begun focusing on outsourcing activities to ease the pressures of financial performance, quality, productivity and time-to-market. To increase the competitiveness of their businesses, organizations have been laying greater emphasis on R&D Outsourcing to leverage internal resources and capabilities with external sources of research and technology. Visual Soft's R&D Outsourcing services include: 53

Technology/Product Research & Development Real-time Integration of system designers and development engineers 'virtually' into the client's developer team Transfer of technological know-how and expertise to make the client's vision into a reality

Our R&D Outsourcing Services help organizations reap the advantages of a 24/7 Product Development effort by reducing the development life cycle and enabling faster time-to-market. In addition, clients have access to our large pool of diverse skill sets, which negates the need for their employing a costlier resource base.

R&D Outsourcing activities at Leo-Labs

Supported by Our Technology Excellence Groups (TEG), our research labs work in areas of information technology that range from Software Engineering Processes to Application Research. Some of our recent areas of focus include Biometrics and Authentication Frameworks. We create tools, IP assets using cutting edge technologies that enable our clients to maximize their returns on R&D investments. Our work across disciplines is often done in concert with our colleagues who have extensive expertise in large research centers, as well as in the marketplace.

Our services help customers to:

Avail cost-effective Offshore Development Service Protect their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by following established processes for secure communication and protection Build resource pools consisting of focused R&D teams for new initiatives in specific technologies 54

Reduce development time and effort Minimize risks and improve product quality

Technology Excellence Group (TEG) Leo labs have established structured Technology Excellence Groups (TEG) to foster innovation. The following Technology Excellency Groups have been formed:

.NET J2EE Web Services Legacy Security Embedded Systems Mobile Application Servers Database Knowledge

Our Value Proposition

Leo labs Strategic Partnership with the client would help the client leverage our Technology labs and Development facilities, quickly build resource pools consisting of focused R & D teams for new initiatives in specific technologies

Our dedicated Technology labs for the client's R&D division acts as Virtual Extension in terms of Vision, People, and Infrastructure Protect client's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by following established processes for secure communication and protection Our strong focus is towards the quality of solution we deliver and support we offer to our client Our extensive skills in developing re-usable components, frameworks and expertise in executing complex solutions gives advantage of high-quality, costeffective development to our customers 55

We make sure that our work is towards minimizing the business risks and speeding up the entry of new products in the market.

Call Center Services Our focus has been to continually find new and better ways to help our clients make profitable connections with their customers. Whether you need messaging or answering service, inbound call center services, outbound call center services, email support and online chat, we can help out to make the most of every contact Inbound Teleservices Our call handling and inbound telemarketing services for business-to-business and business-to-consumer campaigns will help drive customer acquisition, increase customer retention, improve sales and rapidly expand your markets. Our inbound supports include: Help Desk: 24 Hours /Day, 365 Days /Year Technical Support Requests For Maintenance Support Requests For Maintenance Support Inbound Telemarketing / Up-Selling & Cross-Selling Requests for Samples Order Status: Customers can check on the status of their order at any time Dealer Locate: Callers are given information on the store or dealer nearest to them. Ticketing Sales Subscriptions Fundraising Advertising Co-Op Claim Processing Rebate Processing Insurance Claims Processing Product Recall Management Customized Interactive Voice Services Overflow, Off-Hour And Weekend Call Handling

56

Fax on Demand: An access channel for those customers who need documented answers or written confirmation

Outbound Teleservices
Our tele-professionals help out to turn the company prospects into customers, and then our customers into advocates. We focus on building a relationship that lasts by using a personalized approach that provides the value addition necessary to maintain and grow your client base. Our outbound capabilities include: Telemarketing and Sales: We use predictive dialing to connect to customers. Our tele-sales techniques also include: Reactivation: Approaching your 'expired' customers with the right offer Targeting: Isolating key decision-makers and discovering their budgets before you spend resources on more costly mail or sales calls New Movers: Tapping people who have just moved residence, for example, and asking them to pre-register for your service or organization Renewals: for publishing and finance, telemarketing is by far the most efficient way to secure repeat buyers Aftermarket Sales: Contacting new customers and securing additional sales, even when other products are seemingly unrelated.

