Research Methodology

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Chapter 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 Rationale for the Study


4.2 Statement of the Problem
4.3 Objectives
4.4 Research Hypotheses
4.5 Definitions
4.6 Basic Research Design
4.7 Tools of Data Collection
C o n t e n t s

4.8 Reliability Analysis


4.9 Confirmatory Factor Analysis
4.10 Scope of the Study
4.11 Data Collection
4.12 Population
4.13 Procedure for Identification of Firms with Innovative HR Practices
4.14 Selection of the Units of Observation
4.15 Sample Size and Sampling Method
4.16 Statistical Analysis and Validation
4.17 Limitations

This chapter purports to introduce and explain in detail the terms


and variables, which go into the formulation of the basic
theoretical framework of this study. The hypothesized relationship
between innovative human resource practices and HR outcomes
like job satisfaction, organisational commitment and organisational
citizenship behavior is portrayed in this chapter based on the
learning deduced from the literature.
Chapter -4

4.1 Rationale for the study


The promise of many new human resource management programs can be
attributed to an emphasis on invention over systematic implementation, and a
rationale spurring their adoption. Organisations prone to faddishness may
initiate HRM innovations to appear more legitimate in their environments
(DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). The prime impetus for the introduction of a
personnel practice may be because competitors have already done so, or
because the practice is the latest panacea being touted by the local
management- consulting group. Adopting and sustaining progressive human
resource management programs is a critical issue faced by many organisations
today. There is still much to be understood about when innovations in human
resource management successfully take hold and when they do not. Although
innovative personnel programs are frequently adopted to improve the
workplace, many organisations fail to systematically evaluate their
effectiveness after implementation. Despite the fact that HRM innovations are
typically introduced to achieve outcomes such as favorable employee attitude
and behavior, they generally fall short of management expectations. The
problems of adopting and sustaining progressive HR practices have important
organisational significance, and this study attempts to understand the
conditions fostering HR Outcomes by successful introduction, implementation
and satisfaction of new HRM initiatives.

A key problem adopting and sustaining human resource management


innovations stems from the difficulties that often arise from the attitude of
employees. HRM innovations may have been very well designed, but the
question of its effectiveness cannot be answered as it might take days, months
and years to find it. In addition, responses to questions of effectiveness will
differ greatly between organisational members. A key assumption here is that
acceptance of HRM innovation is a necessary but insufficient condition for
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Research Methodology
effectiveness and the

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employees accept HRM innovation only when they have a favourable attitude
towards it. Attitudinal acceptance is measured through the possession of
favourable reactions to the innovation. Acceptance of innovation can be measured
for individuals, groups, and organisations. An individual employee's attitude
toward an innovation can be easily measured. Acceptance of innovation also
can be differentiated by the general attitudes and behaviors of employees.

There has often been little concern with the quality of adoption and the
differential impact of adoption on organisational members (Kossek, 1987). By
studying HRM innovations adopted in IT firms, the study intends to study the
relationship between acceptance and its impact on employees. It is believed
that some HRM innovations have a more central impact on the quality of
employee working life than others. Some affects their day-to-day working
where as others do not. It is important to note that the consequences of
implementation of innovative HR practices are difficult to measure, because
their assessment is subjective and value-laden and is often confounded with
other effects. Hence outcomes may vary according to the characteristics of the
HRM innovations.

This study views adoption and sustenance of innovations in human


resource management programs as part of HR Strategy and examines the
relationship between the innovative HR Practices and HR Outcomes.

Other than C. T. Argyris's (1964) work on T-groups and W. F. Whyte's


(1961) observations on the group effects of incentive systems, most of the
research has focused on the mechanics of designing and administering a single
innovation and has been very narrow in its examination of the impact of new
human resource programs (Kossek, 1989). Some HRM innovations are
adopted merely to promulgate the position of the personnel department; there
are obvious ramifications for organisational acceptance.
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Research Methodology

In summary, the human resource management literature has concentrated


on the mechanics of designing and administering specific innovations like a
new performance appraisal or compensation program. By doing so, however,
it often has neglected to study the politics of implementing human resource
innovations, the degree to which innovations receive acceptance over an
extended period of time, and their relation to other personnel programs and the
overall work relations system. Also, the glaring issue that personnel
departments traditionally have poor images in their firms and the reality that
most top managers are tangentially involved with human resource issues has
received cursory attention. This gap can be partially attributed to the lack of
interest by researchers in studying the entire continuum of personnel practices,
which has historically been focused only on major innovations such as
interventions involving worker participation in decision-making.

