A REPORT ON THE

ORGANISATION VISIT TO

DESHABHIMANI Deshabhimani Road, Kaloor, Cochin.

Submitted By Sruthi R.Nair FM-736 Batch 9A

SCMS SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
PRATHAP NAGAR, MUTTOM, ALUVA, COCHIN 683 106

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
1.1 Introduction 1.2 Organization Profile 1.3 History 1.4 Industrial Relation in Deshabhimani 1.5 Competitors 1.6 Organization Structure 1.6. A. Merits of Functional Organization

CHAPTER II DEPARTMENT STUDY

2.1 Introduction 2.2 Department Heads 2.3 Editorial Department 2.4 Production Department 2.5 Editorial Department 2.6 Process 2.7 Purchase Department 2.7. A Functions of Purchase Department 2.7. B Purchase Procedure 2.8 Personnel & Administration Department 2.8. A Unit Manager 2.9 Marketing Department 2.10 Circulation Department 2.11 Advertising Department 2.12 Accounts Department

CHAPTER III
3.1. Additional Information 3.2 SWOT Analysis 3.2. A Strengths 3.2. B Weakness 3.2. C Opportunity 3.2. D Threats

LIST OF CHARTS, GRAPHS AND TABLES

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
A newspaper shall mean any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news. It is the most common non-personal communication channel. It is a type of print media. Advantage of newspapers is its flexibility and timeliness. It is a media having believability moreover it needs only low cost. A newspaper comes with a fresh daily and dies in the morning itself. It is a unique feature of newspaper industry compared to other industries. Newspaper reading has turned out as a habit of the people. It has been an inevitable part of every mans day to day life. Compared with other developing countries, the Indian press has flourished since independence and exercise a large degree of independence. British colonialism allowed for the development of tradition of freedom of press. The growth of the press in India is not limited and the expansions in terms of number, quality and circulation. Today the Indian press utilizes almost all technologies. Only a few Indian newspapers maintain production quality and circulation with the best among the international dailies.

1.2 ORGANISATION PROFILE

Deshabhimani is a prestigious daily newspaper in Kerala. Its an organ of the Kerala State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It is one of the most prominent newspapers in Kerala. It is run and published by CPM of Kerala, the paper holding out to strengthen the roots of Party in Kerala. It is published in six different editions in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Trichur, Kannur and Kozhikode. It is an undeniable fact that the newspaper holds a special position in the households of Kerala. The publishing history started in early 1942s, where it got converted into a daily in 1946. At present, V.V.Dakshinamoorthi, secretariat member of the CPI (M), is the Chief Editor of the paper and E.P.Jayarajan, the General Manager. Deshabhimani is considered as a peoples paper, as Marxist party themselves stood for the upliftment of the deprived. Communism is a socio-economic structure that promotes the establishment of a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production. The newspaper has always stood for the right and righteous, striving hard to voice against all the unethical upheavals, without fear of favour.

1.3 HISTORY

Deshabhimani has a predecessor, Prabhatham (which means 'Dawn'). It was started in 1935 and was the manifesto of the socialist group in the Indian National Congress. It was in 1942, through the efforts of eminent leaders like A K Gopalan and E M S Namboodiripad(who in fact donated all of his ancestral property for raising funds for the paper) Deshabhimani started and became the voice of the communist Party of India (later became Communist Party of India (Marxist)). Various personalities like E.M.S. Namboodiripad, V T Induchudan, K P R Gopalan and V. S. Achuthanandan, have served as the chief editors of Deshabhimani. So many notable Journalists of South India work with Deshabhimani. P Govindapillai, Ezhacheri Ramachandran, Prabha Varma, K.R.Ajayan, P.M. Manoj, A.V. Anilkumar, Baburaj, Sunil P. Elayidom, etc are some among them. Deshabhimani as an organ of the CPI (M) in Kerala, completed 60 years of its life in 2002, September 6. With its humble but hopeful beginning on September 6, 1942, it fulfilled a need of those turbulent days of our freedom movement. Its beginning was a culmination point of the hopes and aspirations of millions of the oppressed, repressed and suppressed toiling masses. The path it traversed was thorny. Often it faced brickbats from the authorities and adversaries, receiving at the same time bouquets from the masses. Prabhatam (The Dawn), started from Shornnur near Trichur on January 9, 1935, under the editorship of late Comrade E.M.S.Namboothiripad, is considered to be the precursor of Deshabhimani. Then came the Second World War which made the government promptly withdrew the license for publication without any rhyme or reason. Later the ban was lifted in 1942. When the party started functioning openly in 1942, it took initiative to have its open mouthpiece and that was how Deshabhimani was born at Kozhikode. It started as a weekly on September 6, 1942. The fund collected by A.K.Gopalan sustained it initially. Later, EMS disposed of his ancestral property and donated the entire amount of Rs.50, 000 which is a big sum on those days to the paper. Four years later, Deshabhimani changed to a four page morning daily on January 18, 1946. By that time Deshabhimani had become an instrument of fight for the struggling people. In order to improve the quality and meet the growing demand, the need to replace the double dummy cylinder press by a modern rotary press was felt in early

