Dei Faculty of Social Sciences, Department Of Management

A PROJECT REPORT ON

OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES TO COUNTER ECONOMIC RECESSION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to place on record my sincere gratitude to Dr.Sanjay Bhushan, under whose guidance this study has been undertaken. I have immensely benefited from his advice on all aspects of this study and I am grateful to him for devoting his precious time for giving me valuable suggestions. His enthusiasm and encouragement for the study was infectious and extremely heartening. My grateful thanks are also due to Dr. K.Shanti Swarup and Dr. Shalini Nigam, who have not only been a source of constant encouragement to me, but have been ever willing to contribute in academic pursuits. They gave very useful insights in the subject of my study, for which I am extremely grateful. I would also like to place on record my sincere thanks for Mr.Ankur Kashyap, Mr.Prakhar Mehra, Mr.D.Sumir Rao, Mrs.Aarti Gupta Satsangi, Mr.Manish Dua, and Mr.Asheesh Mathur for the help they gave by making useful and relevant data available to me and for spending their precious time for extensive discussions. I am grateful to numerous other colleagues and friends who have contributed information and ideas, although, there are too many of them to mention individually.

SAMRATH KASHYAP (BBM Ist SEMESTER) 4TH Oct., 2009

PREFACE
2

Food, clothes and shelter are the fundamental requirements of all human beings. From pre-historic times to the present day Modern societies,

Governments are constantly engaged in efforts to meet these basic needs of its citizens. Economies have evolved from Food Gathering, to Basic Village Economies, to National economies to Regional economies, and finally to a Globally Networked Economic System. With the development of technologically advanced communication and transportation systems and the policies of Liberalization and Globalization being followed, the world has shrunk into a Global village. Due to this any development, now, whether positive or negative, has immediate cascading impact on the entire Global Economic system. Through this brief Project Report a modest attempt is being made to understand: The concept and meaning of Recession. The impact of Recession on the Indian Economic System analysed through Statistical Information pertaining to major Economic Indicators. Collect sample data of some companies through the

Questionnaire Method; to understand whether Recession has made any impact on them and if so, then what are the strategies adopted by the companies to combat Recession.

Needless, to say, Recession is one of the major challenges not only for India, but for the entire Global Economic System. It has a direct impact on the lives of all citizens. It not only affects the GDP, per capita income etc., but it also results in substantial unemployment. An understanding of this malaise and the methods to remedy it, therefore, are extremely relevant and topical today.

SAMRATH KASHYAP (BBM Ist SEMESTER) 4TH Oct., 2009

CONTENTS
3

SN
A B C I II Acknowledgement Preface Contents ECONOMIC STRUCTURING

TOPIC

PAGE NO. 2 3 4

RECESSION:

CONCEPT

5-7

MACRO VIEW OF RECESSION IN INDIAS CONTEXT: HIGHLIGHTS FROM ECONOMIC SURVEY REPORT 2008-09

8-13

Iii iv V vi VII

ANALYSIS OF DATA COLLECTED THROUGH 14-19 QUESTIONNAIRES IN CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXURES I (Sample of Questionnaire) ANNEXURES II (Responses to Questionnaire)

20-21 22 23-27 28-46

I.

ECONOMIC RECESSION: CONCEPT STRUCTURING

4

Economic recession is defined as a significant decline in economic activity across a country, lasting longer than a few months. Normally, recession is visible in real GDP growth, industrial production, wholesale-retail trade, real personal income, and employment. Broadly speaking, it is a period of slow or negative economic growth, usually accompanied by rising

unemployment. Economists often view recession in two ways: The first, which can be hard to prove, is when an economy is growing at less than its long-term trend rate of growth and has spare capacity. The second is two consecutive quarters of falling GDP. For countries round the world, to experience mild Recession, is actually more common than we might realize. Recession (or contraction) is a natural result of the economic cycle and it adjusts to changes in consumer spending and consumption; or increasing and decreasing prices of goods and labour. However, experiencing a multitude of these negative factors simultaneously, can lead to a deep recession or even long economic depression.

