Behavioral Biases in the Decision Making of Individual Investors

--Ravindra Jain, Prachi Jain and Cherry Jain

In earlier research, it has been discovered that contrary to the assumptions and theories of conventional finance, many irrational behaviors related to investment judgment occur in real life. In this paper, we have made an extensive review of various behavioral biases that affect investment decision making of the individual investors. Extant research indicates that individual investor makes his/her investment decision under the influence of some combination of behavioral biases, which mainly include disposition effect, mental accounting, investors’ overconfidence, representativeness, narrow framing, aversion to ambiguity, anchoring, availability bias, and regret aversion. Under the influence of some such biases or combination of the same, individual investors often make irrational investment decisions. And therefore, individual investors, in aggregate, earn poor long-run returns. These aspects have been highlighted in this paper. Potential solutions to mitigate the adverse impact of behavioral biases on decision making of individual investors have also been discussed. Finally, future research direction relevant to such an area has been indicated in this paper.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

A Study on the Effect of Human Resource Development on Employment Relations

--A Radhakrishna and R Satya Raju

The term Employment Relations (ER) was conceived as a replacement for the term ‘industrial relations’, however, employment relations can be said to encapsulate both Human Resource Management (HRM) and Industrial Relations (IR). Industrial relations is generally understood to refer to the relationship between employers and employees collectively. The shift in the coverage and content of collective bargaining has been reflected in a dramatic reduction in industrial action. The emphasis of employee relations continues to shift from ‘collective’ institutions to the relationship with individual employees. ER skills and competencies are seen by employers as critical in achieving performance benefits through a focus on employee involvement, commitment and engagement. Thus, the basic responsibility of HRD as a subsystem of HRM is to imbibe positive attitudes and cordial relationship in the organization. Therefore, HRD as a strategy became forerunner in every organization to build confidence, commitment and also competencies required at all levels to meet global challenges as well as challenges of ER. The paper empirically examines the impact of HRD initiatives on the performance of ER system in a giant public sector steel industry in South India. The findings strongly support the hypothesis that HRD initiatives have an impact on the performance of employment relations system in the organization and provide limited support for the hypothesis that HRD initiatives help in reduction of unauthorized absenteeism and improve employee involvement in suggestion scheme.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Organizational Role Stress in Dual-Career Couples: Mediating the Relationship Between HPWPs, Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction

--Smita Tripathi

Organizational Role Stress (ORS) affects the productivity and efficiency of the employees and indirectly hurts organizations’ profitability. The phenomenon is more acute for dual-career couples. The present paper seeks to explore the mediating role that ORS plays in the relationship between availability of High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) and employee engagement, between HPWPs and job satisfaction, and between employee engagement and job satisfaction. The paper confirms the positive association between availability of HPWPs and employee engagement, between HPWPs and job satisfaction, and between employee engagement and job satisfaction. Further, ORS is also found to mediating these associations significantly. The result answers one of the baffling questions for HR experts, i.e., why same HR practice leads to different effects on different employees. One of the reasons is the different level of role stress experienced by different employees.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

Antecedents of Customer Perception of Service Quality of Life Insurance Corporation of India

--S Rani Lakshmi and P Santhi

A sound service climate and subsequent delivery of quality services play a pivotal role in service organizations. Delivering quality service is considered an essential strategy for success and survival in today’s competitive environment. In the initial years of liberalization, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India occupied a dominant position in the market, but the opening up of the insurance to the private sector has created stiff competition. With greater choice and increasing awareness, there is a continuous rise in the customers’ expectations, and they demand better quality service. Thus, the study is conducted with the objective of ascertaining the policyholders’ perception of service quality dimensions of LIC using the primary data collected from 600 life insurance policyholders in Coimbatore city, using interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used. It has been proved that service quality perception and satisfaction were strongly and positively related to each other. Factors contributing to positive perception of LIC service were accuracy and accessibility, corporate image, honesty and competency, trust and confidence.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

The Role of Urban Cooperative Banks and Non-Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies in Financial Inclusion: A Study in Howrah District, West Bengal

--Amit Basak

Financial inclusion plays a positive role in achieving inclusive growth, which itself is required for ensuring the overall sustainable growth of a country. Financial inclusion is viewed as the delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of disadvantaged and low-income groups. It is a fact that there are still a large number of people in rural and urban areas who are financially excluded. They have the need for availing the various types of banking services, especially the savings and money remittance services. Here comes the role of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and Non-Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (NACCSs). This study assesses the role of UCBs and NACCSs of Howrah district, West Bengal, with regard to financial inclusion and designing strategies for ensuring financial inclusion of the poor and disadvantaged.

© 2015 IUP. All Rights Reserved.