Employee performance in the Indian textile industry.
Punnoose, Eldos Mathew ; Modekurti, Madhuri
Introduction
Over View of the Indian Textile Industry
The textile industry occupies a unique place in the country. One of
the earliest to come into existence in India, it accounts for fourteen
percent of the total Industrial production, contributes to nearly thirty
percent of the total exports and is the second largest employment
generator after agriculture. It provides direct employment to about
thirty five million people and to another fifty million in allied areas.
It means that one out of every six Indians is linked to the textile
sector.
Textile Industry is providing one of the most basic needs of people
and holds importance; maintaining sustained growth for improving quality
of life. It has a unique position as a self-reliant industry, from the
production of raw materials to the delivery of finished products, with
substantial value-addition at each stage of processing; it is a major
contributor to the Indian economy. Its vast potential for creation of
employment opportunities in the agricultural, industrial, organized and
decentralized sectors and rural and urban areas, particularly for women
and the disadvantaged is noteworthy.
Textile Policies In India
Although the development of textile sector was earlier taking place
in terms of general policies, in recognition of the importance of this
sector, for the first time a separate Policy Statement was made in 1985
in regard to development of textile sector. The Industry was de-licensed
in 1991-1992 and from then the per capita cloth availability increased
from 22.87 Sq. Meters (1990) to 33.51 Sq. Meters (2005).
The textile policy of 2000 aims at achieving the target of textile
and apparel exports of US $ 50 billion by 2010 of which the share of
garments will be US $ 25 billion. The main markets for Indian textiles
and apparels are USA, UAE, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Canada,
Bangladesh and Japan. The main objective of the textile policy 2000 is
to provide cloth of acceptable quality at reasonable prices for the vast
majority of the population of the country, to increasingly contribute to
the provision of sustainable employment and the economic growth of the
nation; and to compete with confidence for an increasing share of the
global market.
Current Scenario of the Industry
India with both textile and clothing capacity may be able to
prosper in the new competitive environment after the textile quota
regime of quantitative import restrictions under the multi-fiber
arrangement (MFA) came to an end on January, I 2005 under the World
Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. As a
result, the textile industry in India will face intensified competition
in both their export and domestic markets. However, the migration of
textile capacity will be influenced by objective competitive factors and
will be hampered by the presence of distorting domestic measures and
weak domestic infrastructure in India. The elimination of quota
restriction will open the way for India to develop stronger clusters of
textile expertise, enabling them to handle all stages of the production
chain from growing natural fibers to producing finished clothing, The
OECD reports says that low wages can still give India a competitive edge
in world markets. Another reason is the structural similarities between
India and US textile industries (Parikh, 1975).
Twelve percent of the invested capital and thirteen percent of the
factories in the country is in this sector. In 2005-06 it contributed
seventeen percent to gross export earnings and added less than 1.27
percent to the import bill, having International Trade Accounts 4.5
percent of the World Market. The period from 1994-2004 marked a CAGR of
5.91 percent projected CAGR is 19.85 percent over next five years
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Facts, Figures and Aspiration (Vision 2010)
The mood in the Indian textile industry given the phase-out of the
quota regime of the multi-fiber arrangement (MFA) is upbeat with new
investment flowing in and increased orders for the industry as a result
of which capacities are fully booked up to April 2007. As a result of
various initiatives taken by the government, there has been new
investment of Rs.50,000 crore in the textile industry in the last five
years. Nine textile majors invested Rs.2,600 crore and plan to invest
another Rs.6,400 crore. Further, India's cotton production
increased by fifty seven percent over the last five years; and three
million additional spindles and 30,000 shuttle-less looms were
installed. The industry expects additional investment of Rs.1,40,000
crore in this sector in the recent future. The low wage structure in
India also causes for the shift in production of textiles from developed
countries to India (Bheda, Narag, Singla, 2003).
The thrust areas of vision 2010 are given below
* Increase India's share in world's textile trade from
the current four percent to eight percent by 2010
* Achieve export value of US $ 50 billion by 2010
* Growth in Indian textile economy from the current US $ 37 billion
to $ 85 billion by 2010
* Creation of twelve million new jobs in the textile sector
* Modernization and consolidation for creating a globally
competitive textile industry.