An economic recession is primarily attributed to the actions taken to control the money supply in an economy. The
5

Reserve Bank of India is the agency responsible for maintaining the delicate balance between money supply, interest rates, and inflation. When this delicate balance is tipped, the economy is forced to correct itself.

The Reserve Bank sometimes deals with these situations by dumping huge amounts of money supply into the money market. This helps to keep interest rates low, even as inflation rises. Inflation is the rise in the prices of goods and services over a period of time. So, if inflation is increasing, it means that goods and services are costing more now than they did before. The higher the level of inflation, the smaller the percentage of goods and services is which can be bought with a certain amount of money. There can be many contributing factors for inflation, which include but are not limited to increased costs of production, higher costs of energy, and/or the national debt.

In an environment where inflation is prevalent, people tend to cut out things like leisure spending. They also budget more, spend less on things they usually indulge in, and start saving more money than they did. As people and businesses start finding ways to cut costs and derail unneeded expenditures, the GDP begins to decline. Then, unemployment rates will rise because companies start laying off workers to cut more costs, because consumers are not spending like they were. It is these combined factors that manage to drive the economy into a state of recession. This set of circumstances, coupled with the ability of people to get access to greater amounts of loan money due to extremely lax loan practices, creates a cycle of unsustainable
6

economic activity that will eventually grind an economy to a near halted existence. Effects of economic recession

Generally, an economic recession can be spotted before it actually happens. There are ways to spot it before it actually hits by observing the changing economic landscapes in quarters that come before the actual onset. You will still see GDP growth, but it will be coupled with signs like high unemployment levels, housing price declines, stock market losses, and the absence of business expansion. When an economy sees more extended periods of economic recession, it goes beyond a recession and is declared that the economy is in a state of depression.

The only real benefit of an economic recession is that it will help to cure inflation. In fact, the delicate balancing act that the Government struggles to pursue is to slow the growth of the economy enough so that inflation will not occur, but also so that a recession will not be triggered in the process.

II

MACRO-VIEW OF RECESSION IN INDIAS CONTEXT: HIGHLIGHTS FROM ECONOMIC SURVEY REPORT 2008-09
7

Before, we proceed ahead, it is important to understand the scope and extent of the impact of Recession in India. Statistical information compiled by the Statistical Organisation of India and analysed and reproduced in the Economic Survey of India 2008-09, is used below to provide an overview of the Indian Economic highlights Scenario. of the Some Economic important Survey statistical Report are

reproduced as under: According to the Economic Survey 2008-09, Economic Growth decelerated in 2008-09 to 6.7%, which represented a decline of 2.1% from the average growth rate of 8.8% in the previous 5 years. The growth of GDP at factor cost (at constant 1999-2000 prices) at 6.7% in 2008-09 nevertheless represents a deceleration from high growth of 9.0% and 9.7% in 2007-08 and 2006-07 respectively. Per capita GDP growth (which actually reflects the per capita income) grew only by an estimated 4.6% in 2008-09. This represents a substantial slowdown from the average growth of 7.3% per annum during the previous 5 years. Though growth of the industrial sector started to slowdown in the first half of 2007-08, the overall growth during that year remained as high as 8.5%.
8

 The performance of six core industries comprising crude oil, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel (carbon) grew at 2.7% as compared to 5.9% in 2007-08. The growth in index for crude oil turned negative 1.8% as compared to positive 0.4% in 2007-08. Economic survey rings alarm bells about the on-going effects of the global slowdown on employment and has pressed upon the government the urgency of a major response, especially in the unorganised sector. Economic survey also cites a sample survey, conducted by the Commerce Ministry, which indicates 1,09,513 people lost their jobs between August and October 2008, in export related companies in several sectors, primarily textiles, leather, engineering, gems and jewellery, handicrafts, food and food processing. Economic survey 2008-09 forecasts a growth rate of 6.25 7.75% for the Indian economy during the current financial year (2009-10).

