International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (IJM) 6510(Online), Volume

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AN ANALYSIS ON THE PHYSICAL PROBLEMS FACED BY THE RETAIL MALL EMPLOYEES IN BANGALORE
Mr. K. Karthikeyan B. Sc., MBA., PGDHE., (PhD) Assistant Professor (SG), School of Management, Karunya University, Coimbatore 641 114 Dr. S. Anthony Raj MFT.,M.Phil.,MBA.,PGDCA.,PGDOM.,PGDM.,DIM.,PhD Assistant Professor (SG), School of Management, Karunya University, Coimbatore 641 114 Dr. D. Christy Selvarani M.Com., M.Phil., PhD Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, Urumu Dhanalakhsmi College, Trichy 620 001 ABSTRACT Retail is currently the thriving sector of the Indian economy. This inclination is expected to continue for at least the next two-three decades, attracting huge attention from all quarters of the economyentrepreneurs, business heads, investors as well as real estate owners and builders. Retail sector is also anticipated to create huge employment as it will expand across the country at a colossal scale. With such developments in the retail it is imperative to come across at the labour market in this sector. Since this is a hugely under-researched area, the study attempts to firstly understand and conceptualize labour as it is perceived by both unorganized and organized forms of retailing. A working organization whether large, medium or small, consists of people who are the human resources who are coming together to work from different sources and who usually diverge from each other in regard to their psychosomatic built. Human factors of production represent productive power that is required in an organisation and the managers problem is to channelize this power. Retail industry have overall positive impacts in terms of generating more number of employments, new diversified forms of employments, and improving the nature of retail employment (higher salary, more job benefits, security of job, employability etc). This form of retail sector is also looked upon as a huge sector having immense business opportunities for entrepreneurs and capital investors. In spite of tremendous employment opportunity, a close observation of Retail employees reveals that they are complex creatures. They are technical machines (physiological creatures) in; physical, muscular, manipulative and energy-exerting
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operations. They have a feeling dimension, their likes and dislikes affect the work. They have social dimension as well, they would like to interact with others around them. The broad objective of the study is to understand the behavioural and physical problems (commonly called Musculoskeletal Disorders- MSDs) faced by the employees working in retail industry specifically in Bangalore. Keywords: Retail, entrepreneurs, physiological creatures, psychosomatic built, Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) 1. INTRODUCTION Retail is currently the thriving sector of the Indian economy. This inclination is expected to continue for at least the next two-three decades, attracting huge attention from all quarters of the economyentrepreneurs, business heads, investors as well as real estate owners and builders. Retail sector is also anticipated to create huge employment as it will expand across the country at a colossal scale. With such developments in the retail it is imperative to come across at the labour market in this sector. Since this is a hugely under-researched area, the study attempts to firstly understand and conceptualize labour as it is perceived by both unorganized and organized forms of retailing. A working organization whether large, medium or small, consists of people who are the human resources who are coming together to work from different sources and who usually diverge from each other in regard to their psychosomatic built. Human factors of production represent productive power that is required in an organisation and the managers problem is to channelize this power. Retail industry have overall positive impacts in terms of generating more number of employments, new diversified forms of employments, and improving the nature of retail employment (higher salary, more job benefits, security of job, employability etc). As well as physical factors, organisational factors such as low job satisfaction and individual factors such as medical history, physical capacity and age are also significant. In order to reduce the risk of (Musculoskeletal Disorders) MSDs, retail and service sector employers need to understand more about MSDs and take action. This includes carrying out risk assessment and control, training employees and providing the correct workplace equipment. Ergonomic principles (ergonomics is the study of the relationship between workers and their working environment and equipment) should be taken into account when introducing change at the workplace. Designing work and workstations to fit workers capabilities are essential; in other words, fitting the job to the worker, not the worker to the job. 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE The theory of the psychological contract and its effect on the employee organizational relationship provides a second foundation for employer branding. In the traditional concept of the psychological contract between workers and employers, workers promised loyalty to the firm in exchange for job security (Hendry and Jenkins, 1997). A psychological contract is at the base of every employee-employer relationship. A psychological contract is an employees beliefs about what is owed to