Strengths and Weakness
The strengths of the industry in India
* Strong raw material base--cotton, man-made fibers, jute, silk
* Large production capacity (spinning--twenty one percent of world
capacity and weaving--thirty three percent of world capacity)
* Vast pool of skilled manpower
* Entrepreneurship
* Flexibility in production process
* Long experience with US and European Union.
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The constraints for smooth growth are
* Fragmented industry
* Difficulties in processing
* Quality of cotton
* Concerns over power cost, labor reforms and other infrastructural
constraints and bottlenecks. E.g., cost of power was Rs. 8 per garment
in India whereas in China it was only Rs. 2 per garment.
HR in the Industry
Human resources are gaining importance in all organizations and
industries and Indian textile industry cannot escape the tides of the
same. Many of the manufacturing organizations and industries have
realized the importance of HR. Importance of HR and the vital role it
could play in the food and canning industry (Chomka, 2002). Many of the
giant corporations like Toyota is also giving much more focus on HR in
the recent years (McKenna, 2002). Thus even in the Indian textile
industry there has to be a rising focus towards HR and people
management. However the present condition of the industry is in stark
aberration from the desired state. A study puts forward a framework on
how a manufacturing enterprise can emphasize the use of human
intelligence and human resources to the full in the process of adopting
advanced manufacturing and computer technologies (Zhou, Chuah, 2000).
The unique features of the industry with relation to the human resources
in the Indian textile industry are
* High employment potential
* Low wages
* Rigid labor laws
* Insignificance attached to HRD in general
These features raise a general hue and cry for the overall
improvement of the labor force in the industry. Even HRD features in the
bottom of the nine-point strategy list by the Government, intended to
improve the industry standards. This really points to the fact that we
cannot overlook this aspect anymore. The delay in realizing the facts
results in growth inhibition of the industry. Human concerns are the
real need of the day and future not come if these concerns are not dealt
with.
Rationale of the Study
Textile Industry is viewed as one of the oldest industries in India
which caters to a large employee base. This industry has always remained
a labor-intensive abode and continues to be so. But with the
aggrandizement of intensified competitions within this industry, caused
by the death of the quota regime, highly skilled labor alone can
contribute to the survival of firms. Hence re-scrutinizing the levels of
labor productivity of this industry becomes essential.
Wages are widely believed to be the essential motivating forces
behind the contributions made by any employee to a firm. Hence, this
study takes into account the likely impact of wages on labor
productivity. But again, wages cannot be viewed in isolation. They are
under the influence of firm size and ownership structure. Hence, this
study seeks to analyze all the three variables (labor productivity,
wages & firm size) in the context of different types of ownership
structures.
Review of Literature
Firm Size and Labor Productivity
* Gunther and Gebhardt (2005)
This paper looks at foreign direct investment (FDI) as a means to
support economic transformation in the context of East Germany. The
sudden and unexpected political changes of the 1989-90 created problems
for the former socialist countries of Europe, especially for East
Germany. Some of the problems these countries were faced with dealt
mostly with the challenge involved in rebuilding their societies and
economies. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was seen as a major source
and relied upon heavily by all the Central and Eastern European
countries (CEECs) as well as East Germany not only as sources of
investment but also as transmitters of technology and management
know-how. The study was conducted on 1780 firms of which foreign (628),
East German firms (1080), others (72). The study found out that foreign
firms have higher productivity than East German establishments. The
variations among these two types of firms were on the sales productivity
(sales per employee) front as well as the value added productivity
(value added per employee) front. According to the IAB establishment
panel (consists of all German firms employing at least one employee and
hence are subject to the compulsory social security scheme), foreign
establishments in 2001 exhibit a sales productivity that is 3.5 times
that of East German establishments (and twice that of West German
establishments). Value-added productivity of foreign and West German
investors is about two times higher than that of East German
establishments. Though these differences in productivity were attributed
to the presence of these foreign establishments in high productivity
industries, the authors say that differences in productivity are largely
due to the differences in firm-size structure. Not only with regard to
productivity, all other parameters which were adopted for comparison
like technological capability, product innovations, R&D,
Organizational changes.