INDIAN ECONOMYS PROFILE

ECONOMY (% GROWTH)
GDP at factor cost IIP Manufacturing Electricity Food grains production (Mn. Tonnes) Wholesale price index inflation (52 weeks) Consumer price index industrial workers Growth of money supply (M3) (in percentage) Savings (as % GDP) Investment (as % of GDP) Fiscal deficit (as % GDP) Revenue deficit (as % GDP) Primary deficit (as % GDP) Direct tax revenue (as % GDP) Indirect tax revenue (as % GDP) Subsidies (as % GDP) Average cost of government borrowing (in %)

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

9.70 11.60 12.50 7.30 217.30 5.40 6.70 21.30 35.70 36.90 3.50 1.90 -0.20 5.30 5.80 1.30 8.40 9.00 8.50 9.00 6.30 230.80 4.70 6.20 21.20 37.70 39.10 2.70 1.10 -0.90 6.30 5.90 1.40 8.50 6.70 2.60 2.30 2.70 229.90 8.40 9.10 18.40 N.A N.A 6.20 4.60 2.60 6.90 6.00 1.30 8.40

EXTERNAL SECTOR
Export in $ (% growth) Imports in $ (% growth) Exchange rate (Rates per $) Export as % of GDP Imports as % of GDP Current account balance as % of GDP Short term debt to foreign currency assets (in %) Foreign direct investment in $ mn Foreign industrial investment in $mn. Forex reserves in $bn. Import cover in months

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

22.60 21.40 25.28 14.10 20.90 -1.10 13.70 7693 7060 191.92 12.50 28.90 35.20 40.26 14.10 21.90 -1.50 ----15401 29556 299.23 14.40 3.6 14.4 45.99 14.41 24.53 -2.57 ----27807 -13855 241.42 9.80

INFRASTRUCTURE
Electricity production in bn kWh Crude throughout in million tonnes Finished steel in million tonnes Coal in million tonnes Cement in million tonnes

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

663.00 146.60 50.20 462.10 154.70 704.00 116.10 53.30 491.10 167.60 724.00 -----53.50 N.A. 181.40 10

Railways traffic carried in million tonnes Km. Cargo handled at AAI airports in 000 tonnes Passengers handled at AAI airports in lakhs Cargo handled at major ports in million tonnes

480.99 656.74 511.14 463.80

521.30 723.46 637.05 519.30

538.20 515.37 449.35 530.40

RATE OF GROWTH IN VARIOUS SECTORS AT FACTOR COST AT 1999-2000 PRICES (PER CENT)

SECTORS

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Agriculture, forestry and fishing Mining & quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, gas and water supply Construction Trade, hotels and restaurants

10.0 3.1 6.6 4.8 12.0 10.1

0.0 8.2 8.7 7.9 16.1 7.7

5.8 4.9 9.1 5.1 16.2 10.3

4.0 8.8 11.8 5.3 11.8 10.4

4.9 3.3 8.2 5.3 10.1 10.1

1.6 3.6 2.4 3.4 7.2 *

Transport, storage and communication Financing, insurance, real estate and business services Community, social and personal services Total GDP at factor cost

15.3 5.6

15.6 8.7

14.9 11.4

16.3 13.8

15.5 11.7

* 7.8

5.4 8.4

6.8 7.5

7.1 9.5

5.7 9.7

6.8 9.0

13.1 6.7

Source: Central Statistical Organisation (as given in the Economic Survey Report 2008-09) * Trade, hotels and restaurants, transport and communication (together) grew at 9% in 2008-09.

