CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1
 EMPLOYEE MORALE

Morale is basically a matter of human behavior. Larry Flippo defines

morale as a mental condition or attitude of individual and groups which
determines their willingness to co- operate.

Morale in general sense is referred to 'willingness to work'. High morale is

the result of job- satisfaction which is again the result of motivational attitude
of the management.

Employee Morale refers to an attitude of satisfaction with a desire to continue

and strive for attaining the objectives of a factory. Morale is purely emotional.
It is an attitude of an employee towards his job, his superior and his
organization. It is not static thing, but it changes depending on working
conditions, superiors, fellow workers pay and so on.

The importance of morale in the workplace cannot be underestimated. This

factor has a direct impact on employees' well-being, performance, efficiency
and quality of work.
Employees with high morale are more productive, deliver better results and
stay with the company longer. High employee morale can result in lower
turnover rates and make it easier to attract top talent.

THIS IS THE STUDY ON “EMPLOYEE MORALE" WITH SPECIAL

REFERENCE TO PROMPT PACKS , PAKARAPILLY

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In this competitive world the success of every organization depends mainly

on the employees work sincerely and promptly the organization can achieve
greater heights. Morale is a widely used term at generally refers to espirit de
corps, a feeling of enthusiasm. Zeal, confidence in individual or groups that
they will de cope with the task assigned to them. High morale keeps the
employees loyal to the job, profession and organization. This leads to
employee commitment and sincerity. Further the committed employees
contribute their human resources to the maximum extent to the job. A person's
enthusiasm for his job reflect his attitude of mind to work, environment and
2
to his employees and his willingness to strive for the goals set for him by
organizations which he is employed.

NEED AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Morale is an important part of organizational climate. It is a vital ingredient of

organizational success because it reflects the attitudes and sentiments of
organizational members towards the organization. This is because morale of
employees directly affects the productivity and smooth running of the firm.
The study about morale is significant in every organization. The management
of every organization has a constant concern for the morale of the group it
leads. High morale is usually recognized as the key to higher productivity and
more cordial industrial relations.
The need and scope of this study is to assess the overall satisfaction of the employees
with respect to the working conditions, remuneration, recreational facilities and the
allowances provided by the organization. The study deals with all the factors directly
affecting employee morale. The study also analysis the extent to which the working
conditions of the firm affects the morale of employees.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Employee morale, in human resources, is defined as the job satisfaction,

outlook and feeling of well-being an employee has within a work place
settings. Proven to have a direct effect on productivity, it is one of the corner
stones of business. Employee morale plays a vital role in the upgrading of
productivity. In this study, it gives more information about the company's
employee morale regarding the job satisfaction, outlook and feeling of well-
being an employee at work place. It also helps in knowing the employee's
behavior towards the company and also the commitment and belongingness
towards the company.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

General Objectives
• To study the morale of employees in Promp
Packs. Pakarapilly.

3
 • Specific Objectives
• To know the level of satisfaction of employees.
• To study the relationship between management and employees.
• To study the working condition.
• Find out the various factors leading to employee morale in an organization.

• To suggest measures to increase morale of employees.

• To know how the morale leads to improve the productivity.

SOURCES OF DATA

The relevant data in the subject under study has been collected from the following
sources.
Primary Data
The primary data are collected mainly from employees of the
organizations. The primary data was collected with the help of survey
using questionnaire.

Secondary Data

Secondary data are collected from the company files and various records.
The investigation made use of number of books and papers of morale. The
study also collects some valuable data from internet.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The methodology of the study is not without its limitations. The following
limitations exist:

• Most of the respondents have the fear of victimization.

• Respondent's opinion influenced by many factors, which are
not relevant to the study.
• Respondents were less in number.
• Employees were busy with their work schedule.
• Some respondents might be biased.

4
 CHAPTER 2

INDUSTRY PROFILE

5
 CARD BOARD INDUSTRY

Cardboard boxes and containers are fabricated boxes majorly used for packing
goods. Key end use industries that use packing include food and beverages,
household electronic appliances, packing and medical instruments
manufacturing.

Marketers make use of cartons by using attractive graphics on the packing.

Cardboards have good printing and graphic holding capability. Therefore ,
enterprices in order to attract consumer groups embed their logo, company
name, and other promotional details on their packaging.

Cardboard containers are the cheapest form of packing which helps in

reducing the final product price on account of bundling with packaging which
in turn is expected to increase its demand for packaging purposes in medical
instruments , food and beverages household electronic appliances.

The product is biodegradable and recyclable and poses the least impact on
the environment. Their environment friendly nature is expected to increase
their preference over their alternatives which include plastics and polymers.

Cardboards can be easily folded and stacked when not in use, thus occupying
less space. Moreover, they do not undergo any chemical reaction with food
and beverages as compared to metal containers.

Companies benefits on account of reduction in transportation cost because

of their low weight . Rise of substitutes is the major threats faced by the
cardboard packing industry. Buyers have an option of a vast variety of
alternatives which include containers made up of plastics, matal and
glass.There has been considerable increase in usage of tin packaging in the U
S resulting in a decline of product application.

Over the decades , cardboard box manufacturing has been labour intensive.
There has been significant progress in automating the manufacturing process
.However, labour is still vital for designing , machine operations,sales and
6
management .Investment in technology is expected to increase , thus driving
it towards being a capital intensive industry.

The global cardboard box and container market is segmented on the basis of
container dimension and usage which further include paperboard and
corrugated cardboard . The small size boxes generally used for food and
beverage industry, paper boards are widely used in confectionaries, cereals,
and ready to consume fruit drink packaging.

7
 CHAPTER 3
COMPANY PROFILE

8
 COMPANY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION

PROMPT PACKS, PAKARAPILLY

Prompt Packs, is a private company, was set up in 2016, incorporated under
the companies Act 1956 with a production capacity of 2000 boxes per day .
The plant was commissioned in late 1998 and commercial production could
start in January 2016, with one shift only .The second and third shift operations
commenced in June 2016 and July 2018 respectively. The production was
enhanced to 3500 in June 2020. The company is headed by Board of Directors
under the partnership of three members.

All the process and technology in Prompt Packs, Pakarapilly, meets

international standards. Prompt Packs , is also an ISI certificate holder
company in India.
Prompt Packs was also selected by the state government for the most result
oriented energy conservation drives during 2016 – 2021.

The company is committed to produce and sell good quality cardboard

packing boxes for oil and other companies at affordable rates. The
manufacturing technology and the plant and machinery of the company are
one of the best in the country and consequently they are able to supply
consistent good quality boxes. owing to its exallent quality, company’s
products have got very good demand in the market and always the demand
exeeds the production capacity. Being a private sector undertaking, the
company has a defenite role in fulfilling the social obligation as well and
consequently the company’s intervention and presence in the market has saved
the industrialist from the exorbitant price increase of packing cardboard boxes.
Company authorities is committed to ensure this social responsibility and
consequent to Government policy and Directors of the company also give due
priority to this aspect.

The design of the plant is based on European standards. The plant has
dedicated automatic fly ash brick machine. The machines are having high
stability, long service life , high precision , fast debugging, and prevent

9
scratches.the machines are well equiped and includes single face paper
corrugation machine , two stiching machines, etc.

Corrugated box machine 5 ply automatic corrugated board making machine.

The specialised fully and semi automated machines are also some specialities.

The unit is located in Puthenchira village in Mukundapuram Taluk of

Thrissur District, Kerala, beside the Palakkad – Ernakulam railway line and
about 7kmfrom Chalakudy and 9km from Irinjalakuda. The plant is situated
in 2 acres of land.

VISION

Prompt packs strive to improve the quality of life of Keralas industrialists by

providing quality packing products at reasonable cost.

MISSION

• To motivate the employees to achieve highest level of job satisfaction.

• To attain or maintain knowledge productivity in an organization.
• To become a market driving company from market driven company.
• Strive to achieve an annual turnover of Rs.600 crore.
• To become a model for government public sector undertaking.

• To support overall development of society.

PRESENCE OF TRADE UNION IN THE COMPANY

Trade Union functions on the basis of two principles. If anyone of them is

threatened they would fight each. This principles are:

• Unity is strength

• Security of services
According to the Trade Union Act of 1926 a trade union must work to protect and
promote the interest of workers and the conditions of employment. In Prompt packs .
There is only one trade union. The trade unions of the company is:

• Prompt packs workers union

10
 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Prompt packs distributes the following products namely:

• Carton boxes

• Cardboard boxes of 3 ply

• Cardboard boxes 5 ply
• Packing boxes

MAJOR COMPETITORS OF PROMPT PACKS

• K P L coconut oil
• Mulans exports
• Ayurveda medicines
• Noble breads
• SKM Animal Feeds and Foods

MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY

The management of the company is in the hands of board of directors. The

board of directors is constituted three persons namely Mohan Kumar, Ramesh
and Ouseph.. The company has at present 3 Directors and they are running in
partnership.

