This issue contains four papers. The first paper, “A Study of Antecedents and Consequents of Organizational Citizenship Behavior Through Causal Loop Diagram: A Holistic Approach”, by Shiv Kumar Sharma and Shipra Agrawal, is a review of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). The paper not only tries to capture the antecedents and consequents of OCB from existing literature for the purpose of developing a conceptual framework, but also goes beyond to translate the conceptual framework into developing a holistic policy on how to augment OCB in the workplace. This has been demonstrated in the paper through the use of causal loop diagram. Research on OCB started in the early eighties, and since then, it has gone through different phases of conceptual and measurement refinement, especially with respect to its dimensionality. All these conceptual and measurement developments have attracted a lot of research, and the steady increase in the number of papers published dealing with OCB is a proof of its continued relevance and significance for both researchers and practitioners. The reason for its continued relevance and significance is the fact that OCB is considered as an important outcome variable in the study of organizational behavior as it can have significant impact on both individual and organizational performance. Besides OCB, there is also a growing body of emerging research that deals with Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB). It would make sense to have a similar kind of research carried out for CWB as it has been done here for OCB.
The second paper, “Impact of Human Resources Management Practice and Perceived Organizational Support on Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Yanbu Industrial City, KSA”, by Abdulmonem AlZalabani and Rajesh S Modi, examines the impact of HRM practices and Perceived Organizational Support (POS) on job satisfaction. There has been research examining the relationship between HRM practices and job satisfaction, and POS and job satisfaction published independently. What makes this paper interesting is that the relationships between these three variables have been examined concurrently. As expected, the findings from the study indicate that HRM practices and POS have positive impact on job satisfaction. What is significant to note, is that amongst the HRM practices, making the job interesting and varied has the maximum impact on job satisfaction. Given the nature of the relationship between the three variables examined in this study, it would be interesting to examine the mediation effects of these variables on each other.
The third paper, “Emotional Intelligence as a Predictor of Work-Family Conflict Among School Teachers in North Central Province in Sri Lanka”, by U W M R Sampath, Kappagoda, uses Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a predictor of work-family conflict, and the subjects on whom the study was conducted were teachers from Sri Lanka. Generally, EI is studied with reference to managers or leaders as it is considered as an important ingredient that goes into the making of an effective manager and leader. What makes this study interesting is that it uses EI as a predictor of work-family conflict. The findings of the study suggest that people with higher EI report lower work-family conflict. Further investigations into the nature of the relationship between EI and work-family conflict could look at examining whether people with higher EI experience less work-family conflict or they are better at handling work-family conflict and hence they experience lower conflict vis-à-vis people that have lower EI.
The final paper, “Impact Index: A New Tool for Improving Organization’s Performance”, by P Guna Saketh, Swaroop Chetan M, Mrunalini R Ghantewad and Madhumita Das is a concept paper where the authors have applied their understanding of project management to come up with a concept of ‘Impact Index’ that could be used for assigning work to people and also for hiring new people. Though the concept sounds simple and lacks empirical validity, it is still important if looked at from the point of view of measurement, especially when it has to do with measurement in the area of human resources. Given the fact that HR function is lending itself to measurement, any development with respect to measuring the HR function would add value to that journey towards quantification. What is required is that the concept of impact index needs to be tested for its robustness and practicality.
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs): The Changing Face of Banking in India
Bank Management
Information and communication technology has changed the way in which banks provide services to its customers. These days the customers are able to perform their routine banking transactions without even entering the bank premises. ATM is one such development in recent years, which provides remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the development of this self-service banking in India based on the secondary data.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is playing a very important role in the progress and advancement in almost all walks of life. The deregulated environment has provided an opportunity to restructure the means and methods of delivery of services in many areas, including the banking sector. The ICT has been a focused issue in the past two decades in Indian banking. In fact, ICTs are enabling the banks to change the way in which they are functioning. Improved customer service has become very important for the very survival and growth of banking sector in the reforms era. The technological advancements, deregulations, and intense competition due to the entry of private sector and foreign banks have altered the face of banking from one of mere intermediation to one of provider of quick, efficient and customer-friendly services. With the introduction and adoption of ICT in the banking sector, the customers are fast moving away from the traditional branch banking system to the convenient and comfort of virtual banking. The most important virtual banking services are phone banking, mobile banking, Internet banking and ATM banking. These electronic channels have enhanced the delivery of banking services accurately and efficiently to the customers. The ATMs are an important part of a bank’s alternative channel to reach the customers, to showcase products and services and to create brand awareness. This is reflected in the increase in the number of ATMs all over the world. ATM is one of the most widely used remote banking services all over the world, including India. This paper analyzes the growth of ATMs of different bank groups in India.
International Scenario
If ATMs are largely available over geographically dispersed areas, the benefit from using an ATM will increase as customers will be able to access their bank accounts from any geographic location. This would imply that the value of an ATM network increases with the number of available ATM locations, and the value of a bank network to a customer will be determined in part by the final network size of the banking system. The statistical information on the growth of branches and ATM network in select countries.
Indian Scenario
The financial services industry in India has witnessed a phenomenal growth, diversification and specialization since the initiation of financial sector reforms in 1991. Greater customer orientation is the only way to retain customer loyalty and withstand competition in the liberalized world. In a market-driven strategy of development, customer preference is of paramount importance in any economy. Gone are the days when customers used to come to the doorsteps of banks. Now the banks are required to chase the customers; only those banks which are customercentric and extremely focused on the needs of their clients can succeed in their business today.
