ON
SUBMITTED TO
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
SRM UNIVERSITY
(Assistant Professor)
SUBMITTED BY
Acknowledgements
We express our sincere thanks to Mr S. Senthil Kumar, our Mini Project guide to
have given us the opportunity to work on such a challenging project. We also
would like to thank the commuter’s help, without which it would not have been
possible to accomplish the project successfully. Their timely feedback has
facilitated in bringing the project in the present form.
Last but not the least I would also like to thank our friends who took time off to
share insights about their experiences while travelling in EMUs. This helped us
immensely to understand the psyche of the consumer. We just hope that the
recommendations and suggestions presented by us are considered seriously.
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr. Mrinal Deo, Mr. Abhijeet
Sinha & Mr. C.Karthikeyan has successfully
completed the mini project, as a part of academic
fulfilment of Master of Business Administration
(MBA) in the area of Consumer Behaviour.
PREFACE
Today’s business dynamics is very fast; environment is changing. To understand
the changing market behaviour the organization has to do a systematic study. A
project work is a scientific and systematic study intended to catch the nerves of the
problem or issue with the application of management concept and skills. We were
assigned to understand the customer’s perception and attitude towards local trains.
This report has been complied preliminary in partial fulfilment of the requirement
for the award of the degree of management studies programme.
Apart from theoretical concept of the topic, we have included the findings and
suggestions.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and with the Thal
and Bhore Ghats inclines first occurred to Mr. George Clark, the Chief Engineer of
the Bombay Government, during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.
The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when 14
railway carriages carrying about 400 guests left Bori Bunder at 3.30 pm "amidst
the loud applause of a vast multitude and to the salute of 21 guns." The first
passenger train steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hooghly, a distance of
24 miles, on 15th August, 1854. Thus the first section of the East Indian Railway
was opened to public traffic, inaugurating the beginning of railway transport on the
Eastern side of the sub-continent.
In south the first line was opened on Ist July, 1856 by the Madras Railway
Company. It ran between Veyasarpandy and Walajah Road (Arcot), a distance of 63
miles. In the North a length of 119 miles of line was laid from Allahabad to Kanpur
on 3rd March 1859. The first section from Hathras Road to Mathura Cantonment
was opened to traffic on 19th October, 1875.
These were the small beginnings which is due course developed into a network of
railway lines all over the country. By 1880 the Indian Railway system had a route
mileage of about 9000 miles.
7566 - locomotives 37,840 - Coaching vehicles 222,147 - Freight wagons 6853 - Stations
300 - Yards 2300 - Goodsheds 700 - Repair shops 1.54 million - Work force
Indian Railways runs around 11,000 trains everyday, of which 7,000 are
passenger trains.
Scope of project
This project gave us great exposure to the customer’s perception, because it
includes the service offered. This project helped us in knowing the market
practically.
Our job
4. Finding out the problems that the commuters are facing while travelling.
Key findings:-
3. We also came to know while visiting the stations, that there was big problem
of less number of ticket counters.
4. Many commuters were facing the problem of wooden seats, which were
very uncomfortable.
5. As there were good number of coaches where the seating capacity is more
plying on the Beach-Tambaram route, travelling during peak hour time was
a nightmare.
SWOT
STRENGTH
Dedicated workforce
Service reliability
WEAKNESS
OPPORTUNITIES
With the airline industry facing severe crisis, Indian railways can encash on
this opportunity
By offering air-conditioned coaches in the local trains, they can target the
upper segment of the market
THREATS
Absence of passenger facility will drive away the customer to private modes
of transport
VISION:
To serve the customers with a smile and let them assure of excellent
services.
GROWTH STRATEGY
SLOGAN
81 stations
Book stalls
3. Longevity
5. Goodwill
The main objective of field survey during the project was to find out the
commuters satisfaction level of the services offered by Southern Railways.
The other objective of the research was to identify the other needs of
commuters with respect to number of trains plying on Beach-Tambaram
route.
