Chapter III

Research Methodology

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 CHAPTER - III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 COMPONENT I: PROFILE OF STUDY AREA

3.1.1 Profile of Chennai

3.2 COMPONENT II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.2.1 Title of the study

3.2.2 Significance of the Problem

3.2.3 Scope of the research

3.2.4 Research Design

3.2.5 Sampling procedure, technique and sample size

3.2.6 Statistical Tool Used for Analysis

3.2.7 Data Collection Design

3.2.8 Reliability and Validity

3.2.9 Hypothesis formulated for the study

3.2.10 Objective of the study

3.2.11 Limitation of research

3.2.12 Need for the study

3.2.13 Chapter plan

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3.1 COMPONENT I: PROFILE OF STUDY AREA
3.1.1 Profile of Chennai

Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is
the fourth most populous metropolitan city and the fifth most populous city in India, located
on the Coromandel Coast of 62 the Bay of Bengal. Chennai city had a population of 4.34
million in the 2001 Census, within the area administered by the Corporation of Chennai. The
urban agglomeration of metropolitan Chennai had a population of over 7.04 million (2001)
and an estimated population of 8.2 million (2009) people. Chennai is located on the northeast
of Tamil Nadu, on the east coast abutting the Bay of Bengal. It lies between 12o 09’ N and
13o 09’ N of the latitudes and 80o 0’ 12’’ E and 80o 0’ 19’’ E of the longitudes, on a ‘sandy
shelving breaker swept beach’. It stretches for 25.6 km along the Bay coast, from
Thiruvanmiyur on the south to Thiruvottiyur on the north. It runs inland in a rugged semi-
circular fashion. It is bounded on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the remaining three
sides by Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur districts.

Chennai, governed by the Chennai Corporation (formerly Corporation of Madras), which was
established in 1688. It is the oldest municipal corporation in India and the second oldest
corporation in the world. In 2011, the jurisdiction of the Chennai Corporation expanded from
174 km2 (67 mile2 ) to an area of 426 km2 (164 m2 ), dividing in three regions – North,
South and Central, which covers 200 wards (previously 155 wards and 10 zones) with 15
zones. The Worshipful Mayor and the councillor of each ward of the city are elected through
popular vote by the residents of Chennai city. The Chennai Metropolitan Development
Authority (CMDA) is the nodal agency responsible of planning and development of the
Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA), which is spread over an area of 1,189 km2 63 (459
mile2), covering Chennai district and parts of Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts. The
larger suburbs are governed by the town municipalities, and the smaller still are e-governed
by the Town Councils. They are called as the panchayats. Under the gamut of the CMDA are
5 parliamentary and 28 assembly constituencies. The CMDA has drafted a second Master
Plan that aims at developing satellite townships around the city. The city’s contiguous
satellite towns include Mahabalipuram in the south, Chengalpattu and Maraimalai Nagar in
the southwest, and Sriperumpudur, Arakonam, Kancheepuram and Thriuvallur to the west.
Chennai, as the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, houses the State

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 Figure 3.1
(Source: www.mapofchennai.com)
Executive and Legislative Headquarters, primarily in the Secretariat Buildings in the Fort St.
George campus. The Madras High Court is the highest judicial authority in the state, whose
jurisdiction extends across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. There is also a regional seat of the
judiciary in Madurai city. Chennai city has three parliamentary constituencies: Chennai
North, Chennai Central and Chennai South, and together they elect 14 Members of the

59
Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to the state legislature. The important and old building of the
Chennai city, the Chepauk Palace in the, designed by Paul Benfield, is said to be the first
Indo-Saracenic building in India. Other buildings of Fort St. George were built in 1640, and
most of these were designed by the English architects Robert Fellowes Chisholm and Henry
Irwin. The best examples of this style include the Madras High Court (built in 1892),
Southern Railway Headquarters, Central Railway Station, Ripon Buildings, Government
Museum, Senate House of the University of Madras, Amir Mahal, Bharat Insurance Building,
Victoria Public Hall and the College of Engineering, Guindy, which is now the Anna
University.