4.2 Statement of the problem


Adopting and sustaining progressive human resource management
programs is a critical issue faced by many organisations today. There is still
much to be understood about when innovations in human resource
management practices successfully take hold and when they do not.
Although innovative personnel programs are frequently adopted to improve
the workplace, many organisations fail to systematically evaluate their
effectiveness after the implementation. Despite the fact that HRM
innovations are typically introduced to achieve outcomes such as favourable
employee attitudes and behaviour, they generally fall short of management
expectations. This study views adoption and sustenance of innovations in
human resource management practices as part of HR strategy and examines
the relationship between the innovative HR practices and certain selected HR
outcomes.

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4.3 Objectives
Based on the conceptual focus highlighted in the previous chapter, the
study proceeds to inquire into the set of objectives and test the hypotheses
framed as under:

4.3.1 Major objective

To explain and establish the human resource outcomes in software


firms in Kerala as consequences of Innovative Human Resource Practices
(IHRP).

4.3.2 Specific objectives

a) To study the perception regarding innovative HR practices among


the employees in software firms in Kerala in terms of:

 Importance of innovative HR practices for achieving the


objectives of the organisation,

 The extent of introduction of innovative HR practices and,

 The extent of satisfaction with the innovative HR practices


implemented in the organisation.

b) To bring out the human resource outcomes reflected by their levels


of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and organisational
citizenship behaviour.

c) To ascertain the relationship between innovative HR Practices and


the human resource (HR) outcomes among the employees in
software firms in Kerala.

d) To develop and statistically validate a model linking innovative HR


practices and the HR outcomes.

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4.4 Research hypotheses


Based on the literature given earlier, the researcher formulated the
following seven hypotheses on the anticipated relationship among the
variables in the study. The hypotheses relates to employee population confined
to software firms in Kerala.

H11 There is a significant difference in the perceived importance;


extend of introduction and satisfaction with the innovative HR
practices across the categories of gender, age, educational
qualification, experience and tenure of the employees in the
software firms.

H21 Higher the perceived importance, extent of introduction and


satisfaction with the innovative human resource practices, higher is
the level of job satisfaction.

H31 Higher the perceived importance, extent of introduction and extent of


satisfaction with the innovative human resource practices, higher is
the level of organisational commitment.

H41 Perceived importance, extent of introduction and satisfaction with


the innovative HR practices are positively related to the level of
organisational citizenship behaviour.

H51 There is positive relationship between job satisfaction and


organisational commitment.

H61 Higher the job satisfaction, higher is the organisational citizenship


behaviour.

H71 There is positive relationship between organisational commitment


and organisational citizenship behaviour.

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4.5 Definitions
4.5.1 Innovative Human Resource Practices (Theoretical Definition)
Innovative HR practices have been defined as “the intentional
introduction and application of any previously unused concept, practice,
process or system designed to influence or adapt the behaviour of employees
with the aim of achieving improved organisational performance, identified and
implemented by human resource practitioners of an organisation "(Mac Duffie,
1995).

Operationally
It is the perceived extent of the importance, introduction and satisfaction
of the innovative HR Practices as perceived by the employees of a Software
firm obtained by using the questionnaire by Tanuja Agarwala (2003).

4.5.2 Job Satisfaction (Theoretical Definition)

Edwin A. Locke’s Range of Affect Theory (1976) is arguably the most


famous job satisfaction model. The main premise of this theory is that
satisfaction is determined by a discrepancy between what one wants in a job
and what one has in a job.