• Chairman :- Ramesh
• Principal secretary
. Supervisor

DEPARTMENTS

1. PROJECTS

Functions:

11
 • Project identification
• Project preparation
• Project appraisal
• Project programming

• Project Implementation

2. PURCHASES

Functions:
Planning and procurement of raw materials and packaging materials required
for manufacture of cardboard boxes, spares and capital items required for
engineering store, lab equipments, glass wear and chemicals and other
miscellaneous items. All purchases of materials other than that of local
purchase pertaining to the units are centralised at the corporate office at
Pakarapilly.

3. MARKETING

Functions:

• Advertising, marketing and sales promotion activities coming

under the purview of marketing department shall be Centralised
• Preparation of proposals – Agenda for the board meeting
relating to the area of work allotted to him and implementation
of Boards decisions.
• Preparation of correspondents with the government relating to
the area of work allotted to him and submission of the same
for managing directors approval
• Selling and distribution activities of finished goods from
various locations coming under the purview of marketing
department will be centralised.
4. PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATION

12
 Functions:

The following corporate functions entrusted shall be centralised.

• Recruitment, induction and placement

• Framing personnel policies and rules

• Creation and abolition of post
• Promotion, transfer and posting
• Disciplinary action
• Resignation, retirement and superannuation
• Annual performance appraisal
• Trade union matters
• Industrial Relations

5.MAREIALS

Functions:

• Receipt of raw material

• Wish you of raw material

• Receipts of spares
• Issue of spare
• Receipt of finished feed

6.PRODUCTION

Functions:

The function of production and maintenance department include planning

and execution of production schedule, maintenance of equipment and
machionaries.Department also to initiate development works related to
research and development for supporting plant activities and undertake new
projects.

13
7. QUALITY CONTROL

Functions:

• Incoming raw materials quality control

• In process quality control
• Finished box quality control

• Extension activities related to cartons and boxes.

• Analysis of external boxes and raw materials samples
Research and development activities

8.FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS

Finance functions:

• Optimum utilisation of funds

• To ensure control over expenses by monitoring actual with budgeted figures

• To find out
room for cost reduction
Accounting functions:
• Receipts and payments of money are accurately recorded

• Record assets and liabilities properly in accordance with the statutory

requirements
• All income and expenses of particular period are recorded

• To ensure truth and fairness of

financial statements
9.SECRETARIAL DEPARTMENT
Functions:

• To conduct board meeting, audit commit meetings and

shareholding meeting as per company act 1956
• To file periodical return to the authorities concern

14
10. IT DIVISION

Functions:

• Development and maintenance of ERP solutions

• Maintenance of software as well as hard ware
• Establishing high end communication
• Timely upgradation of software and hardware

• Arrange adequate new technologies.

15
 CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

16
MEANING AND DEFINITION OF RESEARCH

Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can

also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent
information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific
investigation. The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of
Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a careful investigation or
inquiry
specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge.”

According to Clifford woody, "Research comprises of defining and redefining

problems, formulating hypothesis, collecting, organizing and evaluating data,
making deductions and research conclusions and at last whether they fit the
formulating of hypothesis,"

The important phases of business research consist of:-

• Problem definition
• Development of an approach to the problem
• Research design formulation
• Data collection
• Data preparation and analysis

• Report preparation and presentation

TITLE OF THE STUDY

A STUDY ON EMPLOYEE MORALE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

KERALA FEEDS LTD KALLETTUMKARA.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In this competitive world the success of every organization depends mainly

on the employees work sincerely and promptly the organization can
achieve greater heights. Morale is a widely used term at generally refers to
espirit de corps, a feeling of enthusiasm. Zeal, confidence in individual or
groups that they will de cope with the task assigned to them. High morale
keeps the employees loyal to the job, profession and organization. This
17
leads to employee commitment and sincerity. Further the committed
employees contribute their human resources to the maximum extent to the
job. A person's enthusiasm for his job reflect his attitude of mind to work,
environment and to his employees and his willingness to strive for the
goals set for him by organizations which he is employed.

OBJECTIVES OE THE STUDY

General Objectives

• To study the morale of employees in Kerala feeds Ltd. Kallettumkara.

Specific Objectives

• To know the level of satisfaction of employees.

• To study the relationship between management and employees.
• To study the working condition.
• Find out the various factors leading to employee morale in an
organization.
• To suggest measures to Increase morale of employees.

• To know how the morale leads to improve the productivity.

NEED AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Morale is an important part of organizational climate. It is a vital Ingredient

of organizational success because it reflects the attitudes and sentiments of
organizational members towards the organization. This is because morale
of employees directly affects the productivity and smooth running of the
firm. The study about morale is significant in every organization. The
management of every organization has a constant concern for the morale of
the group it leads. High morale is usually recognized as the key to higher
productivity and more cordial industrial relations.

The need and scope of this study is to assess the overall satisfaction of the
employees with respect to the working conditions, remuneration,
recreational facilities and the allowances provided by the organization.
The study deals with all the factors directly affecting employee morale.

18
The study also analysis the extent to which the working conditions of the
firm affects the morale of employees.

UNIVERSE OF THE STUDY

Population or universe is the aggregate of all units processing certain

specified characteristics on which the samples seeks to draw inferences.
The universe of the study is 250 employees in Kerala feeds Ltd.
Kallettumkara.

SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size considering the nature and importance of the problem
was fixed as 20 in the case of employees.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

Simple random sampling is selected for this study. It refers to that

technique in which each and every item in the population has an equal
chance and opportunity of inclusion in the sample. The selection of
respondents is purely dependent on chance. Personal bias of the
investigator will not influence the selection.
PILOT SURVEY

First a pilot study was conducted to make the work a successfully venture.
In order to get a first-hand information about the nature of study, a
questionnaire is prepared. The investigator made a visit to the company
and acquired necessary information about the institution from the
authorized concerned.

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION

On the basis of the pilot study, an interview schedule was prepared which
comprises of several questions regarding respondent's opinion on various
aspects of collective employee selection and recruitment.

SOURCES OF DATA

19
The relevant data in the subject under study has been collected from the following
sources.

Primary Data
The primary data are those which are collected by the investigator for the first
time and thus happen to be original in character. It is generated by surveys
conducted by individual or research institutions. Applying any of the following
methods may collect the primary data.

• Interview method
• Observation method
• Questionnaire method
• Schedule

Secondary Data

Data which are not originally collected but obtained from published or
unpublished source are known as secondary data. Such data are already
collected by someone for some other purpose. The secondary data can be
obtained from journals, reports, Govt. publications of professionals and
research organizations and so on.

TOOLS FOR DATA ANALYSIS

In order extract meaningful information from data collected, the data

analysis and interpretation is carried out. The data analysis is fourth step in
the research process. The data are first edited, coded and tabulated for the
process of analysing them. The editing, coding and tabulating are must when
the interviewer has amassed a huge amount of data concerning the research
project at hand.
The analysis is basically aimed at giving inferences of association or differences
between the various variables present in the research. The analysis can be conducted by
using simple statistical tools like percentages, averages and measures of dispersion.
Alternatively, the collected data may be analyzed using diagrams, graphs, charts,
pictures and so on. Data may be cross - related to produce useful relationship among
the variables involved. Finally, meaning of data may be extracted from the analysis thus

20
conducted the conclusion, summary and recommendations of research are based on the
statistical analysis and inferences drawn.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The methodology of the study is not without its limitations. The following
limitations exist:

• Most of the respondents have the fear of victimization.

• Respondent's opinion influenced by many factors, which
are not relevant to the study.
• Respondents were less in number.
• Employees were busy with their work schedule.

• Some respondents might be biased.

• The study is limited to Kerala feeds Kallettumkara.

• Lack of time was a major limiting factor.

21
 CHAPTER 5
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

22
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject

area within a time period. Thus review of literature is searching and
analyzing already available information on the chosen topic and the
methods adopted and central theme of the research of the earlier researches
and others.

The purpose of this chapter is to present a review of literature relating to

Employee Morale. Some of the important studies conducted on various
aspects of employee morale are as follows.

Baehr and Renck (1958) conducted a study to find out the relationship
between organizational culture and employees morale. Data was collected
by surveying 54,000 employees of different industries and occupations
over a period of three years. It was found that 76 items influence the
workers on the job. These 76 items were classified and grouped into 14
variables and 14 variables were categorized into 5 primary factors of
morale. The researcher found that healthy organisational culture had
significant and positive impact on employee’s morale.