The total population of Chennai amounted to 3,841,396 in 1991, which increased further to
4,343,645 in 2001. Chennai district on the other accounted for 6.8 percent of the total
population of 62,110,839 of the state in 2001. Males numbered 2,219,539 (51.3 per cent) and
females constituted about 2,124,106 (48.7 per cent). It ranks 2nd among the districts of Tamil
Nadu in population, next only to Coimbatore district. The state’s population has
approximately been 72 million in 2011 Census. Chennai has become an important destination
for trade and tourism, in recent years. It has evoked as a city with tremendous potential for
industrial growth because of its economic viability and available infrastructure. The State
Government Departments are geared towards increasing trade and commerce links with other
countries and also developing greater industrial growth. The entire boom in the trade and
business of Chennai city accounts largely for its rapidly growing population. More businesses
and job opportunities in the city lure people from in and around Chennai and settle in here.

Major multinationals have already set up their branch offices in Chennai, leading to more
people being hired by these companies. So, the population of Chennai has grown rapidly in
the last 20 years, due to major industrialization and tremendous growth. 65 In the Census
2001, Chennai city population was at 4.216 million while the agglomeration developed
around it is estimated to have nearly twice the population. IT houses roughly 25 percent of
the country 1.8 million Information Technology (IT) work forces and earns about Rs.
360,000 million annually through software exports. Further, the North Indian IT and other
specialists / experts have started moving to Chennai city for core industrial employment/jobs,
especially in the automobile sector, construction work (masons and laborers) and also in
hotels/fast food chains. This is increasing the population of Chennai city by migration,
mainly for jobs and employment purposes.

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The city has the fourth highest population of slum dwellers as well among the major cities in
India, with about 820,000 people (18.6 per cent of the city’s population) living in slum
conditions. According to Census 2011, Chennai district has 1.1 million households, with 51
per cent of them living in rented houses. There are about 1,240 slums in Chennai. As per
Census 2011, the residential housing stock available is 1.15 million – a surplus of about
50,000 houses, as many as 43,700 of them are kept vacant. In the suburbs of Chennai, located
in Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, the figures for vacant houses are 56,000 and
71,000 houses, respectively. Of the existing housing stock in the city, about 200,000 houses
are not in good condition, necessitating either rebuilding or renovation, most necessitating
rebuilding new units. About 26,000 households live in houses without any room and another
427,000 families (with an average size of 5 members) live in small dwelling units with only
one room. An earlier estimate shows that there is need to generate about 420,000 units for
low income groups by 2016.

Industrialization in the city dates back to the 16th century, when textile mills manufactured
goods which were exported to Britain during its war with France. In the late 18th century, it
became the only city in Asia to manufacture car engines and ancillary parts for ships and
battle tanks. According to Forbes magazine, Chennai is one of the fastest growing cities in
the world and the only Indian city to be rated in the “Forbes-Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities in
the World. It is ranked 4th in hosting the maximum number of Fortune 500 companies of
India, next only to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. It also is home to 24 Indian companies
having net worth of more than US $ 1.0 billion. As of 2012, the city has about 34,260
identified companies having in its 15 zones, of which 5,196 companies have a paid-up capital
of over 5 million rupees. Chennai has a diversified economic has anchored by the
automobile, software services, hardware manufacturing, health care and financial services
industries. According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, Chennai is estimated to grow
to a 100 billion US dollars economy, 2.5 times its present size, by the year 2025. As of 2012,
with 100,000 crore of rupees investment in the pipeline over 5 years, the city is poised for
major industrial investment. Chennai is classified as a global city by GaWC, with a ranking
of beta based on the extent of global reach and financial influence.

The city is a base to around 30 per cent of India’s automobile industry and 40 per cent of the
automobile components industry. A large number of automotive companies including
Hyundai, Renault, Nissan Motors, Ashok Leyland, Daimler AG, Caterpillar Inc., Komatsu
Limited, Ford, BMW and Mitsubishi have manufacturing plants in Chennai. The Heavy
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Vehicles Factory at Avadi produces military vehicles, including India’s main battle tank:
Arjun MBT. The Integral Coach Factory at Perambur manufactures railway coaches and
other rolling stock for Indian Railways. Chennai contributes more than 50 per cent of India’s
leather exports. Many software and software services companies have development centers in
Chennai, which contributed 14 percent of India’s total software exports of 1,442,140 million
rupees during 2006-2007, making it the second largest exporter, by city, of software in the
country, being Bangalore. The Tidel Park in Chennai was billed as Asia’s largest IT Park
when it was built.

