A STUDY ON THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE AMONG FEMALE

EMPLOYEES IN THE IT SECTOR. A CASE STUDY OF INFOSYS

Project Dissertation Report submitted in Partial fulfilment of the requirement for the

Award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Of BANGALORE UNIVERSITY

By

Supriya K

Reg. No: 202FCMD087

Under the guidance of

Associate Professor

Dr.Lakshmi

IFIM College

Electronic City, Bengaluru 2022

A STUDY ON THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE AMONG FEMALE
EMPLOYEES IN THE IT SECTOR. A CASE STUDY OF INFOSYS

Project Dissertation Report submitted in Partial fulfilment of the requirement for the

Award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Of BANGALORE UNIVERSITY

By

Supriya K

Reg. No: 202FCMD087

Under the guidance of

Associate Professor

Dr.Lakshmi

IFIM College

Electronic City, Bengaluru 2022

1
 IFIM College

Electronic City, Phase : I,

Bengaluru: 560 100

STUDENT DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the Project Dissertation Report titled “ A STUDY ON THE WORK-LIFE
BALANCE AMONG FEMALE EMPLOYEES IN THE IT SECTOR. A CASE STUDY OF
INFOSYS” was submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of degree of Master of
Business Management in Bangalore University, has been prepared by Ms.SUPRIYA.K during
the academic year 2021-22 under the guidance Prof. Dr.Lakshmi in Department of
Management.

I further declare that this Project Dissertation Report is the outcome of my own efforts and that is
not submitted to any other University or Institute for the award of other degree or diploma or
other certificate.

Place: Bangalore Ms.SUPRIYA.K

Date: Register No: 202FCMD087

2
 CERTIFICATE FROM THE COLLEGE

This is to certify that Ms. Supriya. K bearing Register no: 202FCMD087 has successfully
completed the Project Report titled “ A STUDY ON THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE AMONG
FEMALE EMPLOYEES IN THE IT SECTOR. A CASE STUDY OF INFOSYS ” for the
partial fulfillment of the requirement of the Bangalore University for the award of Master of
Business Administration. This work was carried out by him and it is original in nature.

Prof. Swarnika Dixit Dr. VISWANATHIAH. M

Program Head – MBA Principal

3
 CERTIFICATE FROM THE GUIDE

This is to certify that the project report titled “A STUDY ON THE WORK-LIFE
BALANCE AMONG FEMALE EMPLOYEES IN THE IT SECTOR. A CASE
STUDY OF INFOSYS ” is the bonafide work which is carried out by Ms. Supriya
K bearing Register no: 202FCMD087 in partial fulfillment of the requirement for
the award of MBA degree of Bangalore University, under my Guidance and
Supervision.

The Project report submitted by her has been successfully completed and reflects
her hard work and sincere effort.

Place: Bangalore Project Guide

Date: Dr.Lakshmi

4
5
COMPANY CERTIFICATE

6
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe a deep sense of gratitude to those who have contributed to the successful completion of
this endeavor and take this opportunity with much pleasure to thank all the people who have
helped us through the course of journey towards producing this Project report.

First of all I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to our respected Principal and Director
Dr. VISWANATHIAH. M for permitting us to pursue our Project Dissertation Report by giving
us the necessary guidelines or else this work would not have been successfully accomplished.

I am grateful to my guide Prof .Dr. Lakshmi, Department of Management, IFIM College,

Bengaluru for his able guidance, constant support, timely encouragement and providing
directions whenever I required throughout this project dissertation work.

I will be failing in my duty if I don’t express my wholehearted thanks to all the faculty members
of our department, family members and friends who had rendered their unconditional support
throughout this project dissertation work which had enabled me to accomplish this task
successfully.

Supriya K

202FCMD087

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 CONTENTS

Sl. No Particulars Page No.

1 Introduction 11-15
2 Review of Literature & Research design 16-27
 Review of Literature 16-18
 Statement of the problem 18-22
 Objectives of the study 22-23
 Hypotheses (if any) 23-23
 Sampling 24-24
 Scope of the Study 24-24
 Research Gap 27-27
 Limitations of study 27-27
3 Profile of the selected organization & Respondents 28-43
4 Data analysis & Interpretation 44-73
5 Summary of findings, conclusions & Suggestions 74-77
 Summary of Findings
 Conclusion
 Suggestions to the Organization
06 Bibliography 78-79
Annexure
Case Study 80-85

LIST OF CHARTS

Sl. No Particulars Page No.

1 Marital Status Of The Respondent 46
2 Showing The Negative Attitudes Of Peers And Colleagues In The 47
Workplace
3 Showing The Responses For Training /Meeting After Office Hours 48

8
 4 Showing The Responses For The Right Remuneration For Their 49
Work
5 Showing The Responses To Work In Night Shifts To Earn More 50
6 Showing The Responses To Work Individually In Their Work 51
Assigned To Them

LIST OF PICTURES

Sl. No Particulars Page No

1 Virstusa value definitions 36
2 Positive work-life balance 64
3 Work-life balance outcomes 66
4 Problems of working women 74
5 Strategic leadership 83
6 Corporate culture 84

LIST OF GRAPH

Sl No Particulars Page No
1 Showing balance between paid work and personal life. 56
2 Work-life balance enables people to work better. 56
3 Work-life balance is a joint responsibility of employer and employee 57
4 Principals/In-charges/HOD’S Style affects Work-life balance 58
5 Flexible Working hours and work-life balance 58
6 Showing the need for flexible working hours 59
7 Leave benefits – Work-life balance 59
8 Showing Employee –Employer Relationship. 60
9 Showing the effect of work pressure on family life 60
10 Work- life balance and Success of an organization 61

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 CHAPTER 01
INTRODUCTION

10
INTRODUCTION OF WOMEN WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Meaning:- Maintaining a balance between work life and personal life is called Work Life
Balance. The meaning of work/life balance has chameleon characteristics. It means different
things to different groups, and the meaning often depends on the context of the conversation and
the speaker's viewpoint. The following are working definitions of termsused regarding work/life
balance; some definitions overlap and some are continuing to evolve.

Work/family:- It is a term more frequently used in the past than today. The current trend is to
usetitles that include the phrase work/life, giving a broader work/life connotation or labeling
referring to specific areas of support (e.g., quality of life, flexible work options, lifebalance, etc.)

Work/family conflict:- Work/family conflict is a push and pulls between work and family
responsibilities.

Work/life balance from the employee viewpoint:- It is a dilemma of managing work

obligations and personal/family responsibilities.

Work/life balance from the employer viewpoint:- Work/life is the challenge of

creating a supportive company culture where employees can focus on their jobs while at work.

Family-friendly benefits:- The benefits that offer employees the latitude to address their
personal and familycommitments, while at the same time not compromising their work
responsibilities

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Work/life programs:- This programs (often financial or time-related) established by an
employer thatoffer employees options to address work and personal responsibilities.

Work/life initiatives:- This policies and procedures established by an organization with the
goal to enableemployees to get their jobs done and at the same time provide flexibility to
handlepersonal/family concerns.

Work/family culture:- It is the extent to which an organization's culture acknowledges and

respects thefamily responsibilities and obligations of its employees and encourages management
andemployees to work together to meet their personal and work needs.

Indicators

When you have balance you are

Satisfied with your work and home lives.

Able to fulfill your responsibilities without guilt or regret.

Healthy physically and emotionally.

In control of your life

Loss of balance may cause you to

Miss work more often and not be as productive at work.

Your involvement in the community may go down.

Changing & Increasing work pressures

A decade back, employees used to have fixed working hours or rather a 9 to 5 jobfrom Monday
to Friday. The boundary between the work and home has disappeared withtime. But with

12
globalization and people working across countries, the concept of fixedworking hours is fading
away. Instead of just 7 or 8 a day, people are spending as much as12-16 hours every day in
office.The technological blessings like e-mail, text messaging and cell phones which
werethought of as tools to connect them to their work being away from their workplace,
haveactually integrated their personal and professional lives. Now professionals findthemselves
working even when they are on vacations.The ever-increasing working hours leave the
individuals with less time forthemselves and to pursue his hobbies or leisure activities. This
hinders the growth of theperson as an individual in terms of his personal and spiritual growth.
Professionals workingin the BPO industry, doctors and nurses and especially IT professionals are
the fewexamples who are facing the brunt of the hazard constantly.

Reasons of Imbalance: There are various reasons for this imbalance and conflicts in the life
of anemployee. From individual career ambitions to pressure to cope up with family or work,the
reasons can be situation and individual specific. The speed of advancement of information
technology, the increasing competition in the talent supply market has led to a "performance-
driven" culture creating pressures and expectations to performance more andbetter every time.
Also, many a times, many people find it difficult to say "NO" to othersespecially their superiors.
They usually end up over burdening themselves with work. The increasing responsibilities on the
personal front with age can also create stress on personaland professional fronts.There was a
time when employees showed up for work Monday through Fridayand worked eight- to nine-
hour days. The boundaries between work and home were fairlyclear then. But the world has
changed and, unfortunately, the boundaries have blurred formany workers.

The main reasons are:

 Global economy:- As more skilled workers enter the global labor market and
companies outsourceor move more jobs to reduce labor costs, people feel pressured to
work longer andproduce more just to protect their jobs.

 International Business:- Work continues around the world 24 hours a day for some
people. If you work inan international organization, you might be on call around the
clock for troubleshootingor consulting.

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Advanced communication technology

Many people now have the ability to work anywhere — from their home, from their car and even
on vacation. And some managers expect this.

Longer hours:- Employers commonly ask employees to work longer hours than they're
scheduled. Often, overtime is mandatory. If you hope to move up the career ladder, you may find
yourself regularly working more than 40 hours a week to achieve and exceed expectations.

Changes in family roles:- Today‘s married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple,
which makes itdifficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends and community.

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 CHAPTER 02

Review of Literature & Research Design

15
LITERATURE REVIEW

Work life balance concept has been gaining importance for the research because it is one of the
work-related issues affecting productivity of employees in an organization as well as in per for
Work-lifeming roles related to family. With growing awareness of employees for managing the
boundary and the interface between their work and non-work lives, the provision for effective
work life initiatives have been a priority for various organisations in the corporate world.