INDUSTRIAL SECTORS AND CORE INDUSTRIES

11

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH
5.02 %

2.56%

-0.04%
0 APR-SEP 08-09 -1 OCT-MAR 08-09 APR-MAR 08-09

EMPLOYMENT SCENE
12

2 1.53 1.5

Rate of growth of Employment in organised sectors

1983-1994 1.2 1994-2006

(% per annum)
1 0.44 0.92

0.5

0.12 0 PUBLIC SECTOR -0.5 -0.54 -1 PRIVATE SECTOR TOTAL ORGANISED

III

ANALYSIS OF DATA COLLECTED THROUGH QUESTIONNAIRES:

A Questionnaire was designed to collect sample data from some Companies / Organisations, to understand as to
13

whether Recession has affected them. If yes, then how are they combating the challenges posed by Recession? Copy of the Questionnaire is placed as Annexure I. While the Questionnaire was sent to 08 Companies, responses have been received from 6 companies. The Companies which have responded are as under: Core Competency Training & Services Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Honda Motorcycles & Scooters, India, Pvt. Ltd., Manesar Gurgaon. Evalueserve Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon HDFC Bank Ltd., Chandigarh G-Cube Webwide Software Pvt., Ltd., Noida Seam Products Co. Ltd., New York. Responses received from the above companies are placed together, as Annexure II. Brief highlights of the analysis of data are given below:

1. TYPE OF ORGANISATIONS
Manufacturing Services Others Total

2. MANPOWER INFORMATION
14

Did not disclose information (stating to be confidential)

1
HDFC

Only partial information given

Full information given

2 HONDA CORE COMPETENCY

3 G.CUBE SEAM PRODUCTS EVALUESERVE

ANALYSIS OF MANPOWER INFORMATION:

In Seam Products, New York, man power reduction has been made from 425 (in 2007) to 360 (in 2009) i.e. a reduction of 15.29%.

In Evalueserve also number of employees have been reduced

from 2750 (in 2006) to 2000 (in 2009), i.e. a reduction of 27.27%. In G.Cube Webwide from the year 2005 to 2009 there has been a progressive increase in manpower from 26 to 96 respectively i.e an increase of 72.91%.

3. FINANCIAL TURNOVER
15

Did not disclose (stating to be confidential) 4 HDFC Honda G-Cube Core Competency

Full information given 2 Seam Products Evalueserve

ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL TURNOVER

In Evalueserve Gurgaon (India), while the manpower has reduced from 2006 to 2009 by 750 employees (i.e. by 27.27%), its financial performance has increased from $45 million in 2006 to $75 million in 2009 (i.e. an increase of 40%). In seam Products, New York USA, though the number of employees were reduced from 425 in 2007 to 375 in 2008 (i.e. a reduction of 11.76%) still the financial turnover went down from $26 million in 2007 to $18 million in 2008 (i.e. a reduction by 30.76% in the financial turnover). It is important to note that this company operates in USA (New York) and it reflects the general crisis of Recession there. On account of slowing down of Business, the Company had to shed its Manpower; still it could not increase the Financial Turnover.

4. HAS RECESSION AFFECTED THE COMPANIES

AFFECTED BY RECESSION NOT AFFECTED BY RECESSION

2 Seam Products

4 HDFC
16

 Evalueserve

Honda G-Cube Core Competency

From the above Table, it is seen that only two companies have been affected by Recession and the rest four companies have not been directly affected.

5. STRATEGIES ADOPTED TO COMBAT RECESSION

TWO COMPANIES AFFECTED BY RECESSION 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 FOUR COMPANIES NOT AFFECTED BY RECESSION 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 2 3 1 0 2

SN

STRATEGEY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Business reduced Customers reduced Repeat business reduced Selling Price reduced Cut in Overhead expenditure Payments received late Freeze on recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multitasking Austerity drive Salary cut Cut in Daily Allowance Cut in Transportation entitlements Cut in Air Travel entitlements Cut in Hotel entitlements Cut in company paid Holidays Cut in Foreign Travels

6. OTHER STEPS TAKEN BY COMPANIES TO COUNTER RECESSION A. COMPANIES AFFECTED BY RECESSION:

1. Evalueserve Pvt. Ltd.
17

 Laid down Higher sales targets. Initiated Aggressive sales campaigns. Cross-selling and up-selling. 2. Seam Products Co. Ltd. Low mark up selling strategies implemented. Cut Expensive advertising.