Kasal (1992) conducted a study for her Doctor of Philosophy to find out
the relationship between organizational culture and employees morale.
Organizational culture was measured by using 11 dimensions and
employees morale by 5. Data was collected from 6 companies selected
from 3 fields categorized on the basis of technology used by them. The
researcher concluded that organizational culture had significant and
positive impact on
employe’s morale.

Ostroff (1992) conducted a study to examine the relationship between

employee’s attitude and organizational performance. Data was collected
from 364 schools. The researcher concluded that aggregated teacher
attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment were
related to school performance measured in the form of student academic
achievement and teacher turnover rates. Results were strongest for
teacher satisfaction, thus organizations with more satisfied employees
23
tended to be more effective than organizations with dissatisfied
employees.

Ward (1998) submitted an applied research project identifying stress factor

within the employees of Wrightsville Beach Fire Department, North Carolina and
made
recommendations to alleviate the impact of stress factors on employee’s
morale. All the 78 employees of the department were taken for study and
data was collected in questionnaire. The researcher concluded that the
leadership problem, lack of trust, integrity,
empowerment etc. reduced the employee’s morale. He recommended
effective communications, periodic evaluation of the balance between
management and leadership, continuing leadership training,periodic
mission statement review, sincerity, trust and full
commitment in work and leadership etc. will alleviate the impact of stress
factors on employees morale.

Mcknight et al. (2001) conducted a study to find out the effect of

employee – management relationship closeness to employee morale and
moderate the effects of management control (autonomy, feedback and
incentive control) on employee’s morale. Questionnaires were sent to 100
manufacturing plants in Japan (41), Italy (33) and United States (26) in the
automotives, electronics and machinery industries and data was collected
successfully from 66 plants. The researchers concluded that employee –
management relationship closeness was a stronger morale booster for plant
workers and management controls themselves did not improve employees
morale but moderation of each by a close employee – management
relationship improved employees morale.

Morgan (2002) conducted a study to examine the impact of diversity on

the morale of the employees working in San Diego Fire Department.
Negative consequences brought on by not recognizing and responding to
diversity issues included lower employee satisfaction, commitment and
performance, high turnover rate, absenteeism and reduced work quality.
The researcher concluded that fully using all employees will increase
performance and productivity. Employee performance, morale and

24
success ultimately depend on how we managed the changing
demographics of our current and future work force.

Coleman (2003) conducted a study to evaluate the level of employee

morale and employee retention in the office of Circuit Clerk of St. Louis
County Courts and why employees were leaving the job after or before
joining the organization. For this purpose, four surveys on 200 permanent
court employees were conducted and 133 responses were received and a
review of resignation letters from employees was done. The researcher
concluded that the reasons for low level of employees morale and low
employees retention were no known date of pay increase of employees,
court‟s administration and management attitude, poor communication,
coworker‟s attitude, lack of training facilities for employees, poor air
quality, lack of space availability etc.

Lowe et al. (2003) conducted a study to perceive how far work

environment was healthy and safe for employees, what are the relationships
between workers perception of a healthy work environment and
organizational and individual outcomes i.e. job satisfaction, employee
commitment, perceived workplace morale, absenteeism etc. and how
organizational working conditions correlate with sociodemographic,
labour market status etc. Interview was done telephonically and data was
collected from valid 2500 employed Canadian residents 18 years of age
and above. The researchers concluded that majority of the employees
perceived that there workplace was both healthy and safe. They found that
females and workers who were younger (18-24) and older (55 and above)
were likely to perceive their work environment as healthy compared with
males or workers between the
age of 25 and 54. They perceived strong positive relationship between
six work environment factors and healthy workplace.

Lloyd (2003) conducted a study to address the problem of low morale of

employees in the Memphis Fire Department (MFD) resulting in low
productivity and personal growth and how to improve it. Data was collected
through interviews, surveys and questionnaires. A total of 5 interviews, 678
successful surveys and 17 questionnaires were taken for the study. The
researcher concluded that low morale level of the employees could be lifted
25
by making full use of all employees, recognizing them, work in team,
encourage employees to grow and shown confidence, listening them, share
experiences with them, empower them, provide sufficient training
programs, be open and honest, make promotional system fair, make
committees to solve morale problems etc.

Zweni (2004) tried to adopt the strategy that could be used by Eastern Cape for
effectively restructuring the organization without affecting the employee’s
morale adversely. Information for this purpose was obtained through
primary and secondary sources. Some of the latest restructuring strategies
from dissertations, theses, research papers and journals were consulted.
Questionnaire was used to check the impact of recent restructuring on the
morale of employees. Data was collected from all 28 employees of the
former business- banking. The researcher concluded that restructuring
process did not adversely affect the morale of most of the respondents and
still they were enjoying their work. Most of the respondents could not find
out whether restructuring process was good for them or not and it improved
their working conditions or not.

Everett (2005) conducted a study to identify the reasons for low levels of
morale and motivation in the line officers and fire fighters caused by staff
level officers that lead to low levels of productivity on the Sioux City Fire
Department. Descriptive research methods were used including interviews
with recognized leadership experts and questionnaires for line employees
and staff members. Questionnaires were sent to 114 firefighters and
questionnaires completed in all respect were collected from 40 employees.
The researcher concluded that lack of Commitment, Enthusiasm and
Respect, Long Term Orientation and Empowerment were factors
responsible for low level of morale and motivation. These factors were
management related factors proving that the staff officers had a great
opportunity to improve performance by improving these areas.

Mani et al. (2005) conducted an empirical study to find out the

employees perception towards the service climate in Hotel industry in
Tamilnadu in India. For the purpose, the researchers took 3, 4 and 5 star
hotels in four major cities (Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and

26
Tiruchiapalli). From each city 50 top hotels were taken. For the study in
total of 250, 5 frontline employees (Front Office, House Keeping, Food,
Beverage and Production) from each hotel were taken. The result of the
study was that the employees use the right
technologies to give the best according to the needs of the customers but
in most of the cases, they were not delivering the service or product in time.

Day et al. (2006) conducted a study to give attention to nursing workforce

issues such as recruitment, retention, turnover, workplace health and safety
issues and their impact on quality patient care. Poor performance of these
factors led to low morale of nurses. To improve the morale, the researchers
had given some suggestions in the form of good workplace relationships
between nurses, adoption of professionalism in nursing, sense of being
valued, delivering of quality nursing care, well staffed and better organized
units to report risk factors, needle stick injuries and near misses, good
organizational structures and culture, good leadership and communication,
job security etc.

Kaur (2006) conducted a study to find out the relationship between

organizational culture and employees morale in selected commercial and
co-operative banks. Banks were compared by using 11 dimensions of
organizational culture and 5 dimensions of employee’s morale as used by
Nandita Kasal and some demographic variables. The researcher concluded
that there were significant differences on 7 dimensions of organizational
culture in two types of banks. Open organizational culture was more
prevalent in commercial banks as compared to cooperative banks. The
employee’s morale in commercial banks scored significantly higher than
co-operative banks and finally a positive and high degree of correlation
existed between organizational culture and employee’s morale.

Vales (2006) conducted a study to find out whether fun in the workplace
was a factor that boosted employees moral resulting in high productivity,
lowering employees turnover and absenteeism and making efficient team
building and effective communication. The researcher studied whether fun
in the work place boosted moral or not along with five other factors studied
earlier. The researcher sent e-mail to approximate four thousand members
in a variety of industries and businesses to collect the data. The researcher
27
 found that fun in the work place boosts the employees moral by lowering
stress, absenteeism, turnover etc and leads to increase employ enthusiasm,
employ happiness and increased employ creativity.

Billava (2007) conducted a study to check firstly the various factors

affecting the level of employees morale, secondly the level of morale and
thirdly level of satisfaction of the employees of the company. For this
purpose the author took a sample of 20 employees. He found that the
factors like social security measures, welfare facilities, salary status,
bonus, health condition, shift system and recognition of work affected the
employee’s morale. He found that majority of employees were happy to
work in the organization and their level of morale is higher.

Wang (2008) conducted a study to find out the relationship and roles in the
construction of Chunghwa Telecom employees work values and staff
morale, training mechanism,
performance evaluation and welfare and safety mechanism on the strategic human
resource management. A questionnaire consisting of 18 questions were sent to 2300
persons and 1395 returned. After removing the unusable questionnaires, there were
1080 usable questionnaires. The author found that in the overall work values,
participate decision value, reward benefit value and training and skill value could be
included in the structure of overall work morale. Apart from it, a strong relationship
was found between overall work morale and work value and the structure of work
morale and be included in the structure of strategic human resource.

