ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR I - HR101C

PROJECT 1

IDENTIFY AND STUDY A REAL CASE OF ALTERNATIVE

WORK ARRANGEMENTS

Submitted by,

VISHNA S NAIR

AM.BU.P2MBA21065

Submitted to,

PROF ANJU KAMAL

Objective: To study a real case of alternative work arrangements

and relate it with motivation concepts

Name of the Organization - SHRI SAI KRUPA ENTERPRISES

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

Introduction 3.

Method adopted for data collection from organization 4.

Mode of data collection from organization 4.

Informant details 5.

Alternative work arrangements applicable in the organization and 6.

relation with motivation concepts

Conclusion 8.

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INTRODUCTION:

Generally speaking, motivation is what energizes, maintains and controls behaviour. As such,
it is clear why it plays an important role in the workplace. But empirically measuring that role
is another matter; it is challenging to capture an individual’s drive in quantitative metrics in
order to ascertain the degree to which higher motivation is responsible for higher
productivity. However, it is widely accepted that motivated employees generate higher value
and lead to more substantial levels of achievement. The management of motivation is
therefore a critical element of success in any business; with an increase in productivity, an
organization can achieve higher levels of output.

Organizations that motivate their employees has shown that motivated employees will:

 Always look for a “better” way to complete a task

 Be more quality-oriented

 Work with higher productivity and efficiency

In summary, motivated employees will retain a high level of innovation while producing
higher-quality work more efficiently. There is no downside—that is the opportunity cost of
motivating employees is essentially zero, assuming it does not require additional capital to
coach managers to act as effective motivators.

Motivation adapts to many concepts such as Maslow’s hierarchy theory, theory X and theory
Y, Herzberg’s two factor theory, Vroom’s Expectancy theory, Goal setting theory and Self -
Efficacy theory. Simultaneously, these concepts can be related to applications in real case
like organizations. This project gives an insight of the same by taking a small organization
named ‘Shri Sai Krupa Enterprises’ and studying their work environment along with
alternative work arrangements and how the relationship of employees with the organization
and managers are reflected based on these scenarios.

Note: In this project of study, the references taken are from the informant.

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METHOD ADOPTED FOR DATA COLLECTION FROM THE ORGANIZATION:

The study of the objective was mainly done through questionnaire format. The format was
prepared in such a way that all information to be known were covered. These were enquired
to the proprietor, Mr. Satheeshkumar M Nair from the organization named Shri Sai Krupa
Enterprises. The questions prepared in the format are as follows:

1. What is the organization’s employee strength?

2. What is the role of each employee?
3. How many years have your employee worked there?
4. What is the management system maintained to keep the work relationship consistent?
5. Has the organization adopted any alternative work arrangements for employees during
pandemic situation? If so, what are the arrangements involved?
6. What time do your employees come and leave the organization?
7. How is the idea going for employees and the organization culture?
8. Is the same still continuing even now? How is it different from the conventional
working style?

These above questions have been noted in the following contents in the project.

MODE OF DATA COLLECTION FROM THE ORGANIZATION:

The data for the questionnaire as well as other related information were received from the
informant through call communication and in-person conversation. These modes were
advantageous as well as beneficial to know and receive the required information. In this
pandemic situation also, the organization was comfortable to pass on the information as per
requirement, keeping in mind all the pandemic regulations in safety.

The informants for communication were Mr. Satheeshkumar M Nair and Mr. Sreejesh Pillai.
Sreejesh Pillai is the marketing manager of Shri Sai Krupa Enterprise and was co-informant
for the information provision. He is one of the employees to experience one of the alternative
work arrangements outside of the organization.

The data collected also consisted of information regarding the benefits and rewards provided
to the employees and the file system of benefit provisions maintained to track the
information.

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INFORMANT DETAILS:

The informant contacted for fulfilling the objective of the project being the alternative work
arrangement opted for the motivation of their employees was Mr. Satheeshkumar Mundayil
Nair. He is the sole proprietor of Shri Sai Krupa Enterprises, which is a small enterprise firm.
The firm deals in the distribution of industrial and automotive lubricants and greases for
industrial and vehicular purposes. Although, Mr. Satheeshkumar M Nair is the proprietor of
his organization, he also manages the administrative work involved in human resources
management role such as recruiting employees, managing employee information data,
supervising the work culture and keeping his employees together in the profession.

Mr. Satheeshkumar M Nair has an experience of over 28 years in petroleum field of business.
He commenced his business as a distributor in 1992 and established his own firm in 1995. He
solely dealt his distribution business till now with exclusive products named Savsol which is
manufactured by Savita Oil Technologies Limited in Silvasa, Gujarat.

With all his efforts, Mr. Satheeshkumar M Nair has expanded his firm over the years for the
betterment of successful growth of the organization and employees. Back in 1992, the
organization focused on sales only within 30kms in Valsad. The annual turnover in 1992-93
was around ₹2 Lakhs. The growth of the organization was achieved from 2006 onwards
where the annual turnover maintained till date is increased to around ₹4 Crores. As compared
to 1992 situation consisting only retail outlet, presently the organization has expanded its
retail outlet into retail as well as wholesale divisions situated in posh area of Valsad where
the retail division is named as Umapathi Enterprises (200 sq. Ft.) and wholesale division
named as Shri Sai Krupa Enterprises (1600 sq. Ft.), both managed by the latter organization.