Chennai is divided into four broad regions: the North, Central, South and West. North
Chennai is primarily an industrial area. South Chennai and West Chennai, previously mostly
residential, are fast becoming commercial, home to a growing number of information
technology firms, financial companies and call centres, which are invariably multinational.
The city is expanding quickly along the Old Mahabalipuram Road and Grand Southern Trunk
Road (GST Road) in the south and towards Ambattur, Koyambedu and Sriperumbudur in the
west. Chennai city has a total coast length of about 19 km, which now has more than doubled
with the expanded Corporation limits. The Chennai beach is the second longest urban beach
in the world.

Among the city infrastructures, Tele-Communications, Banking, Health Care, Waste

Management, Shopping, Cinema and Entertainment, Tourism and Hospitality, and Recreation
are discussed to give an idea of developments in the recent years.

This chapter has presented a detailed profile of the city of Chennai, which is the study area
for the present study. Chennai is the fourth largest city in the country and is the capital of
Tamil Nadu. The population of the city in 2011 was 4.68 million and is currently the fastest
growing metropolises of India. Migrants in Chennai city account for nearly 40 of the
population of the city. With recent developments in IT and ITES, the city employs about 1.8
million people, most of whom have come from various parts of the country, but particularly
from Tamil Nadu. The software exports from Chennai amounted to Rs. 360,000 million in
the last year. There are prospects for further expansion in the near future. Automobile and
mobile phone industries are also very important today as the city is the fourth largest buyer of
four-wheelers and the second largest user of mobile phones (at 6.8 million) with some of
them using dual SIM cards. Among the workforce are also people from other states, of North
India, and the construction workers are either from Bihar or from West Bengal. The city is

62
now a cultural melting pot with people from multiple ethnic-religious groups. The one reason
for the industrial development in the city and the surroundings is the availability of
infrastructures, besides of course industrial promotion through various means. There have
been literally a million or more jobs in the last few years that the migrants have come in from
all directions. The infrastructures, particularly health, education, recreation, and housing,
have made possible the incoming migrant flows in steady streams that the migrants have
made the city their homes for it provides for all their needs.

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3.2 COMPONENT II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.2.1 Title of the study

THE STUDY ON CURRENT ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF

LOGISTICS COMPANIES.

3.2.2 Significance of the Problem

The economic recession, as a consequence of the worldwide financial crisis, is nearly

conquered and the economy is recovering again. Rising demand implicates an increasing
transport volume for the industry, which has already caused a shortage of shipping space in
road traffic, rail traffic, and air and sea freight. Through rising tonnage carried and marginal
transport capacities, price increases are expected for all modes of transport. The researcher
found the problem in logistics management among these modes which created a scope for the
researcher to go through the present study and to choose the topic “A Study on the current
Issues and Challenges in the Management of Logistics Companies”.

For many companies these requirements are more important than price compared to
their competitors. The trends arising with the concept of logistics management was properly
originated from the continuity of production planning and control.

Logistics management will meet the competition in the market to fulfill the
customers’ requirements in a cost efficient way and flexible manner. It applies in future for
industrial companies and even for the logistics service providers.

3.2.3 Scope of the research

The early researchers gave little information about the problems faced by logistics
department. And the researches has also undergone with scope and future growth of logistics
industry. The study completely discusses about the strategies followed with different
segments under logistics Companies.

India shows superior growth rates creating enhanced potential for foreign players. But
despite the growth of the population of India and its economy in general the transport and
logistics sector faces accompanying challenges with its infrastructure, environment pollution,
increasing traffic density, policies and other inefficiencies in the system. Apart from that the
increasing of urban culture is also creating a scope for logistics industry in India.

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 The logic behind the selection of topic, and selection of the industries are already
explained under the extent utilization and sample framing of the study.

3.2.4 Research Design

Exploratory research:

This design (Malhotra, 2010) is defined as “research that focuses on collecting either
secondary or primary data and using unstructured formats or informal procedures to interpret
them”. Exploratory studies are often used to classify problems or to understand a
phenomenon and are not intended to provide conclusive information to determine a course of
action. It regularly involves focus-group interviews, in-depth interviews and/or pilot studies.
Exploratory studies are most suited when the existing knowledge and experiences of the
researcher are limited and that the scope of the study is to find out as much of the subject as
possible, which involves several ways to collect data.