Many changes in the workplace and in employee demographics in the past few decades have led
to an increased concern for understanding the boundary and the interaction between employee,
work and non – Work lives (Hochschild 1997; and Hayman 2005). As more and more women
are joining the workforce and dualcareer couple are becoming increasingly common (Moorhead
et.al, 1997). One of the major reason for this increasing concern for work life balance is due to
technological advancement which has morphed the work and personal lives of working
professionals into a single whole. Lester (1999) argued that technology can help and hinder
work-life balance by making work more accessible at all times of the day and night; and also in
terms of enabling a more flexible approach to when and where to work. Castells (2000) observed
that technological development may also facilitate social change leading to redefinition of gender
relations and social cultural norms. In his pioneering work on Women IT professionals Ramesh
P.V (2004) mentions that the leave structure has an impact on family life of the women
employees in Information Technology sector. The workers are allowed to avail leave only with
prior consent of the team leader/manager to ensure that the work is not disrupted. Availing leave
without prior consent is treated as unauthorized absence which is a sufficient reason to terminate
the service of a worker.

Kelkar (2003) observed that heavy work schedules and 14-16 hours workdays is the norm of IT
companies. The employees work long hours in office and 2-3 hours in home. Work Life Balance
is the part of HRM jargon of IT companies, but in reality it is only work. There is no such
balance between work and family in the industry.

Family Friendly Working Hours Taskforce (2009) in their report “Flexible Working: working for
families, working for business” identified that Women are still the primary careers in our society

16
and, as a result, face the greatest difficulties in reconciling their caring responsibilities with the
demands and expectations of full time work.

Vanitha (2011) in her article titled “A study on Work Life Balance of IT employees through
Emotional Intelligence with special reference to Indian context” states that the degree to which
work and personal life activities are prioritized as neither is neglected. High ratings on these
behaviors are associated with the emotional intelligence measures of social responsibility,
impulse control, and empathy

Vanitha & Meenakumari (2011) in their study entitled “Family Vs Work Conflict among
Working Women in India with Special Reference to IT, Education and Banking Sector” state
that the participation of women employees in modern organizations ranges from priority to
service based augments every year in Indian industrial climate. In addition to that women have to
play multifaceted roles at family, society and at work places with unprecedented pressures at
different climate. The unbalanced co-ordination and support belatedly indulge both family and
work conflicts and it also mutually influences each other. The impact of these influences impetus
with work and family problems and sometimes leads to undesirable consequences.

Ramanathan & Vanitha, (2011) in their research article titled “Work- Life Balance-A primitive
Channel Source for work culture at workplace with special reference to IT employees in India”
state the work pattern of IT sector. The professional employed at various levels in IT sector
undergo various changing issues in terms of organizational policy and individual commitment.
The growing competition among various companies in this sector, the job shift, recent economic
slowdown, and the market rehabilitation strategies adopted by the companies want the
employees of IT sector to contribute more at work places irrespective of time schedule in the
form of job expansion, work load enrichment and customer satisfaction. Due to these changes the
WLB of IT employees deviates and leads to mismanagement of various overlapping factors
among individuals in terms of work, family, social, development and personal. The result of poor
WLB leads to ineffective work culture at organizational level. The ineffective work culture
affects the individual organizational relationship, individual family and social relationship.

Literature have given various facet of work life balance scenario in IT sector in an generalized
manner. However scarce literature is available on work life balance of women IT employees of
Mumbai. Mumbai being a huge geographical spread has its inherent problem of residence,

17
commuting and high cost of living. Thus the present study is an attempt made by the researcher
to examine the work and family life of women IT professionals‟ stressful job at their workplace
along with their family commitment.

2.2 Statement of the problem

Problems & Solutions

 Working time and place:- Before several decades, the workplace and hours were
clearly specified. But today due to creation of global organization and communication
technologies, employees work at any time and on any day, in fact many employees of
global firms are “on call” 24 hours a day. Nowadays employers are in the habit of cutting
costs. Flexi time is one such work-life balance practice that does not add any cost to the
employers but moreover it adds many benefits to the bottom line like improved retention,
increased performance apart from reduction of employee stress. Shell being one of the
multinational companies believes and practices employee diversity and work-life balance.
Employees are given options such as flexitime and work from home. Employees’
perception about work-life balance is assessed every year in their Annual Global People
Survey to see where the company stands and what should they do to help employees
achieve a healthy work-life balance. It advocates video or teleconferences to reduce
business related travel. It also organises midweek meetings to avoid weekend travel. It
discourages overtime work and taking work home on weekends. Personal leaves cannot
be carried over to next year and are not encashable so that employees will use personal
leaves for self and family. These practices show the organization’s concern for employee
work-life balance.

 Gender related problems in working time:- Today’s married employee is typically part of
a ‘Dual-Career Couple’, which makes it difficult for married employees to find the time
to fulfill commitments to home, spouse, children, parents and friends. In the countries
where the family care is still provided by women, work life balancing is at utmost
priority. Rather the global companies concern with the higher and higher productivity,
work and life always should be reflectd together because of the closed dependency

18
 between the productive and the reproductive sphere. The assumption here is that societal
development depends basically on social reproduction which means upbringing children,
sociality, education, creation of cultural goods and much more. The part time or the
flexible working time can be one of the solutions to deal with such gender related issues
and can be favorable both to the businesses as well as employers. It also can be a great
tool to attract the qualified and competent female employees. Infosys have launched
“Infosys Women’s Inclusivity Network (IWIN)” in 2003 to create a gender sensitive and
inclusive work environment in the company. This network addresses thework/life balance
and the developmental needs of their women employees. A special mentoring programme
for women was launched in 2008.

 Child Care:- Employees’ difficulties with childcare can undermine the competitive edge
and success of organizations. Also child-care costs create labor market barriers for
parents who want or need work. Finding available, affordable and high quality child care
is a major concern for working parents. Employer supported child care refers to various
strategies-onsite and offsite, emergency/ backup care, subsidies and vouchers, resource
and referral-offered to assist employees with their child care needs. Diverse strategies
provide different benefits for employees. Employer- supported child care is an important
business issue at intel; employer-sponsored child care is a win-win situation. It is good
for their children who benefit easily from accessible, high quality care. For every dollar
spend on child care three dollars are saved in absenteeism, turnover and work disruption
caused by child care problems. Our programs not only help intel employees but also
communities where they operate. Providing child care is one of the intel’s ways to make
it a great place to work at. Infosys created “Family Network Matters” in 2008 to help
employees with parenting and work/life balancing issues. Employees are given online
expert counseling and provided referral services for daycare and information on schools
for their children. The annual Petit Infoscion Day recognizes children of employees who
have exhibited commendable performance in the area of academia and extracurricular
activities.

 Organizational Culture:- It has been argued that the success of work life balancing
programmes generally depends on the culture of the organization. Ultimately the

19
 management plays an important role in making all implicit or explicit choices regarding
the adoption of workplaces practices, which make them enable to encourage or
discourage employees efforts to balance their work and family lives. As the supportive
management culture encourage the employees to take the benefits of such work/life
balancing programs, the fear of negative consequences can discourage the employees to
take the benefits out of it. The supportive culture alone is enough for grabbing the
talented employees in the organization. The TATA groups, the oldest and largest business
conglomerates, known as most people focused company by having high rates in all the
welfare parameters. To manage the workforce diversity, the initiatives are tailored to
balance their work and life conflicts. They provide education programmes and education
for family planning to their illiterate employees. To support their female employees they
provide crèches facility. By providing the facilities of flexi-timings and by encouraging
the formation of the program “Maitree” for the spouses of employees, TATA has develop
the supportive culture for bringing the families of the employees together.

Individual Approach in Achieving Work-Life Balance

1. Keep a Log: try and note all you work and activities for the week including working
and non working activities. List out your priorities and tasks you like most. Discuss this
with your employer.

2. Learn to say “no”: Saying no is an art. Master this art by practicing it everyday and doing
activities which you are capable of. Don’t carry the guilt of saying no, no man can
manage everything, and it will provide you with time to do activities of your liking

3. Leave work at work: Technology has invaded the drawing rooms and bedrooms of people
as there are no boundaries. Turn your work mobile and laptops off. If to pick up the
phone is required ask if you can talk tomorrow about it.

4. Manage your time: organize household tasks efficiently. Its no point making a mess than
tiding it up. Prepare a weekly calendar for household tasks to avoid panic.Rethink your
cleaning standards: an unmade bed or sink of dirty dishes wont impact the quality of your

20
 life. Let go the urge of cleaning by self. Nuture yourself: Develop a hobby, walking,
listening to music, reading. Pamper and spoil yourself after the hectic day.

5. Set aside one night each week for recreation: Discover the activities you can do with your
partner, family or friends. Make time for activities you enjoy, it will help rejuvenate you.
Protect your day off: Try and relax at weekend by doing little work more on weekdays.

6. Sleep: Never cut down your sleep. There is nothing more dangerous, stressful and
harmful to your health and productivity by cutting your sleep.

7. Seek Help: Don’t forget to ask help from doctors, psychologists, counselors or friends
assistance whenever needed. Share your stress, hardship with your friends, family or
partner who ever you feel comfortable with. Creating work-life balance is not one shot
deal but continuous, ongoing process to be practiced everyday till you master it.

Employers approach to work-life balance

1. Part Time: not very popular in India but in foreign countries, where a person can take
advantage of working lesser hours a week, so reduced work load and job responsibilities.
Women with kids can avail this opportunity by working at time the kids are at school.

2. Flexi time: Employers can provide “core hours” when an employee should be present and
work around different start and finish times. They can also help increasing the time by
few hours so that an extra day off can be provided at the weekend.

3. Job Sharing: Again not popular in India. An employee can work for hours he is
comfortable with and share the job with person for other hours comfortable to him. They
can adjust time mutually.