In 2016, he was given recognition award by the principal company Savita Oil Technologies
Limited for the exclusive distributor for two major districts namely Valsad and Navsari in
South Gujarat. He has also achieved the honor among selected distributors of Gujarat on
successful completion of sales target to visit and attend annual meets to Bangkok and Istanbul
conducted by the principal company in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Even today, he is valued as the exclusive distributor and for his consistent perseverance and
maintaining good relations with his customers and suppliers (principal company and depot in

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Silvasa) as well as developed customer reach in two main districts, Valsad and Navsari in
Gujarat as an organization.

ALTERNATIVE WORK ARRANGEMENTS APPLICABLE IN THE

ORGANIZATION AND RELATION WITH MOTIVATION CONCEPTS:

Alternative work arrangements are alternative ways provided for employees by the
organization to work professionally with flexible time and management. Alternative work
arrangements are commonly used today to enhance motivated job performance. Presently,
this arrangement is seen mostly after the pandemic hit in 2020 that is when several
organizations decided upon continuing their work from their residing places keeping
themselves safe and thereby even continuing the same after organization resume for the
employees and organization benefits. There are three ways of alternative work arrangements
named Flextime, Job sharing and Telecommuting.

In this study of organization, Shri Sai Krupa Enterprises has considered all the three
alternative work arrangements for the benefit of their employees as well as their organization.

1. Flextime:
Flextime, short for flexible time, is a work arrangement that allows employees to
choose the start and end time for their workday. As employees seek a better work-life
balance, flextime offers an opportunity to better manage their time. Flextime
employees are typically required to work during their employer's core hours.
Flextime work arrangements are popular because they help employees achieve a
positive work-life balance.  
Here, the organization that is, Shri Sai Krupa Enterprises offers the same to their
employees in terms of motivational benefits. The organization has a workday time
routine from 8 A.M to 6 P.M. The core time for employees to work is around 56 hours
per week that is 9 A.M to 5 P.M from Monday to Saturday where the flextime is 8
A.M to 9 A.M and 5 P.M to 6 P.M. The lunch hour in a day is 1-hour lunch followed.
Sunday is usually a holiday given to the employees there.
Upon asking the informant about this arrangement’s work flexibility, it was observed
that the organization and employees’ work vibes were parallel and going smooth
without any complaints. This arrangement has actually been a help to their employees

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 as they commute from far places so it gives them enough time to manage their
commute and work accordingly.

Relation with motivation concept:

The flextime can be related with the motivation concept of Theory Y. The proprietor
(informant) has witnessed the scenario where his employees are self-directed, they are
enjoying their work and also accepting responsibilities which is exactly what the
theory Y states.

2. Job sharing:
A job sharing arrangement is a full-time job split between two individuals, each with
responsibility for the success of the total job. One employee might perform the job
from 8 A.M to noon and the other from 1 P.M to 6 P.M, or the two could work full
but alternate days.
Here, the organization has the same situation with two of their employees Mr.
Balwant Patel and Mr. Yatin Patel, both responsible for delivering orders to
concerned customer parties. As per the informant’s views, these two employees’ part
their work together for an easy way to reduce their stress and work pressure. They
both would share their work in terms of alternate days as in Mr. Balwant Patel would
go for delivery on Monday, Wednesday and Friday whereas Mr. Yatin Patel would go
on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. This arrangement gives a convenient work style
for both employees and also creates a linear work flow for the organization with
customer satisfied relations.

Relation with motivation concept:

Job sharing can be related with Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, also called
motivation-hygiene theory. This arrangement clearly depicts two factor theory
(Herzberg’s view) as the employees are not dissatisfied with hygiene factors such as
salary, work conditions and company policies and they are satisfied with the
motivator factors such as growth, achievement and having responsibility. The
situation is witnessed by the informant as well as employees themselves as well.

3. Telecommuting:

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 Telecommuting is an employment arrangement in which the employee works outside
of the organization. Often this means working from home. Some employees
telecommute full-time, while others may work remotely for part of the week and
go into the office for the remainder of the week. The advantages of this alternative
work arrangement are that it is flexible, cost-friendly and provides employee
satisfaction.
Here, as per the informant’s say, one of the employees from marketing department,
Mr. Sreejesh Pillai, has undergone this work arrangement from home in Kerala. His
communication was solely on calls with the customers and other parties in regards to
product discussions, marketing plans, virtual meetings, etc. According to the
employees’ opinion, his experience was very satisfactory and convenient at the same
time. The work nature was flexible and advantageous for both employee and the
organization as there were no interruptions and disturbances.

Relation with motivation concepts:

This arrangement can be related to Self-Efficacy Theory. The theory refers to an
individual’s (here employee) belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.
Here, the informant’s observation has complemented this theory with telecommuting
work arrangement as the employees witness their capability of completing their task
with full dedication and satisfaction.

Conclusion:

The study on the alternative work arrangements in organization ‘Shri Sai Krupa Enterprises’
has given an in-depth insight of how the organization keeps their employees healthily
motivated by avoiding maximum work pressure and stress that could in turn affect
organization’s work flow. Since, employees are also the backbone of an organization, Shri
Sai Krupa Enterprises firm has assured their employees with quality work environment and
work benefits such as incentives apart from their salaries as a motivation to encourage them
to work harder and efficiently, maintaining their medical and travel insurance file system
from time to time for future benefit and many more.

Motivated employees put in their maximum effort for achieving organizational goals.
Motivation improves the work performance by bridging the gap between the ability and

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willingness to work. Better performance results in higher productivity and consequently
lower cost of production, more innovation, lower levels of absenteeism and great reputation
of the organization.