Lalla (2009) conducted a study to examine the impact of merger on the

employees of Tshwane University of Technology and how to minimize
the impact by successfully managing the merger process. Data was
collected from 72 respondents by using questionnaire and was analyzed
by using SPSS version 13.0. The researcher concluded that mergers
definitely had an impact on the employee’s personal and professional
perspective. Further the researcher also concluded that mergers had
negative impact on job security, promotional opportunity, management
relationships, performance standards, communication, relationship with
colleagues etc.

28
 Riley (2009) conducted a study in a non- profit agency (ACHIEVE) to
check the problems of high employee turnover. The objectives of the study
were to find out the causes that leads to maintain or terminate employment
and what strategies were implemented by ACHIEVE to improve employee
retention rates. Data for this study was collected from 287 employees. The
researcher concluded that employee satisfaction and employee retention is
a multifaceted problem and measured relationship, personal growth and
system maintenance to curve the problem of high employee turnover.

Djati and Adiwijaya (2010) conducted a study to find out the relationship
between employee morale and organizational commitment towards
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and OCB towards service
quality performances. Data was collected from 133 respondents taken from
administrative staff of 5 private universities in Surabaya – Indonesia. The
researchers concluded that there was positive and significant relationship
between employee morale and organizational commitment towards OCB
and OCB towards service quality performance of employees.

Spangenberg (2010) conducted a study to know the level of morale at

public and private sector banks and the differences in the perceptions of
employees (managers and staff level) regarding the organizational culture
and to find out the relation between organizational culture and employees
morale. 120 questionnaires were distributed to employees of 3 public
sector and 2 private sector banks and 91 usable questionnaires were
collected. The researcher concluded that morale in employees of private
sector banks is higher than public sector in all five indices of employee’s
morale and there were significant differences for all
eight values of organizational culture in both types of banks. The findings also shown
that organizational culture had positive impact on the employee’s morale.

Kube et al. (2011) conducted a field experiment to check whether

employee‟s performance was affected by wage cuts or wage raise. Data
was collected from library to be catalogued and task was to enter
description of books into an electronic data base. Data was collected in
three phases in the year 2006, 2008 and 2011. The researchers concluded
that wage cuts had a detrimental and persistent impact on performance
whereas wage raise did not result in any productivity gains.
29
Mahmood and Ali (2011) conducted a study to find out the factors of
moral imagination affecting the decision making process of management
in Pakistan. Data was collected by simple convenient sampling using
questionnaire and online web-based methods from employees of all
categories (top, middle and low) of public, private, semi government and
NGO. 23 employees responded online and 90 filled the questionnaires.
Data was analyzed by using SPSS and Liseral 8.80 software. The
researchers concluded that the moral imagination and mutual benefit
decision were significantly associated and empathy, egotism and
dogmatism had a relationship with moral imagination. The researchers
also found that mutual benefit decisions were significantly associated
with discerning moral issues and developing alternatives but not
associated with demographic imagination.

Ngambi (2011) conducted a study to address the problem of low morale of

employees in the Memphis Fire Department (MFD) resulting in low
productivity and personal growth and how to improve it. Data was
collected through interviews, surveys and questionnaires. A total of 5
interviews, 678 successful surveys and 17 questionnaires were taken for
the study. The researcher concluded that low morale level of the employees
could be lifted by making full use of all employees, recognizing them, work
in team, encourage employees to grow and show confidence, listening
them, share experiences with them, empower them, provide sufficient
training programs, be open and honest, make promotional system fair,
make committees to solve morale problems etc.

Wu and Wu (2011) conducted a study of employee dissatisfaction with

organizational change resulting in huge labour turnover and hostility
towards management in the relationship between employee’s morale and
productivity of Tulsa Fire Department,
Oklahoma and what measures should be taken to improve employee’s
morale. Data was collected by two methods. Firstly, data of twelve month
worth in the form of quarterly reports for District 4 “C” platoon and
secondly, survey method morale and to improve employee’s morale
measures like positive reinforcement, employee input, feedback and
empowerment should be adopted.
30
Zakaria et al. (2011) conducted a study to find out the relationship between
employees‟ perception on transparency, fairness, controllability and
reward values and employee’s performance at Toyota company. 82
Questionnaires comprising of several questions were given to employees‟
at Toyota. Data was collected and analyzed by using SPSS Version 16.0
through Descriptive data and Correlation. The researchers concluded that
all factors were not significant to contribute employee’s performance.
Even transparency factor which gave the highest degree of contribution
was not significant. Only monetary rewards were not significant but non-
monetary rewards were also important to get the win- win situation.

Patterson et al. (2013) conducted a study to investigate how

demographics, workplace environment and Empirically Supported
Treatments (EST) used affected the worker morale in mental health
organizations which are strongly encouraged to implement EST;
however, little is known about their working environments. Data was
collected from 1273 workers from 55 different programs in a single, large
organization about organizational culture and climate (OCC) and worker
morale. A multilevel regression analysis was used on worker
demographics to predict worker morale and EST use and OCC scales to
predict program- level worker morale. At the end result was found that
worker morale was significantly negatively correlated with EST use and
significantly correlated with OCC dimensions. Regression results showed
that culture and climate but not EST use predicted morale. It can be
concluded from the above studies that different factors had an impact on
employee’s morale. The organizational culture and employees morale had
a positive relationship between them (Baehr and Renck, Kasal, Kaur,
Spangenberg). McKnight, Lowe et al., Mani et al., Wang, Patterson et al.
concluded that workplace environment had an impact on employee’s
morale. Closeness of management relationship with employees, healthy
and safe workplace, training, performance evaluation etc. had positive
impact on employee’s morale. Neely and Lloyd had proved that higher
employees morale increases productivity.

31
Ward has viewed that stress due to leadership problems, lack of trust etc.
had a negative impact on employees morale. Everest,Valves and Kube et
al. found employees morale was directly related with motivation.
Similarly Ostroff found that organizational performance was improved
with higher employees morale. Day et al., Lalla and Riley viewed that
organizational policies had an impact on employees more also.

32
 CHAPTER 6

THEORETICAL FRAME WORK

33
MORALE

Morale (also known as espirit de corps) is the capacity of a group's

members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the
face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority
figures as a generic value judgment of the willpower, obedience, Self-
discipline of a group tasked with performing duties assigned by a superior.
According to Alexander H. Leighton "Morale is the capacity of a group
of people to pull together persistently and consistently In pursuit of a
common purpose", Morale is important in military, because it improves
unit cohesion. Espirit de corps is considered to be an important part of a
fighting unit. Workplace environments influence employee morale.

EMPLOYEE MORALE

Flipppo has described morale “as a mental condition or attitude of

individuals and groups which determines their willingness to co-
operate. Good morale is evidenced by employee enthusiasm. Voluntary
conformation with regulations and orders, and a willingness to co-
operate with others in the accomplishment of an organization's
objectives. Poor morale is evidenced by surliness, insubordination, a
feeling of discouragement and dislike of the job Company and
associates".

Employee morale is defined as the attitude, satisfaction and overall outlook

of employees during their association with an organization or a business.
An employee that is satisfied and motivated at workplace usually tends to
have a higher morale than their counterparts.
Employee engagement and employee satisfaction play an important role
for employees to be happy in their workplace. On the contrary, employees
who are not happy in their workplace, who constantly complain and crib
about the various attributes in an organization, like employee policies,
workplace culture, facilities at work etc. tend to have a low employee
morale. This is quite evident in their behavior. Employee morale is a
complex concept because it involves a lot of factors that affect their
morale.
34
Employee morale is vital to organization culture- a positive collective
attitude will create a positive working environment for everyone. If an
organization has a poor morale or a culture of suffering then there is a
possibility that in an organization employees have a low or negative morale
that can adversely affect the productivity of the organization. It can most
certainly lead to greater employee attrition, just to begin with.

IMPORTANCE AND EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEE MORALE

Recognized as one of the major factors affecting productivity and overall

financial stability of any business, low morale may lead to reduced
concentration, which in turn can cause mistake, poor customer service and
missed deadlines. It also can contribute to a high turnover rate and
absenteeism. Employee morale proves to be detrimental to the business in
these respects. Morale can drive an organization forward or can lead to
employee discontent, poor job performance, and absenteeism (Ewton,
2007). With low morale comes a high price tag.
The Gallup Organization estimates that there are 22 million actively
disengaged employees costing the American economy as much as $350
billion dollars per year in lost productivity including absenteeism, illness,
and other problems that are result when employees are unhappy at work.
Failing to address this issue lead to decreased productivity, increased rate
of absenteeism and associated costs, increased conflicts in the work
environment, increased customer or consumer complaints, and increased
employee turnover rates and costs associated with selection and training
replacement staff.