Descriptive research:

This design is defined as research that uses a set of scientific methods to collect raw data and
create data structures that describe the existing characteristics of a defined target population
or market structure. Descriptive studies aim to portray, depict or describe certain fields of
interest in order to select a course of action. Descriptive studies are most suited when the
researcher already possesses knowledge about and experience from the subject, and that the
scope of the study is to describe a certain field thoroughly, often only involving one way of
collecting data. Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and
characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research
answers the questions who, what, where, when and how.

Table 3.1
Research Designs in Current Study

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 Research Designs

Research Design Applications in this Study

Exploratory Literature Review, Factors influencing constructs

Descriptive Research instrument, Measurement, Hypothesis formulation,

Testing, Data analysis and interpretation

Source: Compiled by Researcher.

3.2.5 Sampling procedure, technique and sample size:

The multi stage sampling technique was used to choose Logistics Companies and the
respondents. As portrayed in Table, Further, the census method was used and all the Senior
Managers from the selected Logistics Companies has been selected. Accordingly, 5 centres
were selected from Chennai districts and the total number of sample came out to be 446
included in the pilot study, and those who were either not willing to talk, feeling
uncomfortable or remained absent during data collection were excluded and hence the actual
number of sample size came out to be 397.

Table 3.2
Training Centres and Sample selection
Total No. of
Senior Sampled No. of
S. Name of the managers respondents
Total No. of Logistics Companies
No. District
(Mar 2015-Feb Included Excluded
2016)
Non- Pilot
Willing Study
1.) Maersk Line 94 87 9 3

2.) TVS Logistics 113 99 5 4

1. Chennai
3.) TLPL 89 77 8 3
4.) Seaway Shipping 78 68 3 4
5.) Pan Asia Logistics 72 66 7 2
Total 446 397 33 16
Source: Compiled by Researcher.

3.2.6 Statistical Tool Used For Analysis

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  Descriptive Analysis
 ANOVA
 Factor Analysis

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS:

(i) SIMPLE PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS

Simple percentage analysis is one of the basic Statistical tools which is widely used in

analysis and interpretation of primary data. It deals with the number of respondents' response

to a particular question in percentage arrived from the total population selected for the study

Formula

Number of respondents’ response to a question

-------------------------------------------------------- X 100

Total number of samples selected for the study

It is one of the simple forms of analysis which is very easy for anyone to understand the

outcome of the research. It is normally used by commercial research organizations and

pictorially presented with different diagrams.

(ii) Range and average score analysis score method also employed along with simple

percentage analysis

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA)

The analysis of variance is a powerful statistical tool for tests of significance. The test

of significance based on t-distribution is an adequate procedure only for testing the

significance of the difference between two sample means. In a situation when we have three

or more samples to consider at a time, an alternative procedure is needed for testing the

67
hypothesis that all the samples are drawn from the populations with the same mean. The

basic purpose of the analysis of variance is to test the homogeneity of several means.

FACTOR ANALYSIS

Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated
variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors. For
example, it is possible that variations in six observed variables mainly reflect the variations in
two unobserved (underlying) variables. Factor analysis searches for such joint variations in
response to unobserved latent variables. The observed variables are modelled as linear
combinations of the potential factors, plus "error" terms. Factor analysis aims to find
independent latent variables. Followers of factor analytic methods believe that the
information gained about the interdependencies between observed variables can be used later
to reduce the set of variables in a dataset.

3.2.7 DATA COLLECTION

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on targeted

variables in an established systematic fashion, which then enables one to answer relevant
questions and evaluate outcomes. The data collection component of research is common to
all fields of study including physical and social sciences, humanities and business. It help us
to collect the main points as gathered information. While methods vary by discipline, the
emphasis on ensuring accurate and honest collection remains the same. The goal for all data
collection is to capture quality evidence that then translates to rich data analysis and allows
the building of a convincing and credible answer to questions that have been posed.

The importance of ensuring accurate and appropriate data collection

Regardless of the field of study or preference for defining data (quantitative,

qualitative), accurate data collection is essential to maintaining the integrity of research. Both
the selection of appropriate data collection instruments (existing, modified, or newly
developed) and clearly delineated instructions for their correct use reduce the likelihood of
errors occurring.

