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3556 items in total found

Working Papers | 1987

Growth Variations Across Developing Countries: How Much and Why?

Gupta G S

The paper examines the extent and the causes of variations in economic growth across twenty-nine developing countries. The sample countries come from Asia, Africa, and South/Central America. It finds that while Brazil, Cameroon and Korea have witnessed a relatively higher growth rates; Chile, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, and Jamaica have experienced lower growth rates during the Sixties and Seventies. The principal factors responsible for varying performances are found to be the saving/investment rate, export, government expenditure, price distortions and multi-national corporations economic penetration rate. While the first three factors promote economic growth, the last two hamper it.

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Working Papers | 1987

Male and Female Managers in United States and India: A Study of Change Agent Styles Personality Factors and Biographical Differences

Ottaway Richard N and Deepti Bhatnagar

This paper reports results of a study conducted to investigate the differences in male and female managers in America and India. Two samples were used, one male and one female, in each country. The samples were matched cross-culturally for comparability in age, education, and level of management in the company. The Indian data were collected from participants attending management development programmes at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. The American data were collected from attendees at MBA programs (evening and weekend further education for practicing managers) in business schools in New Jersey. Three questionnaires were used for data collection. Hall and Williams Change Agent Questionnaire was used to collect data on change style. Personality data was collected on Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire. The biographical questionnaires collected data on educational level, managerial level, age, salary, area of work, type of industry etc. Analysis of data showed the female managers to be significantly different from the male mangers. These differences were across all the three areas that were inveighed, namely, change agent styles, personality factors, and biographical characteristics. The female mangers used the credibility style of introducing change more often than the male managers. Female managers emerged as more hardworking, achievement-driven, having higher standards, experiencing greater conflict and being more hurting than their male counterparts. Female managers were younger, more educated and less paid than male mangers. A comparison of the American female managers with Indian female managers showed the former to be further behind the salary of male American managers than their Indian counterparts while being comparable in education and job status.

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Working Papers | 1987

Investigation of Decision Criteria for Investment in Risky Assets

Samir K. Barua and Srinivasan G

This paper examines the empirical validity of stochastic dominance rules and the mean-variance framework by analysing data generated through an experiment on individual investment decisions under uncertainty. The analyses indicated that none of the two approaches provided adequate explanation for the observed pattern of choice. An alternate framework, based on preference for skewness, in addition to mean and variance, was examined. This framework provided a significantly better explanation compared to the two parameter framework. The preference for skewness was significant at higher levels of borrowing and at all levels of wealth.

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Working Papers | 1987

The Decision Process of Individuals under Conditions of Risk: An Experimental Study

Samir K. Barua and Srinivasan G

Theoretical models in finance are many a time based on unrealistic assumptions about the behaviour of individuals. Empirical validation of the models is expected to vindicate the assumptions. However, in most situations, the approaches used for empirical validations suffer from serious limitations, either because of the nature of data used or because of the testing procedures used. Hence, the doubts about the underlying assumptions on individual behaviour remain unresolved. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study some common beliefs about behaviour of individuals in risky situations, through a controlled experiment. The results indicate that some oft-believed behavioural traits are indeed true, and the theories based on assumptions which are counter to these beliefs, need to be reconsidered.

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Working Papers | 1987

Organizational Behaviourial Issues for Managers and Systems - Analysts

Pestonjee D M and Singh G P

Present study is an attempt to explore the interrelationship between job satisfaction areas and different factors of role stresses in EDP managers and system analysts from Public and Private computer orgnaisations. 'ORS Scale' and "Job Satisfaction Inventory' were administered. The sample comprises of 70 EDP Managers (n = 35 Public Sector; n = 35 Private Sector) and 70 Systems Analysts (n = 35 Public Sector, n = 35 Private Sector). Critical ratio and product moment coefficients of correlations were computed to analyse the data. The findings revealed that EDP managers and system analysts of both, public and private organizations differ significantly in their perception of job area and management area of satisfaction. They also differ significantly on inter-role distance. In some comparison groups, they differed significantly in role stress factors like role expectation conflict, role overload, resource inadequacy, role stagnation and overall role stress. Coefficients of correlation between job satisfaction areas and role stress factors revealed that most of the role stress factors are negatively and significantly related with on-the-job satisfaction scores namely, job area and management area as compared to off-the-job satisfaction scores through out the four data sets. Among off-the-job satisfaction, the relationship between personal adjustment area scores and role stress factors in EDP managers (Public) and, social relations area scores and role stress factors in EDP managers (Private) were found to be negative and statistically insignificant. In case of the system analysts (Public) more role stress factors exhibited significant correlations with personal adjustment and social relations areas.