B.

COMPANIES NOT AFFECTED BY RECESSION:

1. Core Competency Training & Services Pvt. Ltd. Retained the existing clients with increased efforts, at lesser revenue from the clients. Basically understanding the situation and clients limitations in the recessionary period. Worked on credit. Did work at lesser cost to retain clients. Marketing to attract more work and or bringing in clients was halted; with total focus on consolidation and retention. Capital investments in the open market luckily were withdrawn without suffering much loses. Projects in negotiation with the clients were put on hold for better times, instead of totally cancelling them. Even in good times the treatment and strategies if remain focused on bad times would enable any organisation not to oversell or over hire. This is what we follow as a standard policy. That is, steady consistent growth and focus on client retention and maintaining reputation and reliability.

2. Honda Motorcycles & Scooters, India, Pvt. Ltd. More Focus given to reduce wastes in different activities like Production etc. More focus given to maintain Quality of product.
18

 Improvement Activities were further increased to reduce cost and improve productivity.

3. HDFC Bank Ltd. Redeployment of staff from verticals (which were affected) to verticals which were generating revenue (where more manpower was needed). Communication was the key in making this possible and create buy in amongst employees. More focus on productivity and adherence to the manpower budgets. Priority to Absorption of all pool staff and internal relocation to hiring.

4. G-Cube Webwide Software Pvt., Ltd. Increased focus on India and Middle East markets for new customers compared to US and UK. We ensured cost effective services to our customers and helped them cut cost during recession. Compensation increase was very nominal and competitive.

IV. IN CONCLUSION
Major conclusions which can be drawn from this Project Report are as under:

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1. Out of 6 Companies studied, 2 have stated that Recession has had a Substantial impact on them. 2. These 2 Companies have resorted to reduction in Manpower. One of these Companies showed a Profit after shedding Manpower; while the US based Company incurred losses even after Manpower reduction. 3. These Companies have also resorted to austerity measures to control expenditure. 4. Even though 4 Companies have stated that they are not directly hit by Recession, still they have taken several steps to enforce economic discipline and austerity. They have also modified their Business strategies to counter Recessionary effects. Some of the strategies adopted by them are: Shifting focus of Business from USA and Europe, to India and Asia. Tailored Services to device cost cutting software / consultancy to customers (during Recession). Reduction in Selling Price. Stopped expansion of Business, concentrated on consolidation of existing Business. Did work on Credit for reliable customers. Redeployment of staff from less productive to more productive areas. Low mark up selling strategies implemented. Cross selling and up selling. Aggressive sales campaigns.

5. It is, therefore, seen that nearly all Companies have had to respond to Recessionary pressures. Cost cutting and austerity measures have been taken up in
20

right earnest, besides other measures enumerated above. 6. Before I conclude, I must confess that the efforts put in by me in this Project have not only given me immense satisfaction, but I also find myself considerably enriched in my understanding of this important subject.

V.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

21

SN
1

REFERENCE
Prasanna Chandra, Financial Management Theory and Practice, Tata Mcgraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. E.H. McGrath, S.J., Basic Managerial Skills for all, PrenticeHall of India, Pvt. Ltd. Pratiyogita Darpan, June 2009 Pratiyogita Darpan, August 2009 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/economic-recession-anddepression-definition-and-difference.html http://www.make-money-stock-value-investing.com/economicrecession.html http://recession.org/definition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession#Identifying http://recession.org/definition http://ingrimayne.com/econ/EconomicCatastrophe/GreatDepres sion.html