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and will be received from his or her employer, whether or not the employer has explicitly agreed to its terms (Morisson and Robinson, 1997; Rousseau, 1990). There is a consensus among researchers that, as a whole, the psychological contract entails an observed or implied reciprocal relationship of binding expectations and obligations between an employee and employer (Morisson and Robinson, 1997; McLean Parks, Kidder and Gallagher, 1998; Rousseau, 1998; Rousseau and Tijoriwala, 1998) which is expected to last into the future (Rousseau, 1990). The psychological contract is the employees perception of the exchange agreement between the employee and employer. Employees create and then continuously modify their own psychological contract as a natural process that occurs during recruitment and employment. It would be extremely difficult for written or oral contract to detail every aspect of relationship between an employer and employee, so the psychological contract is necessary tool that both parties use to fill to fill the gaps that are left (Thomas, Au and Ravlin, 2003). (Rousseau, 1998; Thomas Au and Ravlin, 2003) and is created in conjunction with any written or verbal contract (Rousseau and Tijoriwala, 1998). Managers demonstrate trustworthiness when they listen to employees, account for their actions and explain reasons for decisions. (Tyler, T., Dienhart, J., & Thomas, T. , 2008) Regular assessments of company ethics by HR and senior management are critical. This may include policies and programs, the code of conduct, ethics communications, ethics training and employees opinion surveys. Key questions to consider are: 1) is the company sending the message that it promotes ethical behavior; 2) is it concerned with the welfare of employees or is the goal to protect the company; and 3) is the formal ethics program outsourced for cost savings (on the Internet), thoughtfully focused on the nuances of the organizational culture, and to what degree is senior management involved? (Trevino, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. 2003) The purpose of a code of conduct is to raise ethical expectations; focus on dialogue about ethical issues; encourage ethical decision-making; and prevent misconduct and establish a platform for enforcement. Through the code of conduct, with clear language and specific illustrations of how ethical principles apply to the workplace setting, organizations put employeesincluding management-on notice that there are consequences of not complying and expectations for certain behavior. (Berenbeim, R. E., & Dubinsky, J. E. 2008) The ethical theories of moral philosophers (Aristotles ethics of virtue, Kants categorical imperative and Mills utilitarianism/greatest happiness principle) identify key ethical leadership skills that are important for todays workplace: 1) practical wisdom-personal integrity and good character, 2) moral reasoning-compliance with corporate ethics, and 3) moral feelings-cost/benefit analysis. (De Colle, S., & Werhane, P. H. 2007) Transparent procedures are important. They allow managers to emphasize the importance of decision-making for all employees to minimize the belief that some receive favorable treatment or differences based on other biases. When focus is placed on respecting employees and their rights, the quality of interpersonal relationships in the workplace improves. When people are treated with dignity and courtesy, commitment to the organization increases along with productivity. (Tyler, T., Dienhart, J., & Thomas, T. 2008) Under classic behavioral management based on reinforcement theory (Komaki, Coombs, & Schepman, 1996), recognition is classified as a natural

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reinforcer (as opposed to a contrived reinforcer such as money) Recognition is treated as universally applicable and, if provided on a contingent basis in managing employee behavior, can be a very powerful reinforcer to improve performance. For example, under the Luthans and Kreitner (1975, 1985) organizational behavior modification (O.B. Mod.) approach, after the critical employee performance behaviors are identified, measured and functionally analyzed, then the intervention step can contingently apply recognition to strengthen and accelerate the identified behaviors with resulting performance improvement. A large number of studies over the years have verified that recognition is indeed a powerful positive reinforcer for employee behaviors leading to performance improvement in both manufacturing (e.g., Luthans, Maciag, & Rosenkrantz, 1983; Ottemann & Luthans, 1975; Welsh, Luthans, & Sommer, 1993) and service organizations. 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Though the employees in the retail sector are well paid, there are some problems prevailing among the retail sector employees in terms of psychology and societal as well. The trend in the retail sector has pushed their employees under many psychological, physiological and societal threats. Various problems encountered by the retail sector employees are addressed in the study. The various problems witnessed in the retail industry are addressed in the review of literature. Most of the researchers have covered the psychological problems faced by the retail sector employees. Few researchers have covered the physical problems faced by the employees in retail malls. So the researcher found a GAP, which has to be addressed by fusing the psychological disturbance and the societal problems. 4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. To examine common Musculoskeletal Disorder caused to the employees working in Retail malls, 2. To rank the common symptoms and physical problems in the work place and 3. To find the association between the mean score of the personal attributes of the respondents and their physical problems caused in the work place. 5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 5.1 Research Area Bangalore, also known as Bengaluru, is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City or Silicon Valley of India and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration. As of 2009, Bangalore was inducted in the list of Global cities and ranked as a "Beta World City" alongside Geneva, Copenhagen, Boston, Cairo, Riyadh, Berlin, to name a few, in the studies performed by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. This study is conducted in the silicon valley of India, the Bangalore, which is considered to be the city of shopping malls. Bangalore is called the Silicon Valley of India because of the large number of information technology companies located in the city which contributed 33percent of India's Rs. 144,214 crore IT exports in 2006-07.