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Consequences from improperly collected data include

 Inability to answer research questions accurately

 Inability to repeat and validate the study

 Distorted findings resulting in wasted resources

 Misleading other researchers to pursue fruitless avenues of investigation

 Compromising decisions for public policy

 Causing harm to human participants and animal subjects

While the degree of impact from faulty data collection may vary by discipline and the
nature of investigation, there is the potential to cause disproportionate harm when these
research results are used to support public policy recommendations.

The task of data collection begins after a research problem has been defined and
research design chocked out. While deciding about the method of data collection to be used
for the study, the researcher should keep in mind two types of data viz. primary and
secondary.

3.2.8 Reliability and Validity

Cornbach Alpha (reliability coefficient) value was computed from pilot study data for
each construct as well as for the entire research instrument. The values are presented in the
below table cornbach values are greater than 0.7 are indicators of high reliability (Nunally,
1978).

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 Table 3.3

Reliability and Validity

No. of Scale
Ques . No Construct Pilot Study
items

ORGANIZATION
1 REVERSE LOGISTICS 24 0.930
OPERATIONS

2 CHALLENGES FACED IN 12 0.905

LOGISTICS
HANDLING AND
3 20 0.793
SHIPPING PROBLEMS IN
LOGISTICS
1 to 3 FULL INSTRUMENT 56 .944

Source: Compiled by Researcher.

3.2.9 HYPOTHESIS FORMULATED FOR THE STUDY

Ho1: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Economic
Benefit

Ho2: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Customer

Centric

Ho3: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Product

Enhancer

Ho4: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Organization

Benefit

Ho5: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to

Economic Benefit

Ho6: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to

Customer Centric

Ho7: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to Product
Enhancer

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Ho8: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to
Organization Benefit

Ho9: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Economic

Benefit

H10: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Customer

Centric

H11: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Product

Enhancer

H12: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Organization

Benefit

H13: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to Co-
ordination

H14: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to

Resources

H15: There is no significant difference between Types of Organization with respect to

Strategic Decision Making

H16: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Process.

H17: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to HR Issues.

H18: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Infrastructure.

H19: There is no significant difference between Designations with respect to Knowledge and
Communication.

H20: There is no significant difference between Types of organization with respect to Process

H21: There is no significant difference between Types of organization with respect to HR

issues

H22: There is no significant difference between Types of organization with respect to

infrastructure

H23: There is no significant difference between Types of organization with respect to

Knowledge and communication
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3.2.10 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The researcher has defined the following objectives to fulfill her study of research
which confines her study with specified objectives.

 To understand the effectiveness of Reverse Logistics System based on current issues and
challenges faced by logistics companies.
 To know the characteristics and challenges faced by organizations in Logistics System.
 To understand the problems in shipping and delivery of production.
 To know the Handling Systems and transportation opportunities available to
Organisation.
3.2.11 Limitation of research

Every possible effort has been made by the researcher to complete the present
research work in all its aspects but because of number of uncontrollable factors the research
has following limitations.

1. The study is proposed in 5 supply chain and logistics industry only; result and
conclusion may not be same among the universe of the study.

2. The study is confined to trends and challenges of the logistics only; results may not be
fit suitable for other sectors that manufacture and move on with logistics too.

3. Outcomes and results can‘t applicable with other places of India.

3.2.12 Need for the study

There are several models that seem to be emerging based on the critical needs of the
Indian economy that can stand as viable models for other global economies as well. But the
present study reveals that there is scope for logistics management in the future. The need for
the study was confined with the following:

 For every organization, there will be a supply chain department in which the new
challenges and trends are adapted.

 Developing country like India, are having a good Opportunity and growth of
logistics sector.

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 As the country is in to the urbanization, the logistics network will have its free flow.

 Logistics is a diverse industry; it has plenty of sub-sectors with which the researcher
will have challenging tasks to go through.

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3.2.13 Chapter plan

Chapter 1: Introduction
This Primary Chapter provides details and comprises introduction of the logistics company.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

This second Chapter presents review of literature on antecedents and determinants of

organisational culture and work commitment. It culminates with the listing of research gaps.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

The importance of the study, the primary and secondary research objectives, methodology of
research, limitation of the study.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Discussion

The fourth chapter deals with the profile of the logistics companies.

Chapter 5: Data Analysis and Discussion

The fifth Chapter deals with data analysis and discussion pertaining to primary data collected
through the survey using structured questionnaire.

Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations

The fifth and final Chapter presents a summary of research findings, conclusion,
recommendations, and scope for further research.

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