NATURE OF EMPLOYEE MORALE

Morale represents a composite of feelings, attitudes, and sentiments that

contribute to general feelings of satisfaction. It is a state of mind and spirit
affecting willingness to work, which, in turn, effects organizational and
individual objectives. It describes the overall group satisfaction.

• High morale and Low morale:

35
If the enthusiasm and willingness to work of a group is high, we can say
morale is high and vice versa. Just as good health is essential for an
individual, high morale is necessary for an organization. High morale
represents an attitude of satisfaction with desire to continue and
willingness to strive for the goals of the group. Under conditions of high
morale, workers have few grievances, frustrations, and complaints.

• Morale versus Motivation:

Morale should be distinguished from motivation. Although both are

cognitive concepts, they are quite different. Morale is a composite of
feelings, attitudes and sentiments that contribute to general feeling of
satisfaction at the workplace. But motivation is something that moves a
person to action.

• Morale affects Productivity :

Morale has a direct effect on productivity. High morale leads to high morale leads
to high productivity and low morale leads to law productivity.

• Measurement of Morale:

It is hard to measure morale directly as it is an intangible state of mind of the

workers.

SIGNIFICANTS OF MORALE

Morale building is a continuous process which cannot be stopped even for

a moment, Morale cannot be maintained at a high level forever. It is
dynamic. Morale building may be done either on individual basis or on
ground basis. Morale building on group basis is always preferable. Group
morale can be increased by understanding the group dynamics. It will
automatically achieve the individual morale.

TYPES OF MORALE

HIGH MORALE

36
It will lead to enthusiasm among the workers for better performance. High
Morale is needed a manifestation of the employees strength, dependability
pride, confidence and devotion. Some of the advantages of high morale
such as:

• Willing co-operation towards objectives of the organization.

• Loyalty to the organization and its leadership.
• Good leadership.
• Sound superior subordinates relations.
• High degree of employee's interest in their job and organization.
• Reduction in absenteeism and labour turnover.
• Reduction in grievance.
• Reduction in industrial conflict.
• Team building.

LOW MORALE

Low morale indicates the presence of mental unrest. The mental unrest not
only hampers production but also leads to ill health of the employees. Low
Morale exists when doubt is suspicion are common and when individuals
are depressed and discouraged i.e., there is a lot of mental tension. Such
situation will have the following adverse consequences:

• High rates of absenteeism and labour turnover.

• Decreased quality.
• Decreased productivity.
• Excessive complaints and grievances.
• Frustration among the workers.
• Lack of discipline.
• Increase errors, accidents or injuries.

IMPORTANT STEPS TO ACHIEVE HIGH MORALE

• Job satisfaction:
37
Well-placed employees take pride and interest in their work and feel satisfied.

• Incentives:

Monetary and non-monetary incentives to the employees are important to

motivate them. Employees can be offered extra perks to improve morale.
These can include time off, the option to work from home, a flexible
schedule, or simple recognition when work is well done.

• Fair remuneration

Remuneration should be fair and equitable since this is the most important factor
affecting the employee morale. The basic and incentive pay plans should be fair.

• Work Environment

The condition of work should be friendly for the employee's mental and
physical well-being. Employees may be more concerned with intangible
benefits, such as work-life balance and the atmosphere in the workplace.

• Two-way communication:

Two-way communication (upward and downward) is necessary to

know the sentiments of employees in the organization. Organization
policies and programmes should be properly communicated to
employees.

• Training:

In this ever-evolving world of new technologies and ideas, employees need

to stay up-to-date with developments in their field. Training gives
psychological satisfaction to employees and improves their performance.

• Worker's participation:

Workers must be consulted and taken into confidence whenever a change is to be

introduced.

• Social group activities:

38
These activities encourage employees to take on a community-service
project together. Employee will likely enjoy the opportunity to give back
to their local community.
Management should encourage social group activities by the workers.
This will help to develop greater group cohesiveness for building high
morale.

• Counseling:

Employee counseling helps the employees with their problems and

complaints, and provides an opportunity to get back on track since the
counselor is impartial. It helps to reduce absenteeism and labor turnover, the
release of emotional tension alone may serve to minimize dissatisfaction.

• Treating employees with respect:

Treat employees with the courtesy and respect the deserve-say please
and thank you. Ask about their weekend, and take an interest in
projects that they are working on. Thus, an unhappy employee is an
unproductive employee.

A company needs to pursue policies like once mentioned above to help its
business become a more enjoyable place to work. Not only will employees
start to look forward to their workdays, the organization will benefit from
the new found effectively.

FACTORS EFFECTING MORALE

The employee morale is a very complex phenomenon and is influenced by

many factors. Different authors like MCc Farland, Bradshaw and Krugman,
roach and applewhite have different criterion for the determination of
morale. On the basis of all these classifications, the important factors in the
determination of levels of morale are as described below:

The Organization

The first factor affecting the employee morale is the organization itself
the organization influences the worker's attitudes to their job. The public
39
reputation of an organization may build up for better or worse, their
attitudes towards it.

The Nature of Work

The nature of work, the worker is expected to perform also affects his
attitude towards the job as well as his morale. If the employee is expected
to perform routine or specialized jobs, he will feel bored and alienated.
Repetition of the same task again and again makes the working situation
worse for the employees. Lack of understanding of organizational goals may
also effect the morale.

The Level of Satisfaction:

The level of satisfaction, a worker derives from his job is another

determinant of morale. If the job factors and the satisfaction they bring is
perceived to be favourable by the employee morale will tend to be higher
than if there factor seem to be unfavourable. The job factors such as
opportunities for promotion, job security, to learn the job and to use his
own ideas, pay, working condition, recognition, cooperativeness of co-
workers, group relationship etc.

The Level of Supervision:

The level of supervision received by an employer's has a tremendous

influence on his morale. High rate of employee turnover indicates that the
leadership is ineffective. On the other hand, if employees are given freedom
to do the job, their morale will be high. Nobody likes to be supervised all
the time.

Concept of Self:

What is the employee's concept of himself? The answer to his question

influences the attitudes of the employees to the organizational
environment. How an employee perceives himself, is a very important
question. The morale of persons who have lots of self-confidence or who
enjoy good mental and physical health is generally high as compared to
those who lack self-confidence or suffer from poor physical or mental
health.
40
 Worker's Perception of Rewards System:

The worker's perception of past rewards and future opportunities for

rewards affect their morale to a substantial extent. If the workers regard the
rewards as fair and satisfactory, their morale will tend to by higher then if
the perception is in the opposite direction. Moreover, if the rewards and
opportunities for the future tend to be bleak, morale will tend to be low as
compared to the situation where the worker perceiver opportunities for
satisfaction and for attainment in the rewards that lie ahead in the future.

The Employee's Education Level :

Studies have concluded an inverse relationship in the educational level of

the employee and his morale. Higher the educational lower will be the job
satisfaction and vice- versa. The higher he thinks he should be, the more
dissatisfied he will be.

The Employee's Occupational Level:

The occupational level of the employee also influences his level of morale.
The higher up in organizational hierarchy an employee is, higher will be
his morale. The morale of the people who are lower in the level of hierarchy
is generally low, because they compare their own attainments with those of
others.

The Off Job Activities of the Employees:

The relationship of an employer with his family and work group

Influences: his behavior and attitude while he is on the job. His off the job
activities e.g. whether his family life is happy or not, whether he was
excessive drinking habits etc. the influence and pressures of a formal and
informal group have a significant effect on the morale of workers.

The Employee's Age:

Studies have reported that age and morale are directly related. Other things
being equal, elder employees seem to have higher morale. This is because
of the reason that perhaps younger workers are more dissatisfied with
higher expectations than their elders. The older employees have more

41
stability which comes with maturity, a serious attitude towards job, more
reliability, less absenteeism, proven steady work habits, a sense of
responsibility and loyalty and less tendency to be distracted by outside
interest as influences.

MEASUREMENT OF MORALE

Morale is basically a psychological concept. As such the measurement of

morale is very difficult task to measure it directly. However the following
methods are more commonly used to study employee morale:

Common Worker's Opinion Analysis :

Under this method opinions of factory workers are collected and analysed.
For this purpose certain scientific questionnaires are prepared which try
to seek the opinion of the workers regarding different aspects of industry
as well as towards the authorities.
Attitude Measurements
Under this method attitude of the workers towards the work and the
organization can be known by putting certain queries to the workers.

