Government and Corporate Initiatives for Indian Women in IT

Education of women severely lags behind that of men in many developing nations. Fewer girls go to school, tend to drop out earlier than boys, do not receive the same level of education as their male counterparts, and often choose careers that are female predominant (Kelly, 1987). Without exception, India is quite representative of these gender-biased phenomena in education. However, the recent explosion of offshore outsourcing market in India has created a new recognition regarding the role of women in technological careers. The Indian IT sector has seen a trend contrary to what most western nations are experiencing—predominance of women in IT, particularly in IT-enabled services (ITES). India has acknowledged that extensive and intensive use of information and communications technologies (ICT) alone can help the nation develop its neglected human resources, emerge as a knowledge-based society, and participate competitively in the global trade and services. Consequently, the development of ICT has become a national issue with strong impetus from the union government in New Delhi (Choudhary, 1999). Explicit in this initiative is the recognition that to progress as an information society, women must be empowered as key players the IT sector. In parallel, two other trends have focused attention on women in the information society—a nationwide movement for women’s rights spearheaded by many non-government organizations (NGOs) and an increased awareness of corporate social responsibility. Consequently, over the last decade, there has been an increased emphasis on education and reskilling India’s female workforce. While many government efforts are targeted toward the overall upliftment of women, many grassroots level initiatives led by NGO’s and corporations emphasize technological training. This article highlights how the intertwining of grassroots and policy level efforts can increase the pace at which a nation’s female workforce can be reskilled and prepared for a technological world. The article also addresses concerns about such rapid development and potentially challenging outcomes while making recommendations for improvement

Rule Based Forecasting [RBF] - Improving Efficacy of Judgmental Forecasts Using Simplified Expert Rules

Rule-based Forecasting (RBF) has emerged to be an effective forecasting model compared to well-accepted benchmarks. However, the original RBF model, introduced in1992, incorporates 99 production rules and is, therefore, difficult to apply judgmentally. In this research study, we present a core rule-set from RBF that can be used to inform both judgmental forecasting practice and pedagogy. The simplified rule-set, called coreRBF, is validated by asking forecasters to judgmentally apply the rules to time series forecasting tasks. Results demonstrate that forecasting accuracy from judgmental use of coreRBF is not statistically different from that reported from similar applications of RBF. Further, we benchmarked these coreRBF forecasts against forecasts from (a) untrained forecasters, (b) an expert system based on RBF, and (c) the original 1992 RBF study. Forecast accuracies were in the hypothesized direction, arguing for the generalizability and validity of the coreRBF rules

Labour management relation: A radical deal for industrial peace

In the rapid programme of industrial development of India, trade unions have come to occupy a critical position in the success of industrial relations in the country. Trade Unionism in India has been undergoing rapid changes due to socio-economic transformation. The term industrial relation or labour – management relation, refers to industry and relations, ‘industry’ means ‘any productive activity in which an individual is engaged’ and ‘relations’ means ‘the relations that exist in the industry between the employer and his workmen’. The concept of industrial relation is a developing and dynamic concept and does not limit itself merely to the complex of relations between the unions and management but also refers to the general web of relationship normally obtaining between employees. A web is much more complex than the simple concept of labour capital conflict. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) “Industrial relations deals with either the relationship between the state, employers' and workers organization or the relation between the occupational organization themselves.” Modern industrialism has not been an unmixed but has created a yawning gulf between management and labour because of the absence of workers ownership of the means of production. Power is concentrated in the hands of a few entrepreneurs, while the majority has been relegated to the insignificant position of merge wage-earners. The workers have now come to realize that most of their demands can be satisfied if they resort to concerted and collective action; while the employers are aware of the fact that they can resist these demands. This denial or refusal to meet their genuine demands has often led to dissatisfaction on the part of the workers, to their distress, and even to violent activities on their part, which have hindered production and harmed both the workers and the employees. In order to analyse the cause of labour – management relations we have to go into the various aspects related with industrial production and productivity. Hence in the present paper the researcher adopted the random sampling technique for the purpose and interviewed with the help of questionnaire. The whole universe has been classified into three groups, - viz. workers, executives and trade union leaders/office bearers of Bokaro Steel Plant. The research proposed to select nearly 160 workers, 70 executives and 70 trade union office bearers/leaders of Bokaro Steel Plant. Thus a total of 300 respondents in all were selected for study. The present study has been divided in IV parts Ist part is introductory whereas the IInd part deals with various segments of labourmanagement relations. The IIIrd part analyses the various aspects of the industrial relations concerning to trade unions on the basis of primary datas of Bokaro Steel Plant. The last partconcludes the study.Labour Management, Industrial Peace, Radical Deal , Adya Prasad Pandey

Imparting Global Software Development Experience Via an IT Project Management Course: Critical Success Factors

The rapid trend towards global sourcing of software development has put increased pressure upon U.S. educational institutions in order to provide such experience and relevant skill sets to their students. This presentation describes one such initiative between a Marquette University and Management Development Institute aimed at providing experience in global software development to their students. For others interested in undertaking such initiatives, this paper discusses some dos and dont’s

Routes of survial of SSI in India and its futurity - a study of pre and post reform period