Operationally

Job satisfaction is a multidimensional construct that consists of overall


job satisfaction as well as a variety of job satisfaction facets .It describes a
person’s overall affective reaction to a set of work and work related factors. It
comprises of satisfaction with job security, compensation, personal growth
satisfaction, satisfaction with coworkers and satisfaction with supervisor as
measured by the 14 item questionnaire of Hatfield (1985) .

4.5.3 Organisational Commitment (Theoretical Definition)

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Organisational commitment can be theoretically defined as a
psychological link between the employee and his or her organisation that

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makes it less likely that the employee will voluntarily leave the organisation
(Allen and Mayer, 1996). Affective commitment is defined as the strength of a
person to continue working for an organisation because he or she agrees with
it and wants to do so (Meyer and Allen, 1991). Continuance commitment is
conceived as the strength of a person’s tendency or need to continue working
for an organisation because he or she cannot afford to do otherwise (Meyer
and Allen, 1991).The ‘net sum’ of a person’s commitment to the organisation,
therefore, reflects each of these separable psychological states.

Operationally

Operationally, organisational commitment is defined as the feeling of


belongingness that an employee has to the organisation, his loyalty and his
obligation to remain with the organisation. This construct was used for
measuring affective, continuance and normative commitment developed by
Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993). Organisational commitment comprises two
dimensions affective commitment and continuance commitment (Meyer and
Allen, 1990). For the purpose of this study affective commitment is defined as
the employee’s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement
with the organisation. Employees with a strong affective commitment continue
employment with the organisation because they want to do so and continuance
commitment is defined as an awareness of the costs associated with leaving
the organisation. Employees whose primary link to the organisation is based
on continuance commitment remain because they need to do so.

4.5.4 Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (Theoretical Definition)

The term “organisational citizenship behaviour “(OCB) was coined to


depict employees willingness to go above and beyond the prescribed roles
which they have been assigned (Baterman and Organ, 1983). These behaviours
are considered as a contribution to the maintenance and enhancement of the

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social and psychological context that supports task performance in the


organisation. At the same time, Organ (1988), in his much quoted and well-
known book Organisational Citizenship Behavior—the Good Soldier
Syndrome, defined OCB as “individual behaviour that is discretionary, not
directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system, and that in the
aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organisation”.

Operationally

Williams and Anderson (1991) identified two broad categories of OCB:

“OCBO-behaviours that benefit the organisation in general (e.g., gives


advance notice when unable to come to work, adheres to informal rules
devised to maintain order), and

OCBI-behaviours that immediately benefit specific individuals and


indirectly through this means contribute to the organisation (e.g., helps others
who have been absent, takes a personal interest in other
employees)”According to Williams and Anderson (1991), citizenship
behaviors can be directed at the organisation (OCBO) (e.g., carrying out role
requirements well beyond minimum required levels) and/or they may benefit
specific individuals (OCBI) (e.g., helping a specific other person with a
relevant task).

4.5.5 Software Firms

The term ‘IT industry’ is used loosely in common parlance and has
different meanings in different contexts. Strictly speaking, ‘IT’ includes
hardware production as well as software, but in the Indian context the IT
industry is almost entirely devoted to software services, hence the terms
‘software industry’ and ‘IT industry’ are often used interchangeably.
Similarly, ‘IT’ is sometimes used to refer to ITES as well as software services.
While ITES is a very different kind of industry from software, for historical
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and ideological reasons they have tended to be categorised together in India


under ‘IT’ – not least because both come under the ambit of NASSCOM, the
industry body that has been very active in promoting these industries. This
study has covered employees in software services and products firms only
thereby excluding ITES from the preview of the study.

4.6 Basic research design


Methodologically the study falls into a descriptive cum explanatory
framework. The study is descriptive in that it seeks to depict the distribution of
employees who have differential levels of perception regarding the
importance, extent of introduction and satisfaction levels in respect to the
innovative HR practices in their respective firms and the distributions in terms
of the criterion factors of HR outcome variables. Study proceeds to seek the
precedent outcome linkages among the factors of both IHRP and HR outcome
variables. Further the data were used to achieve the most appropriate fit among
the factors of the independent and dependent variables using Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) and is thus explanatory in character.

