CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction to the topic

“A comprehensive study on work-life balance”

In dynamic business environment, work life balance has been one of the key issues faced by
many employees all over the world. Today workers have many competing responsibilities
when they are playing various roles. In organization, it is very important to have healthy
work life balance practices to gain a competitive advantage in the market place. The origin of
work-life balance practices spans from work-life conflict experienced by the employee
(Obiageli, Uzochukwu, & Ngozi, 2015). Maintaining work-life balance is an issue
increasingly recognized as of strategic importance to the organization and of significance to
employees (Mendis & Weerakkody, 2017). Clarke, Koch & Hill (2004) have defined that
work-life balance is generally associated with equilibrium between the amount of time and
effort somebody devotes to work and personal activities, in order to maintain an overall sense
of harmony in life. Employee performance is simply about employee behavior, contribution
and commitment in the success of organization. Armstrong (2006) have defined it as the
development of quantified objectives. Performance is not solely matter of what people
achieve but how they achieve. It can be defined as the achievement of specified tasks against
predetermined. It has three identified standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed
(Sultana, et al, 2012). For employers, the consequences of poor work-life balance will be
poor performance, absenteeism, sick leave and higher staff turnover, recruitment, and training
costs (Mendis & Weerakkody, 2017). In this study, researcher attempt to find the impact of
work life balance on employee performance.

The balance between personal and professional life vary from person to person and the
organization where he or she is working. When an individual does not maintain a balance and
works too much in the organizational setting, this may cause him some medical,
psychological and behavioral consequences, as a result his or her productivity will also be
low. Studies have shown that work life stress is harmful to the employees. Late sitting and
working too much can cause imbalance in an individual's personal and professional life;
however there are some techniques to manage the work life stress e.g. time management, task
management, relaxation, flexible working hours, working from home and exercise etc. Work
life balance improves individual's health, job satisfaction, commitment, involvement and
reduces absenteeism and presenteeism (state of physical presence but not productive).
Despite of the progress in the betterment of maintaining work life balance, there is still more
to be done.

One important factor is the degree to which work life balance are generally applicable across
the whole hierarchy of the organization. Those lower down the organizational hierarchy are
some times not entitled for some benefits or uninformed about relevant company policies.
Work life balance can assist employers and employee to be healthy and productive in their
personal and professional life. "Balance is not better time management, but better boundary
management. Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices." - Betsy Jacobson.
For some people spending more time in the organization is more important than the time they
spend at home. However, there are people who give priority to the personal and family life.
In this technological era, some organizations also offer flexible working hours. One can carry
laptop, PDA, black berry and is connected with suppliers, venders through internet 24 hours a
day. The moment he gets any query, he responds to it. There are some work-alcoholics who
take their laptops and PDAs to the vacation and face the annoyance of their wives while
checking the emails.

People are more interested in looking for a job that gives them flexibility at work. Necessary
arrangements for work life balance are required by all workers at different times in their lives
because balance is instrumental in quality initiatives by preparing an individual to deal with
the change. An individual can give his best only in a conducive environment e.g. students
want to study and work at the same time; parents want to have time with their children and
the older worker approaching retirement to have the opportunity to stay in the workforce on
reduced hours. Mostly the employers and the employees agree that organizational objectives
are more important, so it is the obligation of the employer to help people in work life balance.

Work life balance in today’s world

A lot of people face the problem of balancing work and family life. Many multinational
companies remain open for 24hrs. Employees need to work in shifts. Day shift and night
shift. Night shift employees feel hard to cope up with family life and health. This in turn
leads to divorces and bad health. Many Mothers feel difficult to continue work after delivery
because her home becomes her first priority. She may be a very good worker but she quits to
look after her new born and family. Many Corporates have come up with the option of Flexi
time and work from home opportunity to tap theses employees.