The small scale sector in India has particularly emerged as a vibrant and dynamic segment of the economy. The strategy of economic development of any country that formulate programmes for removal of poverty by providing large scale employment, education and training, capital formation, effective mobilisation of resources, balanced economic growth, expansion of trade, transport and equitable distribution of national income with effective involvement and participation of all its citizens in the accomplishment of the goal, cannot neglect small scale industrial sector (SSI). The second generation of economic reforms is underway with vigour. Liberalisation of key sectors is gaining momentum with more relaxed regulatory framework to provide further impetus to growth. Over the past decade, Indian economy has undergone transition phase witnessing the challenges of more free and market oriented environment of the Liberalised era. Being one of the major growth drivers of the economy, the biggest challenge before SSI is not only to survive but also to grow and compete on a sustainable basis. This paper compares the performance of SSI in pre and post liberalised period and focuses on policy changes which have opened new opportunities for this sector. Technology development and strenthening of financial infrastructure is needed to boost SSIand thus growth target can be achieved.ssi, globalized world, role of ssi

Data Mining in Health-Care: Issues and a Research Agenda

While data mining has become a much-lauded tool in business and related fields, its role in the healthcare arena is still being explored. Currently, most applications of data mining in healthcare can be categorized into two areas: decision support for clinical practice, and policy planning/decision making. However, it is challenging to find empirical literature in this area since a substantial amount of existing work in data mining for health care is conceptual in nature. In this paper, we review the challenges that limit the progress made in this area and present considerations for the future of data mining in healthcare

Atomic force microscopic investigation of commercial pressure sensitive adhesives for forensic analysis

Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA), such as those used in packaging and adhesive tapes, are very often encountered in forensic investigations. In criminal activities, packaging tapes may be used for sealing packets containing drugs, explosive devices, or questioned documents, while adhesive and electrical tapes are used occasionally in kidnapping cases. In this work, the potential of using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in both imaging and force mapping (FM) modes to derive additional analytical information from PSAs is demonstrated. AFM has been used to illustrate differences in the ultrastructural and nanomechanical properties of three visually distinguishable commercial PSAs to first test the feasibility of using this technique. Subsequently, AFM was used to detect nanoscopic differences between three visually indistinguishable PSAs

Knowledge Sharing and the Psychological Contract: Managing Knowledge Workers across Different Stages of Employment

Purpose – An employee’s willingness to share knowledge may be contingent on whether the organization equitably fulfills its reward obligations. This paper seeks to examine how managers and organizations can be vehicles for managing psychological contract perceptions favoring knowledge sharing among current employees, newcomers, and applicants. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose an integrative model to discuss psychological contract issues within each stage of employment and HRM initiatives that can encourage knowledge-sharing behaviors. Findings – The implicit psychological contracts that often influence knowledge worker attitudes for sharing knowledge are easy to overlook and challenging to manage. Managers must properly assess the nature of psychological contracts maintained by such workers so that knowledge-sharing messages address employees’ key motivators. Different psychological contracts exist at various stages of employment. Several prescriptions for effectively managing each type of psychological contract and reducing perceptions of PC breach were offered. Research limitations/implications – Empirical studies should seek to investigate whether different psychological contracts actually exist within a field setting. In addition, how workers move between transitional, transactional, balanced and relational psychological contracts should be empirically examined. Originality/value – The authors sought to better understand the different psychological contract perceptions of knowledge workers at various stages of employment, which has not been done to date. Such workers are keenly aware of the impact of their knowledge and effective management for sharing rather than hoarding becomes a critical success factor for knowledge-intensive organizations

Neutron diffraction studies on liquids

The above examples serve to illustrate the extent to which neutron diffraction isotopic substitution methods have been used to determine interatomic structure in a wide range of liquid and amorphous systems. The direct determination of pair radial functions not only offers a means of characterising the different structures in liquids, but also provides theorists with information to construct more realistic model potentials which can be used to explore properties in regimes not currently accessible to experiment.\ud \ud It is anticipated that the NDIS methods will continue to be developed and applied to a wider range of systems. The construction and commissioning of new diffractometers with higher count rates, such as D20 and D4C at ILL, and GEM at ISIS with an optimised sample environment for work at non-ambient conditions will enable new and more extensive research to be undertaken. Besides the many problems of immediate interest suggested at the end of some sections, there are several investigations which will become feasible in the longer term as the technology develops. These include: (i) the use of isotopes such as 12C and 13C which will enable detailed and extensive structural studies to be carried out on a wide range of biologically significant materials, and (ii) the exploitation of higher count rates to investigate changes of structure as a chemical reaction occurs

Work Alienation among IT Workers: A Cross-Cultural Gender Comparison

Information Technology (IT) has experienced a worrisome decline in female participation over two decades, much of which can be attributed to fewer women choosing IT careers. However, women IT professionals also demonstrate mid-career turnover for reasons such as work-life balance, work exhaustion, role ambiguity, role conflict, and growth needs. This study explores alienation among women IT professionals and examines factors that lead to work alienation and abandonment of IT careers. Such alienation appears to be less prevalent in Asian countries where women perceive IT careers to be more conducive to female participation. A comparison among women from American and Asian cultures is proposed