Clients:

57

is a leading player in the global energy market and is a dynamic growing business with operations in 20 countries over five continents.
BG Group

is part of the Centrica Group, which also operates under the British Gas, Scottish Gas and Dyno brands in the UK . Onetel is the UK 's largest integrated communications service provider
Onetel

AB's satelliteTV-platform covers 15 countries in Europe and reaches more than 50 million viewers.
Viasat

is committed to innovation designed to provide the clients with significant gains in the quality of their systems.
Soft Service

is an Offshore Outsourcing Web Development Company and E-commerce Software Development firm offering IT Outsourcing.
Scarlet infosystems

LogicSoftware,Inc.is

specialized in the development of custom software applications and offshore software outsourcing services. Richard Daley

is a leading Global IT Powerhouse based in India focused in developing online web applications.
Silicon Valley

is an offshore software development company from Belarus, offering an unbeatable combination of custom software development solutions, systems reengineering, software testing and QA services.
Qulix Systems

Richard Daley Associates (RDA)

provides software development, web development, software training and software consulting to its clients.

Alsoft Solutions,Inc

StarSoft Development Labs Agitar

global IT Services firm specializing in end-to-end Solutions and Product Development

is one of the fastest growing software outsourcing service providers in Russia and Eastern Europe.

was founded in June 2002 and is working on test automation research and development since 1995.

58

Vested Development Inc. (VDI)is a leading

global outsourcing provider of offshore software development services.

Web Solutions is an offshore web design and development company based in Novosibirsk, Russia. We offer ours customers a full range of IT services.
Eurostudio

Resources: ........................................................................................................................................................................................

59

Stylus Inc was launched out of a 2 bedroom house in 1999 -probably the reason why our employees, clients and vendors feel at home when they visit us in our current 3 storey office today.

Inkorus Group of Companies have 24x7 operations and have a reach to the Global offshore outsourcing arketplace through their offshore software development centers across North America, Asia-Pacific, EU and Middle East regions.

BrainPulse is a premium managed web hosting company in India, providing web hosting solutions for Linux and Windows platforms.

CodeLance brings together those in need of custom software evelopment with freelance programmers from all over the world. How does it work?

Binary Semantics Driven by the vision to provide customer centric and cost effective solutions to organizations, we have grown into a company with wide range of service offerings to meet all your outsourcing needs and concerns.

Cranberry Offshore web design and development company in Delhi India for web design, website development, ecommerce website, corporate website design, website maintenance and flash based web design services.

e-infinity solutions is leading provider of information technology service to business and government world wide founded in 2003 infinity has the experience business operations.

Gateway TechnoLabs is a Software Outsourcing & Offshore Software Services Company specializing in the business of providing services to its clients globally.

Developers.net Now you have a solution. Track-It! Standard. Its the perfect solution for tracking and managing of your IT assets and end-users help requests. It helps increase the level of IT support.

Genisyl offers website development, designing & packaged software, search engine optimization for websites & multimedia & corporate presentations.

IT Outsourcing Guide maintains a detailed list of IT outsourcing companies around the world offering offshore software & product development solutions & 60

Web Design & Development is identical to offshore outsourcing services in India, offering world class offshore web design, software & e-commerce development. Software Consultant is a leading offshore IT consultant, Offer IT consultancy

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS

DATA ANALYSIS

1. Periodiacal increase in salary

SL NO Particulars NUMBER 61 OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENTS 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total 12 23 3 9 03 50 24 26 6 18 6 100

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 24% of the respondents strongly agreed and 26% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 6% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 18% of the respondents disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. Interpretation: Half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about periodical increase in salary.

2. Job security existing in the company

SL NO 1 Particulars Strongly agree NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE 30

RESPONDENTS 15 62

2 3 4 5

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

18 11 3 3 50

36 22 6 6 100

Job security existing in the company

S eries1
40 30 20 10 0 Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Series 1

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 30% of the respondents strongly agreed and 36% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 22% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 6% of the respondents disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed that there is job securitiy existing in the company. Interpretation: Half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about job security

3. Good relations with the co-workers

63

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly agree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 30 54 16 0 0 100

RESPONDENTS 15 27 8 0 0 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 30% of the respondents strongly agreed and 54% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 16% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 0% of the respondents disagreed and 0% strongly disagreed that there is good relation with coworkers. Interpretation: Half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about good relations with co-workers.

4. Effective performance appraisal system

64

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 20 46 16 12 6 100

RESPONDENTS 10 23 8 6 3 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 20% of the respondents strongly agreed and 46% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 16% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 12% of the respondents disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed that there is a effective performance appraisal system. Interpretation: Half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about effective performance appraisal system.

5. Effective promotional opportunities in present job

65

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 18 52 18 6 6 100

RESPONDENTS 9 26 9 3 3 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 18% of the respondents strongly agreed and 52% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 18% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 6% of the respondents disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed that there is effective promotional opportunities. revealed Interpretation: opinion Half of the total sample positive about effective promotional

opportunities in present job.