Personal demands such as visiting school for report card or hospital or any emergency
requires attention. In that case the employee need to take take leave and remains absent from
work. Companies have introduced flexi timings for working so that an individual employee
can complete his scheduled work by coming to office any time. This lessens the burden of
reaching office on time when personal life needs more attention. Yahoo India allows
employees to work Flexi time. Working from home is also adopted to balance work and
personal life. Companies don't want to get away with hard working and result oriented
employees so many companies have introduced work from home opportunities where an
employee can work from home. There is no stress of visiting office on time. Here an
employee can adjust time to devote for work and family. Giving an employee option to work
from home helps the employer in adjusting work from a small office and managing a big
workforce. Companies give training sessions to employees so that they are more productive.
Various seminars are organized. They call the family members of employee so that they too
cooperate with the employee in balancing work and home. When a company gives an
employee an option of balancing his work and personal life it increases retention and lowers
the turnover rate.

There are few negative side effects of allowing an employee to work from home or practice
flexi timings –

1. A productive employee turns unproductive.

2. Takes work for granted.

3. Does not completes work on time.

4. Gives more stress to personal life and personal demands.

A company needs to keep an eye on each and every employee so that the productivity is not
reduced. An Employer takes measures to retain his employees and increase performance.
Work life balance is a good measure taken by companies. An employee should fit in it and try
to get maximum benefits.

Managing Work life balance

A valuable quality of leadership is the ability to balance work and life. They make it clear
that this is an aspect they value in others, too. Individuals establish a pattern for their personal
life - whether it's being home for dinner four nights a week, attending choir practice, or being
a part of their kids' school activities. Whether through unpaid leave or flexible scheduling,
they provide people with the opportunity to lead productive personal lives. Consequently,
elevated trust levels are inspired throughout the members of the organization.

Michele, managing partner of a San Francisco law firm, clearly values and appreciates her
quality family time. She is honest about her desire to attend her children's soccer and softball
games and her need for personal time as well. "These are just too important for me to miss,"
she says.

Michele doesn't set a double standard. What rules apply for her also apply to the other
lawyers and employees in her firm. Consequently, the value of family increases as people are
encouraged to participate in family functions and enabled to lend assistance to family in need.
Based on Michele's strong personal values, it is part of the culture. And she would have it no
other way.

The executive director of a non-profit agency, David, possesses a true love for travel and eco-
tourism. When vacationing, he often takes his family to places of isolation and relaxation
where his work life cannot interfere. Often, he stays away for several days at a time. He
understands the significance and importance of this time in his life. He recognizes the need to
hone his focus and renew his ambitions. His team of managers supports David's travels "off
the grid" because they are aware that they possess the same freedoms.

As a woman in leadership, balancing your career, finances, family life and extracurricular
activities can be challenging. Your responsibilities can pose various demands on your life that
can make you feel overwhelmed and out of balance. In this age of mobile communications,
technology can play an important role in helping you achieve a more balanced life.

Here are 3 areas of your life where technology can help you achieve balance:

Your time: Most PDAs come with really great features to help you manage your time. Take
the time to read the manual that comes with your PDA and maximize its functionality. For
example, in addition to the basic calendar functions the Palm Treo has a programmable voice
that will speak to you and alert you of your appointments. The iPhone allows you to
download some great applications to help you manage different aspects of your life. You can
manage everything from your to do lists to travel management programs that keep track of
your frequent traveler programs to goal setting programs that help you develop new habits.

Your finances: Programs like Quicken or Quickbooks provide great tools to help you manage
your finances. These programs allow you to link to your online banking accounts and provide
you with a comprehensive and up-to-date view of your finances. These programs also provide
great features like bill pay as well as spreadsheets, charts and graphs. The programs are user
friendly and you have the option to link them to your PDA if you want to monitor your
accounts when you're on the go.

Your social life: Social media have become powerful and effect tools to strengthen already
existing relationships and to form new ones. Programs such as Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn have revolutionized the way we connect with each other and how we share
information. You can share photos, videos, audio files and news articles. If you haven't
already, consider joining a social media network to stay in touch with family and friends.
Short and regular updates throughout the week will give you a glimpse into the lives of those
in your network and help you feel connected even when you're on the go.

Your career: Technology can help you to streamline your work day so that you work more
efficiently. For example, there are various Google applications such as Google docs that can
help you to promote collaboration and to share information with colleagues. You can save
time and cut back on travel expenses by hosting video calls via Skype rather than face-to-face
meetings. Skype is free and all you need is a computer with a webcam. Technology should
never replace personal connections, but when approached in a thoughtful way, it can be
useful in helping you maintain the right balance in your personal and professional life.