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Bangalore's IT industry is divided into three main clusters Software Technology Parks of India (STPI); International Tech Park, Bangalore (ITPB); and Electronics City. UB City, the headquarters of the United Breweries Group, is a high-end commercial zone. Infosys and Wipro, India's second and third largest software companies are headquartered in Bangalore, as are many of the global SEI-CMM Level 5 Companies. 5.2 Data Collection This study is mainly focused on Primary data. The relevant data is collected from 300 respondents working in ten different reputed shopping malls in Bangalore. The data is collected using a Structured Questionnaire. 5.3 Statistical Tools Used The following statistical tools are used in this research. Tools such as the Simple Percentage, Garrett ranking and Z test of significance are used. 5.3.1 Garrett Ranking The orders of the merits given by the respondents are changed into ranks by using the below formula: Where Rij = Rank given for Ith item by Jth individual Ni = Number of items ranked by Jth individual 5.3.2 Z-Tests of Significance The Z tests of significance of mean scores on physical problems between groups of respondents namely gender, marital status, Bread winner or not and level of role in the organization are performed 5.4 Limitations of the Study Data collection in Bangalore was found very difficult as the cost for transportation and stay found to be more expensive Busyness of the respondents made the researcher to spend most of his idle in the organisation and Time constraint as the researcher is employed in some organisation. 6. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY SIMPLE PERCENTAGE: From Table 1, Out of 300 total respondents, 3.3 percent of them are seriously affected with physical problem, followed by 24.7 percent are affected, 40.7 percent of them are at beginning state, 12 percent are recovered and the rest of 19.3 percent of them are fully recovered. The survey reveals that most of the respondents are encountering at the beginning state of their physical problem. From Table-2 it is observed that 39.3 percent of the employees (118 employees out of 300 selected employees) are affected by back/Spine pain. 21 percent of the employees are affected by head ache or migraine problem. 13.3 percent of the employees are affected with knee pain problem. 2.7 percent of the respondents have drowsiness problems. It is found from the above analysis that majority of the employees working in retail malls have back or spine pain. It is observed from the Table-3 that 110 respondents out of 300 chosen respondents feel that the MSD occurs because they stand for a long time in the premises. 17.3 percent respondents have common physical problems because of replacement of stock arrangement. 15 percent of the respondents feel that they have low rest time. Thus the study reveals that majority of the retail

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employees are affected by the physical problem or Musculoskeletal Disorders because of their long standing in the work place without any rest. It is understood that 28 percent of the employees are affected by restlessness. 21.3 percent of the employees have an effect on hypertension and 11 percent of the respondents have fatigue. This shows that the employees in retail malls encounter with some physical problems (Table-4). With reference to the Table-5, it is understood that 16.3 percent of them behave in a disturbed manner due to family circumstances where as the rest of 83.7 percent due to employment circumstances. The survey revealed that, majority of the respondent behaves in a disturbed manner due to employment circumstances. Table 6 shows that 29 percent behave in a disturbed manner due to less salary, followed by 18 percent due to high extraction of work, 13.3 percent due to low recognition, 7.7 percent due to less profile, and 5.3 percent due to fear of tasks. GARRETT RANKING TECHNIQUE: It is observed from the Table-7 that among the common symptoms in work place, Cry has secured higher mean score and stood at top, followed by Shy to face others has secured next higher score and stood at second, BP irregularities has secured next higher mean score and stood at third, nervousness has secured next higher mean score and stood at fourth and finally other has secured least mean score and stood at last. It is pragmatic from the Table - 8 that Fatigue is ranked first followed by dust allergy. Drowsiness is ranked third and knee pain is ranked fourth. Last rank is assigned to back or spine pain. Z-TESTS OF SIGNIFICANCE: There is no significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between male and female group of respondents (See Table-9). There is a significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between married and unmarried group of respondents and is higher in the married group of respondents (Refer Table-10). There is a significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between bread winner of the family or not and is higher in the Bread winner of the family than other group of respondents. (See Table-11) There is significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between medium and low level role performed by the respondents and is higher in the medium role performed by the respondents. (See Table-12)