6. Good safety measures existing in the organization

66

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 30 46 6 12 6 100

RESPONDENTS 15 23 3 6 3 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 30% of the respondents strongly agreed and 46% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 6% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 12% of the respondents disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed that there are good safety measures existing in the organization. Interpretation: Half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about Good safety measures existing in the organization.

7.Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated

67

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 18 46 12 3 18 100

RESPONDENTS 9 23 6 3 9 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 18% of the respondents strongly agreed and 46% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 12% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 3% of the respondents disagreed and 18% strongly disagreed that the performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated.
Interpretation: Less than half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated.

8. Support from the co-worker is helpful to get motivated

68

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 20 46 0 12 6 100

RESPONDENTS 12 29 0 6 3 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 20% of the respondents strongly agreed and 46% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 0% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 12% of the respondents disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed that the support from the co-workers is helpful to get motivated. Interpretation: Less than half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about Support from the co-worker is helpful to get motivated.

9.Career development opportunities are helpful ot get motivated

69

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 20 52 4 8 16 100

RESPONDENTS 10 26 2 4 8 50

S eries1
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Agree

Series1

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 20% of the respondents strongly agreed and 52% agreed that there is a periodical increase in salary. 4% of the respondents were neutral in their opinion. 18% of the respondents disagreed and 16% strongly disagreed that there is career development. Interpretation: Less than half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about career development.

10.Factors which motivates you the most

70

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5

Particulars Strongly increase Promotion Leave Motivational talk Recognition Total

NUMBER

OF PERCENTAGE 42 30 6 10 12 100

RESPONDENTS 21 15 3 5 6 50

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 42% of the respondents are motivated by salary increase, 30% by promotion,12% by recognition,10% by motivational talk,6% by leave. Interpretation: Less than half of the total sample revealed
positive opinion about which motivates.

11.Incentives and other benefits will influence your performance

SL NO 1 Particulars Influence NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE 64

RESPONDENTS 32 71

2 3

Does not influence No opinion Total

12 6 50

24 12 100

C olum n1
Influence Doesnot influence No opinion

12% 24% 64%

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 64% of the influence and 24% of them does not influences and 12% of the respondents were of no opinion. Interpretation: less than half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about incentives and other benefits.

12.Management involves you in decision making which are connecting to your department
SL NO 1 2 Particulars Yes No NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE 94 0

RESPONDENTS 47 0 72

Occasionally Total

3 50

6 100

Data Analysis: The above graph indicates that 94% of the respondents strongly agreed yes and 0% agreed no. 6% of the respondents occasionally in their opinion. Interpretation: less than half of the total sample revealed positive opinion about Management involves you in decision making which are connecting to your department. 13. Measures suggested by employees to reduce stress (Graduates & PostGraduates)

60 E G A 40 T N E 20 C R E P0

EDUCATION VS MEASURES TO REDUCE STRESS

GRADUATION POST GRADUATES

1 MEASURES TO REDUCE STRESS 2 3 4

73

1. Counselling

2.Job Rotation

3.Relations

4. Recognition

INTERPRETATION: It has been found that 30% of the graduates require less counseling when compared to 43% of the postgraduates. There is not a much significant difference between graduates 35% and postgraduates 36% who give equal importance to job rotation. And the interpersonal relationships are found more in postgraduates 29% than 29% the graduates 24% It has been found that 53% of graduates feel the need for recognition of god work where as 36% of the postgraduates feel less the necessity for recognition of good work as means to reduce the stress.

14.Perception of experienced employees about stress PERCEPTION OF EXPERIENCED EMPLOYEES

PERCENTAGE 100 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 STRESS FACTORS EX>10 YEARS 5-10 YEARS 1-5YEARS

1.Work load

2.Meeting Targets

3. Performance Anxiety 74

INTERPRETATION: It has been found that 88% of employees with more than 10 years of experience are facing more workload when compared to 71% of 5-10 years and 50% 1-5 years. But employees with more than 10 years of experience are facing less stress in meeting targets as that of 5-10 years the difference is very minute. It has been found that the 33% of those having more than 10 years and 1-5 years of experience face more performance anxiety.

15.Problem areas identified by experienced employees. EXPERIENCE VS PROBLEM AREAS 100 PERCENTAGE 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 PROBLEM AREAS 4
>10 YEARS 5-10 YEARS 1-5 YEARS

1.Health 2. Psychological 3.Interpersonal Relationship 4.Work Itself INTERPRETATION: It has been found that the employees having more than 10 years of experience (77%) are facing more health problems. And 33% of employees with experience 1-5 years are facing health problems less compare to employees of more than 10 years experience. It has been found that 28% of Psychological problems are same among the employees who are having experience of more than10 years and 5-10 years than those of 1-5 years experienced employees.