Value Added and Wages
* Wanik (1984)
This study considered one hundred fifty one German industrial
corporations, registered on the German stock exchange, for a period of
eighteen years from 1960 to 1978. The study derived its data from the
published financial data of the sample firms like balance sheet, profit
and loss account etc. The 151 firms were drawn from 12 different
industries namely Textiles, Building Materials, Electrical Engineering,
Iron Tin and Metal Working, Machinery, Vehicles, Iron and Steel,
Constructional Steel, Brewing and Malting, Chemicals, Cement and
Electrical industries. Published data was opted for the assessment of
Inter-industry wage structure and Average annual rate of change of wages
of each industry because data was firm specific and was in accordance to
the German Corporation Law.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The paper defined wages as the total expenditure/cost for labor per
employee which can be termed as the total sum of wages and salaries,
social expenditures, pension expenditures and voluntary payments divided
by the number of employees. With Average wages rising from DM 8693 to DM
14043 over the analysis period of eighteen years, this rise in average
wages accounted for an average annual rate of change of wages of
9.01percent for each industry. Keeping in mind, the average wage rise, a
further cross sectional analysis revealed that average industry wages
and average productivity (value added per employee) were significantly
positively correlated.
The firms were also grouped into seven special groups of eighteen
firms each with respect to growth, factor intensity and size. Further
regression was run to consider the effect of Productivity, Degree of
Unionization and Rate of return on Total Capital on Wages. In cases of
Productivity and Degree of Unionization, it was found that they had a
significant positive relationship with wages while the Rate of return
was significantly negative. Results also indicated that in comparison to
capital/investment intensity, labor productivity explained wages better
than other variables. To consolidate this study's findings, we can
say that wages have a positive relationship with excess demand for
labor, labor productivity and business cycle changes of the
firm/industry.
Noticeable improvements on the labor productivity front will help
an industry to improve its relative position within the inter-industry
wage structure.
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Ownership Structure and Wages
* Tosi and Werner (1995)
This paper tries to capture the pay mix differences, through an
analysis of the influencing role played by managerial discretion in
determining the compensation strategy of their firms. Basically wages in
any type of firms, according to the classical economic approach, are
determined by considering the demand and supply of labor in the market.
The conventional economic and industrial determinants of pay were the
individual, job and environmental factors. Though the traditional
approaches have put forth the major wage determining factors, they are
largely incomplete as they could not explain the pay mix differences
among firms. The study considered a sample of 351 firms
(116-owner-controlled, 149-manager-controlled and 86-owner-manager) for
the period 1989-1992. The results revealed that though ownership
structures bear no relationship to average pay per employee, changes in
wage levels were linked to performance in owner-controlled firms while
it was linked to firm-size changes in manager-controlled firms.
* Meng and Perkins (1998)
Different types of Chinese firms (State, Urban-collective, Rural
township/Village owned & Private enterprises) differ in their
earnings determination largely due to the differences in their ownership
structures. This study, from the earnings determination perspective,
looks into the impact of economic reform on the firm behavior by
considering 288 firms for the years 1980, 1985, 1990-1992. Findings
indicate that state owned and urban collective firms pursue income
maximization while private enterprises seek to maximize on the profits
front. State owned firms focus more on the short run welfare of their
employees as they do not face problems on the financial fronts owing to their ownership structures. Unlike State owned firms, Collective firms
give more weightage to productivity growth whilst distributing their
profits. Hence, State owned firms and Collective firms are more
labor-managed due to their pursuance of maximization of income per
employee while private owned firms totally bank on profit maximization.
Objectives and Hypotheses
From the thoughts in the extant literature the study was carried
out to empirically prove the authenticity of the arguments outlined in
the body of literature related to this area. They are translated into
the following objectives in the Indian context.
* To verify the age old proposition that employee compensation
determines the output generated by the firm.
* To test the impact of size of a firm on labor productivity.
* To identify whether the ownership structure significantly impacts
the relationship between output and input measures.
The aforesaid objectives are converted into the following
hypotheses and their veracity tested using regression analysis. All
these hypotheses were tested in high, medium and low category firms.
Additionally the overall impact is also tested.
H1: There is a relationship between the net value added by the firm
and the wages and salaries paid to its employees.
H2: There is a relationship between size of the firm and labor
productivity of the firm.
H3: Ownership structure affects the relationship between net value
added and wages and salaries paid the employees.
H4: Ownership structure affects the relationship between size of
the firm and labor productivity of the firm.
