Research Paper - Strategy of Big Bazar's HR Management

1. Dr. Meghna Tandon1
Nitesh Kumar Mishra2
HOD of Business Administration Department M.com(F)Business Administration
Dayanand College Ajmer Dayanand College Ajmer
Email- mishra.nitesh0@gmail.com
National Conference on Entrepreneurship, Global Economy and Sustainable
Development for Developing Nations
Human Resource Management And Its Alignment To The Strategy of A Future
Group Company
(In Special Context of Big Bazaar)
Abstract
This research addresses the problem of Human Resource Management and its alignment
to the strategy of a Company. First, the theoretical background of human resource management
is explained. This section includes the historical development of HR, corporate cultures, moti-
vation as well as strategic management principles. The second part of this research focuses on
the analysis of a chosen company – Big Bazaar stores (Future Group company) . The com-
pany is firstly introduced and then analyzed with the main focus on the employees of the com-
pany and the HR department. Mainly qualitative analysis is used to gather the needed final in-
formation and conclusions are consequently made from that. The overall goal of the research is
to show how big bazaar stands as an employer.
Introduction
The main focus of this research is Human Resource management with the specific focus
on how the HR department works and how it is involved in the activities of the rest of the com-
pany as well as the care for its customers. The whole concept of the research is the analysis of a
chosen company based on the previously gained theoretical knowledge. The goal is to show if
the chosen company has well-developed HR management consistent with its goals and strate-
gies.
The mentioned theory will later serve as background information for the consequently
conducted analysis of the chosen company. It starts with a historical overview of human re-
source management along with its development all the way to the modern world. The most im-
portant steps of the HR management evolution are depicted in this section.
The following part focuses on different corporate cultures, what they mean and how
exactly they are related to HR. This includes the responsibilities of the HR manager related to
the corporate culture of a company. Then, a slightly larger part is devoted to motivation. It in-

2. cludes the optimum motivation conditions and how motivation itself influences the employees’
satisfaction and performance. Specific theories about motivation at work also have their place in
this section. Motivation is included in the theoretical part of this research because it is generally
one of the HR manager’s duties to look after the employees of the company, specifically their job satisfaction.
Human Resource Management is the process of recruitment, selection of employee,
providing proper orientation and induction, providing proper training and the developing skills,
assessment of employee (performance of appraisal), providing proper compensation and bene-
fits, motivating, maintaining proper relations with labour and with trade unions, maintaining
employees safety, welfare and health by complying with labor laws of concern state or country.
Strategic Planning is the determination of the overall organizations purpose and goals and
how they are to be achieved. A company’s strategy is a set of principles, which guide the future
actions and decisions of the entire company.
Strategy implementation
When a company has it goals and visions set, it needs to successfully implement the
strategy; it needs to manage the following key factors:-
.
HR Motivation is one of the essential parts of personnel management. Generally, motivated
workers work better – meaning that their performance is larger than the one of non motivated
workers (e.g. in production, motivated workers produce more). It is also connected to the mood
of the worker – if a worker feels bad in the working environment, his/her performance and
productivity will not be as good as it should be.
Job Satisfaction is related to work motivation, although without a direct correlation, accord-
ing to F. Herzberger. The absence of long-term job dissatisfaction is prerequisite for desirable
work motivation. If a worker has motivation it does not automatically mean that he has satisfac-
tion.
Human Resource Alignment means “integrating decisions about people with decisions
about the results an organization is trying to obtain.” By integrating human resources manage-
Action
Planning
Orgnizatio
n Strcutre
Human
Resource
s
Annual
Business
Plan
Monitorin
g And
Control
Linkage

3. ment into the organization’s planning process, emphasizing human resources activities that sup-
port the organization’s mission goals, and building a strong relationship between HR and man-
agement, organizations are able to ensure that the management of human resources contributes
properly to mission accomplishment and that managers are held accountable for their HRM de-
cisions.
Corporate Culture of Big Bazaar in connection to HR
Corporate culture means the way things are done within a company. This refers to any-
thing from the main goals and visions of the company, overall morale in the work place, the
ways offices are set up (closed or open space) or how meeting are organized all the way to
dress codes. The corporate culture defines the company from the inside as well as the outside.
Corporate culture is a very important aspect of every company because it affects mainly the
employees – how they feel at work. Companies with a strict hierarchical structure where
people are just placed into tiny offices or cubicles with strictly set rules about how they should
do everything and have no say whatsoever usually have a very poor (in relation to human re-
source management) corporate culture. The corporate culture is simply made up of strict rules
and obligations with no personal freedom. Many companies used to have structures like this in
the past. Nowadays it is more common for organizations to give their employees more free-
dom – more casual dress code so they would be more comfortable, added value to their opin-
ions and suggestions or some other benefits. So, corporate culture defines how the employees
work as well as how they feel about it.
So, what exactly is the relation to HR management? HR managers, more or less, take
care of the company’s employees and it is (not only) their job to make them feel valued. HR
managers are also the ones who introduce the corporate culture to the new employees they
tell them how things are generally done within the company (most often already at job inter-
views). When a new employee comes to the company, his first contact is usually with the HR
department from where he/she is introduced further on to the company. Any new employee
needs to know how things work in the company and the general structure of work, so it is pri-
marily up to the HR manager to inform the new employees about all this relevant information
before they start work.
Research Methodology
The chosen hypotheses for the purposes of this Research are as follows:
1. Big Bazaar has a well-developed Human Resource management system with great emphasis
on the satisfaction of the employee.
2. Big Bazaar implements Human Resource goals into their overall business strategy.