3 4 5

7 8 9 10

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ANNEXURE - I

ANNEXURE I
Dear Sir,
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Sub: Filling in of a Questionnaire. I am a student of the first semester of the BBM (Bachelor of Business Management) course of Dayalbagh Educational Institute, (a Deemed University), Dayalbagh, Agra. As part of the requirement of our curriculum, all students are required to prepare and present a brief Project Report on a topic allocated to us, out of a wide range of academically stimulating topics; which not only provide considerable learning value, but also expose us to the realities of business and corporate working. The topic allocated to me is: OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES TO COUNTER ECONOMIC RECESSION. I have designed a small Questionnaire for the purpose of collecting some information, which I am enclosing herewith. I have tried to keep the questionnaire brief and simple, to facilitate its filling up. I would be extremely grateful if you could take some time out and fill up the Questionnaire. In case you do not have all the information available, you may send me whatever information is readily available. I would be grateful if you could fill in the questionnaire and email it to me by evening of 1st October, 2009, certain, on the following email address: samrathkashyap@gmail.com Your cooperation and help will go a long way in my learning and academic pursuit. Thanking you in advance, Yours Sincerely, -sd(Samrath Kashyap) Mobile No: 91-9634022494 21, Adan Bagh, Dayalbagh, Agra

QUESTIONNAIRE
A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
24

1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company __________________________________________________________________ 2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify. __________________________________________________________________

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: CATEGORY TECHNICAL OFFICERS NONTECHNICAL OFFICERS TECHNICAL EMPLOYEES NONTECHNICAL EMPLOYEES 1.1.2009 1.1.2008 1.1.2007 1.1.2006 1.1.2005

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years: 2009 2008

2007

2006

2005

TURNOVER

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:
5. Whether recession has affected your company: YES / NO. 25

6. If yes, then how has it affected: a. Has the Business: change b. Number of customers have: change c. Repeat business has: change d. Your selling price/rates have had to be: change e. Overhead expenditure has: change f. Payments from customers are received: Reduced / Increased / No Reduced / Increased / No Reduced / Increased / No Reduced / Increased / No Reduced / Increased / No On time / Late

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Freeze on Recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: Salary cuts Cut in privileges/perks like i. Daily Allowance / per diem rates ii. Taxi / transportation entitlements iii. Air travel iv. Hotel entitlements v. Company Paid holidays vi. Foreign travel YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES / / / / / / / / / / / / / NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

26

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points)
a. ______________________________________________________________ b. ______________________________________________________________ c. ______________________________________________________________ d. ______________________________________________________________ e. ______________________________________________________________

27

ANNEXURE II

QUESTIONNAIRE
A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company

28

EVALUESERVE PVT. LTD., GURGAON

2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify. KPO (ITES industry)

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: CATEGORY TECHNICAL OFFICERS NONTECHNICAL OFFICERS TECHNICAL EMPLOYEES NONTECHNICAL EMPLOYEES 1.1.2009 300 1.1.2008 350 1.1.2007 320 1.1.2006 290 1.1.2005 270

50

60

55

50

40

1200

1300

1250

1980

1975

450

500

475

430

410

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years:

YEAR

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

TURNOVER

$75m

$65m

$55m

$45m

$40m

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:

5. Whether recession has affected your company: 6. If yes, then how has it affected:

YES / NO.

29

a. b. c. d. e. f.

Has the Business: Number of customers have: Repeat business has: Your selling price/rates have had to be: Overhead expenditure has: Payments from customers are received:

Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change On time / Late

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession:

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

Freeze on Recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: Salary cuts Cut in privileges/perks like i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Daily Allowance / per diem rates Taxi / transportation entitlements Air travel Hotel entitlements Company Paid holidays Foreign travel

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

/ / / / / / /

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

YES YES YES YES YES YES

/ / / / / /

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points)
a. Higher sales targets 30

b. Aggressive sales campaign c. Cross-selling and up-selling

QUESTIONNAIRE

A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION

31

1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company

Seam Products Co. Ltd.