4. Working from home: this option is for normally software companies wherein employee
can take work home and finish it. If somebody in your family is unwell, or you want a
change this option is used. The Economic Times and Great Place to Work Institute joined
hands to find out the best workplaces; companies that cared for its employees and vice-
versa. More than 500 companies signed up for this year's survey, of which 471 met the

21
 strict eligibility criteria. According to this survey Google, Intel technology and
Makmytrip are the best companies to work. Following are some other organisations
providing work life balancing programmes.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY

Previous researches suggested that, Mostly women find much difficulty to balance their work
and family life while comparing to men as they give core importance to home and
family(Duxbury and Higgins, 1991). Happiness at work influences happiness at home, vice
versa, happiness at home impact the happiness at work. In addition the experience in the work
and the activity apart from work also determine the happiness of the person(Champoux 1978). It
is also perceived that the attitudes in work also blow in family life and doing certain things in
home.

Primary objectives:-

 To analyse how far the employees of Virtusa India Pvt.Ltd are able to maintainbalance
between their work life and personal life.

Secondary Objectives

 To analyse factors contributing to work life balance of employees.

 To study the factors which hinders work life balance and creates imbalances.

 To suggest measures that should be concentrated to improve work life balance.

The study is a descriptive/analytical study.

The objectives are:

Main Objectives

1) To find out the factors affecting the work life balance among the working women

2) To determine the level of satisfaction as examined by the women employees on the varied
determinants of WLB.

22
3) To measure the actual factors which affect the WLB in different levels

The study is carried out with the assumption that there are certain family and work environment
factors that impact the work life balance of working women.

Multi stage random sampling method was used as the sampling method. The area is specific,
Chennai city. The companies listed in BSEIT with the life span of more than 10 years were
selected and the data was collected from women employees. The sample size for the present
study is 350.

2.5 HYPOTHESE

H0: There is no significant relation between an experience (null Hypotheses the

respondent & opinion towards the work satisfaction.

H1: There is a significant relation between experience (Alternative of the

respondent & opinion towards the work satisfaction.

There is no significant relationship between experience of the respondent and opinion

towards work satisfaction.

There is no significant difference between the age of the respondents andd opinion
towards the working hours.

There is no significant difference between marital status of the respondents and opinion
towards the leave facility.

SAMPLING

Both primary & secondary data is utilized for current study. Primary data collected from 125
respondents who are working in the IT sector & different MNC sectors. Sampling method
adopted was convenience sampling method. Co-relation & regression is conducted SPSS
software. The exploratory study is based on secondary sources such as journals, articles, and a
thesis available online. It includes the data from the year 1978 to 2016 based on a work-life
balance among women employees.

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2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

People would like to have a neat balance of Work & Life. The scope of balancing both
work and life by a person would be leading to good quality of life and an enjoyable work
life and career progression.

Work and Life Balance will make a person to maintain the good heaand affordableable
childcare and eldercare.

One can concentrate on their personal interests and voluntary work.

The balancing of work and life keep the persons away from pressurized mentality which
in turn reflect in happier life and good productivity at work.

The Work-Life Balance Concept

The importance of managing an employee‘s WLB has increased markedly over thepast 20 years
(De Bruin & Dupuis, 2004). There have been changes in several areas thatdirectly impact on this
issue. Firstly, jobs have become more complex and employees havebeen put under pressure to
produce quality results in shorter timeframes and with fewerresources (Hosie, Forster &Servatos,
2004) that has resulted in a redefinition of ‗normal working hours‘. Secondly, the demographic
make-up of the labour force (i.e. gender,ethnicity, dual career couples, religion, multi-
generational workplaces etc), and thirdly thevery nature of the employment contract has
necessitated that organisations effectively manage their employee‘s wellbeing, stress and job
satisfaction (Greenhaus& Powell,2006).Organizational interest in the management of the WLB
derives from evidence that―there is little doubt any more that there is a clear connection
between the way people are managed andorganizationall performance‖ (Purcell, 2002:1), and that
with the onset of predicted skill shortagess, the ability to offer effective WLB employment
opportunities may be come a source of competitive advantage.

Ideally, the WLB concept requires organisations to effectively integrate employees work and
non-work roles such that levels of multiple-role conflict, and the associated stressand job-
dissatisfaction, are minimised or avoided (De Bruin & Dupuis, 2004; Greenblatt,2002). In
attempts to achieve a WLB, however, western organisations have tended to adopta limited set of

24
policies such as on-site child-care facilities, on-site gymnasiums,telecommuting opportunities,
and even on-site sleeping quarters for the employee and theirfamily (Hacker &Doolen, 2003;
Hyman & Summers, 2004). Each has attempted toincrease the flexibility by which employees
can enact their work-roles whilstsimultaneously enabling them to enact their family-based roles
to the minimum extent necessary.

Issues in Work-Life Imbalance

Despite their best intentions, there remains considerable contention about theeffectiveness of
organisational WLB policies in delivering flexibility and reducing stressand job-dissatisfaction in
the modern workplace (Eates, 2004; Kirrane& Buckley, 2004).Researchers have identified two
empirical shortcomings within the WLB literature thathave served to undermine its theoretical
and practical usefulness. The first relates to the WLB literature‘s almost exclusive focus on the
work -family interface at the expense of other important life-balance issues. Buzzanell et al,
(2005) notes that the WLB literaturetypically portrays role conflicts for white, married,
professional and managerial women,with little reference to the many other demographics
represented in the modernorganisation. Shorthose (2004) and Wise and Bond (2003) go so far as
to state that the WLB discipline is essentially flawed, as it is ‗one-dimensional‘, assumes a
unitary HR perspective, and that its underlying management has been one of maintaining the
status-quo rather than the adoption of competitive and future-oriented HR policy.

Issues in Work-Life Imbalance

Despite their best intentions, there remains considerable contention about theeffectiveness of
organisational WLB policies in delivering flexibility and reducing stressand job-dissatisfaction in
the modern workplace (Eates, 2004; Kirrane& Buckley, 2004).Researchers have identified two
empirical shortcomings within the WLB literature thathave served to undermine its theoretical
and practical usefulness. The first relates to the WLB literature‘s almost exclusive focus on the
work -family interface at the expense of other important life-balance issues. Buzzanell et al,
(2005) notes that the WLB literaturetypically portrays role conflicts for white, married,

25
professional and managerial women,with little reference to the many other demographics
represented in the modernorganisation. Shorthose (2004) and Wise and Bond (2003) go so far as
to state that theWLB discipline is essentially flawed, as it is ‗one-dimensional‘, assumes a
unitary HR perspective, and that its underlying management has been one of maintaining the
status-quo rather than the adoption of competitive and future-oriented HR policy.

The second relates to the literature‘s inability to clearly define the interaction of work and non-
work roles that impact employees‘ working-life (i.e. stress, job satisfactionetc.). Elloy and Smith
(2004) and Spinks (2004), for example, state that because an individual‘s non-work roles are
inherently ambiguous and idiosyncratic, organisations areincapable of understanding how their
enactment (or otherwise) impacts each individual.Spinks (2004), in particular, suggests that
organisations are either incapable (or unwilling)to understand their workforce in sufficient detail,
and have instead defaulted to a ‗one-size-fits-all‘ policy regime that has simply enabled
employees to ‗stay at work longer‘ rather than enable them to enact their important non-work
roles. The inadequacy of current WLB policy regimes is highlighted by Kiger‘s (2005) study that
revealed that less than two percent of employees actually participate in available WLB programs.

Dex and Smith (2002) cite two main causes for this low figure. The first relates to equity, with
many employees reporting that they did not wish to appear a ‗special case‘ or to require ‗special
treatment‘ to their colleagues. This is supported from the results of Waters &Bardoel‘s (2006)
study that found a range of workplace cultural factors thatreduced the willingness of Australian
university staff to access WLB policy options.

2.2 RESEARCH GAP :

As seen in review of literature, there are so many studies conducted on Work-lifeimbalance in

common and among women in general. This study purely focused onwomen employees in
service sector of Bengaluru And the previous studied haveconcentrated in other field like IT but
have not given the importance in Service Sector,so this study has focused on service sector
women employees.

26
2.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study is based on employees self evaluation. So there is a possibility of change in the
attitude in relation of the originalattitude.

The study is restricted to the employees of one company and so theresults can be
generalized.

Due to time constraint the sample size is limited to 100

27
 CHAPTER 03

COMPANY PROFILE

28
Introduction

Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company that provides

business consulting, information technology and outsourcing services. The company was
founded in Pune and is headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is the second-largest Indian IT
company after Tata Consultancy Services by 2020 revenue figures and the 602nd largest public
company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 ranking.Infosys was founded in 1981 by
Narayana Murthy and his six colleagues, they shared a vision of providing “a fair deal to the
stakeholders: shareholders, employees and customers alike” (Evans & Barsoux, 2002, p.61).
Infosys’ vision was to regain the top position for the Best Employee and Best Performer
Company .

WLB PRACTICES TOP IT COMPANIES:

India has attracted a great deal of attention as a source of software and has risen to become a
global leader in the software business. As a consequence, there is greater creativity in the
conception of work-life balance policies and practises in information technology and information
technology-enabled firms as a result of the prevalence of gender balance and the resulting
enhanced awareness and care about family obligations. The purpose of this article was to
investigate the work-life balance practises of three top information technology organisations,
namely TCS, Wipro, and Infosys.

1. Tata Consultancy Services:- A highly engaged and motivated staff is at the heart of
TCS's success, and the organization's combined passion and devotion has enabled it to reach
unprecedented heights in recent years. The Company has a diversified workforce of 2, 76,196
people that represent 118 different countries, according to the company. TCS offers its workers
with an atmosphere that encourages them to develop and accomplish their professional
objectives. TCS provides its workers with a feeling of security in the knowledge that they will
have a successful career that will be fueled by limitless development prospects and exposure to
cutting-edge technology and learning opportunities. The work atmosphere at TCS is based on the

29
concept that one may progress without knowing where one is going. Global exposure, cross-
domain experience, and work-life balance are just a few of the important factors that contribute
to the company's work culture. A key part of the value proposition that TCS has provided to its
workers in order to build their employer brand is the ability to maintain a healthy work-life
balance. A key component of TCS's work-life balance programme, the company has launched
'Maitree,' which actively promotes a series of planned fun and cultural events and activities, as
well as actively supports community development initiatives in the local community. Maitree
was established with the goal of bringing TCS colleagues and their families closer together and
making them feel like they were a part of the TCS extended family.. Soon after, in order to
continue on the TATA heritage of assisting the community, the scope of Maitree was expanded
to encompass socially important events and projects, as well as other initiatives. Over the years,
Maitree has become a familiar face in the lives of all TCS employees. Overall, Maitree gives
everyone at TCS with the chance to develop connections that go beyond the workplace and, as a
result, to contribute to the development of ties that make working so much more enjoyable.

