CHAPTER- I INTRODUCTION

The quality of work life approach considers people as an asset to the organisation rather than as costs. It believes that people perform better when they are allowed to participate in managing their work and make decisions. QWL motivates the people by satisfying not only their economic needs but also their social and psychological ones. To satisfy the new generation workforce, organisation needs to concentrate on job designs and work. Further, todays workforce is realising the importance of relationships and is trying to strike a balance between career and personal lives. Employees at the grass root level experience a sense of frustration because of low level of wages, poor working conditions, unfavourable terms of employment, in human treatment by their superiors and the like where as managerial personnel feel frustrated because of alienation over their conditions of employment, inter-personal conflicts, role conflicts, job pressures, lack of freedom in work, absence of challenging in work. Certain values were attributed to work in past. Work was worship and people had sincerity and commitment to work. But todays employee would not believe in such values of work. He works for his salary. He works hard if the conditions of work are conductive and congenial and terms of employment are favourable to him. As such, the work norms have been changing from time to time. Work norms in modern industry society indicate that, Employees role in industry is different from his role in family. Superiors know the best and he has the right to impose on the subordinates. Rules are for employees and they have to follow them and Employer has the right to lay off the workers due to marketing and technological factors.

Quality of work life refers to the level of happiness or dissatisfaction with ones career. Those who enjoy their careers are said to have quality of work life, while those who are unhappy or otherwise whose needs are unfilled can be said to have a low quality of work life. Quality of work life is a prescriptive concept, it attempts to design work environments so as to maximise concern for human welfare. It is a goal, as well as a process. The goal is the creation of more involving, satisfying and effective jobs and work environments for people at all levels of the organisations. As a process, quality of work life involves efforts to realize this good through active participation. The whole essence of quality of work life may be stated thus: the quality of work life is co-operation rather than authoritarian evolutionary and open rather than static and rigid; informal rather than rule-bound; impersonal rather than mechanistic; mutual respect and trust rather than hatred against each other. According to Loyd suttle, quality of work life in the degree to which members of a work organisation are able to satisfy important personal needs through their experience in the organisation. It focuses on the problem of creating a human working environment where employees work co-operatively and achieve results collectively quality of work life as it is understood today includes four essential elements. The programme seeks to promote human dignity and growth. Employees work collaboratively. They determine work changed participative, The programmes assume compatibility of people and organisational goals. 1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Human behaviour is the concern of every one. Employees are considered to be the wealth of the organisation. Since employees constitute the total work force he is motivated to carry out the responsibilities entrusted on him and much emphasis is given on the people doing the work rather than the work itself. Quality of work life is a way of thinking about people, work, and organisation. It explains the process through which individuals relate themselves with their work, organisation and people. In an organisation, it includes not only the physical entity but also the hierarchal and 2

status oriented position. In some organisation the hierarchy may be fall or flexible and in the others, it is just otherwise. It was assumed that a different level of quality of work life has an influence an organisational culture and organisational role stress. So, it is necessary that the organisation should maintain better quality of work life of employees. Hence, the study concentrates on the quality of work life of employees at Craftsman Automation Private Limited. 1.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study aims at finding out the Quality of Work Life (QWL) of the employees at Craftsman Automation Private Limited. It is based on the major factors that affect the QWL namely pay, work load, employees benefits, job security, alternative work schedules, worker participation, physical environment and total life space. The study expresses the opinion of workers on their satisfaction, motivational factors, and involvement levels in Craftsman Automation Private Limited. The response of the employees could be biased. The suggestion based on the finding would be immense help for the management to improve the quality of work life of employees in the organisation. 1.3 NEED OF THE STUDY The most significant resource of an organisation is often said to be its people organisation exist because of individuals without whom it cannot function. In fact, the challenge, the opportunity, and also the frustration, of creating and managing organisation very often originate from the people-related problems that arise within them people-related problems often stem from the mistaken belief that people are alike, that they may be treated identically. They would be a lot of variability in psychological features which demand attention. The present study designed as quality of work life is undertaken at Craftsman Automation Private Limited, to know how for the employees are satisfied with their jobs, salary, grievance redressal methods, working conditions, fringe benefits, job security, welfare facilities, physical environment and to assess the level of quality of work life.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To know about the quality of work life of employees working in the organisation. To study the level of satisfaction of workers with regard to the facilities provided by the organisation. To study about the employee active participation in decision making, job security, grievance handling and physical environment in the organisation. To know the satisfaction level of various benefits and welfare measures provided by the organisation. 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design A research design defines the structure or framework within research is carried out. In this study descriptive research design has been used in order to describe the quality of work life of employees. Area of the Study The study has been conducted in Craftsman Automation Private Limited, Coimbatore. The study concentrates only on the permanent employees. Sample Size The sample size adopted by the researcher in this study is 200. Sources of Data The researcher used both primary and secondary data, to accomplish the objective of the study. Primary Data The primary data has been conducted through the questionnaire from the employees of Craftsman Automation Private Limited. The questionnaire is designed in a systematic manner covering adequate and relevant questions which is useful to the study. 4