Secondary objective
Research design:
• Descriptive Research
The type of research adopted for study is descriptive. Descriptive studies are
undertaken in many circumstances when the researches is interested to know the
characteristic of certain group such as age, sex, education level, occupation or
income. A descriptive study may be necessary in cases when a researcher is
interested in knowing the proportion of people in a given population who have in
particular manner, making projections of a certain thing, or determining the
relationship between two or more variables. The objective of such study is to
answer the “who, what, when, where and how” of the subject under investigation.
There is a general feeling that descriptive studies are factual and very simple. This
is not necessarily true. Descriptive study can be complex, demanding a high degree
of scientific skill on part of the researcher.
Questions and deciding the types of data to be collected and the procedure to be
used in this purpose.
Descriptive studies can be divided into two broad categories: Cross Sectional and
Longitudinal Sectional. A cross sectional study is concerned with a sample of
elements from a given population. Thus, it may deal with household, dealers, retail
stores, or other entities. Data on a number of characteristics from sample elements
are collected and analyzed. Cross sectional studies are of two types: Field study
and Survey. Although the distinction between them is not clear- cut, there are some
practical differences, which need different techniques and skills. Field studies are
ex-post-factor scientific inquiries that aim at finding the relations and interrelations
among variables in a real setting. Such studies are done in live situations like
communities, schools, factories, and organizations.
Another type of cross sectional study is survey result, which has been taken by me.
A major strength of survey research is its wide scope. Detail information can be
obtained from a sample of large population .Besides; it is economical as more
information can be collected per unit of cost. In addition, it is obvious that a
sample survey needs less time than a census inquiry. Descriptive research includes
survey and fact finding enquiries of different kinds of the major purpose.
Descriptive research is description of the state of affairs, as it exists at present. The
main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over the
variables; he can only report what has happened or what is happening. The
methods of research utilized in descriptive research are survey methods of all kinds
including comparative and co relational methods. The reason for using such needs
to be flexile in its approach, but a descriptive study in contrast tends to be rigid and
its approach cannot be changed ever now and then.
TAMBARAM RAILWAY STATION
After the research problem, we have to identify and select which type of data is to
research. At this stage; we have to organize a field survey to collect the data. One
of the important tools for conducting market research is the availability of
necessary and useful data.
Primary data: For primary data collection, we have to plan the following four
important aspects.
Sampling
Research Instrument
Secondary Data – Indian Railways profile, journals and various literature
studies are important sources of secondary data.
Data analysis and interpretation
1. Questionnaires
2. Pie chart and Bar chart
Questionnaires:
This is the most popular tool for the data collection. A questionnaire contains
question that the researcher wishes to ask his respondents which is always guided
by the objective of the survey.
Pie chart:
This is very useful diagram to represent data, which are divided into a number of
categories. This diagram consists of a circle of divided into a number of sectors,
which are proportional to the values they represent. The total value is represented
by the full create. The diagram bar chart can make comparison among the various
components or between a part and a whole of data.
Bar chart:
Preparation of report:
The report was based on the analysis and presented with the findings and
suggestions. The sample of the questionnaires is attached with the report itself.
Sampling Methodology:
Sample unit
Employees, Students
Analysis:
Q1. How long you’re using the EMU service?
b) 1-5 years
c) >5 years
8
7
6
5
4
NUMBER OF
3
RESPONDENTS
2
1
0
<1 YEAR 1-5 YEARS >5 YEARS
YEARS
INFERENCES:
1. Majority of the commuters has been using the EMU service for 1-5 years.
2. It shows that the faith imposed with EMU by the commuters and people are
loyal to EMU services.
Q.2. From which source station to destination do you commute?
a) Excellent
b) Very good
c) Good
d) Fair
e) Poor
4
Series1
Series2
3
0
EXCELLENT VERY GOOD GOOD FAIR POOR
MEAN TO COMMUTE
12
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS
10
8
Series1
6
Series2
4
0
MONTHLY BUYING WITHOUT
PASS TICKETS TICKET
INFERENCES:
3. This shows that Indian Railways gives special preference to their regular
customers.