4. Objectives
The field of management which has to do with planning; organizing; directing and controlling the
functions of procuring; developing; maintaining and utilizing a labour force, such that the
(a) Objectives for which the company is established are attained economically and effectively.
(b) Objectives of all levels of personnel are served to the highest possible degree.
(c) Objectives of society are duly considered and served.
Big Bazaar Stores
The Company Big Bazaar Stores is a subsidiary of the parent company Future Group
(Public Limited Company), located in Mumbai(India). It is the largest Indian retail chain, which
is the largest private sector employer in the India. Big Bazaar sells food and non-food goods to
end customers, retails commercial space to other marketers, and currently also provides finan-
cial services.
AFFILIATE COMPANIES
 Home Solutions Retail (India) Limited
 Future Media (India) Limited
 Future Logistic Solutions Limited
 Future Axiom Telecom Limited
 Pantaloon Food Product (India) Limited
 Future General India Insurance Company Ltd
 Future Capital Holdings Ltd
 Future Bazaar India Ltd
 Staples Future Office Products Private Ltd
Future Group Timeline
2011 Enters the rural wholesale and distribution business through 'Aadhaar Wholesale' store at Ka-
lol, Gujrat.
Big Bazaar has come up a new logo with a new tag line: 'Naye India Ka Bazaar'.[11]
200th store opened in India
2012
Big Bazaar entered into a five year multi million dollar deal with Cognizant Technology Solution
for IT infrastructure services that support Future Group’s network of stores, warehouse, offices
and data centers.
Partnered with Disney to launch “Kidz Cookies”, exclusively for kids across India.
Big Bazaar is planning to add further value to its retail services by offering value added services
like grinding, de-seeding, vegetables cutting at free of cost.
2013 Future Group successfully introduced 'Big Bazaar Direct' an assisted shopping concept where
franchises will sell Big Bazaar products through a catalogue on a 'tablet'.

5. Big Bazaar introduced an exciting occasion for shopping 'April Utsav'.
Big Bazaar introduced a unique customer membership program 'Big Bazaar Profit Club.'
2014 Big Bazaar and Ezone were voted as one of the Top 50 Most Trusted Brands in the country in the
Brand Equity Survey 2013 conducted by Nielson. The survey also revealed that Big Bazaar is the
4th Most Trusted Service Brand of the country
A New Generation Big Bazaar, Big Bazaar Family Centre was launched at Alcove in Kolkata on
January 6, 2014
2015 Big Bazaar announced an exclusive tie-up with a leading mobile wallet company, MobiKwik
The UK based Plymouth City College awarded Future Sharp with a title of 'The Best International
Business Partner'
Giovani, Indus League's suits & jackets brand signs Fawad Khan as it's brand ambassador
Future Group as an Employer
Future Group is one of the largest retail chains and currently employs about 36,000
workers, The company is still growing, even throughout the financial crisis. Future Group is
still opening new business units, and thus still offering new employment opportunities. Because
Future Group its representation in most towns in the India Republic now, it creates jobs in al-
most all regions. The central office of Future Group is based in Mumbai(Bombay). Future
Group creates employment opportunities for every one Skilled salespeople, heads of depart-
ments, college-educated professionals and top experts with years of experience should be able
to find jobs at Future Group’s different stores like food bazaar, big bazaar in different different
posts like relationship manager, content writer, store manager, store karta, unit head, department
manager and many more. Future Group is currently the most demanded employer company, for
which people want to work, on average 3 times more future employees than the current number
of jobs that the company can offer.
Employer's reputation
Building a reputation as a good employer involves a long and hard work. It can be very simple
to tarnish your reputation, but to return your company‘s reputation is very difficult and often
impossible. Future Group is very well aware to this fact, and thus it tries to work hard on its
own employer’s reputation. In 2008, these efforts were well appreciated by the professional
community and the company was awarded with the title "Retail Employer of the Year" (see
Awards section).The company knows very well that not only the quality of implementation of
individual personnel actions, but also other activities contribute to the way, how the general
public perceives it.