Secondary Data The theoretical aspects of the study is collected from various sources which includes books, journals, magazines, websites and other related projects. Sampling Technique The researcher adopted Simple Random Sampling Method to collect the data. Data Collection In this study the researcher has used the questionnaire method for collecting relevant information. The data has been collected from the respondents using the questionnaire. Data collection is carried out in the month of December 2011 and February 2012. Tools for Analysis The following tools are used in the study for the purpose of analysis Simple Percentage Analysis ANOVA T-test Chi-square Correlation Kendalls coefficient of concordance Hypothesis A suitable null hypothesis were framed and tested in the relevant places. 1.6 LIMITATIONS 1) This study is limited to Craftsman Automation Pvt Ltd only. The findings of the study are applicable to the employees of craftsman at the time of data collection and may not be applicable to other type of organisation. 2) Some statistical tools were used in this study. It has its own limitations. 3) Since the employees are busy with their work schedule, the researcher finds it difficult to collect information from them.

1.7 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Mohrman (1983) 1 made an attempt to study about the employee involvement in the organizations. The study notes that employee involvement and quality of work life efforts are gaining widespread recognition and use in U.S. These approaches are designed to improve organizational performance through increased involvement of employees in organizational decisions. The result shows that the movement has risen because much of the basic industry in the U.S. has been in decline and the behaviour patterns are common in declining organizations and the ways that these patterns will interact with employee involvement efforts. Charles (1991)2 in his study highlights the nationwide Quality of Work Life survey of approximately 4000 employees conducted in a large, American-based computer manufacturing corporation. The focal age group described as the work force "vanguard" to the 21st Century (those workers who will be in their late 30s to late 50s in the year 2000) reported significantly lower quality of work life factor scores than three older comparison age groups. The results show the effects of employee tenure, hierarchical level, and salary ranges were partialled out. This study suggest that new educational training opportunities could be provided, especially for the focal vanguard group in cognitive self-management skills and the human resource strategic decision makers regarding the new work designs that are responsive to their values and expectations. Sladek (1999)3 made an attempt to study about the various aspects of an employee's quality of work life. It notes that the struggle to meet work and daily life responsibilities puts a great deal of stress on today's employees. The study asserts that stress may be reduced and productivity may be increased if the employee is given the flexibility to allocate his or her time in a way that best fits work and life needs. This study has proved that the time flexibility has a positive impact on the bottom line, and that work/life programs tend to drive business and results by increasing the employee satisfaction. Scharitzer (2003)4 in his study highlights the quality institutionalization, as it relates both to perceptions of the work environment and quality of working life, in two organizations that differ significantly in their history of quality implementation. The American organization has been a pioneer among public sector organizations in adopting and implementing quality principles. The Austrian organization, similar in 6

basic organizational characteristics to the American organization, makes its first steps toward quality implementation. The results suggest that the American employees, with their longer history of quality implementation, developed more critical perceptions of quality institutionalization, compared with their Austrian counterparts. A successful implementation of quality was characterized in the American sample by a stronger integration of quality institutionalization, perceptions of work environment and quality of working life. Robert (2004)5 made an attempt to study about that how employee involvement programs (EIP) affect union commitment attitudes. The attitudes toward EIP may also be reflected by the member's level of quality-of-work-life programs, participation in decision-making and gain-sharing plans. A survey instrument measured the aspects of commitment and employee commitment. Data were solicited from 924 employees represented by unions at electrical power generation facilities in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. The results show only partial support towards the relationship between union commitment and organizational commitment and it is conceivable that the negotiations affected the employees' perceptions of both their company and their unions. Samuel (2005)6 in his study analyzes the dimensionality of the job descriptive index (JDI), the most widely used measure of job satisfaction. The reason for the wide use of the JDI is the care with which it was developed. The another reason is the applicability of JDI across a wide variety of demographic groups. The gathered data consists a sample of 2,700 employees on the quality of work life from a large U.S.based soft-goods company. The results showed a high reliability for the job descriptive index (JDI). Khairuddin Idris (2006)7 has conducted a study to determine the level and relationship between quality of work life (QWL) with career-related variables. The sample consists of 475 executives from the electrical and electronics industry in the free trade zones in Malaysia for both the multinational corporations (MNCs) and the small-medium industries (SMIs). The result indicates that the three exogenous variables are significant such as career satisfaction, career achievement and career balance with 63% of the variance in QWL. The respondents appeared to be satisfied in respect to the level of QWL (49.5%), career achievement (70.3%), career satisfaction (63.8%), but less for career balance (36.6%). These findings contribute to