Methodology
Data Collection and Sample selection: The initial sample included
all the five hundred twenty listed companies in Indian textile industry
(NIC code-17), provided by the CMIE database, Prowess. The study period
was three years (2004-2006). Data was collected for total assets, wages
and salaries and net value added for the study period. In addition to
these measures the ownership information was also retrieved. The
database returned the name of the group if a company belonged to group.
All the other classifications were classified as individual firms.
However companies were filtered out on the basis of the availability of
data and the final sample size was trimmed down to three hundred forty.
Industry Classification: From the extant literature, assets were
used as the basis of industry classification. Adopting assets as a
measure of size has been practiced in previous researches also (Haveman,
1999). For the purpose of classification, assets were averaged out for
the three year period (Haveman, 1999). These average figures were
arranged in the descending order and thirty percent (102) of the
companies falling in the top were classified as the high category firms.
The next forty percent (136) formed the medium category and the rest
30percent (102) belonged to the low category. This is similar to the
classification adopted by (Connor and Sehgal, 2001). Thus firms with
average asset size of above one hundred twenty seven crores fell into
high category, between 24.48 and 127 crores into medium category and
less than 24.48 into the low category. The final classification based on
the ownership status and categorization on size is given in Table I.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Adopted Measures: The measures that were adopted for the study and
their rationalization follows.
Size: The log of assets was considered. This was done not only to
reduce the skewness in using the absolute figures but is also similar to
the technique adopted by (Herrerea & Lora, 2005).
Output: Output of the firm is measured in terms of the net value
added by the firm (Eilon, 1985).
Input: The input is measured in terms of the wages and salaries
paid to the employees (Eilon, 1985).
Labor Productivity: It is measured as the ratio of output produced
by the employees to the input put in by the employees (Eilon, 1985).
Statistical Tools: Regression analysis was the primary tool that
was used for testing the hypotheses. Significance for the F-statistics
was checked. The regression was deemed meaningful if the significance of
the F statistic was less than .05. Whenever the F-statistic was greater
than .05 regressions were deemed meaningless at 5percent level of
significance. For testing the first two hypotheses the significance of
partial regression coefficient was looked into. Only if they were
significant at 5percent level of significance a relationship was
established. For testing for the third and fourth hypotheses the partial
regression coefficients were compared using simple t-tests. While
running the regression for the first hypotheses NVA was taken as the
dependent variable and wages as the independent variable. In the second
hypotheses labor productivity was the dependent variable and size was
the independent variable.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Analysis and Interpretation
Output As a Function of Salaries: Regression was run on net value
added on wages and salaries. As the idea was to find out the unit change
in NVA with unit change in salaries absolute values in both the cases
were considered. This was run separately on all the three categories
(high, medium and low). The results of the regression analysis are
summarized as follows.
The results show that wages and salaries have got significant
impact on the net value added, in the industry as a whole and in each of
the category separately. Almost forty percent of the variation in NVA is
explained by the wages and salaries in the industry as a whole. In the
Indian textile Industry the table clearly shows that with every rupee increase in wages and salaries, the NVA is increased by 1.7 rupee. The
impact of wages and salaries on NVA is the highest when the industry is
taken as a whole than taking each category separately. In the category
wise analysis thirty percent of variation in NVA is explained in the
high category, seventeen percent in medium and twenty three percent in
the low category by the wages and salaries. The expected rise in NVA
also differs with each category. Only in the high category a more than
proportionate increase in NVA is shown. It is expected that in this
category for every rupee rise in salaries and wages the NVA goes up by
1.6 rupee. In the other two categories for every rupee rise NVA goes up
only by 0.4 rupee and 0.53 rupee respectively. However none of these
results are counter intuitive. All assert the fact that increase in the
wages and salaries increase the output (NVA) of the firm. The result
could also imply that the companies in the high category are still in
the increasing returns of scale side of the productivity graph. In
contrast medium and low category firms are on the diminishing returns
side which means that with increase in input there is not a
proportionate increase in the output. The industry as a whole, like the
high category firms is experiencing an increasing returns to the scale
trend. For the entire regression the problem of hetroskedacity was
checked for and it was verified that errors do not follow any particular
pattern.
Output As a Function of Salaries: The log model: In the earlier
model the absolute values of the output (NVA) and the absolute values of
the input (wages and salaries) were considered. There were drastic
fluctuations among them and in order to accommodate for these
fluctuations and log transformations were done on both NVA and wages.