Interview Method :

Under this method, interview of worker (who have left the organization) is
undertaken (exit interview). The main advantage of this method is that it
reveals the reasons which compel the workers to seek jobs elsewhere. There
may be grievance of the workers against the management.

Sociological Methods:

A worker is given a questionnaire containing certain questions intended

to throw light on characteristics of group organization. The workers may
be asked to name and enumerate the individuals with whom they would
like to work.

Company Records and Reports:

Certain records and reports of the company prepared for some other
purpose can be helpful in measuring morale of the employees. The records
42
can be analyzed in the following manners viz., change in labour ratio, rate
of absenteeism, number of grievance reported by workers and resolved by
the management, and number of accidents taking place in the factory etc.
All these variables can be interpreted as an index of morale.

IMPACTS ON MORALE IN AN ORGANIZATION

Maintaining good morale is important for any organization. An

organization experiencing high morale also benefits from less work hours
lost to unscheduled days off, and higher productivity from employees
satisfied with their company. Low morale can cause additional expenses,
such as employee turnover and drop in production.

Changes in Management:

Employee can become accustomed to the practices and methods of a

particular manager, and when there is a chance in management that can
have an effect on morale. It can also depend on the circumstances that
caused the change. If a manager was perceived to be effective and
appreciated by employees, then letting that manager go without
explanation can have a negative effect on morale.

Employee Opportunity:

Employee morale is impacted by the opportunities and recognition that the

company offers, according to Human Nature at work. If an employee can
be recognized for their efforts through a promotion or raise, then the rest of
the employee population sees that the company does reward hard work.
Confidence in Management
If employees feel that company management is competent, then the morale
of the company remains high as employee expectations of company
success remain intact. When management proves to be incompetent, then
the entire organization can suffer from a drop in morale that can be
counter- productive.

Communication:

A company has many levels of communication from management to

employees, between departments, between management groups and
43
between individual employees. To maintain morale, communication lines
need to remain open and important information needs to be delivered in a
timely fashion.

MOTIVATION AND MORALE

Morale is a state of mind formed largely by employees' perception of their

work, their managers and other people they work with and the organization
itself. Morale is related to overall job satisfaction. If morale is high,
employees are less likely to complain, cause problems or quit. Morale
relates to the lower level of human needs-needs for survival, safety and
acceptance by others. If where morale will probably be healthy. But
whether morale is or is of not healthy might have little to do with how well
employees are motivated to perform.

Motivation is an internal drive, present when a person is achieving

satisfaction of human needs of a higher order, specially needs that are
psychological in nature, such as the need to do interesting or meaningful
work or be recognized for a job well done. High morale is not necessarily
accompanied by strong motivation. But although high morale does not
improve motivation, when morale is low, motivation eventually
dissipates. If morale is sustained at a reasonable level, it is possible to
apply some strategies for improved motivation.

MORALE AND JOB -SATISFACTION

Moral is defined as the degree of positive feeling an individual gets as a

member of his group out of the total job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is
referred to the inner contentment the job holder gets by performing the job
well. It is the relationship between an individual of his job. Thus, morale is
closely related to job satisfaction.

MOTIVATION AND MORALE

Morale is a state of mind formed largely by employees' perception of their

work, their managers and other people they work with and the organization
itself. Morale is related to overall job satisfaction. If morale is high,
44
employees are less likely to complain, cause problems or quit. Morale
relates to the lower level of human needs-needs for survival, safety and
acceptance by others. If where morale will probably be healthy. But
whether morale is or is of not healthy might have little to do with how well
employees are motivated to perform. Motivation is an internal drive,
present when a person is achieving satisfaction of human needs of a higher
order, specially needs that are psychological in nature, such as the need to
do interesting or meaningful work or be recognized for a job well done.
High morale is not necessarily accompanied by strong motivation. But
although high morale does not improve motivation, when morale is low,
motivation eventually dissipates. If morale is sustained at a reasonable
level, it is possible to apply some strategies for improved motivation.

MORALE AND JOB -SATISFACTION

Moral is defined as the degree of positive feeling an individual gets as a

member of his group out of the total job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is
referred to the inner contentment the job holder gets by performing the job
well. It is the relationship between an individual of his job. Thus, morale is
closely related to job satisfaction.

Morale is often associated with the group and not with the Individual as
such. It is a group spirit and a state of group health, while job satisfaction
is an individual's experience related to his job, also morale refers to a state
of confidence and a sense of competence of individuals as member of a
group to face odds and to meet contingencies. Morale can be boosted by
the group leader by inspiring, supporting and integrating the group.

MORALE AND PRODUCTIVITY

Moral is the key to action. It help in the achieving the planned objectives
without any type of conflict. All schemes of motivation must provide for
the uplifting of the morale of the workmen. Morale can be defined "as the
attitude of individuals and groups towards their work environment and
towards voluntary cooperation to the full extent of their ability in the best
Interest of the organizations". It is, therefore, a 'state of mental health' i.e.,
of happiness of an individuals or a group or a feeling of togetherness,
45
cooperation and identification with one's working environments and
objectives of his work.

Morale may be measured either by checking the extent to which the

organizations is achieving the results, i.e., its objectives or by references
to the sentiments and attitudes of employees towards their organization.

BOOST EMPLOYEE MORALE

Employee and manager morale dipped even further towards the end of
2002, and the current climate that businesses are operating in does not offer
any promising turnaround. Businesses are too focused on the negative, and
economic threats, terrorist threats, the war, etc. are contributing to a
continued downward spiral in morale.

Studies have proven that the morale of a company's workforce is directly

linked to profitability, Low morale-low profits. High morale- high profits,
this is because workers who are happy in their job and with their employer
perform better, resulting in higher and improved productivity and
profitability.

Prior to all the terrorist activity and outbreak of war, it was mostly the
workers whose morale was poor, but now management is showing signs of
concern and their lack of optimism does nothing for existing morale of their
workers. What is even more alarming is if management has this attitude, it
will confirm in their employee's minds that any effort is futile, so what`s
the use.
Well, apart from a larger number of unhappy people in the workforce, if
immediate steps are not taken to boost morale, few businesses will see any
respectable profits within the next six months. If management and workers
are both coming from a place of negativity, it spells serious trouble for
business.

Surveys performed by gall up have shown that the old-fashioned methods

of offering financial incentives, company cars, etc. do not produce long
term benefits. Their research has found has many as two-thirds to three
quarters of people employed in sales, for example, are performing at much

46
lower standard. Add to this a management that agree with them and you
can see the trouble for which they're headed.

Employees and managers need to feel emotionally attached to their work

and their employer in positive and uplifted ways. Senior management
needs to convey optimism and send that down the line, with a message
that conveys strength and security. They need to encourage and show
frequent appreciation to every employee's efforts, and find way of helping
employees work in jobs that utilize nature talents. Both employees and
management need to know that what they are doing is highly appreciated,
that opportunities for advancement and self-growth are available within
and by the company, and they need to come to work in a happy and
positive environment.

MEASURES TO BOOST MORALE

There are number of measure to boost the morale of the employees. They are as
follows:

➢ A fair system of wage payment should be evolved.

➢ A sense of security of job should be ensured.
➢ The promotion policy should be sound.
➢ Competent supervisors should be appointed.
➢ The channel of communication should be effective from the top of the
bottom.
➢ The employees should be made to feel proud of being employed in the firm.
➢ Free and frank consultation with the employees should be encouraged.

47
 CHAPTER 7

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

48
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Data analysis and interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to

the collected information and determining the conclusions, significance,
and implications of the findings.

The data, after collection by using various methods, the next step is to
present them in a systematic manner. This is because the raw data itself
will not convey their full meaning when the data arranged in a systematic
manner will the readers. This data can be presented by two methods.

Tabular presentation
Graphic and diagrammatic presentation

TABULAR PRESENTATION
Tabular presentation is a systematic organization of data in rows and
columns in a table. A table simplifies the complexity of understanding
data and facilities easy comparisons of the data. It also enables the
readers to locate the required information quickly.

GRAPHIC AND DIAGRAMIC PRESENTATION

The data we collect can often by more easily understood for interpretation
if it is presented graphically or pictorially. Diagrams and graphs give visual
indication of magnitude, grouping, trends and patterns in the data. Diagram
and graph is a statistical device, which can be used for simplifying the
complexity of quantitative data and do make them easily intelligible

SIGNIFICANCE OF DIAGRAMS AND TABLES

They give a more attractive presentation of data than by figures
They simplify complexity
They make the whole data readily intelligible
They have a great memorizing effect.