an understanding of ways by top management in attempts to attain a career fit between the needs of the employees and the needs of the organization. Thomas (2007)8 made an attempt to study about the Quality of Work Life (QWL) in China in terms of how their work lives satisfy eight basic needs of employees and how the satisfaction of each individual need in their work life affects employees' job satisfaction, affective commitment, turnover intention, life satisfaction and general well-being. A total of 319 questionnaires were collected from eight organizations in Shanghai, China. The result shows the relationship between perceived QWL and all the dependent variables. The esteem need satisfaction is found to be the most important for life satisfaction. Dargahi (2007) 9 has provide insights into the positive and negative attitudes of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) Hospitals employees from their quality of life. The study was conducted among 908 TUMS hospitals employees by questionnaire at 15 studied hospitals. The results showed that the majority of employees were dissatisfied with occupational health and safety, intermediate and senior managers , their income, balance between the time they spent working and with family and also indicated that their work was not interesting and satisfying. The survey indicates that the TUMS hospitals employees have a poor quality of work life. They suggest to give more training and educations for TUMS hospitals managers. Kameswara (2009)10 made an attempt to study about the perceptions of the quality of work life (QWL) among a sample of Indian employees. Data are obtained from managerial executives through structured questionnaires. The results from the factor analysis suggest four dimensions of QWL labelled are, favourable work environment, personal growth and autonomy, nature of job and stimulating opportunities and co-workers. The results provide a useful benchmark measure of QWL in India. The findings support conceptualizations of factors involved in perceived QWL derived from different parts of the world. Saklani (2010)11 in his study aims to capture the Quality of Work Life (QWL) expectations of non-managerial employees in organizations belonging to different sectors of Indian economy. The sample size of 102 respondents drawn from 18 different organizations. The results can be contented that economic considerations continue to be of paramount significance to non-managerial employees in their QWL. Finally it is found that there is a substantial scope for improvement in non-managerial

motivation in a number of areas as depicted by a marked mismatch in employee expectations and perceived QWL existence in organizations in India. Kalayanee (2010)12 in his study investigates the association between institutionalization of ethics, quality of work life (QWL), and employee job-related outcomes in the Thai work place. The data were collected by the questionnaires mailed to human resource managers of 514 Thai companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The response rate was 31.9%. The survey results reveal a positive relationship between implicit form of ethics institutionalization and both lower-order and higher-order aspects of QWL. The results also indicate that the implicit form of ethics institutionalization and the two aspects of QWL have positive impacts on the three employee job-related outcomes: job satisfaction, organizational commitment and team spirit. Subrahmanian (2010)13 made an attempt to study about the constructs of quality of work life (QWL) based on the perspective of textile and engineering employees in Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu. The constructs of QWL discussed are job satisfaction, compensation, human relation, working condition, grievance, competency development, stress and well being. A structured, non-disguised interview schedule was prepared for the purpose of collecting the data. The sample was consists of 500 employees. The results show there should be an improvement in the hygienic and motivational factors such as training and development, human relation, work environment, work schedule and counseling. Stephen (2011)14 this study highlights the existence of quality of work life in organisation considering both employers and employees. The sample consists of 317 units of various Small Scale Industrial units in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai cities in Tamil Nadu. The list of industrial units was acquired from District Industrial Centre of these cities and units were chosen at random. The study reveals the important QWL factors and employers perception on variables in organisational excellence in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai cities of Tamilnadu. The results found that the level of perception on organisational excellence among employers is higher in Coimbatore than Chennai and Madurai cities.