7. CONCLUSION Retailer employees today face many challenges, including increasing competitive pressures, physical problems, psychological problems, targets fixed by the superiors, torments from the customers etc., which leads to dissatisfaction of the employees and steps in attrition and finally ends in employee turnover. Many researchers studied the common problems faced by the retail employees and in this study the researchers tried to identify the various Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) and associate this with the employees personal attributes. Back/Spine ache, standing for a long time, restlessness and fatigue are the most common problems identified in the current study. If the retail mall management takes much needed precautions, the retail employees
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will find it easy to work and most probably will serve the organisation happily without any physical disorders. TABLE 1 CONDITION OF RESPONDENTS PHYSICAL PROBLEM CONDITION NO. OF RESPONDENTS 10 74 122 36 58 300 PERCENTAGE 3.3 24.7 40.7 12.0 19.3 100

Seriously affected Affected Beginning stage Recovery state Fully recovered Total Source: Primary Data.

TABLE 2 COMMON PHYSICAL PROBLEMS (Musculoskeletal DisordersMSDs) PROBLEMS Knee pain Back/Spine pain Joint pain Shoulder pain Head ache / Migraine Drowsiness Dust allergy Fatigue Total NO. OF RESPONDENTS 40 118 22 5 63 8 26 18 300 PERCENTAGE 13.3 39.3 7.3 1.7 21.0 2.7 8.7 6.0 100

Source: Primary Data. TABLE 3 CAUSE OF THE PROBLEMS CAUSE Standing for a long time Idleness most of the time Too many customers at the peak time Low rest time Replacement of stock arrangement Others Total Source: Primary Data. NO. OF RESPONDENTS 110 23 34 45 52 36 300 PERCENTAGE 36.7 7.7 11.3 15.0 17.3 12.0 100

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TABLE 4 TYPES PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY THE RESPONDENTS PROBLEM RESPONDENTS 33 86 64 13 19 8 30 24 12 23 300 PERCENTAGE 11.0 28.7 21.3 4.3 6.3 2.7 10.0 8.0 4.0 7.7 100.0

Fatigue Restlessness Hyper tension Palpitation Migraine pain Nervous Angry Frustration Shy to face others Cry Total Source: Primary Data.

TABLE 5 CAUSES TO BEHAVE IN A DISTURBED MANNER CAUSES Family circumstances Employment circumstances Total Source: Primary Data. RESPONDENTS 49 251 300 PERCENTAGE 16.3 83.7 100.0

TABLE 6 REASON FOR DISTURBANCE REASON FOR DISTURBANCE Low recognition Less job profile Less salary Family circumstances Coercion by supervisors Coworkers Inadequate job knowledge Added responsibilities& work load Homesickness Language & cultural barrier Poor job security/ Job fear Fear about tasks High extraction of work Total Source: Primary Data. RESPONDENTS 40 23 87 19 6 13 6 13 6 11 6 16 54 300 PERCENTAGE 13.3 7.7 29.0 6.3 2.0 4.3 2.0 4.3 2.0 3.7 2.0 5.3 18.0 100

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TABLE 7 RANKING OF COMMON SYMPTOMS IN WORK PLACE S.NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 SYMPTOMS IN WORK PLACE Fatigue Restlessness Hyper tension Palpitation Migraine pains Nervousness BP irregularities Angry Frustration Shy to face others Cry Source: Computed from Primary data SCORE TOTAL MEAN 11254.55 37.52 7645.455 25.48 12036.36 40.12 14118.18 47.06 13336.36 44.45 15963.64 53.21 19018.18 63.39 11454.55 38.18 15009.09 50.03 20618.18 68.73 23527.27 78.42 RANK 10 11 8 6 7 4 3 9 5 2 1

TABLE 8 RANKING OF PHYSICAL PROBLEMS S.NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PROBLEM SCORE TOTAL MEAN 12171.43 40.57 7571.43 25.24 11771.43 39.24 10842.86 36.14 18057.14 60.19 20500.00 68.33 24171.43 80.57 RANK 4 7 5 6 3 2 1 score on

Knee Pain Back / Spine Pain Shoulder Pain Head Ache or Migraine problem Drowsiness Dust Allergy Fatigue Source: Computed from Primary data 1. (Ho) Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean physical problem between male and female group of respondents.