2. Wipro Technologies, Inc.:- The heart of every company is its people, and in the case of
the technology industry, people are more than just the heart; they are also the brain of the
organisation. Wipro CEO Ajim Premji said, "We will continue to invest in people, especially in
enhancing the diversity of our individuals who join and flourish in our Wipro team."Wipro
believes that its people are the company's heart, and as a result, a significant portion of the
company's management effort is devoted to caring for and supporting them. Furthermore, the
organisation places greater focus on achieving a "work-life balance" rather than a "work-life
balance" with one's job. In order to do this, the company seeks to develop and nurture the best in
class worldwide leadership while also providing them with unending possibilities for
advancement and progress. The company's vision is to become a genuinely global organisation
that not only serves consumers all over the globe but also employs individuals all over the world.
For workers in both the information technology and business process outsourcing sectors, Wipro
offers a variety of wellness and employee assistance programmes as part of its commitment to
work-life balance.

• MITR is an employee counselling effort that was started by the company.

30
• Employee Advocacy Group: aimed on identifying and resolving Wiproites problems and
concerns, giving workers with a venue to change the company from the bottom up.

• Fit Life: an Employee Wellness Program

For example, the OMBUDS programme offers a 24-hour multilingual hotline as well as an
online method to give a robust foundation of assurance and safety to female workers. Female
staff will benefit from awareness and self-defense training courses.

• The Wipro Academy of Software Excellence (WASE) initiative, which aims to develop young
software professionals.

It is widely regarded as one of the most effective wellness programmes ever implemented by the
corporation, known as "MITR." Twenty-eight persons were trained as part of the project to
provide psychological support to their coworkers so that they can deal with stress both at work
and in their personal life.

3. Infosys Technologies, Inc.:- The inclusion initiative at Infosys is aimed at bringing

people from different departments together. Infosys supports work-life balance with a three-
tiered approach that includes the following components:

• IWIN (Infosys Women's Inclusivity Network)

• Infyability (Infyability is a software development company)

• Family Matters Network (http://www.familymattersnetwork.org/)

A gender aware and inclusive work environment was created at Infosys with the establishment of
the IWIN (Information Technology Women's Inclusivity Network) in 2003. This network
addressed the demands of its female workers in terms of work-life balance and professional
growth. Women's mentorship programmes were established in 2008 to help female workers
improve their morale and increase their productivity. The company also believes in encouraging
and rewarding employees that participate in charitable endeavours. The Equal Opportunities
team will continue to serve workers with physical limitations as part of the "Infyability"
initiative. The organisation has built a platform to assist workers in coming together and

31
benefiting from one another's expertise and knowledge, which in turn leads to skill upgrades and
professional development. The Family Matters Network was established in 2008 to assist
workers with difficulties related to parenting and work-life balance. Workers may get
professional counselling from anywhere at any time, and they can get referrals for childcare and
information on local schools for their children. It is celebrated as Petit Informationscion Day at
InfoSys to honour the academic and extracurricular abilities of workers' children who work for
the company.

The Effects of Work-Life Conflict

Work life balance is one of the most important social policy issues in today's 'knowledge
society’. Work-life balance is an issue for both parents . No employees can innovate, prevent
mistakes and absentesim if there are problems in his personal life-may be child sick or parents
hospitalized. With nuclear families increasing – this issue is getting critical, wherein both parents
are working and how to take care of children and elders. There are numerous houses in India
wherein a child is likely to be without an adult. Just watching movies, hanging on with video
games will definitely lead to behaviour problems in future. NO one wants to put future
generations in such conditions.Long work hours and highly stressful jobs not only hamper
employees’ ability to harmonize work and family life but also are associated with health risks,
such as increased smoking and alcohol consumption, weight gain and depression. Work life
conflict has been associated with numerous physical and mental health implications. A recent
global economic indicator survey conducted by Regus Group revealed significant increase of
work-related stress during last two years in most of the countries. The highest increase was
recorded where about 86% employees reported a rise in stress. On the other hand, Netherlands
recorded the least but still 47%.India ranked comparatively higher, as 57% of its workers said
stress increased. Also, occupational stress induced diseased could total a staggering loss of $200
bn [appox. Rs 7,800tn] in next ten years.

32
SCENARIO FOR INDIAN ORGANIZATION

When comparing the current with the past, there is a discernible change in the vision,
philosophy, leadership style, and people-oriented human resource initiatives of Indian
enterprises. Therefore, Indian organisations have begun to get international recognition for their
contributions to the digital world as a result of their efforts to date. The goal of human resource
practitioners is to experiment with current policies while also investigating various ideas in order
to encourage and engage a wide number of workers. Work-life balance management has yet to
become a major strategic component of people management techniques in Indian firms, despite
the fact that they have the competitive edge in terms of youthful talent when compared to their
counterparts in the developed world. This necessitates the attention of policymakers in every
business in order to maximise the use of available talent for higher performance. Overall, work-
life balance has improved in 2012 compared to 2010, but it has made a significant step forward
in small businesses, where the index has increased by 27 points since 2010. Despite the fact that
the Work-Life Balance Index in India has improved from 121 Index points in 2010 to 139 Index
points in 2012 (OECD), the number of IT organisations with stronger WLB practises has
declined to a larger degree. On the basis of work-life balance, corporations are ranked in Table 1
of the world's largest enterprises. One of the primary reasons for India's rapid development in the
information technology industry has been the country's superior human resources. Following the
Great Recession, this industry saw remarkable expansion, and the market has now become
exceedingly competitive. Because other industries are also seeing rapid expansion, work-life
balance has become one of the most significant factors contributing to the high turnover rate in
this industry. Long working hours and job overload are commonplace in the information
technology industry, which is a sector that rises with the sun. Despite the fact that most IT
companies operate on a five-day week, the workload is increasing. Companies who downsized
following the 2001-02 recessions did not necessarily recruit additional employees when business
started up again after the recession ended. As a result, getting called in to work on weekends and
14-hour workdays has become standard practise in the industry. Long periods of time between
projects are also marked by the attendance of numerous software experts at training seminars,
which serves to keep them engaged.

33
Purpose, vision and mission

Purpose:- The purpose is to make a qualitative difference to the lives of millions of peopleand
organizations by harnessing the power of India and of the Internet. We will do this
byempowering them with the potential of the Internet and by leveraging the capabilities of Indian
Knowledge Resources.

Vision:-The vision is to be the dominant and profitable India centric Internet Company by:

Building on India's unique advantages.

Being the leader in terms of market share, quality, revenue, growth andgross margins.

Adding value to our stakeholders: namely investors, customers, peers andassociates.

Being enablers and catalysts of the Internet for positive change.

Mission:

To be the partner of choice for corporation in creating competitiveadvantage through

technology excellence

To create the best conditions for professional success and quality of life forall Virtusans

To be a socially conscious and responsible corporate citizen in all countriesof operations.

34
Virtusa Value Definition:

Corporate history:- Established in 1981, Infosys is a NYSE listed global consulting and IT
services company with more than 335k employees. From a capital of US$250, we have grown to
become a US$ 16.97 billion (LTM FY23 revenues) company with a market capitalization of
approximately US$ 77.88 billion.

35
In our journey of over 40 years, we have catalyzed some of the major changes that have led to
India's emergence as the global destination for software services talent. We pioneered the Global
Delivery Model and became the first IT Company from India to be listed on NASDAQ. Our
employee stock options program created some of India's first salaried millionaires.

Milestone

1981

 Infosys is established by N. R. Narayana Murthy and six engineers in Pune, India, with
an initial capital of US$250

 Signs up its first client, Data Basics Corporation, in New York

1983

 Relocates corporate headquarters to Bangalore

1987

 Opens first international office in Boston, US

1993

 Introduces Employee Stock Options (ESOP) program

 Acquires ISO 9001/TickIT certification

 Goes public

1994

 Moves corporate headquarters to Electronic City, Bangalore. Opens a development center

at Fremont

1995

36
  Opens first European office in the UK and global development centers at Toronto and
Mangalore. Sets up e-Business practice

1996

 The Infosys Foundation is established

1997

 Opens an office in Toronto, Canada

 Infosys is assessed at CMM Level 4

1998

 Starts Enterprise Solutions (packaged applications) practice

1999

 Touches revenues of US$100 million. Listed on NASDAQ

 Infosys becomes the 21st company in the world to achieve a CMM Level 5 certification

 Opens offices in Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Australia, and two development centers in
the US

 Infosys Business Consulting Services is launched

2000

 Touches revenues of US$200 million

 Opens offices in France and Hong Kong, a global development center in Canada and UK,
and three development centers in the US

 Relaunches Banks 2000, the universal banking solution from Infosys, as Finacle™

2001

 Touches revenues of US$400 million. Opens offices in UAE and Argentina, and a
development center in Japan

37
  N. R. Narayana Murthy is rated among Time Magazine/CNN's 25 most influential
businessmen in the world

 Infosys is rated as the Best Employer by Business World/Hewitt

2002

 Touches revenues of US$500 million

 Nandan M. Nilekani takes over as CEO from N.R. Narayana Murthy, who is appointed
Chairman and Chief Mentor

 Opens offices in the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland

 Infosys and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania set up The Wharton
Infosys Business Transformation Awards (WIBTA)

 Launches Progeon, offering business process outsourcing services

2003

 Establishes subsidiaries in China and Australia

 Expands operations in Pune and China, and sets up a development center in

Thiruvananthapuram

 Sponsors secondary ADS offering

2004

 Annual revenues reach US$1 billion

 Infosys Consulting Inc. is launched

2005

 Records the largest international equity offering of US$1 billion from India

 Selected to the Global MAKE Hall of Fame

2006

38
  Infosys celebrates 25 years. Employees grow to 50,000+

 Annual revenues double to US$2 billion. It took 23 years to reach first billion, only 23
months to reach next billion in revenues