1947. The period 1948 to 1951, witnessed the severe repression against the party in independent India. The paper itself was on the brink of publication. But after release of AKG from jail in 1951, he took initiative to revive it. Then Deshabhimani resumed its publication on December 6, 1952. Since the Kozhikode edition alone couldnt meet the growing demand, the party took initiative to start another edition from Kochi in 1969, to cater the need of southern Kerala. The third edition started from Thiruvananthapuram on January 4, 1989. The next edition started at Kannur on January 30, 1994, a stronghold of the communist movement. The fifth edition started from Kottayam. The paper started its multi-colour edition at Kochi in 1993, and Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode in 1994. Kannur and Kottayam editions started with the colour printing installations right from the beginning. The internet edition started on January 1, 1998. From a very humble beginning in terms of assets and circulation, the Deshabhimani has become one among the largest daily in Kerala, reaching a wide range of readership. Now Deshabhimani is at a growing stage. So it started a new edition from Malappuram and Abhudhabi.

1.4 Industrial relation in Deshabhimani

Industrial relation is the collective relationship between union and employee which grows out of employment. The subject of industrial relations includes; 1. Industrial relation and joint consultations between employers and workers at work place.

2. Collective relation between employers and their organizations and the Trade Unions, and 3. The part played by the State in regulating the relations.

In Deshabhimani, industrial relation is professional and realistic. The rulemaking by employer-employees trade unions of Deshabhimani is within the statutory frame work so that uninterrupted production takes place. The method of adjustment and co-operation is perfect within the work place.

1.5 COMPETITORS
The main competitors of Deshabhimani are: 1. Malayala Manorama 2. Mathrubhumi 3. The Hindu 4. Indian Express

5. Kerala Kaumudi 6. Deepika Other Publications (Product Line) 1. Aksharamuttam 2. Deshabhimani Varanthappathippu 3. Sthree 4. Kilivaathil 5. Thathamma

OBJECTS AND VISION

Its main objective has always been acting as the eloquent mouth piece of the progressive forces with clear political vision an national and international issues. Its vision is to make Deshabhimani the largest circulation daily.

1.6 ORGANIZATION STUCTURE

Secretary CPI (M), State Committee

Printer & Publisher General Manager

Chief Editor

Resident Editor Unit Manager Assistant Editor

Circulation Manager Personal & Administration Manager Accounts Manager Advertising Manager Marketing Manager Desk News Editor Chief Sub Editor Sr. Sub Editor Sub Editor Bureau Bureau Chief Chief Reporters Sr. Reporters Reporters

Organizing is the managerial function of arranging people and resources to work toward a goal. Organizing plays a central role in the management process. Once plans are created the manager's task is to see that they are carried out. It is a function in which the synchronization and combination of human, physical and financial resources takes place. All the three resources are important to get results. Therefore, organizational function helps in achievement of results which in fact is important for the functioning of a concern. The organization structure that Deshabhimani follows is functional organization. It is the oldest type of organization. Each department is under the control of department head, which is completely responsible for organizing the department. Above all the departmental heads comes to the Unit manager to whom all departmental heads are responsible. The Unit manager will in turn is responsible to the Board of Directors. Functional organization is the one in which entire organizational activities are divided into

or grouped together on the basis of specific business functions such as operations, finance, marketing and personal relations. Organization contained 135 employees and 4 Board members. 1.6. A Merits of Functional Organization 1. Specialization- Better division of labour takes place which results in specialization of function and its consequent benefit. 2. Effective Control- Management control is simplified as the mental functions are separated from manual functions. Checks and balances keep the authority within certain limits. Specialists may be asked to judge the performance of various sections. 3. Efficiency- Greater efficiency is achieved because of every function performing a limited number of functions. 4. Economy- Specialization compiled with standardization facilitates maximum production and economical costs. 5. Expansion- Expert knowledge of functional manager facilitates better control and supervision.