This not only reduced the fluctuations but also reduced the skewness.
The fluctuation problem was more prominent when the industry was taken
as whole when compared to the fluctuation within each of the categories.
This is logical and the regression coefficient in this case should be
interpreted with caution. As log was taken on both sides the regression
coefficient actually returns the expected percentage change in the NVA
with a unit percentage change in wages and salaries. The regression
result is summarized below.
The results show that there is not a proportionate percentage
increase in NVA with percentage increase in wages and salaries. The
increase is less than proportionate. However the increase is highest in
the low category and the least in the medium category. When the industry
is taken on the whole for every percentage change in wages and salaries
there is 0.82percent change in NVA. The results are however slightly
deviant from the earlier observations. This discrepancy can be
attributed to the companies that were neglected in this regression. The
companies which had negative NVA were not considered in this regression
as their log transformations are not meaningful. This attribution to the
neglected companies is further corroborated by regression which was run
on the absolute values after neglecting the same set of discarded companies. The regression coefficients obtained corresponded to the
regression coefficient obtained in the log model. Here also results are
totally intuitive establishing a positive relationship between salaries
and NVA. This concretize the old notion that higher the salary higher
the output. Hetroskedacity was checked for and its absence verified.
Relation Between Size and Labor productivity: From the literature
it follows that there is a relation between the size and labor
productivity. As mentioned earlier, labor productivity in this case is
measured as the ratio between NVA and wages and salaries. This gives the
rupee output produced for every rupee input. The idea was to compare
between the regression coefficients obtained on running the regression
of labor productivity on size. However log of size was taken in order to
accommodate for the variation in size. The results of the regression are
provided in the table below.
The regression result in this case was not as encouraging as the
other regressions run. Though there is a significant relationship
between size and labor productivity in the high category, it is absent
in the other two categories. The regression as such is not significant
in the medium and low categories. But the relationship is also
significant when the industry is taken on the whole. In the high
category for every percentage increase in size labor productivity climbs
up by almost 6 units. For the industry on the whole for every percentage
rise in size the labor productivity climbs up by 1.8 units. This shows a
strong association between the two and establish that bigger the company
higher the labor productivity. Also the relationship between the two
increases while moving up from the low category to the high category. In
the high category sixteen percent of the variance in labor productivity
can be accounted to the size factor. Further, in the industry it
explains three percent of the variance. This is however significant and
can be deemed pretty high on considering the sample size of three
hundred forty. The reason could be that firms grow in size with time and
the learning curve and experience curve comes into picture, thus
increasing the labor productivity. As with other regression, the problem
of hetroskedacity was not present in this case either.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The Link With Ownership Structure: The idea of third and fourth
hypotheses were to check for differences in the relationships between
NVA and wages and salaries and labor productivity and size between the
group and stand alone companies. Results are summarized as follows. Both
of them were tested for hetroskedacity and were found absent.
There is a strong association between NVA and wages in the group
companies. The association is pronounced in all the three categories and
when taken as a whole. The coefficients are also positive. This just
reinforces our earlier findings, established through the earlier
regressions. In the high category group companies NVA increases by 1.85
units when there is a unit increase in salaries. However in the other
two categories NVA increase only by less than a unit for unit increase
in the wages. Overall among the group companies NVA grows by 1.8 units
with unit rise in the wages. In the individual companies the
relationship is not strong in the high category. In the low category NVA
shoots up by 0.5 units and in medium category it increase by .19 units
for unit rise in wages. When the individual companies are taken on the
whole, however there is an increase of 1.6 units. The variation in NVA
is explained to a very high extent by the wages and salaries in the
group companies. On the whole it explains 76percent of the variation in
NVA among the group companies. Maximum variation is explained in the
medium group companies, where 81percent of the variance can be
attributed to the wages and salary. But wages and salaries can explain
only slightly more than 4percent of the variance in NVA of the
individual companies. The possible reason could be the reputation the
group companies are enjoying. Especially in the Indian context where
family owned business groups own a major chunk of business, the impact
is more pronounced. The employees feel more secure to be a part of a
business group and an increase in wages act as booster doses. However
employees feel insecure while working as a part of stand alone unit, in
comparison to a group firm. Thus, the insecurity might reduce the
expected increase in productivity. Employees might view the hike in
salary with apprehension. They might perceive the hike as a tactic
adopted by the company to retain the employees when the company is
actually undergoing through a recession or slowdown period. The relation
deteriorates while moving from low category to high category firms in
the individual company. This could be an indication that the individual
management owners are not able to properly manage the growth in size and
hence are not able to convert their inputs into outputs in an efficient
manner as they earlier used to do, when small. To express it in very
crude form it means that managers in individual firms find it difficult
to manage the growth in size of the firm. Further in the high category
the regression coefficients are significantly different and hence prove
that ownership structure determines the relationship in the high
category. In all the other three cases also (low, medium and overall)
t-test revealed that the coefficients were significantly different.