75

They is not a much significant difference between the employees with more than 10 years experience 22% and 5-10 years experience 25% who are facing equal problems interpersonal relationships and there are no interpersonal relationships with 1-5 years experience of employees. 57% of employees with experience 5-10 years are facing problems in work itself and it is less in 10 years experienced employees 44%, and 50% in 1-5 years experienced employees due to more workload.

16. Suggestions by experienced employees for Changes at their work place.

EXPERIENCE VS CHANGES AT WORK PLACE 80 PERCENTAGE 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 CHANGESAT WORK PLACE 1.Timely Targets 2.Distributed Work load 3.Periodic Relaxation >10YEARS 5-10YEARS 1-5YEARS

INTERPRETATION: From the above we can analyze that (33%) employees of 15 years equally feel the need for distributed workload and periodic relaxation and these feel there should be 50% timely targets.

76

It has been found that 58% employees of 5-10 years experience desired distributed workload and they want 43% periodic relaxation as they face more work load. 67% of more than 10 years experienced employees desire to distribute workload and 39% periodic relaxation and 22% feel to have timely targets.

17.Measures given by Experienced Employees to reduce work stress.

EXPERIENCE VS MESURES TO REDUCE 100 80 60 40 20 0 1

1.Counselling

PERCENTAGE

>10 YEARS 5-10 YEARS 1-5 YEARS

2 3 4 MEASURES TO REDUCE
3.Relations 4. Recognition

2.Job Rotation

INTERPRETATION: It has been found than t55% of employees with 10 plus years of experience feel the acute need for counseling compared to those witless than 5-10 years and 1-5 years of experience. It has been analyzed that 57% of those with 5-10 years experience feel the need for job rotation than those with 10 plus years of Experience (44). 77

It has been found that 39% of 10 plus experience employees maintain good relationship compare to those of 5-10 years of experience employees. It has been found that 85% of those with 5-10 years experience feel the need for recognition of good work compared to 66% of those with 10 plus years and 1-5 years of experience.

18. Perception of employees about HR dept in implementing work

Stress Management techniques

HR DEPT. IN IMPLEMENTING WSM TECHNIQUES

10% PREPLANNED OPINION OF THE EMPLOYEES

90%

INTERPRETATION: 90% of the analyses says that HR department must take the opinions of the employees regarding the implementation of work stress management 78

techniques and 10% of the employees wants to be pre-planned by the HR department itself.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

79

FINDINGS

On the basis of detailed study and observation the following findings have been drawn. Half of the employees of the organization have not accepted
that there is periodical increase in the salary.

Few employees of HFIL opined that there is no job security in the organization. Less than one fourth of the employees are not satisfies on the relations with co-workers. The remaining employees have revealed positive opinion. More than on fourth and less than half of the total employees felt that the performance appraisal system in not effective. Three fourth of the employees are satisfies with the promotional policy. But Few employees are not satisfied.

Most of the employees feel that Stress is a Demand or Pressure and some feel that it is a Psychological response which takes a toll on their health. 2. Major reason for Stress as felt by most of the employees is poor planning of job and they are pressured by their Superiors. Considerable amount of the employees feel that Stress makes them to learn challenging things and some feel that it makes things adverse. Most of the employees viewed that Stress can be managed by planning their job schedules in proper way. The organization is not taking initiative to help employees their Stress. Some of the respondents are helped by their Friends, majority of them

80

are helped by their Family and rest by their colleagues to overcome the Stress. Employees use short breaks in between work, and have fun with colleagues and apply Relaxation techniques. Maximum number of the employees feels that they require Stress management training sessions at regular intervals. Employees lose their interest towards work due to Stress and maximum number of employees feel that it leads to Frustrations Due to Stress most of employees have used stress relieving tools and it has helped them to overcome stress

SUGGESTIONS
On the basis of above findings the following suggestions have been drawn. The management should provide assurance to the employees that there will be positive changes in the pay policy in the best interest of the employees and management, which will increase the motivation levels of the employees. Lack of job security leads to higher levels of stress in employee, which may decline his productivity. To handle this contingency , the management should provide job security. As regards to good relations with the co-workers, management should provide good working environment by conducting different programs like training, counseling, mentoring etc. , which will improve congenial employee relations that enhances smooth work flow. Stress should be only to extract positive results from the work done by employees. Stress should be positive to motive and enhance their performance standards. Job planning and scheduling should be done in a more pragmatic and practical ways 81

avoiding burden to the employees. The environment should be such that healthy relations prevail in the Organization. There should be excursions and outings at least once a month so that belongingness towards the Organization and towards employee relations could be maintained.