4.7 Tools of Data Collection


4.7.1 Questionnaire on Innovative HR Practices

This tool was designed by the Agarawala, T (2003) to assess employee


perception of the innovative HR practices of certain selected organisations
along the three dimensions of importance, introduction and satisfaction. The
final version of the scale consisted of three parts, A, B and C, each having 14
items, the total number of items being 42. The fourteen items in each part of
the questionnaire referred to fourteen HR practice categories, each HR practice
category being broad enough to incorporate a number of innovative
techniques. These techniques were given as examples for each respective
category. Each part

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of the questionnaire used a 4-point rating scale with 1 indicating a poor


perception and 4 indicating a good perception for each dimension of innovative
HR practice. The range of scores possible for each part (dimension) of the
scale was 14 to 56.

The split-half reliability coefficient for Part A (introduction), Part B


(importance) and Part C (satisfaction), using the Spearman-Brown formula,
was found to be 0.80, 0.85 and 0.81 respectively.

4.7.2 HR Outcomes

The HR variables measured included Job Satisfaction, Organisational


Commitment and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour.

4.7.3 Job Satisfaction

This was measured using 14 item questionnaire by Hatfield (1985). It


comprises of Satisfaction with job security, compensation, personal growth
satisfaction, satisfaction with coworkers and satisfaction with supervisor.
Respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with each
of the items listed in the questionnaire using a 7-point scale ranging from
“extremely satisfied” through “extremely dissatisfied”. The reliability scores
of the Cronbach’s alpha values for different aspects are satisfaction with work
(0.81), satisfaction with pay (0.90), satisfaction with coworker (0.83),
satisfaction with supervisor (0.82) and overall job satisfaction is (0.68).

4.7.4 Organisational Commitment

It was measured using a ten items questionnaire to construct the


commitment scale derived from the instrument developed by Meyer and Allen
(1990) it has two dimensions the affective commitment and continuance
commitment. Each dimension had 5 items each. Respondents were asked to
indicate their agreement or disagreement with each of the items listed in the

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questionnaire using a 7-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” through

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“strongly agree” with a midpoint labeled “neither agree nor disagree.” The
reliability cronbach’s alpha scores of the two dimensions of the organisational
commitment are affective commitment (0.81) and continuance commitment
(0.78) with a split half coefficient of 0.77 and 0.76 respectively.

4.7.5 Organisational Citizenship Behavior

OCB was measured using a 12-item Scale made by Paré, Tremblay, and
Lalonde, which was adopted from Podsakoff et al. (1990) and Williams and
Anderson (1991). Citizenship behaviors can be directed at the organisation
(OCBO) (e.g., carrying out role requirements well beyond minimum required
levels) and/or they may benefit specific individuals (OCBI) (e.g., helping a
specific other person with a relevant task).

Williams and Anderson’s (1991) seven-item OCBO and seven-item


OCBI scales took most of the measures representing these constructs from
previous research by Bateman and Organ (1983), Graham(1986a), Organ
(1988) and Smith et al.(1983).

The internal consistency reliability of the OCBI Scale was 0.88 and the
internal consistency reliability of the OCBO Scale was 0.75. Estimates of
internal consistency reliability of the OCBI Scale averaged 0.85 across the
studies conducted by Williams and Anderson (1991), Turnley et al. (2003),
and Randall et al. (1999), ranging from a low of 0.80 to a high of 0.88. The
internal consistency reliability estimates for OCBO in these studies averaged
0.76, ranging from a low of 0.70 to a high of 0.83.Overall the scale appears to
be highly reliable (Organ et al 2006).

Respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement


with each of the items listed in the questionnaire using a 7-point scale ranging
from “strongly disagree” through “strongly agree” with a midpoint labeled

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“neither agree nor disagree.” There were three reverse coded items in OCBO
scale like take undeserved work breaks, great deal of time spent with phone
conversations and Complains about insignificant things at work.