1.2 Industry Profile

GLOBAL SCENARIO

The software industry includes business involved development, maintenance and publication
of computer software using any business model. The industry includes software services,
such as training, documentation, and consulting. The word software had been coined as a
prank by at least 1953, but did not appear in print till the 1960's. Before this time, computers
were programmed either by customers, or the few commercial computer vendors of the time,
such as UNIVAC and IBM.

The first company founded to provide software products and services was Computer Usage
Company in 1955. The software industry in the early 1960's, the almost immediate after
computers were first sold in mass-produced quantities. Universities, government, and
business customers created a demand for software. Many of these programs were written in-
house by full time staff programmers. Some were distributed freely between users of a
particular machine for no charge. Others were done on a commercial basis, and other firms
such as computer Sciences Corporation (founded in 1959) started to grow. The computer
makers started bundling operating systems software.

Software Sectors

There are several types of businesses in the software industry. Infrastructure software,
including operating systems, middleware databases, is made by companies & organizations
such as Linux, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Sybase, EMC, Oracle and VMW are enterprise
software, the software that automates business processes in Finance, Production, Logistics,
Sales and Marketing, is made by Oracle, SAP, AG, Sage and Inform. Security software is
made by the likes of Symantec, Trend Micro and Kaspersky. Several industry-specific
software makers are also among the largest software companies in the world: Sun guard,
making software for banks, blackboard making software for schools, and companies like
Qualcomm or Cyber Vision making software for telecom companies.

Other companies do contract programming to develop unique software for one particular
client company, or focus on configuring and customizing suites from large vendors such as
SAP and Oracle.

Leading companies

In terms of technology leadership, the Software Industry has long been led by IBM.
However, Microsoft became the dominant PC operating system supplier. Other companies
that have substantial mindshare (not: market share) in the software industry are SUN
Microsystems, the developer of the Java platform software sales, the software industry is
clearly dominated by Microsoft, since inception. Microsoft products are still sold in largest
number across the globe.

As industry in 2008 was USS 303.8 billion, an increase of 6.5% compared to 2007.
Americans account for 42.6% of the global software market's value. Data monitor forecasts
that in 2013, the global software market will have a value of US$ 457 billion, an increase of
50.5% since 2008.

Mergers and acquisition

The Software Industry has been subject to a high degree of consolidation over the past couple
of decades. From 1988 to 2010, 41'136 mergers and acquisitions have been announced with a
total value of 1'451 bil. USD. The highest number and value of deals was set in 2000 during
the high times of the internet bubble with 6,757 transactions valued at 447 bil. USD. In 2010,
1,628 deals were announced valued at 49 bil. USD.

Business models of the software industry

Business models of software companies have been widely discussed. Network effects in
software ecosystems networks of companies and their customers an important element in the
strategy of software companies.

INDIAN SCENARIO

The Indian information technology Industry accounts for 5.195% of the country's GDP and
export earnings as of 2009, while providing employment to a significant number of its
tertiary sector work force. However 2.5 million people are employee in this sector either
directly or indirectly. In 2010-11, annual revenues from IT-BPO sector is estimated to have
grown over $54.33 billion compared to china with $5.76 and Philippines with $8.85 billion. It
is expected to touch at US$25 billion by 2020. The most prominent IT hub is Bangalore and
Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, NCR.
Technically proficient immigrants from India sought jobs in the western world from the
1950's onwards as India's education system produced more engineers than its industry could
absorb. India's growing stature in the Information age enabled it to form close ties with both
United States of America and European Union.

However, the recent global financial crisis has deeply impacted the Indian IT companies as
well as global companies. As a result hiring has dropped sharply, and employees are looking
at different sectors like the financial service, telecommunications and manufacturing
industries, which have been growing phenomenally over the past few years. India's IT
services industry was born in Mumbai in 1967with the establishment of Tata Group in
partnership with Burroughs. The first software export zone SEEPZ was set up here way back
in 1973, the old avatar of the modern day IT park. More than 80% of the country's software
exports happened out SEEPZ, Mumbai in 80's.