2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify. Manufacturing

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: CATEGORY TECHNICAL OFFICERS 1.1.2009 60 1.1.2008 75 25 1.1.2007 75 25 1.1.2006 75 25 1.1.2005 75 25

25 NONTECHNICAL OFFICERS TECHNICAL 250 EMPLOYEES 25 NONTECHNICAL EMPLOYEES

250

300

300

300

25

25

18

16

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years: 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

TURNOVER

$18 Million

$ 26 Million

$27 Million

$25 Million

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:

5. Whether recession has affected your company: 6. If yes, then how has it affected:

YES / NO.

32

a. b. c. d. e. f.

Has the Business: Number of customers have: Repeat business has: Your selling price/rates have had to be: Overhead expenditure has: Payments from customers are received:

Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change on time / Late

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession: a. Freeze on Recruitments b. Retrenchments c. Outsourcing d. Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking e. Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure f. Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: g. Salary cuts h. Cut in privileges/perks like i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Daily Allowance / per diem rates Taxi / transportation entitlements Air travel Hotel entitlements Company Paid holidays Foreign travel YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO. YES / NO.

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points) a. Low mark up selling strategies implemented

33

b. Cut Expensive advertising

QUESTIONNAIRE
A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company

34

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. Manesar, Gurgaon, Haryana
2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify. Manufacturing Two Wheelers

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: CATEGORY TECHNICAL OFFICERS NONTECHNICAL OFFICERS TECHNICAL EMPLOYEES 1.1.2009 Approx. 300 Approx. 200 Approx. 4700 1.1.2008 1.1.2007 1.1.2006 1.1.2005

Approx. NONTECHNICAL 300 EMPLOYEES

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years: 2009 2008

2007

2006

2005

TURNOVER

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:
5. Whether recession has affected your company: 6. If yes, then how has it affected: 35 YES / NO.

a. b. c. d. e. f.

Has the Business: Number of customers have: Repeat business has: Your selling price/rates have had to be: Overhead expenditure has: Payments from customers are received:

Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change On time / Late

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession:

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

Freeze on Recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: Salary cuts Cut in privileges/perks like i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Daily Allowance / per diem rates Taxi / transportation entitlements Air travel Hotel entitlements Company Paid holidays Foreign travel

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

/ / / / / / /

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

YES YES YES YES YES YES

/ / / / / /

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points)
36

a. More Focus given to reduce wastes in different activities like Production etc b. More focus given to maintain Quality of product. c. Improvement Activities have further increased to reduce cost & Improve productivity.

QUESTIONNAIRE

37

A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company

HDFC Bank Ltd - Chandigarh

2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify.

Financial Services

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: Not to be disclosed

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years:

Refer to Balance Sheet on www.hdfcbank.com

38

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:
5. Whether recession has affected your company: 6. If yes, then how has it affected: a. b. c. d. Has the Business: Number of customers have: Repeat business has: Your selling price/rates have had to be: e. Overhead expenditure has: f. Payments from customers are received: Increased Increased Increased No change Reduced On time NO.

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Freeze on Recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: Salary cuts Cut in privileges/perks like i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Daily Allowance / per diem rates Taxi / transportation entitlements Air travel Hotel entitlements Company Paid holidays Foreign travel YES YES YES YES YES YES YES / / / / / / / NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

YES YES YES YES YES YES

/ / / / / /

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

39

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points)
a. Redeployment of staff from verticals (which were affected) to verticals which were generating revenue (where more manpower was needed). Communication was the key in making this possible and create buy in amongst employees b. More focus on productivity and adherence to the manpower budgets c. Priority to Absorption of all pool staff and internal relocation to hiring.