 N. R. Narayana Murthy retires from the services of the company on turning 60. The
Board of Directors appoints him as an Additional Director. He continues as Chairman
and Chief Mentor of Infosys

2007

 Kris Gopalakrishnan, COO, takes over as CEO. Nandan M. Nilekani is appointed Co-
Chairman of the Board of Directors

 Quarterly revenues cross US$1 billion

2008

 Infosys crosses revenues of US$4 billion

 Annual net profits cross US$1 billion

2009

 Infosys selected as a member of The Global Dow

 Employee strength grows to over 100,000

2010

 Infosys crosses the US$5 billion revenue mark

2011

 N. R. Narayana Murthy hands over chairmanship to K.V. Kamath

 S.D. Shibulal, COO, takes over as the CEO and MD from Kris Gopalakrishnan

 Infosys crosses US$6 billion revenue mark, employee strength grows to over 125,000

2012

39
  Listed on the NYSE market

 Infosys acquires Lodestone Holding AG, a leading management consultancy based in

Switzerland

 Forbes ranks Infosys among the world's most innovative companies

 Infosys among top 25 performers in Caring for Climate Initiative

2013

 Infosys Board appoints N. R. Narayana Murthy as Executive Chairman of the Board

 Infosys begins trading on NYSE Euronext London and Paris markets

 Infosys Edge™ wins the NASSCOM Business Innovation Award for 2013

 Infosys presented with ‘2013 Environmental Tracking Carbon Ranking Leader’ award

2014

 Dr. Vishal Sikka takes over as the CEO and MD from S.D. Shibulal

 Revenue crosses INR 50,000 crore

 Board decides to increase the dividend pay-out ratio to up to 40% of post-tax profits

 Cash and cash equivalents (including available-for-sale financial assets and certificates of
deposit) cross US$5 billion

2015

 Infosys acquired Noah Consulting LLC, a leading provider of advanced information

management consulting services for the oil and gas industry.

 Board decides to increase the dividend pay-out ratio to up to 50% of post-tax profits

 Infosys acquired Skava, a leading provider of Digital Experience solutions for the Retail
industry

 Infosys acquired Panaya, Inc., a leading provider of automation technology for large
scale enterprise software management

40
  Infosys announces US$250 million ‘Innovate in India Fund’ to support Indian start-ups

2016

 Touches revenues of US$10 billion on an LTM basis

 Infosys launches Infosys Mana (now part of Infosys Nia), a platform that brings machine
learning together with the deep knowledge of an organization, to drive automation and
innovation

 Infosys Foundation USA partners with the National Science Foundation and
DonorsChoose.org to pioneer a new model of public-private-community collaboration for
computer science education

 Infosys Launches Skava Commerce, a new standard for modern, mobile-first and
modular e-commerce platforms

 Infosys invests in Waterline Data, provider of data discovery and data governance
software; Stellaris Venture Partners, an early-stage venture fund; UNSILO, an A.I. start-
up focused on advanced text analysis; TidalScale, a provider of Software-Defined Servers

2017

 Infosys completed its equity share buy back program of ₹ 13,000 crore, amounting to
4.92% of total outstanding equity shares

 Infosys Board appointed Salil Parekh as CEO and MD of the company effective January
2, 2018

 Infosys Board appointed Nandan Nilekani as Non- Executive Chairman of the Board

 Pravin Rao appointed as Interim Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director

 Board revised the capital allocation policy and decided to payout up to 70% of the free
cash flow (net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditure as per the
consolidated statement of cash flows prepared under IFRS) as dividend.

2018

41
  Infosys completed 25 years of listing on Indian Stock exchanges

 Infosys signed the “Advance Pricing Agreement” with the US IRS to enhance
predictability of the Company’s tax obligations in respect of its US operations

 Infosys Board appointed Nilanjan Roy as CFO of the company effective March 1, 2019

 Infosys acquires Fluido, the leading Salesforce advisor and consulting partner in Nordics
and a recognized leader in cloud consulting, implementation and training services

2019

 Infosys ranked Number 3 on 2019 Forbes ‘World’s Best Regarded Companies’ list

 Infosys recognized as a 2020 ‘Top Employer’ in Australia, Singapore and Japan

 Infosys launches the Infosys Live Enterprise Suite

2020

 Announced ESG Vision 2030- with robust and measurable targets across the pillars of
Environment, Social and Governance

 Attained carbon neutrality as a company, 30 years ahead of the Paris accord.

 Vanguard and Infosys announce strategic partnership to deliver a technology-driven

approach to plan administration and fundamentally reshape the corporate retirement plan
experience for its sponsors and participants

 Infosys launches Reskill and Restart, an innovative solution to reskill the American
workforce and fulfill employment needs following COVID-19

 Infosys USA certified as Great Place to Work®. The certification recognizes best in class
workplaces and company cultures based upon employee responses to the Great Place to
Work® Trust Index™ Survey.

 Infosys increases U.S. hiring commitment to 25,000 by 2022

 Infosys completes acquisition of GuideVision, a leading ServiceNow Elite Partner in

Europe

42
  Infosys completes acquisition of product design and development firm, Kaleidoscope
Innovation

2021

 Crossed a milestone of ₹100,000 crore in revenue in FY 21

 Infosys announces Canadian expansion to Calgary, doubling Canadian workforce to

4,000 by 2023

 Infosys recognized as one of World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute

 Infosys recognized as a Global Top Employer 2021 by the Top Employers Institute

 Infosys recognized as the Fastest Growing Top 10 IT Services Brand by Brand Finance

 Infosys launched Infosys Cortex, its AI-first, Cloud-first customer engagement platform

43
 CHAPTER 04

Data Analysis & Interpretation

44
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

TABLE No. 4.1.1

MARITAL STATUS OF THE RESPONDANCE

CHART 4.1.1

Interpretation:

The above table shows that 65.6% are single and 34.4% are married in the organization.

45
 TABLE No. 4.1.2

SHOWING THE NEGATIVE ATTITUDES OF PEERS AND

COLLEAGUES AT WORKPLACE

CHART

Interpretation:

The above table shows that 3.2% strongly agrees, 32% of them are agree, 13.6%have the
neutral opinion, 30.4% disagrees with this and 20.8% strongly disagree with thenegative
attitudes of peers and colleagues at work place.

46
 TABLE No. 4.1.3

SHOWING THE RESPONSES FOR TRAINING/MEETING AFTER

OFFICE HOURS

CHART 4.1.3

Interpretation:

The table infers that 2.4% of them agree, 20% have a neutral opinion, 67.2disagrees and10.4%
strongly disagrees with the Training/Meeting after office hours.

47
 TABLE No. 4.1.4

SHOWING THE RESPONSES FOR RIGHT REMUNERATION FOR

THEIR WORK

CHART 4.1.4

Interpretation:

The above table infers that 9.6% strongly agree, 8.8% agree, 72.8% are neutral,8.8% disagrees
with the remuneration that they are getting for their work.

48
 TABLE No. 4.1.5

SHOWING THE RESPONSES TO WORK IN NIGHT SHFITS TO EARN

MORE

CHART 4.1.5

Interpretation:

The table shows that 17.6% strongly agree, 59.2% agree, 12% are neutral, 2.4%disagrees and
8.8% strongly disagrees to work in Night Shifts to earn more.

49
 TABLE No. 4.1.6

SHOWING THE RESPONSES TO WORK INDIVIDUALLY IN THEIR

WORK ASSIGNED TO THEM

CHART 4.1.6

Interpretation:

The table shows that1.6% strongly agrees, 16% agrees, 67.2% are neutral,
12.8%disagrees and 2.4% strongly disagrees to work individually in their work assigned
to them.

50
Data Collection & Frame work of Analyses

Qualitative data was collected from magazines, journals , relevant literature, open ended
questions and observations. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaire which
includes the factors affecting work-life balance. Informal discussion were also made.

Analyses have made by using simple percentage and mean score. Likert’s five point scale used to
measure the opinion of the respondents.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

51
52
53
54
Graph-1: Showing balance between paid work and personal life.

Do you think that work-life balance enables people to work better?

94.3% of the teachers agreed that work-life balance enables people to work better, while
5.7% disagreed.

Graph 2:-Work life balance enables people to work better.

55
 Do you think that bringing work-life balance is a joint responsibility of employer
and employee?

83% of teachers agreed that work-life balance is a joint responsibility of employer and
employee.while 17% affirmed in the negative.

Graph-3: Work-life balance is a joint responsibility of employer and employee

Do you feel that your Principals/ in-charges/ HOD’s style affects your work-life balance?

Only 64% of the teachers felt that their work-life balance is affected by their Principals/ in-
charges/ HOD’s style. While 36% were of the opinion that principals/ in-charges/ HOD’s style
does not affect their work-life balance.

Graph-4: Principals/In-charges/HOD’S Style affects Work-life balance

56
Do you think flexible working hours is needed to maintain work-life balance?

47% of teachers answered positively while the remaining 53% were happy with the compressed
working hours.

Graph-5: Flexible Working hours and work-life balance

Why do you need flexible working hours?

The most common reasons given for need of flexible working hours are to suit over all needs
(30%), to reduce distance of travel (24%) to pursue a course of study or training (18%), childcare
responsibilities (18%) and to pursue any other interest (10%).

57
Graph-6: Showing need for flexible working hours

Are you aware of leave benefits of your organization?

91% of the respondents said that they were aware of the leave benefits of their organization and
that they have availed them. 9% of the remaining respondents said that they were aware only of
maternity leave and compassionate leave.

Graph-7: Leave benefits – Work- life balance

Do you expect your employer to be sympathetic towards employees?

58
97% of the respondents agreed that their employer should be sympathetic towards them. 3% had
a negative opinion regarding this statement.

Graph-8: Showing Employee –Employer Relationship.

Do you think quality time with your family is missed because of work pressure?

77% of the respondents feel that they sometimes miss quality time with their family while 23%
never feel that their time with family is missed because of work pressure.

Graph-9: Showing effect of work pressure on family life

59
Do you think that your organization will be more effective and successful if employees have
a good work-life balance?

All the respondents (100%) opined that their organization will be more effective and successful
if employees have a good work-life balance.