Bolstered with such a significant, technically sound resource base, the software has grown
unimpeded. With a compounded annual growth rate of more than 50% between 1992 and
2001, the Indian software sector has expanded almost twice as quickly as the world-leading
U.S software industry did during the same period, although from a smaller base. India's
software industry statistics illustrate the massive strides achieved by this sector and the
opportunities future holds. According to NASSCOM'S estimate for the fiscal year 2000-01,
the country's software industry is worth $8.26 billion, up from $100million ten years ago. A
study conducted by renowned consultancy firm McKinsey and Co., for NASSCOM has
proven why India is becoming offshore software development out-source's destination of
choice.

According to NASSCOM-McKinsey study, the Indian software industry is expected to gross

US$50 billion in exports in 2008! This is based on an average growth rate of 35 percent per
year. The Industry is well placed to achieve this target.

Recent developments

India is now one of the biggest IT capitals in the modern world. The economic effects of the
technologically inclined services sector in India- accounting for 40% of the country's GDP
and 30% of export earnings as of 2006, while employing only 25% of its workforce- is
summarized by Sharma (2006). Today, Bangalore is known as the silicon valley of India and
contributes 33% of the Indian IT exports. India's second and third largest IT companies are
head- quartered in Bangalore, as are many of the global SEI-CMM Level 5 Companies.

Mumbai too has its share of IT companies that are India's first and largest, like TCS and well
established like Reliance, Patni, LnT InfoTech, I-Flex, WNS, Shine, Naukri, Jobs port etc.
are head-quartered in Mumbai and these IT and dot companies are ruling the roost of the
Mumbai's relatively high octane industry of Information Technology. Such is the growth in
investment and outsourcing; was revealed that Cap Gemini will soon have more
staff in India.

The enviable growth of the service sector has been primarily driven by the exponential
growth witnessed during the past 10 years in the IT/ITES industry. The Indian IT/ITES
industry has been growing at a very healthy rate of 30% per annum the industry has helped in
creating large scale employment opportunities not only for technically qualified professionals
in the software sector but also for the large number non-technical personnel in the low and
activities like back office operations, call centers, transcription services etc. the Industry is
able to generate jobs with relatively low investment and also to achieve the goal without
causing any environmental degradation. Today this industry is providing employment to over
1.6 million people across the country, grossing total revenue of over Rs. 160000 cores per
year, from exports and domestic sales put together.

Government of Kerala is keen to play a catalytic role for the development of IT/ITES
industry within the state, having vast multitude of highly qualified and experienced human
resources, uniformly spread across the state.

Unlike the rest of the country, the state is also blessed with quality social infrastructure and
excellent physical connectivity, evenly distributed across the fourteen districts of the state
from Trivandrum in the south to Kasargod in the north. Due to certain inherent strengths of
the state, Kerala is uniquely placed to emerge as a major IT destination in the country, though
it has had a late start. With the industry galloping at a healthy CAGR of about 25% there is
enough opportunity available for the state to capture a fair share of the growing IT/ITES
business.

Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSITM)

Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSITM) is a Society registered under the
Travancore Cochin Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act (Act 12 of 1955). It is
an autonomous nodal IT implementation agency for department of Information Technology.
Government of Kerala which provides managerial support to various initiatives of
the department.

OBJECTIVES OF KSITM

 KSITM's primary responsibilities are:

 Interfacing between Government and the Industry

 Interacting with potential investors

 Strengthening IT/ITES Industry base

  Holding promotional campaigns for hard selling the state

 ICT dissemination to bridge the digital divide

 E-Governance

 Developing Human Resources for IT and ITES

 Advising the Government on policy matters

Kerala State IT Mission is a team of professionals from the Industry and the Government and
is headed by the director, with the secretary IT as the chairman. The governing body of
KSITM is chaired by the humble Minister for IT sec-IT is the chairman of the Executive
committee of KSITM is the convenience of the meetings of GB and EC.