4.8 Reliability Analysis


Reliability of an instrument is the degree to which it yields a true score
of the variable under consideration. It is defined as the extent to which any
measuring instrument yields the same result on repeated trials (Carmines and
Zeller, 1991). An instrument is not considered to the extent to which it
contains measurement error (Neale and Liebert, 1986).

There are several methods to establish the reliability of a measuring


instrument. These include test-retest method, equivalent forms, split-halves
method and internal consistency method. Of all these methods, the internal
consistency method is supposed to be the most effective method, especially in
field studies. The advantage of this method is that it requires only one
administration, and consequently this method is considered to be the most
general form of reliability estimation. In this method, reliability is
operationalized as ‘internal consistency’, which is the degree of inter-
correlation among the items that constitute a scale (Nunnally, 1978).

The internal consistency of a set of items refers to the homogeneity of


the items in a particular scale. Internal consistency is estimated using a
reliability coefficient called Cronbach’s alpha (Cronbach, 1951). An alpha
value of 0.70 or above is considered to be the criterion for demonstrating
strong internal consistency of established scales (Nunnally, 1978).

In the current study the reliability was tested by computing Cronbach’s


alpha (α) for all the factors as well as for the entire set. The values of
Cronbach’s alpha for various factors are given in the table 4.1. As seen from

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the table, all the factors had the Cronbach’s alpha value above 0.70, which
testified the reliability of the entire set.

Table 4.1. Reliability analysis of different variables of the study

SL. No. of Cronbach


Factors
No. items alpha (α)
1. Innovative Human Resource Practices (IHRP) 42 0.826
2. Job Satisfaction (JS) 14 0.930
3. Organisational Commitment (OC) 10 0.824
4. Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) 12 0.846
Overall 78 0.932

4.9 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)


Confirmatory Factor Analysis was done on the final data to confirm the
structure developed with the study. The general paradigm suggested by
Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was followed in the current research in order to
test a model of Innovative HR Practices and various HR outcomes. The
measurement models of each of all outcomes were first assessed and then a
structural model linking all the outcomes was tested. Software package AMOS
4.0 was used to do the Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The following are the
commonly used fit indices which help to asses the fit between a model and a
data set which in turn proves its validity.

4.9.1 Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Innovative HR Practices (IHRP)

Confirmatory Factor Analysis was done on Innovative HR Practices


consisting of three factors i.e. Introduction, Importance and the Extent of
Satisfaction of IHRP.

Table 4.2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis values for Innovative HR Practices

GFI AGFI CFI TLI RMR RMSEA


0.848 0.821 0.846 0.827 0.031 0.039

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4.9.2 Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Job Satisfaction (JS)

Confirmatory Factor Analysis was done on Job Satisfaction consisting of


four factors i.e. Job Security & Compensation, Personal Growth Satisfaction,
Co-worker Satisfaction and Supervisory Satisfaction.

Table 4.3. Confirmatory Factor Analysis values for Job Satisfaction

GFI AGFI CFI TLI RMR RMSEA


0.923 0.893 0.956 0.947 0.056 0.065

4.9.3 Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Organisational Commitment (OC)

Confirmatory Factor Analysis was done on Organisational Commitment


consisting of two factors i.e. Affective Commitment and Continuance
Commitment.

Table 4.4. Confirmatory Factor Analysis values for Organisational


Commitment

GFI AGFI CFI TLI RMR RMSEA


0.943 0.898 0.938 0.910 0.093 0.078

4.9.4 Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Organisational Citizenship


Behavior (OCB)
Confirmatory Factor Analysis was done on Organisational Citizenship
Behavior consisting of two factors i.e. OCB Individual and OCB
Organisation.

Table 4.5. Confirmatory Factor Analysis values for Organisational


Citizenship Behavior

GFI AGFI CFI TLI RMR RMSEA


0.938 0.887 0.939 0.906 0.088 0.075

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The values got from the Confirmatory Factor Analysis done on


Innovative HR practices, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and
Organisational Citizenship Behavior reveals that the model is acceptable as the
values fall within the acceptable ranges.

4.10 Scope of the study


Unit of observation and analysis:

Software professionals who are employees of the software firms


identified as those with innovative HR Practices.