Graph-10: Work- life balance and Success of an organization

Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis -1

H0: There is no relationship between the employee’s job and its impact on employee’s personal
life.

H1: There is a relationship between the employee’s job and its impact on employee’s personal
life.

Model Summary

Inference: Since, r = 0.541, there is a strong relationship between the predictor and the dependent
variable under the study.
60
ANOVA

Since the significant value is 0.001 which is less than the standard value of 0.05 the null
hypothesis is rejected and the research hypothesis is accepted.

Inference: There is a relationship between the employee’s job and its impact on employee’s
personal life.

Hypothesis 2:

H0: Work-life balance approach is not associated with employees’ performance in the
organization.

H2: Work-life balance approach is positively associated with employees’ performance in the
organization.

Model Summary

Inference: Since, r = 0.548, there is a strong co-relation between work-life balance approach and
performance.

ANOVA

61
Since the significant value is 0.001 which is less than the standard value of 0.05 the null
hypothesis is rejected and the research hypothesis is accepted.

Inference: H2: Work-life balance approach is positively associated with employees’

performance in the organization.

Research Questions

1. What are the benefits of work life balance for women employees?

2. What are the major HR interventions undertaken by various organizations to maintain a proper
work life balance for women employees?

Research Objectives

1. To study the significance of work life balance for women employees.

2. To explore the HR interventions undertaken by various organizations to maintain a proper

work life balance for women employees.

Research Methodology

Both primary & secondary data is utilized for current study. Primary data collected from 125
respondents who are working in the IT sector & different MNC sectors. Sampling method
adopted was convenience sampling method. Co-relation & regression is conducted SPSS
software. The exploratory study is based on secondary sources such as journals, articles, and a
thesis available online. It includes the data from the year 1978 to 2016 based on a work-life
balance among women employees.

Discussions

Significance of Work Life Balance for Women Employees

62
Work and family life impart an immediate relationship to each other. According to Baral et al,
2011, Work life balance have been found to expand representative control time and work
environment (Thomas and Ganster, 1995) and lessened work-family struggle (Kossek and Ozeki,
1998) and stress (Thompson and Prottas, 2006). Notwithstanding the solid backing for Work life
balance, preventative cases propose these advantages are not all inclusive and a few strategies
that show up to be family-accommodating may in reality be negative to the working states of
representatives. For instance, working from home and adaptable work calendars are courses of
action that may permit or urge representatives to work more (Glass and Fujimoto, 1995).
Lakshmi et al, (2013), focused that positive work life balance (See Figure 1) and working
women, strengthening plans enabled women to give their best at work. Mehtha (2012) found that
proper work life balance reduces stress levels, increased motivation, commitment, job security
and job satisfaction.

Figure 1: Positive Work Life Balance

Major HR Interventions undertaken by various organizations to maintain a

proper Work Life Balance for Women Employees

63
The achievement of work-life equalization may be an individual representative’s desire and
yearning; whatever it may be, it is not her sole responsibility. Worklife equality issue has wound
up, basic for relationship to consider (Tenbrunselet al., 1995). Employers are the advertisers of
setting principles and conditions in the workplace are believed to be the facilitators of merging
work and gathering of agents. Baral et al, (2011) found that regardless of the way that
organizations much of the time describe work-family compromise as a kid raising or ward care
issue, after some time, various associations are augmenting the methodologies and practices to
reinforce delegates’ interest in various life parts and even personal developments. There is a
creating affirmation of the need to reinforce not only those with observable family needs and
commitments (e.g., working mothers having children care obligations), yet all agents at various
life stages who may experience work-life centers regardless of their family status. Prior,
reception of work life balance has generally been seen as a handy reaction with minding
obligations and the issues, for example, truancy, turnover connected with that (Lambert, 2000
cited in Baral et al, (2011). Be that as it may, as of late, the reception of such projects and
arrangements are being considered as a portion of ‘high duty work frameworks’ (Osterman, 1995
cited in Baral et al, (2011) required for guaranteeing large amounts of representative
responsibility and innovation. WLBPs are progressively being considered as key, inventive,
critical and dynamic (Lambert, 2000; Perry- Smith and Blum, 2000, Tenbrunsel et al., 1995 cited
in Baral et al, (2011)).

Parikh et al (2014) reported that various organizations have stated intervening various HR
policies such as Infosys Ltd. has initiated a program named “Infosys Women’s Inclusivity
Network (IWIN)” in 2003 to create a gender sensitive comprehensive workplace in the
organization. This system addresses the work life equalization and the formative needs of their
women employees. A special tutoring program for women employees was dispatched in 2008.
They also reported that to bolster their women employees they arranged crèches facility. By
giving the offices of Flexi-timings and by empowering the arrangement of the system “Maitree”
for the life partners of representatives, TATA has build up the steady culture for bringing the
groups of the workers together.

Lakshmi et al, (2013) and Deshmukh et al (2016) found that nowadays associations are checking
out for work life adjustments and have intercede different HR strategies, for example, flexibility

64
in working hours, offering various leaves and grants, health and fringe benefits, fortifying plans
like forums, committees, grievance survey structure; proposal plans where women professionals
are locked in to share their points of view, complaints and suggestions with the top management
and surmise answers for the equivalent. These plans help the female representatives to work
comfortably and young female professionals are trained to work with their best caliber. Barik, P.
& Pandey, B., B.. (2016) found that there is an imperative need to incorporate various HR
interventions in order to achieve favorable outcomes from the working professionals (figure 2).

Thusly, exercises for instance, versatile working hours, elective work blueprints, leave plans and
focal points in lieu of family care commitments and delegate assistance programs have become a
vital component of the broader part of the company advantage system. Lakshmi et al, (2013),
stated that women’s work life balance has become a critical issue. Authentic information from
work study shows that women’s employment rates have risen astonishingly every year. Work life
harmony depends on knowledge and amusement. Therefore, it can be inferred that female
professional should have the opportunities to communicate and within the meanwhile, also have
the capability to expertise childhood in her course of action, when a women worker will
accomplish and appreciate her knowledgeable and individual life; it implies she encompasses a
positive work life balance. to the expanding extent of women representatives in the workforce,
workers.

Figure 2: Work life balance outcomes

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Positive work life balance led to various benefits for women employees which

are as follows-

• Reduces stress.

• Builds cordial relations with management.

• Improves women employees self esteem power and confidence level.

• Increases motivation level.

• Builds employees loyalty and commitment towards their work.

• Builds sense of job security and satisfaction.

• It also helps women employees in managing tasks and also enhances their productivity.

Major HR Interventions undertaken by various organizations to maintain aproper Work Life

Balance for Women Employees

It was observed that number of HR interventions has been undertaken to maintain work life
balance among working women. The various HR interventions are as follows-

• Providing Crèche facility.

• Flexible working hours.

• Proper leave arrangements.

• Employee assistance programs.

• Rewards and recognition

• Insurance plans.

• Medical benefits

• Rest rooms.

• Staff tutoring and counseling programs.

• Grievance Redressal System.

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These are the some of the major HR policies initiated by various organizations to maintain
proper work life balance which enhances productivity of women employees.

What is work life balance?

There is no right definition for work-life balance. According to the CEO of worklifebalance.com,
Jim Bird,’ Work-life balance is not a term to define the equal balance between personal life and
professional life. It is a synchronisation of an individual's various passions include career,
family, social obligations, work, leisure, health, and spirituality.

The importance of the said factors differ person to person. Certain people give great importance
to health and spirituality, others may give importance to career and vice versa. Founder Director
of Whartson School Leadership programme and of its work-life Integration project stated that ‘
Its a must to implement a standered policy to balance the life style. But it is a hectic subject to
handle in HR area as each individual has their own interest and preferences. And it is difficult to
set individual policy. Common system can be adopted by having a depth analysis as a
community.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND WOMEN

Its tradition that men have to work and women have to look after the family in the name house
wife or home maker. Society also accepts the man who work and support the family. The actual
nature of women is to maintain and manage the family. But now a days, both men and women
prefer to work and both are contributing their values to develop the family. There is a rapid
increase in the percentage of working women. Their role in the corporate environment is
appreciable. Such changes in the work force , causes a direct impact in balancing the family life
(Hall 1986) . Working women have actual challenges in performing in top management. Its
nature, women prefer to take care of their family and there may be less preferences in
concentrating top management roles. Most of the executive jobs suck the time and energy, it may
affect the working women. Often, women find difficult to balance the family demands and work
expectations. So the women should be careful to handle their life preferences and should also
skilfully blend their roles to optimise their potential in all levels of life.

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WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN A CHANGING WORLD

One of the astonishing features of Indian life is her rapid development in industries to which
women are contributing. Women's employment has also increased rapidly as with the increase in
white collar girls, and in engineering, administrative, and business occupations. Because of their
increasing numbers as workers outside the home, world organisations, such as the International
Labour Organisation, National Government and competent authorities are concerning themselves
more and more with the special problems which married women with family responsibilities face
and in giving them equal opportunities. The consensus of opinion now is that it is almost
inevitable that women will work, no matter what the motivation, and that they should be helped
by the society to stand as stable working force.

The changing world has brought many new interests into a woman's orbit and altered the pattern
of domestic life. The family, for instance, is a much smaller unit today than it was at the
beginning of the century. The expectancy of life on the other hand has increased considerably.
Considering the fact that a woman marries at about twenty, she left alone at about the age of
fourty-five, when her children have become independent. There is nothing much to do, except
perhaps, to cook and look after the home. Time drags, and a woman seeks occupation. Today,
most women feel that they are more than just housewives.