EDITING
49
 Editing of data is a process of examining the collected raw data to detect
errors and omissions and to correct these when possible. It is done to ensure
that data is accurate, consistent with other factors and was entered in order
to make it complete up to certain extent.

CODING
It refers to the process of assigning numerals or other symbols to answer
so that responses can be put into a limited number of categories or classes.
It is done by categorizing the data in order to improve standards for the raw
data.

TABULATION

Tabulation consists of counting the numbers of cases, which fall into the established
categories. Before tabulation can take place, the plan of analysis must be through. A
tabulation plan which specified the precise counts to be obtained need to be prepared.
Tabulation may be achieved using manual and machine methods. Both has its own
advantages and disadvantages.

50
 TABLE:-1
TABLE SHOWING THE YEARS OF WORKING IN KERALA
FEEDS

RESPONSE NO.OF PERCENTAGE (%)

RESPONDENT

Below 5year 6 30%

5-10 year 4 20%
10-20 year 7 35%

Above 20year 3 15%

Total 20 100%

Figure 1

40%
35%
35%
30%
30%

25%
20%
20%
15%
15%

10%

5%

0%
Below 5yr 5-10yr 10-20yr above 20yr

INTERPRETATION

From the above table and graph show that 15% of respondents are
working there for more than 20 years, 35% of respondents are working
10 to 20 years, 20% of respondents are working 5 to 10 years. And
remaining 30% of the respondents are below 5 years.

51
 TABLE-2
TABLE SHOWING SATISFACTION OF WORK PLACE

RESPONDENT NO.OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Highly satisfied 3 15%

Satisfied 16 80%
Dissatisfied 1 5%
Total 20 100%

Figure: 2

90%
80%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20% 15%

10% 5%

0%
Highly satisfied satisfied dissatisfied

INTERPRETATION

From the above it is clear that, 15% of respondent is highly satisfied

with the work place. And we can observe that 80% of the workers are
satisfied with work place and only 5% of the workers are dissatisfied.

52
 TABLE:3
TABLE SHOWING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CO-WORKERS

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Very good 7 35%

Good 13 65%
Poor 0 0
Total 20 100%

Figure: 3

14

12

10

0
very good good poor

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that, the view of respondents toward co-workers.
Here 35% of respondents have very good relationship with the co-
workers in the company. And 65% of them have feeling good.

53
 TABLE-4

TABLE SHOWING OPINION ABOUT SUPERIOR

Response No. respondent percentage

Interactive 9 45%
Neutral 11 55%
Rude 0 0
TOTAL 20 100%

Figure 4

OPINION
OPINION

60%

50% 55%

40% 45%

30%

20%

10%
0
0%
interactive neutral Rude

INTERPRETATION

From the above it is clear that the majority i.e 55% of the respondent felt
that supervisors are neutral and remaining 45 % of the respondents have
a good perception towards their supervisors.

54
 TABLE:-5

TABLE SHOWING ENCOURAGEMENT FROM MANAGEMENT

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE(%)

RESPONDENT

Yes 15 75%

No 5 25%
Total 20 100%

Figure:-5

ENCOURAGEMENT

75%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
25%
30%
20%
10%
0%
YES NO

ENCOURAGEMENT

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is clear that 75% of the respondents are told that
management encourages in overall development of them and remaining
25% are opposite to the statement.

55
 TABLE:-6

TABLE SHOWING SATISFACTION ABOUT HEALTH AND

SAFETY MEASURES

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Highly satisfied 8 40%

Satisfied 9 45%

Dissatisfied 3 15%
Total 20 100%

Figure:-6

Chart Title
45%
0.45 40%
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2 15%
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
Highly satisfied satisfied dissatisfied

INTERPRETATION

From the above analysis, it’s stated that majority i.e 45% of the respondents
are satisfied with the health and safety measures provided by the company
and remaining 45% are satisfied and 15% are dissatisfied.

56
 TABLE:7

TABLE SHOWING SATISFACTION ABOUT WELFARE

MEASURES ADOPTED BY THE COMPANY

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Fully satisfied 10 50%

Partially satisfied 8 40%

Dissatisfied 2 10%

Total 20 100%

Figure:-7

Column1
50%
50%
45% 40%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
fully satisfied partially satisfied dissatisfied

Column1

INTERPRETATION

This table tells about the views and the respondent’s opinion about
safety and welfare measures. Here 50% of the respondents are fully
satisfied, 40% partially satisfied and only 10% of respondents are
dissatisfied.

57
 TABLE:-8

TABLE SHOWING SATISFACTION ABOUT LEAVES AND

HOLYDAYS

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Highly satisfied 7 35%

Satisfied 10 50%
Dissatisfied 3 15%
Total 20 100%

Figure-8

50%
50%
45%
40% 35%
35%
30%
25%
20% 15%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Highly satisfied satisfied dissatisfied

INTERPRETATION

From the above analysis it shows that 50% of the respondents are having
feeling of satisfaction 35% of the employees are highly satisfied and
15% are dissatisfied with leaves and holydays.

58
 TABLE 9
TABLE SHOWING OPINION REGARDING WORK LOAD

RESPONDENT NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Heavy 8 40%

Average 12 60%

Less 0 0

Total 20 100%

FIGURE:9

60%
60%

50%
40%
40%

30%

20%

10%
0%
0%
heavy average less

INTERPRETATION

From the above we can observe that majority ie.60% respondents

expressed that they have average work load and remaining 40% of
respondents feeling heavy work load.

59
 TABLE 10
TABLE SHOWING ATTITUDE TOWARD PRESENT JOB

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

I like 15 75%

Can’t say 2 10%

I don’t like 3 15%

Total 20 100%

Figure:10

80% 75%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20% 15%
10%
10%

0%
I Like cant say I don’t like

INTERPRETATION

The above table makes it is clear that 75% of the respondents are like
their job. 10% don’t want to share their feelings. And 15% don’t like
their job.

60
 TABLE:-11

TABLE SHOWING APPRECIATION FROM THE

SUPERIORS WHEN COMPLETE THE TARGET

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Yes 16 80%
No 4 20%

Total 20 100%

Figure:-11

80%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30% 20%
20%
10%
0%
yes no

INTERPRETATION

Above table shows that 80% of the respondents felt that they are gets
appreciation from the superior and remaining 20% of the respondents
have the opinion that they are not appreciated by superiors, when they
fulfill the work.

61
 TABLE:-12

TABLE SHOWING OPINION ABOUT PREVAIL RULES AND

REGULATIONS OF ORGANISATION

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Rigid 2 10%

Flexible 4 20%

Both 14 70%

Total 20 100%

Figure:-12

Chart Title
70%
0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3
20%
0.2
10%
0.1

0
Rigid Flexible Both

INTERPRETATION

The above graph shows that 10% of respondents are of opinion that the
prevailing rules and regulations of the organization is rigid, 20% of
respondents are of opinion that they flexible and majority ie.70% of the
respondents are feel both flexible and rigid.

62
 TABLE:-13

TABLE SHOWING COMMUNICATION FLOW WITHIN THE

DEPARTMENT

RESPOSE NUMBAER OF RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

Excellent 4 20%

Good 15 75%

Poor 1 5%

Total 20 100%

Figure:13

75%
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30% 20%
20%
5%
10%

0%
excellent good poor

INTERPRETATION

This graph displays that 20% of respondents feels that there is excellent
communication and 75% respondents have the feeling that there good level
of communication. But remaining 5% of respondent have opinion that
communication flow within the department is poor.

63
 TABLE:-14

TABLE SHOWING EMPLOYEE’S INVOLVEMENT IN

DECISION MAKING PROCESS

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT
Always 4 20%

Maybe 14 70%

Never 2 10%

Total 20 100

Figure:-14

70%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30% 20%

20% 10%

10%

0%
always maybe never

INTERPRETATION

From the above table it is clear that majority, ie.70% of the respondent have
involved in the decision making process of the company in some times, 10%
are not involved and 20% of the respondents are always involved in the
decision making.

64
 TABLE 15

TABLE SHOWING OPINION ABOUT PRESENT INCOME

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT
Highly satisfied 4 20%

Satisfied 15 75%

Dissatisfied 1 5%

Total 20 100%

Figure:15

OPINION
80% 75%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%
20%
20%

10% 5%

0%
Highly satisfied satisfied dissatisfied

OPINION

INTERPRETATION

The above table and graph shows that 75% of the respondents are having
the feeling of satisfaction, 20% are highly satisfied with their present
income and only 5% are not satisfied with present income.