Place of study: Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark, Kochi

Data Sources

Primary data collected from the software professionals who contribute


the population of the study. Secondary data from the NASSCOM Directory
2005 & 2007, Data Quest and India Today 2005, IT & Telecom Directory
2005, websites of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI),
Thiruvananthapuram, Infopark , Kochi and company databases.

4.11 Data Collection


a) Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram were taken as representative
Techparks of software sector in Kerala.

b) Unit Heads / HR Heads of the firms in the selected Techparks were


contacted with a request to participate in the study.

c) Data collection coordinated by the respective HR department and


was confined to one of the projects / product development team.

d) Internal coordinators were identified in each team in order to


facilitate the data collection.

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The very objective of the study has been to study the extent of
importance, introduction, implementation and satisfaction of innovative HR
practices in Software companies in Kerala and HR outcomes based on an
empirical analysis. Such an empirical study demands a rigorous research
methodology with a reliable and valid instrument. The extent of importance,
introduction, implementation and satisfaction of innovative HR practices in
Software companies is done by measuring the perceptions of members in the
organisation on innovative HR practices. The questionnaire survey has been
widely acknowledged as an efficient tool for measuring the perceptions of
individuals or organisations on a particular subject. The survey research
method is very useful to collect data from a large number of firms in a
relatively short period of time and with better-cost implications. Hence for the
current study, the questionnaire survey has been chosen for data collection.

4.12 Population

The population for the present study was specified through the
progressive sequence as follows:-

a) List of software firms from the respective selected Techparks


[Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Thiruvananthapuram
and Infopark, Kochi] was compiled to broadly define the population
of the study.

b) Human resource experts from software firms, management


consultants and the faculty from Indian Institute of Information
Technology & Management (IIITM), Thiruvananthapuram were
approached to identify the firms that have adopted innovative
human resource practices against a set of specified criteria.

c) One project team with on-site and off shore project was selected
from each of the firm identified in step b) above.
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Exclusion criteria
 Software firms with history of less than 3 years

 Software professionals with experience of less than three months


with the firm.

4.13 Procedure for identification of firms with innovative HR


practices
Panel of experts were identified based on the method followed by
Tannenbaum and Dupree-Bruno (1994). The experts consisted of HR experts,
consultants and faculty members from Indian Institute of Information
Technology and Management (IIITM) - Kerala.

Table 4.6. Classification of Experts


experience in

of organisation
based on years
No. of experts

No. of experts

No. of experts
based on type
of experience

organisation
Managerial

managerial
hierarchy

hierarchy
based on

Type of
HR field
Sl No.

Years of

1 Top Level 04 >30 years 03 Private 05


2 Senior Level 04 21-30 years 04 Consultants 03
3 Middle Level 03 11-20 years 04 Academics 03
Total 11 Total 11 Total 11

The researcher in consultation with HR experts from the IT industry,


researchers in the same field and professors in the area identified the various
Innovative HR Practices implemented in the various Software Companies, as
well as the companies that have adopted Innovative HR Practices in terms of -

a) Presence (A dichotomous scale for whether it is actually in effect


‘yes’ or ‘no’).

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b) Frequency (Implementing many progressive HR practices is


considered more innovative).

c) Uniqueness (Implementing practices that few or no other IT


companies have used or using practices differently than other
companies).

d) Coverage (A continuous scale for the proportion of the workforce


covered by it).

e) Intensity of effort (Implementing a practice that required a great


deal of time, money, personnel and effort).

The panels of experts were personally met and the definition of IHRP
and a range of HR practices/ activities which form 14 cluster of HR practices
were shared and discussed. List of Software firms from Technopark and
Infopark was given after the exclusion criteria. There were altogether 47 firms.
For each firm, the frequency with which it was identified as having innovative
HR practices by experts was tabulated. The firm mentioned by at least 50 per
cent of the experts as having the reputation of being innovative in their HR
practices was shortlisted. Out of a total of 48 firms, 21 firms fulfilled the
criteria.