India is a developing country and as such its women do not take an active enough part in the
economic reconstruction of their motherland. The 1961 census revealed that only 27.96 per cent
of Indian women worked in industries. In 1951 this percentage was 29.2 While during these 10
years the total population increased by 22.8 per cent (from 356 million to 438 million), and the
female population by 22.5 per cent (from 174 million to 212 million) and female workers by 47
per cent (from 40 million to 59 million), the percentage of working women and actually
decreased because the rate of employment of women did not keep pace with the rate of the
growth of the population. Therefore, though the actual number had increased the percentage was
less. A possible for this is extreme unemployment among men.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, has pointed out that four factors
prevail in inducing a woman to work. They are: inadequate income of the principle earner,
temporary mishaps, death of the bread-winner and a woman's desire for economic independence

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or for securing higher standards of living. With the independence of India, the position of women
has been further raised by the enactment of the various sections of the Hindu Code. The legal
condemnation of the dowry system has also raised the status of women. In politics women have
been granted adult franchise- and this democratic right to vote has to carry with it a nation a
educated and selfrespecting women, if the vote is to have any value at all. The abolition of the
purdah, the right given to widows to remarry if they so wish have all helped to raise the position
of women. The increased number of educational women has also shown great progress. But the
rise in literacy figures is still low, having reached 33.9 per cent among men and 12.8 per cent
among women in 1961, as compared to 24.88 per cent among men and 7.8 per cent among
women in 1951.

Before outstanding progress can be expected, however, it is necessary to form a clear picture of
the unemployment situation in India. Should women take a secondary position in earning
because men are still unemployed or should they be made to realise that they are a dynamic force
in the country?

These are questions which must be more seriously considered, and above all, it should be
realised what Dr. Radhakrishnan has said: "while the greatest profession of a woman is, and
probably will continue to be, that of home-keeper, yet her world should not be limited to that
relationship." Women in the working force therefore, come under a broad category.

Industry itself has so many sub-groups including regulated, unregulated, small-scale and cottage
industries. Women are employed in all these activities, but there are legions who work as
domestic servants in agriculture, higher service, white-collar groups and even as mere
housewives.

In fact the census of 1961 included "family helpers" in the category of working women. Far too
little encouragement is given to women in industries. As the Report of the National Commission
on Labour 1969 has pointed out, the number of women in industries is not encouraging; but the
industrial pattern is changing rapidly for the better as far as conditions of work are concerned.

A number of women work in textiles and mines, though their percentage has considerably
decreased, and soon these old traditional jobs which were earmarked for women will in all
probability no longer be available. Women in mines work only on the surface now but those in

69
plantations continue to hold their jobs and are much needed despite many protective laws passed
in their favour which entail an additional expense for employers. There are quite a number of
new industries such as pharmaceutical, foodstuff, wood and cork production, and the assembly of
parts in engineering concerns which attract women, while some older industries still keep on
women or close their doors to them.

The rural setting is fast changing to an urban overcrowded picture of workers, among whom
women also strive to find employment and relieve the economic stress of their present- day lives.
If they cannot work, they beg in big cities. In urban areas living conditions are chaotic and of a
very low standard. Little information is however available about the migratory mobility of
women from village to town; but women are realising that the old agricultural set-up is not good
enough. The country also is calling for less national wastage and women now seek employment
outside their fields and homes. The eternal question of : first before women's cause is taken up
still persists however, and it is felt that it is right to first employ a man, who is after all the
natural bread-winner. But in very lowincome groups women have to work to supplement the
meagre earnings of a man. Then there are the legions of widows and separated wives and
unmarried girls who all need employment. Statistics of women working in India are meagre,
inaccurate and even perhaps indifferently drawn throw much light but do not give full
significance to the question of women' at work. It may be better at times to rely on regional or
local surveys. Much valuable data has been collected under the relevant Labour Laws of
factories, mines, plantations and other industries.

Emphasis on equal opportunities for men and women is at last being made in India, but even now
there are far too few new opportunities for lower income-group families. The stress is mostly on
white collar girls and the service where women are entering new fields freely. But in actual
industries the opportunities are few. Among the illiterate many traditional taboos prevent girls
from seeking new fields even when they are available. Productivity is hampered owing to social
and traditional factors.

India should follow the lead of developed countries and intelligent and efficient. The I.L.O. feels
that in developing countries the employment of women is marginal in importance and either
neglect it altogether or give it now priority. But new industries for women are opening up.
Among illiterate, ignorant women, it is difficult to offer new skills and even training. The root

70
cause must first be tackled of educating women to fit into new training schemes and acquire new
skills. Vocational training and guidance is needed for more. It is inadequate for boys and almost
non-existent for girls. The lower the economic level, the more imperative are training and
guidance. But our women are left in ignorance to breed and multiply with hardly any resources
to cope with the growing millions. But employment exchanges for women show an increase in
number, though due to women's immobility, registration is not satisfactory.

In some categories vacancies are not filled while in the more traditional jobs there are long
waiting lists. Only a few industrial training centres have been opened, and polytechnics are
popular but far too few in number. Training seems to concentrate on the old recognised vocations
of tailoring, embroidery, weaving and other cottage industries and is not breaking out fast
enough into new field of employment. Apprenticeship courses were enforced in 12 major
industries and those which employ girls trained them to become skilled workers.

Cooperatives and community centres have started training schemes-the latter are especially
concerned with Training-cum-Production centres among the lower income groups and many
Samitis have been organised to train women. Voluntary institutions also fit out women as
weavers and embroiders and for other cottage industries. Statutory and Protective Laws have had
an adverse result of eliminating many women from old traditional jobs. But new skilled workers,
despite additional expense which Protective Laws demand are being envisaged. As regards older
industries employers are finding it difficult to pay equal wages when they have to bear the
additional costs of benefits wages when they have to bear the additional costs of benefits to
women. Where women are needed, however, as in plantations, benefits or not, employers are
only too glad to employ women. Laws such as prohibition of night and underground work have
per force eliminated women, and the various aspects of rationalisation have caused much
retrenchment among them. It is difficult for them to learn new techniques and at times they are
physically unfit to cope with the new machinery. Though Protective Laws have eliminated
women in many old industriesin India, the I.L.O. stresses the fact that these Laws were
promulgated to protect woman's employment.Problems facing working women are therefore
legion. Labour turnover, absenteeism, traditional taboos, family responsibilities and countless
other social and religious dogmas prevent the free participation of women in industries. The
work-load of a woman pursues her into her home and she is never free from continuous chores of

71
cooking and caring for her home and family added to which there is the burden of constant child-
bearing and nursing the sick. In order to overcome fatigue, women often resort to stimulants.
They say it makes them feel less tired.Due to the above mentioned problems, trade unions
attract- few women, especially as it is difficult for them to attend meetings in the evenings due to
domestic work. But new social attitudes and the awakening of freedom is creating a wider
interest in trade unions. When they do join a protest, they are often more dangerous than the
male.

Though working women are a welcome part of society in developed countries, in India there are
still large groups of tradition-bound people who regard a woman who works as one who has
missed her role in life, for there is nothing more sacred and respected than to be a "mother and a
good wife". But so many women who work have nevertheless proved that their role as mistress
of the house need not be affected if they work. Their prestige in society is not lowered and at
times the husband is glad to have an earning partner. Problems concerning women workers have
occupied the attention of the International Labour Organisation since 1919 and particular thought
has been given, in recent years, to the employment of women with family responsibilities. The
first step was to admit that women have a right to work. For this reason, the Discrimination
(Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 was adopted by the I.L.O.

In the changing world, however, community policies and public opinion have to be created to
help women to meet their double or multiple duties. Regarding re-entry into employment after
child-birth, the Employment Policy Convention 1964, and the ILO Employment Policy
Recommendation 1964, advocate that women be a part of the integrated labour force on equal
footing with men. Girls should also be trained and educated to prepare for a future career.

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PROBLEMS OF WORKING WOMEN

WOMEN IN IT SECTOR

NASSCOM has estimated the ratio of men and women employees as 70:30. Its a good
improvement in engaging the women in employment. But women are facing lot of challenges
because of long working hours, night shift, responding the client by different time zone,constant
travelling, social issues of night time work, imbalance in work life & personal life and so on.
Adding lot of reasons, IT organizations are losing lot of women employees especially middle and
higher level employees. Less than 2% women employees are working in top management of
Infosys.

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 CHAPTER 05

Summary of findings, conclusions &

Suggestions

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5.1 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

The Experimentation in understanding the dominance of equilibrium of job space and

familyspace of female employees in BPO sector, Infosys” was undertaken with a main purpose
to fulfilthe five objectives which was stated in the early portion of this paper. Built on the
scrutiny the information and its explanation, few important findings were being drawn and those
major findings with respect to the

As per the analysis there is no relationship between the age of the employees and flexible
working hours.

The employees are getting paid rightly for their work both monetarily and non -
monetarily.

The employees due to their long working hours are being affected by stress related
diseases.

There is no relation between the gender and the stress related diseases.

According to the study, the stress related diseases are no way related to the age of the
employees.

73% of the respondents are neutral in saying that they receive right remuneration for their
work.

67% of the respondents disagree that they have to stay after office hours to attend
training/meeting 20% are neutral and 10% disagree with that.

67.2% of the respondents agree that they work individually to complete the work
assigned to them.

77% of the respondents agree that they work in night shifts to earn more.

51.2% of the respondents disagree that they have negative attitude towards peers and
colleagues at work place whereas 35.2% of the respondents agrees the same.

44.8% of the respondents are male and 55.2% of them are female.

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 13.7% of the respondents are finished their Bachelor degree, 50.7% of the respondents
are post graduate, and 21.2% of the respondents are professionals.

34.4% of the respondents are single and 65.6 % of them are married.

55.2% of the respondents are in nuclear family were as 44.8% are in joint family

5.2 SUGGESTIONS OF THE STUDY

The organization can give flexible working hours to their employees in the organization
and hence they can get relaxed for their next day.

Fun at work can be encouraged to keep the employees relaxed at work.

The gender has no way relation with the stress but still facilities and other compensation
can be provided to the female workers.

Organization should conduct stress relieving programs like yoga and meditation for the
employees regularly in order to reduce the stress level.

Sessions on time management, work planning can be provided to employees by their

managers.

By creating a friendly circumstance within the organization, the employees would enjoy
working with their colleagues not considering the age or gender.

Work can be shared among team mates in order to complete the tasks on or before time.
This will not be a burden for an individual employee.

Employees should be satisfied by providing their appraisal/bonus/incentives on time

which will make them happy at work in turn they will lead their life happily.

Conclusion

It was also found that as socio-demographic and economic changes demands healthy work/life
balance, the employers of today’s organizations are pressurized to look beyond welfare practices.