CHAPTER II DEPARTMENT STUDY

2.1 INTRODUCTION

There are different departments in the company. They are; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Production Department Purchase Department Personnel & Administration Department Marketing Department Circulation Department Advertising Department Accounts Department

2.2 DEPARTMENT HEADS

Unit Manager Advertising Manager Accounts Manager Circulation Manager : C.N.Mohanan

: C.Venugopal : Ajayaghosh A.B

: T.A.Mathew

2.3 EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Chief Editor Resident Editor : V.V.Dakshinamoorthy : Prabha Varma

Printed and Published by E.P.Jayarajan on behalf of Pinarayi Vijayan, Secretary CPI (M), Kerala State Committee.

2.4 PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

Editorial Marketing

Advertisement

DTP

Layout

Plate Making

Printing

Bundling & Despatching

Distribution

Production depends upon the request from agents as per requirements. Production works are done through computers, according to daily needs and demands. Computers & scanners, plate making machine and printing machine are the various machines used for production. Inventories are new print, ink etc. The normal wastage is 4.5% which includes damaged copies, low quality product etc. Maintenance system is efficient and daily checking is done.

2.5 EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Chief Editor

Resident Editor

Assistant Editor

Desk

Bureau

News Editor

Bureau Chief

Chief Sub Editor

Chief Reporter

Sr.Sub Editor

Sr.Reporter

Reporter Editor

Editorial department is considered as the nucleus of all the newspaper industry. They play a vital role in every activity right from gathering the news from all parts till it is composed and printed. Various groups of officials work together for this and the copy desk handles the general news and the local desk handles the local news. The news is gathered from PTI, UTI and from other bureau office outside the State and abroad. There are also agents, part-time reporters, and part-time correspondents etc to provide various news. The news is collected through the proper channel and ensures its truthfulness before it is accepted. Different editors are in charge of different pages. The news is forwarded to the respective sub-editors from the news desk for editing and is paginated according to the importance of the news and send for composing and proof-reading. The sub-editors read the module thoroughly and check the headlines, caption and pictures and make necessary corrections if required and send for printing at the scheduled time. The scheduled time for first page is 8pm and for all other pages common time is between 7-10pm and should be made available before 1am for printing.

2.6 PROCESS
Gathering of News (National or International)

Editing

Proofing

DTP (Compose)

Proof

Page Layout

Plate Making

Output in the form of Newspaper

2.7 PURCHASE DEPARTMENT

Material Manager

Asst.Manager (Materials)

Purchase Manager

Clerical Staff

Every firm having production department cant function without a purchase department. They deal with the purchase of raw materials, spares, machineries etc. They have a centralized purchase system. They purchase the materials for all units through the head office except for miscellaneous items like office stationeries etc. And the newsprint purchased is stored in the godown at Kochi and is transported to the various units as when

required. Materials manager and purchase officer have got the signing authority. As of now, nine staff is working in the purchase department.

2.7. A FUNCTIONS OF PURCHASE DEPARTMENT

Major functions of the department are to purchase and deliver the required materials to the unit. Other functions include:   Checking of film rolls against the register at store. Preparation of bills for diesel consumed for generators, vehicles etc.

Major materials procured are:  News print which is purchased from Hindustan News Print Ltd, Velloor and also from Tamil Nadu mills.     Machines are purchased locally and are also imported ones. Printed Ink. Chemicals Other purchases such as purchase of miscellaneous items like pen, paper etc. These purchases are not centralized. It is done by each unit on their own.

2.7. B PURCHASE PROCEDURE

Its a five stage process which includes purchase requisition, purchase enquiry, receiving quotations, purchase order and recovering materials. Purchase requisition is a request sent to inform the purchase department about the need for materials. They have to fill a material requisition form for that. The particulars are entered in the store register and purchase register. Purchase enquiry is a process of sending prescribed enquiry form quoting the item, quantity, rate per unit etc. Receiving quotations is the process in which enquiry is send and quotations are invited from vendors. Purchase department will maintain for every group of materials a list of suppliers and their addresses. Purchase order is a written request to the vendor for specified goods at an agreed price. Recovering materials is the process in which goods are delivered and the store will issue the goods received not. Vendor will sent the bill, purchase order and compare the bill and is passed and forwarded to the accounts department.

2.8 PERSONNEL & ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

Personnel & Administration Department

Asst.Personnel & Administration Manager

Section Head

Clerk

Personnel and Administration department plays a major role in every organization. Successful running of an organization mainly depends upon the efficiency and effectiveness of the department to provide and delegate quality man power. The functions of Personnel & Administration department are:     Providing internal training to workers. To identify the man power requirements and make recruitment accordingly. To carry on periodical analysis of the performance of the employees. To maintain good and harmonious relationship between the management and the employees. To handle the grievances of the employees.

To ensure that promotions are provided according to the performance reports.