Hence we conclude that ownership structure impacts the relationship
between NVA and wages and salaries.
In the group companies the relation between size and labor
productivity is totally absent and it is evident in the individual
companies taken on a whole and also in the high category individual
companies. But in these two the impact is very high. In the high
individual companies for a percentage change in the size of the company
the labor productivity goes up by a whopping 14.55 units and when taken
together the productivity goes up by 3.4 units for percent increase in
size. The reason for the absence of such a connection could be the same
reputation the group firms are enjoying. Irresespective of their size,
they enjoy repute and hence there is no reason for productivity to
increase with size. In case of individual companies this could mean that
with increase in size the capability of management to extract the most
out of its employees increase. Overall it can be said that there is a
difference exists in the impact of size on productivity between group
and individual firms. However category wise analysis reveals that it is
not a function of the ownership structure in the medium and low
categories. It is different in the high category through.
Results, Findings and Conclusion
The study like many of its preceding studies found out that wages
and salaries affects the output (NVA) of a firm. It is generally agreed
upon that compensation package is the single largest motivator for the
employees. As a super imposition of this notion a positive relation is
established between the output and salaries and wages. This aspect cuts
across the industry, present in high, medium and small firms alike.
However the expected increase in output is more than proportionate
increase in salary in the high category. This could possibly imply the
economies of scale effect or the learning curve effect. The inability of
the firms to produce a proportionate increase in its output can be
attributed to the lack of resources. Though the impact varies with size
the study has clearly elucidated the positive relationship. With regard
to the Indian textile industry which is labor intensive, the study
provides valuable insights. It can be taken for granted that the low
wage structure existing in the industry is the cause of slackened
performance in many of the firms. It could further be weaved from the
study that size of a firm has not got significant impacts on the labor
productivity of the firm. But however among the large firms it
significantly affects the labor productivity. In the low category and
medium category firms this could be absent because of the lack of
mechanization. Labor productivity though measured as the ratio between
output to wages and salaries, it should be bore in mind that the output
is not a function of the labor alone. It logically follows that as
companies grow in size the level of mechanization would be high.
Especially in the study as industry was classified based on asset size,
the argument is further substantiated. Thus to gain a true picture, the
output or proportion of the output that is produced by the labor force
is to be identified. This portion should be weighed against the wages
and salaries. In large size firms even if the labor is into diminishing
returns state the productivity of the capital goods and machines might
be so high to cover up and offset for this. This particular phenomenon
could have inflated the labor productivity, which was measured on the
basis of the total output. In the medium and low category firms where
the output is more a function of the labor than the capital goods, the
relationship is not evident. Hence this could be closer to reality.
The study also proved that ownership structure determines the
strength and association of relationship between NVA and wages and
salaries. The relationship is more pronounced in case of the group firms
and this could be attributed to the reputation of the group firms as
mentioned earlier. The effect is the maximum in the high category firms
where increases in salary produce a sharp increase in the output of the
firm. The effect is not protruding in case individual companies due to
the apprehension in the minds of the employees. The hike in salary might
be viewed in suspicion when compared to the group counterparts in the
industry. However the reason for this weak relationship and the argument
proposed in the study should be further verified by the future
researches. On the whole though the relation between size and labor
productivity is a function of the ownership structure, this is not
particularly visible in all the size categories. In the medium and small
category firms the association between size and labor productivity is
irrespective of the ownership structure.