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Today, employers are becoming quite conscious in intervening HR practices that help maintain
WLB among their employees, women employees in particular. This in turn increases satisfaction
levels and productivity among employees. But, In Indian organizations, there is a long way to see
the work/life balancing program as strategic initiatives. Therefore, it can be concluded that there
is a clamant need to maintain work life balance among women employees in Indian
organizations. There is no doubt that the organizations are doing its best to uplift the employee’s
working life as well as personal life. From the study it is analyzed that 55 percent of the
employees are highly satisfied with the work life programs of the organizations. Balance
percentages of the employees are moderately satisfied and dissatisfied. So it should be
mentioned, such dissatisfaction level will result in the failure of long term run of the
organizations and for the retention . Though it is mentioned as fifty five percent of the employees
are highly satisfied, it can be perceived that half of the employees are satisfied and half of the
employees are unsatisfied with the organization’s systems. This is not a healthy ratio, so
organizations should make useful remedial measures to improve the work-life of the employees.

In a direct interview with a women employee, she remarked that ‘they(organization) suck our
blood and then they send us out’. Practically women employees are facing lot of problems in IT
sector.

Juggling between the obligations towards the families and expectations of the organization and
constant struggle to maintain a balance can work and have serious implications on the life of an
individual. Therefore, it is important for employees to maintain a healthy balance between work
and their private lives. This will help them achieve their personal and professional goals as well
the organization they are working for.

As today, organizations are facing challenges because of the unbalanced economy though
organizations should be careful in treating the work force. Neglecting their feelings and emotions
will affect the good will of the organization.

Organizations should conduct regular interval studies to access the happiness of the employees.
The happy employees will be very loyal to the organization. There are various scales to measure
WLB . Certain measures to be mentioned are

77
a) “Achieving the Elusive Work-Life Balance” and was developed by Neal Whitten in
partnership with Velociteach ;

b) Netemeyer et al. (1996) with work family and family-work conflict scales,

c) Diener et al. (1985) with family satisfaction scale,

d) Hackman and Oldham (1975) with work satisfaction scale,

e) Goldberg (1972) with psychological health scale

f) Harr et al., 2013

g) Brough et al., 2014.

Organizations can follow certain strategies for the WLB of the employees;

A) providing flexible hours will turn the employees to work more productively

B) Can allow the employees to work from home

C) Laptops and equipments can be provided to work from anywhere

D) reasonable lunch break time

E) Mood creating office space

F) Encourage social activities

G) Initiating team building activities

F) charity engagement, this makes the employees to feel that they are engaged in work life

G) Having an open door policy: anybody can speak to anybody

H) Helping in Child care

I) Connecting employees with volunteer opportunities

J) Offering financial education to employees

K) leadership trainings

L) Encourage physical fitness

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 CHAPTER 06

BIBLIOGRAPHY & ANNEXURE

79
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-4580.1997.tb00019.x

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.76.1.60

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.76.1.60

https://www.infosys.com/about/history.html

ANNEXURE

Questionnaire on Work Life Balance Of Women Employee

1.How many hours a day you normally work?

2.How long have you worked here?

3. How many dependents live with you?

4. Do you generally feel you are able to balance your work life?

5. Working Hours?

6. Support From Others?

7. Impact of home on work?

8. Work Arrengements?

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CASE STUDY

‘Narayana Murthy and Infosys'

Strategic Leadership and Corporate Culture

Summary:

The case study ‘Narayana Murthy and Infosys' describes how Narayana Murthy, set up India's
leading software company - Infosys. Infosys grew rapidly throughout the 1990s and distributed
the company's profits among the employees through a stock-option program, and adopted the
best corporate governance practices. The company became the first Indian firm to be listed on
the Nasdaq Stock Market & one of the biggest exporters of software from India. Narayana
Murthy had built an organization with very strong systems, high ethical values and a nurturing
working atmosphere. Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Infosys) was voted as the Best Managed
Company in Asia in the Information Technology sector.

The key factors that led to the success of Infosys are: Leadership team, Well-conceived business
plan, A strong product, Scalability, Adequate capital.Narayana Murthy strategy was to focus on
the world's most challenging market - the US. He had two reasons for this. First, there was no
market for software in India at the time. He believed that Indian softwarecompanies should
export products in which they had a competitive advantage. Another successfactor was the
adoption of good HRD practices.

Infosys became one of the most respected companies in India, through its corporate governance
practices. Narayana Murthy's move to adhere to the best global practices was driven by hisvision
to become a global player. Narayana Murthy set up a Leadership Institute in Mysore,India, to
manage the future growth of Infosys which aimed at preparing Infosys employees toface the
complexities of a rapidly changing marketplace and to bring about a change in workculture by
instilling leadership qualities.

Q1. Explain the concept of Strategic Leadership and corporate culture?

Strategic Leadership:-The process of using well-considered tactics to communicate a vision for

an organization or one of its parts. Strategic leadership typically manages, motivates and

81
persuades staff to share that same vision, and can be an important tool for implementing change
or creating organizational structure within a business. Strategic leadership provides the vision
and direction for the growth and success of an organization. To successfully deal with change, all
executives need the skills and tools for both strategy formulation and implementation. Managing
change and ambiguity requires strategic leaders who not only provide a sense of direction, but
who can also build ownership and alignment within their workgroups to implement change.

The most important aspects of strategic leadership are shared values and a clear vision, both of
which will enable and allow employees to make decisions with minimal formal monitoring or
control mechanisms. With this accomplished, a leader will have more time and a greater capacity
to focus on other, ad hoc issues, such as adapting the vision to a changing business environment.
In addition, strategic leadership will incorporate visionary and managerial leadership by
simultaneously allowing for risk-taking and rationality.

Corporate Culture:-It’s the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees
and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is
implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of
the people the company hires. A company's culture will be reflected in its dress code, business

82
hours, office setup, employee benefits, turnover, hiring decisions, and treatment of clients, client
satisfaction and every other aspect of operations.

Corporate culture, in essence, comes down to the way you do things in your company. In reality
though, it’s so much more than that. Corporate culture includes a shared set of values and beliefs
embraced by everyone in the company. Values and beliefs that ought to be reflected in a
company’s HR practices, from performance programs to the way projects are coordinated. It
even goes right down to the way meetings are conducted. For some organizations their corporate
culture may derive from the story of how they were created and might define the symbols used in
their logo. It’s essentially the glue that holds your organization together, and can be a big reason
people want to work for you and with you.Yet corporate culture is often so little-understood and
rarely front-of-mind for many business leaders, but we can’t stress how incredibly important its
role is within your organization.

Q2. How is strategic leadership applicable in the given case?

The most important aspects of strategic leadership are shared values and a clear vision, both of
which will enable and allow employees to make decisions with minimal formal monitoring or
control mechanisms. With this accomplished, a leader will have more time and a greater capacity
to focus on other, ad hoc issues, such as adapting the vision to a changing business environment.
In addition, strategic leadership will incorporate visionary and managerial leadership by
simultaneously allowing for risk-taking and rationality.

83
In the case, one of the key success factor was leadership team & well conceived business plan.
The leadership team needs to balance vision with practical experience. A technology start-up will
have a visionary and/or a technical genius. Narayan Murthy had a clear vision. He obtained his
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Mysore & Master's degree in
Technology from Indian Institute of Technology. He had enough experience to start a business.
He was a part of the team that designed a 400-terminal, real-time operating system for handling
air cargo for Charles De Gaulle airport, worked in Systems Research Institute and then headed
Patni Computer Systems Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, (Maharashtra) before founding Infosys in 1981,
along with six other professionals. He believed that Indian software companies should export
products in which they had a competitive advantage as there was no market for software in India
at the time.

Narayana Murthy set up a Leadership Institute in Mysore, India, to manage the future growth of
Infosys. The institute aimed at preparing Infosys employees to face the complexities of a rapidly
changing marketplace and to bring about a change in work culture by instilling leadership
qualities. He said “It is our vision at Infosys, to create world-class leaders who will be at the
forefront of business and technology in today's competitive marketplace...

Q3. Explain the role of Narayan Murthy as a strategist and elaborate on his vision for
Infosys. How far this vision has been accomplished by the company?

From the beginning, Narayana Murthy focused on the world's most challenging market - the US.
He had two reasons for this. First, there was no market for software in India at the time. He
believed that Indian software companies should export products in which they had a competitive
advantage.In 1987, Infosys entered into a joint venture with Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA), a
leading global management consultancy firm. KSA-Infosys was the first Indo-American joint
venture in the US.

Narayana Mtuthy's global strategy comprised three features. The first one was the "global
delivery model." The model emphasized on "producing where it is most cost effective to produce
and selling where it is most profitable to sell." Cost effective production meant doing as much of

84
the software development work in India and profitable selling meant focusing almost exclusively
on foreign markets, particularly the US.

The second feature of the strategy was "moving up the value chain" — which meant getting
involved in a software development project at the earliest stage of its life cycle. However,
Infosys would have to compete with big companies like Cambridge Technology Partners or even
Andersen Consulting, and that could be tough. For this Narayana Murthy said "it is not going to
be easy. But we don't have to be unduly concerned about unmitigated success. We may succeed
in some and not in others — which is not to say that we will not succeed as consultants."

The third feature of the strategy was the PSPD. According to Narayana Murthy, there are four
fundamental tenets of any well-run business. One: predictability of revenues; two: sustainability
of the predictions; three: profitability of revenues; and four: a good de-risking model. 'De-
risking' meant that Infosys had put limits on its exposure to businesses of various kinds.

With this strategy & vision, in 1999, the company became the first Indian firm to be listed on the
Nasdaq Stock Market. In 2000, Infosys was poised to become a true global company.By 2000,
Infosys' market capitalization reached Rs.11 billion and by 2001, Infosys was one of the biggest
exporters of software from India. Narayana Murthy had built an organization that was respected
across the country, with very strong systems, high ethical values and a nurturing working
atmosphere.In February 2001, Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Infosys) was voted as the Best
Managed Company in Asia in the Information Technology sector, in leading financial magazine
Euromoney's Fifth Annual Survey of Best Managed Companies in Asia.

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