Kerala's economy is predominantly agrarian. In terms of industrialization, Kerala lags behind

many of the Indian states, but in terms of indexing life standard of people, Kerala is ahead of
most other Indian states. In fact, in certain development indices it is on a par with some of the
developed countries. This peculiar paradox is often termed as the "Kerala phenomenon" or
kerala model of development by experts. Kerala follows a socialistic welfare economy.
Kerala's emphasis on social welfare resulted in slow economic progress. There are few major
industries in Kerala, but the per capita GDP is higher than the national average. Remittance
from Keratin's working abroad, mainly in the Middle East, makes up a large share in Kerala's
gross domestic product. However today state is emerging as a future IT centre of India,
owing to its high internet connectivity. (undersea cable landing points at Kochi), along with
skilled labor.

The government has established two IT parks in the state are Techno park in Trivandrum and
Infopark in Cochin, and IT park named as smart city by Dubai city is under construction.
Upon completion it is expected to create 90000 jobs and will be the largest IT Park in the
country. Cochin is safe natural harbor, and one of the most important ports of India. A new
international container Tran's shipment terminal is commissioned at Vallarpadam which is
expected to be a major Tran's shipment port in India. In addition, the construction of the
proposed mega deep water container Tran's shipment port at Vizhinjam near Trivandrum is
expected to boost up the economy of the state.
Kerala boasts an Indian Iristitute of Management at Kozhikode. One of the major ship
building yards of India is in Kerala at Cochin. The southern naval command of India has its
headquarters in Cochin, and a southern air command head quarter is in Trivandrum. There are
three international airports in Kerala. They are Trivandrum, Cochin, and Kozhikode.

Techno Park, Trivandrum

Techno Park, Trivandrum, an autonomous society promoted by the Government of Kerala. It

is India's first technology park and among the three largest IT parks in India today. This is the
first CMMI Level 4 assessed Technology Park. Spread over 300 acres, and about 4.5 m.
Square. Feet. Of built-up space, Technocrat hosts over 225 IT and ITES companies, including
6 CMMI Level 5, 2 CMMI Level 3 and several ISO 9000certified companies, employing
over 30,000 IT professionals. The selected list of companies working at Techno park include
TCS, Infosys Technologies, Oracle India Pvt Ltd, Ernst & Young, Allianz Cornhill,UST
Global, IBS, Suntech, NeSt, RR Donnelley&Co., ICON, Collabra, RMESI, Alamy images,
Kanoo Group, Saudi Engineering Group, Toonz Animation, HCL, Speridian Technologies,
Setmetrix, Revenuemed, Accentia, Tta Elxsi etc.

Techno park is the IT hub of the state of Kerala, and based in Trivandrum which can
rightfully claim to be the knowledge capital of the region. Techno park provides world class,
robust and failsafe physical, power and datacom infrastructure, offering a no compromise yet
low cost enabling environment for IT industry that is leveraged by its occupant companies for
a competitive advantage.

A spectrum of unique Business Value-Adds bear testimony to Techno park's vision of

providing a holistic enabling environment to make knowledge industry intrinsically
competitive and successful; Technopark software Engineering competency Centre (TSECSS)
in association with IBM, where free access to cutting edge software engineering tools is
combined with expert handholding; Techno park incubation centre(T-BIC), incubating
successful knowledge enterprises.
Technopark is the only IT park India having ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004; OHSAS
18001:2007 and CMMI Level 4 certification. Techno Park has the best of nature's
infrastructure complemented by the most modern man- made facilities. Quality environs,
international standard infrastructure, a comprehensive umbrella of support services, a
significant cost advantage, and easy access to excellent human resources and remarkable ease
of starting up make Techno Park, Trivandrum India's most promising it destination.