The study has opened doors to various new streams of research. It
should be verified by the future researches that the findings of the
study are applicable only to the particular industry or it can be
extended to other industries too. Also the study adopted a quantitative
approach and arrived at the findings. Future qualitative researches can
inspect the reasons for the results obtained in the study like reason
why the impact of wages and salaries on output of a group firm different
from an individual firm, whether the reputation dimension of the group
firm the root cause for this etc. The study has substantiated the common
feeling that compensation package affects the output. These days as the
companies have stared focusing more perks and other benefits, future
researches can look into the impact of such perks on the output produced
by the firm. A comparative study can also look into the difference in
impact, the underlying reasons for the same etc. Though the study was
carried out with diligence as far as possible it is bound by certain
limitations. The greatest of them being the output measure. The output
measure is not a function of the labor alone and it includes several
other factors too. Thus it actually gives the impact of labor
productivity when considered together with a host of several other
factors. It can however be argued that separating out the portion of the
output that is attributable only to the labor is near to impossible.
Labor productivity is not to be measured in isolation as several factors
work in harmony to obtain the desired output of a firm. Nevertheless,
improving labor productivity has become an imperative for firms for long
term sustenance. Knowledge organizations are affected the most by it.
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Eldos Mathew Punnoose
Consultant and Visiting Faculty
Kaliserry, Chengannur, Kerala.
Madhuri Modekurti
Faculty (HR)
Manipal Universal Learning,
Ameerpet, Hyderabad.
Table I: Firm Classification Based on Averaqe Asset Size
High Medium Low Total
Group 67 43 14 124
Individual 35 93 88 216
Total 102 136 102 340
Table II: Relation Between NVA and Wages and Salaries
[R.sup.2] F statistic Significance
High 0.3086 44.64 <.001
Medium 0.1671 26.89 <.001
Low 0.2359 30.88 <.001
Overall 0.3938 219.6 <.001
Partial Significance
Regression
coefficient
High 1.60469 <.001
Medium 0.39832 <.001
Low 0.53860 <.0001
Overall 1.69562 <.001
Table III: Relation Between NVA and
Wages and Salaries (The Log Model)
[R.sup.2] F statistic Significance
High 0.2913 36.17 <0.001
Medium 0.1913 28.13 <0.001
Low 0.7131 156.59 <0.001
Overall 0.6357 467.65 <0.001
Partial Significance
Regression
coefficient
High 0.52838 <0.001
Medium 0.37301 <0.001
Low 0.89635 <0.001
Overall 0.82787 <0.001
Table IV: Relation Between Firm Size and Labor Productivity
[R.sup.2] F statistic Significance
High 0.162 19.34 <0.0001
Medium 0.0030 0.40 0.5296
Low 0.0008 0.08 0.7759
Overall 0.0311 10.84 0.0011
Partial Significance
Regression
coefficient
High 5.98441 <0.0001
Medium 0.01379 0.5296
Low 0.85640 0.7759
Overall 1.79792 0.0011
Table V: Relation Between NVA and Wages and Salaries
[R.sup.2] F statistic Significance
High Group 0.7439 188.80 <.0001
Individual 0 0.00 0.9876
Medium Group 0.6324 70.53 <.0001
Individual .0496 4.75 0.0319
Low Group 0.8191 54.34 <.0001
Individual 0.2262 25.14 <.0001
Overall Group 0.7608 387.93 <.0001
Individual .0404 9.02 0.0030
Partial Significance
Regression
coefficient
High Group 1.84388 <.0001
Individual 0.01784 0.9876
Medium Group 0.95926 <.0001
Individual 0.19174 0.0319
Low Group 1.35547 <.0001
Individual 0.52363 <.0001
Overall Group 1.79529 <.0001
Individual 1.06096 .0030
Table VI: Relation Between Size and
Labor Productivity
[R.sup.2] F statistic Significance
High Group .0127 0.84 0.3637
Individual .5760 44.83 <.0001
Medium Group .0069 0.28 0.5966
Individual .0037 0.33 0.5644
Low Group .0039 0.05 0.8329
Individual .0033 0.28 0.5964
Overall Group .005 0.61 0.4372
Individual .056 12.69 0.0005
Partial Significance
Regression
coefficient
High Group 1.27337 0.3637
Individual 14.55244 <.0001
Medium Group -0.60337 0.5966
Individual 1.07608 0.5644
Low Group -0.07865 0.8329
Individual 2.21249 0.5964
Overall Group 0.29709 0.4372
Individual 3.38798 .0005