Fernandes (2011)15 have made a study to investigate the impact of psychosocial aspects on the quality of life of teachers from municipal schools in Natal, Brazil. The research was conducted among 242 elementary school teachers by a questionnaire. The overall evaluation of quality of life showed that the physical and environmental domains had the lowest mean scores. According to the psychosocial aspects, most of the subjects (67 individuals = 32.1%) were characterized as having active work (high demand and control), followed by 54 teachers (25.8%) with demanding work (high demand and little control). These two groups have shown to be more affected in the assessment of physical (p < 0.001), psychological (p < 0.001), and environment (p < 0.001) domains of quality of life. This study conclude that the teachers who had tasks characterized as active and demanding were more affected in the quality of life domain. This finding suggests there is a need for greater investment in health-promotion policies among teachers. Sairamsubramaniam (2012)16 this study highlights the factors influencing the on quality of work life of bank employees in Coimbatore city of Tamilnadu. The sample consists of 100 employees and it has been collected from 23 branch networks of public and private sector commercial banks. This study focuses on the factors like quality of work life, socio-economic background of respondents, expectations of the employees in the work place. The result shows that the employees are facing poor life quality in the work place so the banking companies have to pay more attention on bringing the more work life quality policy to their employees and also the employees are expecting personalized benefits to meet their obligations and commitments. REFERENCES Mohrman1 Employee involvement in Declining Organisations, Human Resource Management; 1983, Vol.22 Issue 4, pp445-465. Charles2 Work Force Vanguard to the 21st Century a Quality of Work Life Deficient Prone Generation, Journal of Business Research; Aug1991, Vol.23 Issue 1, pp67-82. Sladek3 Work Life Balance of Employees, Indian Journal of Management; 1999, Vol.15 Issue 2, pp7-11.

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 Scharitzer4 Quality in the Public Sector from an Employee Perspective: results from a Transnational Comparison, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence; Jul2003, Vol.14 Issue 5, p541. Robert5 Employee Involvement affects Union Commitment, Journal of Labour Research; 2004, Vol.25 Issue 2, pp267-277. Samuel6 Dimensionality of the Job Descriptive Index, Academy of Management Journal; Mar2005, Vol.24 Issue 1, pp205-212. Khairuddin Idris7 An Analysis of Quality of Work life & Career Related Variables, American Journal of Applied Sciences; 2006, Vol.15 Issue 2, pp74-113. Thomas8 Quality of Work Life: A Study of Employees in Shanghai, China, Asia Pacific Business Review; Oct2007, Vol.13 Issue 4, pp501-517. Dargahi9 Quality of Work Life in Tehran University of Medical Sciences Hospitals: Clinical Laboratories Employees, Indian Journal of Management; Jul2007, Vol.7 Issue 2, pp226-287. Kameswara10 Perceptual Factors in Quality of Work Life of Indian Employees, Institute of Management Technology; 2009, Vol.13 Issue 1, pp104-109. Saklani11 Non-managerial Perspective of Quality of Work Life, Journal of Management Research; Aug2010, Vol.10 Issue 2, pp87-102. Kalayanee12 Quality of Work Life a Mediator Between Emotional Labour and Work Family Interference, Journal of Business Research; Jan2010, Vol.63 Issue 1, pp20-26. Subrahmanian13 Constructs of Quality of Work Life- A Perspective of Textile and Engineering Employees, Asian Journal of Management Research; 2010, Vol.6 Issue 1, pp103-186. Stephen14 Quality of Work Life and Its Impact on Organisational Excellence in Small Scale Industrial Units: Employee Perspectives, Journal of Contemporary Management Research; Sep2011, Vol.5 Issue 2, pp55-67.

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 Fernandes15 Impact of the psychosocial aspects of work on the quality of life of teachers, Journal of Management Research; Mar2011, Vol.6 Issue 2, pp106-167. Sairamsubramaniam16 Emprical Study on Factors Influencing on Quality of Work Life of Commercial Bank Employees, European Journal of Social Sciences; Mar2012, Vol.28 Issue 1, pp119-127. 1.8 CHAPTER SCHEME Chapter I: Chapter I deals with introduction, statement of the problem, scope of the study, objectives of the study, research methodology, limitations, review of literature of the study. Chapter II: Chapter II deals with profile of the study and profile of the organisation. Chapter III: Chapter III deals with analysis and interpretation of data collected from samples. Chapter IV: Chapter IV deals with findings, suggestions and conclusion.

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