Table 4.6 above shows that the out of 11 experts identified 5 experts
represented private organisations and 3 each from consultancy and
academics .Out of these, 3 experts had experience of more than 30 years
and four were with experience varying between 21-30 years and another
four had 11- 20 years of experience. Based on the level of managerial
hierarchy there are 3 experts from middle level and 4 experts each from top
and senior level.

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4.14 Selection of the units of observation


 Census approach was adopted to ensure the complete coverage of
the population and to reflect the heterogeneity anticipated among
the nature of projects, teams, firms and location of firms.

 343 responses collected from 17 firms. Two firms did not agree to
participate in the study and the researcher could not collect data
from two other firms which had agreed to cooperate with the study.

Detailed examination of the data based on grossly missing or


inappropriate values resulted in the deletion of 33 records. Thus the final data
set had 310 usable records that comprise the total sample

4.15 Sample Size and Sampling Method:-


Sample size is decided based on power analysis which is used by
Krishnan and Singh, (2010) where by forming an explanatory power of .80 and
the 2 value of 0.02 it was found that the sample size should be 287 but to
decrease the problem of data inadequacy researcher has opted for the sample
size of 310 samples.

The first formula is appropriate when we are evaluating the impact of a


set of predictors on an outcome. The second formula is appropriate when we
are evaluating the impact of one set of predictors above and beyond a second
set of predictors (or covariates). Cohen (1988) suggests f2 values of 0.02, 0.15,
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and 0.35 represent small, medium, and large effect sizes.

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The data was tested for the outliers through the process of Bootstrapping
and Bolline-shrine plot so as to increase the normality of the data. The
researcher found out that there were 8 outliners in the study and it was
removed using the bootstrapping method. There were about 13 questionnaires
which have not given the demographic variables so they were not selected for
the study and rejected as incomplete questionnaire.

The sample adequacy was again ensured by referring to Hoelter Index as


part of the fit measures of the final structural equation model of IHRP and HR
outcomes. The Hoelter Index at 0.05 significance level showed 173 samples as
adequate where as Hoelter Index at .01 significance level showed 197 samples
as adequate for the study. Hence the sample of 310 was found to be adequate.

4.16 Statistical analyses and validation: -


Correlation, Regression, ANOVA test, t-test, Multivariate analysis and
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS software were used for
statistical analyses of the data and validation of various models. For this study
researcher started with the sampling profile on the basis of socio-demographic
variables like gender, age, educational qualification, tenure and experience of
the employees. Analysis further looked into the effect of these socio-
demographic factors on the respondents’ perception of innovative HR
practices. Further the impact of innovative HR practices on different HR
outcomes of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and organisational
citizenship behaviour were analysed using tests like regression and
multivariate analyses. Researcher also tried to test the integrative model for
innovative HR practices using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with
AMOS 4.0. Subsequent step was to evaluate the degree of fit of several
structural models for use in testing the hypotheses concerning relations among
underlying latent variables.

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Chapter -4

4.17 Limitations
a) The study is not free from limitations; first the issue of common
method variance needs to be considered given the cross-sectional
design of the study based on self reports. Meta-analytic studies of
these constructs (Meyer et al. 2002; Organ & Ryan, 1995) suggest
that studies relying only on self-report may either inflate correlations
or, in a cross-sectional design, might introduce problems of
instability in correlations due to situational moderators. Harman’s
single-factor was conducted to address this concern and the results of
the test showed that common method bias was not present in study.

b) All employees of the same organisation need not become equally


aware of the innovative HR policies and practices adopted.
Perceptual differences about these practices among the employees
could be attributed to their varied levels of awareness about them
though the policies and practices remain the same for the
organisation. This aspect was not taken into account in the study.

c) The life cycle of the organisation is also one of the important


limitations because different companies are in different time zone of
development cycles like some are there for decades and some are only
for years. This difference can cause a bias on the perception of
importance, introduction and satisfaction of innovative HR practices in
the organisation.

d) Software firms that have been identified by experts as having


adopted innovative HR practices alone are covered in this research.
Obviously, the study has not been extended to attempt a comparison
with firms that follow traditional ways of managing personnel.

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Research Methodology
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