Q.5.The level of satisfaction you get from EMU services
a) Highly satisfied
b) Somewhat satisfied
c) Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
d) Dissatisfied
e) Highly dissatisfied
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION
7
6
5 Series1
4 Series2
3 Series3
2 Series4
1
0
DISSATISFIED
DISSATISFIED
DISSATISFIED
SATISFIED
SOMEWHAT
SATISFIED
SATISFIED
HIGHLY
NEITHER
HIGHLY
NOR
INFERENCES:
SERVICE
a) Excellent
b) Good
c) Fair
d) Bad
e) Very bad
TIMING
a) Excellent
b) Good
c) Fair
d) Bad
e) Very bad
PRICE
a) Excellent
b) Good
c) Fair
d) Bad
e) Very bad
PERFORMANCE
a) Excellent
b) Good
c) Fair
d) Bad
e) Very bad
SATISFACTION SCALE
14
12
NO. OF RESPONDENTS
10
8
SERVICE
6 TIMING
PERFORMANCE
4 PRICE
0
EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR BAD VERY BAD
• Most of the commuters said that the service provided by railways is excellent
and none of them termed it as bad.
Q.6 Which is the best way to commute in Chennai City? (Rank your choice from
the list)
a) EMU
b) MTC
c) Own vehicle
d) MRTS
e) Cycle
14
12
NO. OF RESPONDENTS
10
0
EMU MTC OWN VEHICLE MRTS CYCLE
INFERENCE
1. Almost all of the commuters preferred EMU trains over any other means of
transport.
2. Usually the buses are crowded and people throng local trains.
a) Excellent
b) Very Good
c) Good
d) Fair
e) Poor
a) Excellent
b) Very Good
c) Good
d) Fair
e) Poor
III) Prompt services
a) Excellent
b) Very Good
c) Good
d) Fair
e) Poor
IV) Quality of refreshment stalls
a) Excellent
b) Very Good
c) Good
d) Fair
e) Poor
INFERENCE:
• Whereas majority of them were not satisfied with the number of ticket counters.
• Almost all of them rated the quality of refreshment stalls were poor or fair.
Every study has certain limitations. In my study, also there were certain limitations,
which we could not able to solve.
• Since, it was a mini project so the time available for this project was very
less and this was our major constraint.
• The number of people interviewed was very meagre, so there could be little
variation in the results.
• The sample size is also very small which represent my research on consumer
behaviour.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.indianrail.gov.in
• www.google.co.in
• www.en.wikipedia.org
• www.southernrailways.gov.in
Consumer survey Questionnaire
Respondent:
Name:
Age:
Sex:
Qualification:
Occupation:
d) 1-5 years
c) >5 years
From To
f) Excellent
g) Very good
h) Good
i) Fair
j) Poor
Q. 4. You commute daily with
f) Highly satisfied
g) Somewhat satisfied
h) Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
i) Dissatisfied
j) Highly dissatisfied
If you’re highly dissatisfied, state the reason why:
SERVICE
f) Excellent
g) Good
h) Fair
i) Bad
j) Very bad
TIMING
f) Excellent
g) Good
h) Fair
i) Bad
j) Very bad
PRICE
f) Excellent
g) Good
h) Fair
i) Bad
j) Very bad
PERFORMANCE
f) Excellent
g) Good
h) Fair
i) Bad
j) Very bad
Q.7. Which is the best way to commute in Chennai City? (Rank your choice from
the list)
f) EMU
g) MTC
h) Own vehicle
i) MRTS
j) Cycle
f) Excellent
g) Very Good
h) Good
i) Fair
j) Poor
f) Excellent
g) Very Good
h) Good
i) Fair
j) Poor
III) Prompt services
f) Excellent
g) Very Good
h) Good
i) Fair
j) Poor
f) Excellent
g) Very Good
h) Good
i) Fair
j) Poor