Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers

Productivity cannot be improved without creating the proper social conditions and individual motivation. What is called for is more than the use of techniques derived from human relations theories.

Organizations have to go beyond profit, growth, and return on investment. They have to pursue goals as efficient producers of goods and services, generators of surpluses, and creators of skills and employment in the service of society, argues P N Rastogi. They have to elevate the moral basis of work in and outside of organizations.

Negotiations are so common in business that managers often fail to recognize the elements of negotiations in their processes of interaction. The development of the necessary negotiation skills among managers is also neglected. In the USA and other advanced countries, academics actively study negotiations as an art and a science. Managers take training programmes to improve their negotiating skills.

In this article, Bhupindar Singh, based on his study and extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, provides a blueprint for effective trade negotiations. He illustrates the concepts and tactics from actual cases.

Executive stress is inevitable, but contrary to popular belief, it can also have positive effects. In this article, D M. Pestonjee demystifies the concept, discusses various types of organizationrelated stresses, and outlines the consequences of both too little and too much stress. He concludes the article explaining briefly proactive organizational interventions and indicating the strategies an individual can follow to alleviate stress.

The ideas S K Chakraborty presented in his article “The Will-to-Yoga: Key to- Better Quality of Work Life,” published in the April-June 1986 issue, have drawn several responses from our readers. Some of them were published in the Letters to the Editor in the October-December 1986 issue along with a reply from the author. In this issue we publish three more responses.

In the first instance, L N Jhunjhunwala narrates his experiences of putting some of Chakraborty's ideas into practice in his company.

In the second response, R Jayaraman Iyer wonders whether a majority of the executives who need to practise the yoga concepts can do so. On the other hand, a minority of executives who can, do not specifically need the concepts, he states. Even so, he feels that the dissemination of concepts themselves and attempts at praGtising them would help.

The final piece by P K Srivastava provjdes additional insights into some of the concepts of yoga and their impact on organizational life when they are put into practice.

Vikalpa hopes that this exchange of ideas and experiences clarifies the issues and improves managerial practices.

Since drought occurs frequently, method of identifying it and procedure for the consequent declaration, of scarcity have been laid out. The current annawari method has an element of subjectivity in it, and the present procedure takes so long to be completed that there is very little time to plan and successfully implement the measures to alleviate the conditions in the drought affected areas. Girja Sharan, Nitin Shah, and K K Gupta suggest in this article a more objective method which can identify drought early enough to enable the authorities to take timely steps.

Although computers have entered the Indian scene in a big way, their applications are either mundane or characterized by rigidity. Decision Support System (DSS) is a new departure: it is a computer application that supports decision making in managers by providing them with flexible access to models and data. Its potential in India for application is vast, but largely untapped, argues V Venkata Rao. The author goes on to explain the reasons why organization have been slow in adopting the DSS and gives guidelines for designing one.

Although government has set up various regulatory agencies to safeguard interests of various constituents of the capital market, they do not seem to be working in coordination. In fact, they appear to be pulling in different directions. S K Barua and G Srinivasan comment on this feature, illustrating their case with an example from Reliance Industries where setting the terms for convertible debenture issues is seen as an encroachment on the rights of shareholders.

Abstracts of management research in India are intended to facilitate research in management. The Indian Council of Social Science Research. New Delhi, sponsors the abstracting service.

Vikalpa would very much appreciate it if the authors send a reprint of their articles in management and related disciplines to Vikalpa office. Their inclusion will help render the referencing service complete.

The areas of management covered in the abstracts are: Financial Management. Management Accounting, and Control; Marketing; Organization and Administration; Personnel Management and Industrial Relations; production management, Computers, and Operations Research; General Management; and Policy, Planning, and Development.