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Working Papers | 1986

Ecology, Market Forces and Design of Resource Delivery Systems: Socio-Ecological Perspective

Anil K. Gupta

Neglect of Ecological (i.e. edaphic, climatic and natural resource endowments besides man-biotic interactions) variables in organizational theory literature in west is understandable due to near complete subsumption of ecological forces by market forces. Such a neglect in developing agrarian societies is difficult to understand. The ecological forces shape the evolution of market forces in such societies. Any theory of organizations to be socially effective must be preceded by a theory of environments. The socio-ecological paradigm relying on interactions between four-S (space, season, sector and social stratification) provides one way of attempting unambiguous specification of organizations environments. Examples from various product, service and banking organizations are used to advance the above concept. There is a need for studying match or mismatch between portfolios of organizations with portfolio of economic enterprises evolved by different classes of rural producers in a historical context. The development is the process of reducing economic disparities, widening of individual decision making choices and extending time frame for appraising investment choices of the poor. The design and dynamics of developmental organizations can manifest these concerns best by explicit recognition of the challenges inherent in the transition of 'needs' poor have into demand they can articulate. The excessive reliance on market forces or voluntary organizations can not help bridge the regional, sectoral or social imbalances. The 'is' should not be allowed to become 'ought'. Values of researchers would need to be made explicit in this regard. Study of social articulation process particularly in backward regions endowed with risky ecologies will provide design avenues for socially responsive public and private organizations. The paper provides some arguments for reducing excessive reliance on study of intra-organizational variables in gearing organization towards the poor clients who can't protest, pester or persuade the researcher to do otherwise. At least at present.

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Working Papers | 1986

Pricing Policy of Forest Based Cellulosic Raw Materials for the Paper Industry in India

Gupta Tirath

The state governments and the paper making companies have been entering into long term agreements which specify duration of supply of agreed quantities of bamboo and pulpwood, royalty rates (note price), extent and frequency of revision in royalty rates, etc. the royalty rates have been extremely low mainly because these products from natural forests were trated as free goods. Though the rates have been enhanced by 300 to 400 per cent during the last 10 years, yet the principles for determining them have not been specified in a logical and accepted framework. On the contrary, conscious and unconscious attempts have been made at evading the issues. In this paper, logic and practicability of a number of suggested bases for pricing (not royalty) have been assessed. None of them can fully satisfy the concerned parties but, in the short run, a combination of past and current royalty rates, general price index, market price of comparable goods, etc. can be used for fixing administered prices of the natural forest products used by the manufacturing sector. The most viable alternative in the long run could be the cost of production from manmade plantations. The total demand for palpable materials need not be met from manmade plantations. The yield from natural forests can be substantially enhanced, and possibly at lower marginal costs. Experiences of pricing the materials from plantation crops should be available in not too distant a future, and should be usable for pricing the materials from natural forests with adjustments for differences in harvesting and handling costs, quality, etc. Pricing of outputs from industrial plantations raised by the forestry system need not necessarily equal the production costs. Adjustments on lower or higher side may have to be made to achieve wider socio-economic objectives: reduction in quantity of chemicals, power, water, consumer per unit of the industrial outputs; changes in the mix of conventional and unconventional raw materials; etc. An exercise for assigning weights to the variables can be carried out to facilitate objective policy formulation. Some of the prerequisites for that would be dispensation of current tensions between governments/forestry system and the industry and their willingness to share the quantitative and qualitative information.

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Working Papers | 1986

Demand-Supply Management of Forest Based Cellulosic Raw Materials for the Paper Industry in India

Gupta Tirath

The study focuses on bamboo and hardwoods which are the most important cellulosic raw materials for the paper and paperboards industry in India. There are perceptions of acute scarcities of these goods caused by rapid growth of the industry, competing demands, spurt of through regarding conflicts between environmental quality and production of tangible goods, inadequate management of natural wealth in the form of forest land, etc. Feasibilities of a few conventional and unconventional measures to enhance the productivity of common property wastelands in and outside the regular forest areas have been assessed. These include provision of additional approach roads and bridges, reduction of waste in harvesting, marginal technological changes such as use of portable mini chippers, improved silvicultural and biological management of natural forest areas, broader interpretation of the term plantations to able to harness the established root stock of hardy tree species, etc. It has been reasoned that productivity of two-thirds of India's forest land can be substantially enhanced within 8-10 years without making intensive use of capital and trained manpower, and this is the surest way to resolve the conflict between industrial and other uses of the forest produce, to obviate the need for conscious demand management, and to manage and enhance the quality of biophysical environment.

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Working Papers | 1986

Creating Demand Systems in Drought Prone Regions: Random Thoughts and Personal Field Notes from a Group Action-Research Project-Journal-II

Anil K. Gupta

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad had initiated an action-research project in three districts with similar ecological and social stress but dissimilar administrative system. A group of faculty members from Centre for Management in Agriculture and Public Systems Group pursued the idea of creation of demand groups of poor by the local bureaucracy on itself. The hope was that generation of this demand might help in counteracting the demand from vested interests resulting in unfair distribution of resources, information and services. The first journal of this project was written by late Prof. Ravi J. Mathai and the draft (written in 1983) reported here was expected to be the second journal. However, it never could be discussed in the group at length and hence remains author's individual understanding and account of a group action-research endeavour. It is hoped that various hypothesis which were generated might provoke more comprehensive, sustained and meaningful explorations by other colleagues. The ethical issues in initiating an endeavour of this sort without taking it to its logical conclusions will be discussed separately.

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Working Papers | 1986

Contributions to Judgement and Decision

Singh Ramadhar

This paper presents an overview of the theoretical, methodological, and applied contributions that the author's research program on prediction of performance has made to the literature on judgement and decision. It is shown that the rules people employ to combine information about motivation and ability in prediction of performance depend upon nature and difficulty of task as well as age, culture, and role of the judges. Also, subjects have separate initial opinions for cognitively distinct units, and they make imputations about unavailable information. Results from studies of school teachers and managers further disclosed that decision tasks have high construct validity and so they may be useful for selection and training purposes. New directions, for further research in judgment and decision are also discussed.

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