65
 TABLE:-16

TABLE SHOWING OPINION ABOUT THE PROMOTIONAL

POLICIES

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

EXCELLENT 3 15%

GOOD 7 35%

MODERATE 10 50%
TOTAL 20 100%

Figure:-16

50%
50%
45%
40% 35%
35%
30%
25%
20% 15%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Excellent Good Moderate

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows respondents opinion about promotional policies

in the organization. Here 15% feeling excellent, 35% of the respondents
are having feeling good and remaining 50%of the respondent’s opinion
is moderate.

66
 TABLE:17

TABLE SHOWING MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS PROVIDED BY

THE COMPANY

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Yes 19 95%
No 1 5%
Total 20 100%

Figure:-17

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
yes no

INTERPRETATION

It is clear from the graph and table that majority, ie.95% of the
respondents are satisfied with the motivational factor provided by the
company.

67
 TABLE:18

TABLE SHOWING FINANCIAL MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Bonus 2 10%
Incentives 2 10%
Salary 9 45%
All of these 7 35%
Total 20 100%

Figure:-18

45%
45%
40% 35%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15% 10% 10%
10%
5%
0%
Bonus Incentives salary all of these

INTERPRETATION

This table shows 10% of the respondents gets both bonus and incentives, 45%
gets salary and remaining 35% gets other motives financially.

68
 TABLE-19

TABLE SHOWING NON FINANCIAL MOTIVATIONAL

FACTORS PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Recognition 7 35%
Job enrichment 1 5%
Status 3 15%
All of these 9 45%
Total 20 100%

Figure:-19

50%
45%
45%

40%
35%
35%

30%

25%

20%
15%
15%

10%
5%
5%

0%
recognition job enrichment status all of these

INTERPRETATION

From the above table 35% of the respondents get recognition, 5%

respondents get job enrichment, 15% get status and remaining 45% can
get other non-financial motives.

69
 TABLE:-20

TABLE SHOWING TO WHAT EXTENT EMPLOYEE

MORALE’S HELP IN EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMWNT

RESPONDENT NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

To great extend 16 80%

To small extend 4 20%
Nil 0 0
Total 20 100%

Figure:-20

90%
80%
80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%
20%
20%

10%
0%
0%
Great extend small extend Nil

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that the 80% of the respondent’s opinion that
employee morale helps in employee empowerment to great extent, and
remaining 20% to a small extent.

70
 TABLE 21

TABLE SHOWING OPINION ABOUT THE MORALE

INFLUENCE THE PRODUCTION OF THE COMPANY

RESPONSE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGE

RESPONDENT

Yes 19 95%

No 1 5%

Total 20 100%

Figure:-21

OPINION
100% 95%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 5%
0%
yes no

OPINION

INTERPRETATION

The above table shows that 95% of the respondents truly believe
that morale is directly influence the productivity and remaining 5%
opposite to that statement.

71
 CHAPTER 8

FINDINGS, SUGGESSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

72
FINDINGS

By the study it is found that:

• The majority of the respondents are fully satisfied with their job.
• Majority of the respondents are satisfied with work place and working hours.
• Majority of the workers get recognition from their superiors
when they full fill the work.
• Majority of the respondents expressed that they have
average work load in the organization.
• 75 percent of the respondents are satisfied with their present income.
• Most of the employees are satisfied with the safety
measures provided by the organization.
• 50 percent of the respondents opined that the promotional policies
in the organization was moderate.
• The study reveals that motivations have high impact on efficiency.
• From the analysis most of the respondents says that the rules
and regulations are flexible.
• There is a good communication flow within the department.
• Majority of the employees are satisfied with the leaves and
holidays provided by the company.
• Most of the employees are satisfied with welfare measures adopted by the
Company.
• Most of the employees have good relation with the
management and their fellow workers.
• Majority of the respondents are very happy to work as
an employee in the organization. It shows their level of
morale.

SUGGESTIONS

To improve the level of Employee Morale, it is better to consider following

suggestions.

• Be transparent at the leadership level

73
 • Promote work/life balancing
• Management should reduce the work load of the employees.
• It will be more effective if the management take the steps to
introduce suggestion scheme system for the employees.
• Go green with plants in workplace
• Invite employees to share skills
• Organize team building activities
• The management should pay reasonable wage and allowance to the
employees.
• The management should recognize the needs of
employees and encourages employee’s special talents.

• It will be better if the management provides incentives to

employee so it will boost their morale and productivity.
• Supervisors should maintain coordinal relationship with workers and offers.
• It will be better if management provide performance and potential appraisal
regularly.
• The management should provide opportunities for career development.
• It will better if management given performance awards to
employees. - Arrange cultural programs for employees and
their families.
• For mental relaxation, facilities, such as common rest room, TV
room etc. should be provided employee's efforts should be
recognized.
• Give necessary arrangements to improve employee’s efficiency.
• To develop well planned communication system, so that superiors
can understand the problems of workers and can solve it
• Encourage genuine breaks.

CONCLUSION

74
Maintaining high employee morale and productivity is hard work and
cannot be forced. The company must establish core values, assess the
current state, and invest in robust training for all levels of the organization.
Establishing clear employee expectations is critical, but the company can
also promote diversity without talking about it all the time. For most
employees actions and decision-making that is always free from
discriminatory practices speaks louder than words.

The research study entitled ‘A study on Employee Morale with special

reference to Prompt Packs, Pakarapilly. Was undertaken with the objective
of finding out the employee morale prevailing in the organizations. From
the study the researcher concludes that, majority of the employees are
satisfied with their job, present income, working condition etc. Managerial
attitude and the factors that affect employee morale. Due to these
advantages the employee turnover in the organization is very low.

It can also be concluded that majority of the employees have positive

attitude and commitment towards the company. The above positive
factors led to the employee morale prevailing in the organizations to be
extremely good.

75
BIBLIOGRAPHY

76
BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

• A. Vinod. , Marketing Management

• Ghosh P.K and Ghorpada M.B., Industrial Psychology
• Chabra. J.N., Principle and practice of Management

WEB SITES

• www.ibisworld.com
• https://www.promptpacks.com

• https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com
• www.cardboard.com
• http://www.packhelp.com

77
ANNEXURE

78
PROMPT PACKS, PAKARAPILLY

TOPIC:- A STUDY ON THE EMPLOYEE MORALE WITH

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PROMPT PACKS,
PAKARAPILLY, THRISSUR

QUESTIONNAIRE

Sir/Madam,

I would like to do a project based on the topic as a part of my BBA LLB

(Hons) degree program. Kindly fill it and return back to me. I promise the
data provided by you will be kept confidential and will use only for
academic purpose.

Researcher:- Anu K S

BBA LLB (Hons), AIM College

of law, Mala Name:

Age:

Sex:

Qualification:

1. How long have you in the company?

• Below 1 year
• 2-3 years
• Above 5 years.
2. Are you satisfied with your work place?
• Highly satisfied
• Satisfied
• Dissatisfied
3. How is your relationship with your co - workers?
• Very good
• Good
• Poor
4. What is your opinion about your superiors?
• interactive
• Neutral
• Rude
5. Is your management encouraging employee development?
• Yes
• No
6. Are you satisfied with health and safety measures?
79
 • Highly satisfied
• Satisfied
• Dissatisfied
7. Are you happy with welfare measures adopted by the company?
• Fully satisfied
• Partly satisfied
• Dissatisfied
8. Are you satisfied with leaves and holidays?
• Highly satisfied
• Satisfied
• Dissatisfied
9. What is your opinion about work load?
• Heavy
• Average
• Less
10. What is your attitude towards your present job?
• I like
• Can't say
• I don’t like
11. Do you get appreciation from the superiors when you complete the target?
• Yes
• No
12. What is your opinion about the prevailing rules and regulations of the
organization?
• Rigid
• Flexible
• Both
13. What about communication flow within the department?
• Excellent
• Good
• Poor
14. Are you involved in the decision making process of your superior?
• Always
• Maybe
• Never
15. What is your opinion about present income?
• Highly satisfied
• Satisfied
• Dissatisfied
16. What is your opinion about the promotional policy in the organization?
• Excellent
• Good
• Moderate

80
 17. Are you satisfied with the motivational factors provided by the company?
• Yes
• No
18. How your company is motivates you financially?
• Bonus
• Incentives
• Salary
• All of these
19. What is the various non-financial motivations get from the company?
• Recognition
• Job enrichment
• Status
• All of these
20. To what extent employee morale will help in employee empowerment?
• To great extent
• To small extent
• Nil
21. Does the morale influence the production of the company?
• Yes
• No

Thanks,

81
8
1