In spite of conducting Stress management sessions by management, majority of respondents are not aware of these programmes, which indicates communication gap. Thus it is suggested to have an effective communication system.

Meditation, Yoga along with physical exercises, counseling sessions, should be planned, scheduled, implemented for the employees. Two short breaks one in the morning and one in the afternoon sessions between the working hours should be introduced for the relaxation so that they are not continuously confined towards their job and work.

Stress cannot be avoided in the Organization but the superior should take extra care to incline the Stress towards positive direction to extract the maximum output with the satisfaction of the employees.

As the maximum number of employees felt that training Stress management is essential, it is suggested to the management to take special interest in conducting trainings or Yoga classes at regular intervals

82

CONCLUSIONS
In todays world stress management plays a vital role in achieving organizational excellence at par with competitors. The reason for stress to arise lies on both, the management and the employees. At HFIL , management was successful in handling the stress to a maximum extent, but the above study revealed few minor factors due to which some percentage of employees are undergoing stress. If the management could the follow suggestions provided in this study then it may be possible to eradicate stress in the organization completely and improve employee satisfaction and productivity, that will lead to organizational excellence. As it is rightly said that the employees are the valuable assets of the organization, it is the responsibility of management to relive its employees from stress by conducting various stress relief programs.( Mentoring, counseling, Yoga, Physical exercises, recreational activities, meditation etc).

83

QUESTIONNAIRE Dear Respondent,

The objective of this study is to identify the existence of WORK STRESS in our Organization. Hence, I kindly request you to spend a little time in helping me know your views. Name Designation : Since how long have you been working in HFIL? a) Less than 1 year c) 5-10 years b) 1-5 years d) More than 10 years : Age Education : :

1. Do you think that you are undergoing any stress in your job? a) Yes If yes, 84 b) No

I. a)True a)True a)True a)Yes a)Yes

Job related Factors. b)false b)false b)false b)no b)no c) strongly agree d)strongly disagree

2. Do you think the present work timings are causing stress. 3. Are you facing stress, due to frequent transfers or constant traveling. 4. Do you think your present duties and responsibilities have inbuilt stress? 5. Are you facing stress due to lack of job security? 6. Is interdependence a cause of stress in your job? 7. Do you agree that you are facing stress due to overload of the work? a)Agree b) disagree

II.

Role related factors. disagree strongly agree strongly disagree

8. Dou agree that you are facing stress due to overload of the work? Agree

9. Do you agree, that you are undergoing stress due to role ambiguity. a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c)Disagree d)Strongly disagree

10. In the following factors where do you find stress? Interpersonal demands. Group conflict Unpleasant relationship Poor communication Lack of social support from colleagues. III. Organizational factors. 11. In the following organizational structural factors which factor is causing stress? Level of differentiation. 85

 Excessive of rules and regulations Lack of participation in decision making 12. In the following organizational leadership factors which factor is causing stress? Styles of leadership Culture Unrealistic pressures Excessively tight controls Routinely fire employees 14. Are you comfortable with the working environment in which you work? a) Yes b) No

IV Individual factors. 13. Are you facing stress due to lack of career changes? True. a)yes a) yes b)no b)no c) strongly agree c) strongly agree c) strongly agree d)strongly disagree d)strongly disagree d)strongly disagree 14. Are you facing stress due to financial problems? 15. Do you think you are facing the stress due to age factor? a)Agree b) disagree a)Agree b) disagree a)Agree b) disagree Ill health. Ill health of family members. Psychological problems Societal problems 86 16. Are you facing the stress due to job dissatisfaction. 18.Do you think the cause of stress is lack of performance due to inability. 17. In the following factors where do you find stress?

 Union problems Meeting targets in time Performance anxiety.

18. Do you thin work Stress Management improves the morale of the employees and employee Good Will? a) Yes b) No

19. What measures do you suggest in controlling the Stress causing factors? (Tick as many) a) Counseling c) Leisure breaks e) Sports activities g) Yoga b)Job rotation d Informal relationship f) Recognizing good work h) flexible work schedules

g) any other specify___________________________ 22. What are the Recreational Activities does your company provide to the employees to reduce the work stress? a) Recreational Tours c) Family Tours b) Sports Activities d) Honoring the hard working people

e) Others Specify ______________________

23 Does the HR Department consider employee opinion in implementing work stress management techniques? a) Pre-planned b) takes the opinion of the employees

24.Please give your valuable suggestions as to how stress can be effectively handled in your organization? --------------------------------

87

88

BOOKS:
Referred the book of Human Resource Management written by Aswathappa. WEB SITES: BIBLIOGRAPHY #www.hrnotes.com #www.google.com

89