1.3 Company Profile

Founded 2007

Srishti Innovative Computer Systems Pvt, Ltd

1 C, 1st floor Leela Building, Technopark
Office
Campus, Trivandrum

Phone 0471 4062181

E-mail [email protected]

Website www.srishtis.com

Ownership Privately held

Employees 130+

CEO Mr. Krishnadas Pisharam

AWARDS

Accolades and Awards Speaks for the Innovation and Milestone Achieved
Winner of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2017

349 Rank in Deloitte Technology Fast 500 APAC 2014

Winner of 2014 Red Herring Top 100 for Asia

Winner of Business Excellence Award 2014 (Kerala, India) in “SME of the

year IT” category

Srishti Innovative computer systems in a nutshell

Srishti Innovative computer system (P) Ltd is a service and consulting company in India,
SICS has three offices in India One in California, USA. The Research & Development centre
is in Trivandrum and the multimedia centre is n Bangalore. Srishti is a team of experienced
web services specialists. Srishti focus on quality, innovations and leverage deep industry and
functional expertise to help customers to transform their highest value business processes.
Software trainee's offering premium technology and marketing know-how for small to mid-
sized companies. Efforts are always directed by an exact approach to quality and a fixated
pursuit of customer service.

Services

Srishti Innovative Computer Systems (SICS), an ISO 9001:2008 certified company is a

leading service provider of smart phone applications and web development with its
operational base in India and California. With over 400+ apps and 200+ iPhone application
developed in-house in App store and Android Market respectively, they are one of the most
sought out off shoring providers of Smartphone apps.

History of SCIS

SCIS is started in 2007 at Melethampanoor, Trivandrum. Initially they had only 5 employees.
The company was started as a training centre of programming languages like C. C++, Java,
NET etc. in 2008 the company shifted its office and training centre from Melethampanoor to
Keshavadasapuram. Trivandrum. At the same time they started there a development wing
also. In 2009 they entered in Technopark, Trivandrum and opened their development wing
office there. At this time the numbers of employees were 10. Now they got more than one
office in Techno Park with over 70 companies.

Srishti systems

Srishti system is a Software and Web Development Company which provides technology
solutions and professional software for clients worldwide.
Srishti learning solutions

Srishti training centre provides premier instructor-led IT training through a carefully blend of
hands-on lab exercises and lecture. Training is conducted in the comfortable classrooms at
their training facility and client locations, experienced instructors make training productive
and enjoyable. Customizable courses and computer lab offer additional options for your
training needs. They also provide project guidance for all academic students which help them
to build a successful portfolio and start their IT journey successfully.

Major competitors

 Cdac

 Keltron

 Tandem

 Aceware technologies (android competitor)

 Qburst

 Experion etc.

Strategic Intend

VISION

Improve the quality of deliverables and become the largest web application development and
Smartphone Service Company in Kerala. To develop outstanding Smartphone and Web
products this enables greater success and visibility. These specific products should serve
200000 users.
MISSION

Provide quality and cost effect service for the customers. Commitment and quality
deliverables is the motto of the company. Provide unparalleled customer service to every
customer.

PRODUCT

Build quality products and provide exceptional service to all the vendors who purchase the
product.

IT CONSULTANCY AND SERVICE:

Provide quality and cost effect service for the customers. Commitment and quality
deliverables is the motto of the company. Provide unparalleled customer service to every
customer.

TRAINING:

Provide the best quality training to all customers and help them to place in the industry which
gets maximum remunerations. Customers will be employable or employed based on the
course taken by them. Provide the best training to the customer based on their needs as well
as provide consultancy to identify what they need to do for success.

WORKFLOW METHODOLOGY

Srishti Agile Workflow

At Srishti they follow a refined methodology called the Srishti Agile Workflow for carrying
out the projects. This ensures clarity, better insight into the project, systematic development,
assured performance and guaranteed results for the projects. They give utmost importance for
the client reviews and feedbacks. Effective communication, quality work performance,
efficient workflow management, proficient industry experienced resources backed by expert
management visionaries are the five strong pillars upon which Srishti is built. With the track
record of 100% client retention they are now one of the most sought out providers of Smart
phone and web applications.

How SRISHTI carry the methodology?

Soon after the project kicks off:

 An internal kickoff meeting is held for assigning the appropriate project

leads/manager, developer and tester.
 A detailed work structure consisting of project milestones and timeline is prepared
and sent for client review.
 Their works are based on milestones.
 They maintain 100% transparency in their work with iterative reviews and feedbacks
with their clients.
 And until fully accepted by clients their reviews and feedback session continues
 And as a result they have customers who are delighted at their works and not
just satisfied.