In Deshabhimani Personnel & Administration Department is functioning very successfully. It gives sufficient provisions for the employees. This department is constantly co-ordinating the mental and physical abilities of the employees. In the modern era of liberalization the employees play a vital role in its existence. Recruitment and selection are done on interview basis.

2.8. A UNIT MANAGER

Personnel & Administration Manager

Computer DTP

Printing

Plate-Making

Layout

Despatch

2.9 MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Space Marketing (Structure)

Senior Marketing Manager

Marketing Manager

Asst. Marketing Manager

Marketing Executives

News Paper Marketing (Structure)

Circulation Manager

Asst.Circulation Manager

Senior Clerk

Organizer

In Deshabhimani, the marketing has two parts. They are space marketing and news paper marketing. Space marketing is done through accredited and non-accredited advertisement under marketing managers. But newspaper marketing is done by circulation manager and takes all initiatives to get maximum advertisements. The communication and system followed is direct approach, telephone, e-mail, fax etc. In space selling the payment method is cheque, DD and by cash. For credited agencies settlement should be before due date and for non-accredited ones three months credit policies are allowed. But in newspaper selling the agents should remit monthly deposit and one month credit policy is allowed for them also. Every month Unit managers and marketing managers along with GM decide the various marketing activities.

2.10 CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

Circulation Manager

Asst.Circulation Manager

Section Head

Senior Clerk

Clerks

Circulation department is the centre point of a newspaper industry. They are entrusted with the responsibility of circulation of daily and publications. They decide the future growth of the newspaper and acts as a catalyst to increase readership. They coordinate the works of various bureaus. They collect the market feedback and take remedial steps to boost the circulation and follow up the collection from agents and ensure that the agents make their payment. They have to prepare statistical report on the basis of current position and also undertake promotional activities.

2.11 ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT

Advertising Manager

Asst.Advertising Manager

Senior Clerk

Executives

2.12. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT

Accounts Manager

Section Head

Section Clerks

In Deshabhimani, they had a fully computerized system. There exists accounting function and financial function. Accounting function involves day to day transactions namely receipt and disbursement of money salaries and wages. Financial accounting involves procurement of funds and effective utilization of the same in business. They prepare the annual budgets for the company. They deal with ink cost, newspaper cost, advertisement cost and cost of a newspaper per copy. For accounting they mainly depend on Windows Excel. They are associated with Indian Bank. All the salaries of the

employees are converted to their respective accounts of the bank. And the average salary is around Rs.15000/-.

CHAPTER III

3.1. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Deshabhimani had a sales turnover over 60 lakh. In which the advertisement section alone had 30 lakh and the production and sales had remaining 30 lakh. The number of employees associated with Cochin office is 120. In Deshabhimani they had an independent functioning of each department. They had the power to work as a cross-functional team. Some of the welfare activities maintained for employees are the canteen facility. They got Safety Council Award given by Government of Kerala on the basis of machinery used. The unit daily produces 100kg of paper as waste and is sold in the local market. Some of the promotional strategies introduced by Deshabhimani are a supplement named Aksharamuttom. They also conducted a quiz competition named Aksharamuttom Quiz Competition: for students. The sub-district wise competition was conducted on October 22, 2011 and the district wise competition was conducted on October 30. The State wise competition will be conducted in the month of November, 2011 at Kannur. In order to gain publicity and as part of promotional activity they had organized various events like music shows.

3.2 SWOT ANALYSIS

Business firms undertake SWOT which includes strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Through this analysis the strength and weakness existing within an organization can be matched with the opportunities and threats operating in the environment, so that an effective strategy can be formulated. An effective organizational strategy therefore is one that capitalizes on the opportunities through the use of strength and neutralizes the threats by minimizing the impact of weakness.

3.2. A STRENGTHS
  The strength of Deshabhimani is a well efficient management. It has different range of products such as Deshabhimani weekly, womens weekly etc.  There is good relationship, mutual understanding and co-operation among different departments.     The communication system has direct approach, telephone, e-mail, fax etc. In Deshabhimani there is no share and bowel. Machineries, building etc are the assets of Deshabhimani. The payment and collection is done through cash, cheque, DD etc. All assets are insured.

3.2. B WEAKNESS
   The quality of newspaper is very poor. This paper has no ISO Certification. The main weakness in Deshabhimani is that the decisions are taken only by the party.  Role of decision making of employees is very poor.

3.2. C OPPORTUNITY
  The industries opportunity is spread all over Kerala. They have to adopt new methods of production standards according to quality needed.

3.2. D THREATS
 Main threat faced by Deshabhimani is the competition from its rival companies