40

QUESTIONNAIRE
A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company

Core Competency Training & services Pvt. Ltd located at New Delhi
2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify. E-learning development, Software development, Pre press publishing & Video production

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: CATEGORY TECHNICAL OFFICERS 1.1.2009 1.1.2008 1.1.2007 1.1.2006 1.1.2005

NONTECHNICAL OFFICERS TECHNICAL 20 EMPLOYEES 5 NONTECHNICAL EMPLOYEES

16

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years: 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

Turn over

( Confidential Information cannot be disclosed) There has however been a consistent increase in revenue since 2005 with a very minor dip in 2008-2209, almost un consequential. 41

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:
5. Whether recession has affected your company: 6. If yes, then how has it affected: a. b. c. d. e. f. Has the Business: Number of customers have: Repeat business has: Your selling price/rates have had to be: Overhead expenditure has: Payments from customers are received: PARTIALLY

No change No change No change Marginally Reduced No change Late

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Freeze on Recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: Salary cuts Cut in privileges/perks like i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Daily Allowance / per diem rates Taxi / transportation entitlements Air travel Hotel entitlements Company Paid holidays Foreign travel NO. NO. NO. YES NO. SLIGHTLY NO.

NO. NO. REDUCED NO NO. REDUCED 42

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points) In anticipation of the recession efforts were made to:

1. Retain the existing clients with increased efforts at lesser revenue from the clients. Basically understanding the situation and clients limitations in the recessionary period and given them credits and or done work at lesser cost to retain the clients. 2. Marketing to attract more work and or bringing in clients was halted with total focus on consolidation and retention. 3. Capital investments in the open market luckily were withdrawn without suffering much loses. 4. Projects in negotiation with the clients were put on hold for better times instead of totally cancelling them. 5. Even in good times the treatment and strategies if remain focused on bad times would enable any organisation not to oversell or over hire. This is what we follow as a standard policy. IE Steady consistent growth and focus on client retention and maintaining reputation and reliability.

43

QUESTIONNAIRE
A. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION
1. Name & Location of the Organisation/Company

G-Cube Webwide Software Pvt. Ltd., Noida, UP

2. Nature of business (Manufacturing/Production/Services/others). If Others, pl. specify. Services

B. MAN POWER INFORMATION

3. Total number of employees as on the following dates: CATEGORY TECHNICAL OFFICERS 1.1.2009 9 8 7 1.1.2008 4 4 1.1.2007 4 3 1.1.2006 3 3 1.1.2005

8 NONTECHNICAL OFFICERS TECHNICAL 72 EMPLOYEES 7 NONTECHNICAL EMPLOYEES 96 TOTAL

62

45

25 18

83

57

35

26

C. FINANCIAL TURN-OVER INFORMATION:

4. Total Turn-over during the following years: 2009 2008 Confidential information 44

2007

2006

2005

TURNOVER

D. EFFECT OF RECESSION:
5. Whether recession has affected your company: 6. If yes, then how has it affected: N/A a. b. c. d. e. f. Has the Business: Number of customers have: Repeat business has: Your selling price/rates have had to be: Overhead expenditure has: Payments from customers are received: Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change Reduced / Increased / No change On time / Late YES / NO.

E. STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH RECESSION

7. From the following, please tick the steps which your Organisation / Company has taken to deal with Recession: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Freeze on Recruitments Retrenchments Outsourcing Multi-skilling / Multi-tasking Austerity drive to reduce overhead Expenditure Has the cost price of your Product/Services been reduced: Salary cuts Cut in privileges/perks like i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Daily Allowance / per diem rates Taxi / transportation entitlements Air travel Hotel entitlements Company Paid holidays Foreign travel YES YES YES YES YES YES YES / / / / / / / NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

YES YES YES YES YES YES

/ / / / / /

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

45

F. Any other steps taken to counter Economic Recession. (Kindly enumerate in

points)
a. Increased focus on India and Middle East market for new customers compared to US and UK b. We ensured cost effective services to our customers and helped them cut cost during recession c. Compensation increase was very nominal and competitive

46