TABLE 9 GENDER VS PHYSICAL PROBLEM Mean score Gender Mean Diff Std. Error Z-value Male Female Physical problem 3.161 3.556 -.395 .226 -1.743 Source: Computed from Primary data 2. (Ho) Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between married and unmarried group of respondents. TABLE 10 MARITAL STATUS VS PHYSICAL PROBLEM Mean score Mean Diff Std. Error Z-value Married Unmarried Physical problem 3.556 3.015 .540 .135 3.990* Source: Computed from Primary data *-Significant at 5 % level 3. (Ho) Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between bread winners. Marital status

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TABLE 11 BREAD WINNER VS PHYSICAL PROBLEM Mean score Bread winner Mean Diff Std. Error Z-value Yes No Physical problem 3.393 2.433 .959 .153 6.272* Source: Computed from Primary data *-Significant at 5 % level 4. (Ho) Null Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean score on physical problem between bread winners. TABLE 12 ROLE VS PHYSICAL PROBLEM Mean score Mean Diff Std. Error Medium Low Physical problem 3.317 2.314 1.0023 .1942 Source: Computed from Primary data *-Significant at 5 % level Level of Role REFERENCES 1. Jairam Ramesh. (2007), IT in India: Big successes, large gaps to be filled, Online Edition of the Business Standard, dated 2007-09-30. Archived from the original on 2007-12-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20071204103043/http:// www.businessstandard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=29 9725. 2. "UB City is finally here". Online edition of the Times of India, dated 2006-0622. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1672524.cms.Retrieved 2009-04-06. 3. Hendry, C. and Jenkins, R. (1997), Psychological contracts and new deals, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 38-44. 4. Morrison, E.W. and Robinsons, S.L. (1997), When employees feel betrayed: A model of how psychological contract violation develops, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22(1), pp. 226-256 5. Rousseau, D.M. (1990), New hire perceptions of their own and their employers obligations: A study of psychological contract, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 11, pp. 389-400. 6. McLean Parks, J., Kidder, D.L. and Gallagher, D.G. (1998), Fitting square pegs into round holes: Mapping the domain contingent work arrangements onto the psychological contract, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 19, pp. 697-730. 7. Rousseau, D.M. and Tijoriwala, S.A. (1998), Assessing psychological contracts: Issues, alternatives and measures, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 19, pp.679-95. 8. Thomas, D.C., Au, K. and Ravlin, E.C. (2003), Cultural variation and the psychological contract: not the exception but the norm, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 24, pp.451-71.
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Z-value 5.161*

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9. Tyler, T., Dienhart, J., & Thomas, T. (2008, winter). The ethical commitment to compliance: Building value-based cultures. California Management Review, 50 (2), 31-51. 10. Trevino, L. K., & Weaver, G. R. (2003). Managing ethics in business organizations. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 11. Berenbeim, R. E., & Dubinsky, J. E. (2008, January). Working at the intersection of human resources and business ethics: The need for collaboration. Executive Action series[The Conference Board], 29. 12. De Colle, S., & Werhane, P. H. (2007, Spring). Moral motivation across ethical theories: What can we learn for designing corporate ethics programs? Journal of Business Ethics, 81, 751-764. 13. Tyler, T., Dienhart, J., & Thomas, T. (2008, Winter). The ethical commitment to compliance: Building value-based cultures. California Management Review, 50(2), 31-51. 14. Komaki, J., Coombs, T., & Schepman, S. 1996. Motivational implications of reinforcement theory. In R.M. Steers, L.W. Porter, & G.A. Bigley (Eds.), Motivation and leadership at work: 34-52. New York: McGraw-Hill. 15. Luthans, F., & Kreitner, R. 1975. Organizational behavior modification. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. Luthans, F., & Kreitner, R. 1985. Organizational behavior modification and beyond. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. 16. Luthans, F., Maciag, W., & Rosenbrantz, S. 1983. O.B. Mod.: Meeting the productivity challenge with human resource management. Personnel, MarchApril: 28-36. 17. Ottemann, R., & Luthans, F. 1975. An experimental analysis of the effectiveness of an organizational modification program in industry. In A. G. Bedeian, A. A. Armenakis, W. H. Holyer, Jr., & H. S. Field (Eds.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management: 140142. 18. Welsh, D. H. B., Luthans, F., & Sommer, S. M. 1993. Managing Russian factory workers: The impact of U.S.-based behavioral and participative techniques. Academy of Management Journal, 36: 58-79.

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