6. Corporate Social Responsibility
Future Group recognizes that its activities not only affect employees, who work in the
company, and customers, who shop there, but also the lives of other people, who live in its vi-
cinity. The company boasts a long tradition of helping people and supporting the life in the cit-
ies where Future Group operates. Future Group has created the so-called responsible neigh-
borhood plan under which it focuses on the following key areas:
 promoting economic development with regard to ecology,
 helping children with mental or physical disabilities and people with health problems,
 promoting healthy lifestyles,
 building fair relationships with its business partners.
Acquisition, selection and recruitment
Future Group is a company that is constantly expanding and that is still opening new
business units. Of course, this is related to the growing need for new employees. Future Group
is trying to cover vacancies first from its own resources and if they fail to meet the demand for
labor in the standard way, they turn to the external labor market. The staff learns about job va-
cancies through internal advertising. The premises of vacancies are advertised together with the
requirements on local bulletin boards, under the responsibility of personnel managers of the
branches. If any person from the staff is interested in the offer, he must addresses the employer,
and all the information will be sent to him from his HR manager. The headquarters staff works
with open positions introduced either through similar boards or on the company intranet. Ap-
propriate forms and personnel contacts are also available there, which may be interesting as
well. However, the employee's supervisor must always approve of the internal selection pro-
cess. External advertising is most often done via the Internet. The Future Group’s website holds
a summary of vacant positions, which is structured on the basis of the areas covered by the ad-
vertising concerns (traffic, distribution, headquarters, positions for graduates, etc.).
Why Align in Big Bazaar (Future Group)
Why the sudden emphasis on aligning HRM activities with agency mission accomplish-
ment? Basically, it comes down to demonstrating the value of human resources management to
the agency. In the past, one of HR’s primary roles has been to ensure compliance with laws,
rules, and regulations. Although this is still, and will always be, a necessary function, many re-
cent developments have led to a strong emphasis on results.
Human Resource Management in Big Bazaar
• The HR department of Big Bazaar is very dynamic.
• Employees are the biggest strength and asset of any organization and the HR dept realizes
this very well.

7. • This is very evident from the way the HR department handles all its employees.
• They take utmost care to select, train, motivate and retain all the employees.
• They have continuous developmental Programs for all the employees.
• There are two shifts for the employees. The first shift employees arrive at 10AM in the
morning and leave at 7.30 in the evening, while the second shift employees report at
12.30 in the afternoon and leave at the time of Store closing (10pm).
Performance Appraisal
• The HR department conducts performance appraisal of all the employees annually in the
month of April.
• Based on their performance increments are given in their pay.
• In addition to this if an employee achieves or exceeds the target given to along with their
team members will be provided with attractive cash and other incentives.
Employee benefits, compensations and rewards-
Employee benefits are optional, non-wage compensation provided to employees in addi-
tion to their normal wages or salaries. These types of benefits may include group insurance
(health, dental, vision, life etc.), disability income protection, retirement benefits, daycare, tui-
tion reimbursement, sick leave, vacation (paid and non-paid), funding of education, as well as
flexible and alternative work arrangements. Every employee wants secrurity and many essen-
tial things of life. Big Bazaar makes sure that all its employees work in a safe and not health-
threatening environment. The rewards and benefits given by big bazaar for employee's are as
following :-
• The employees are rewarded suitably with attractive pay packages. The salary of an employee in-
cludes basic pay. HRA, special allowance, Mediclaim etc. Annual bonus will be given at the time of
Diwali.
• The employees and their dependents are also entitled for medical treatment in recognized hospi-
tals with cashless hospitalization with whom the company has tie-ups. If a hospital is not recog-
nised, the amount spent by the employee will be reimbursed.
• Along with these all the employees are given a card known as ‘Employee Discount card’ (EDC)
through which they can buy any product at Big Bazaar at a special discount of 20-30 %.
Conclusions:
The analysis of Big Bazaar(Future Group) (the selected company) was conducted successfully.
The first hypotheses: Big Bazaar(Future Group) has a well developed Human Resource man-
agement system with great emphasis on the satisfaction of the employee can be accepted. The
research showed, that Big Bazaar(Future Group) puts great emphasis on the satisfaction of their
employees. The services provided range from information availability to training and feedback
systems. Big Bazaar(Future Group) is well aware of the fact that proper care of employees pro-
motes employee satisfaction. Safety and health precautions are all in place and the working en-
vironment is constantly being developed according to the employees’ needs. Big Bazaar(Future

8. Group) also conducts regular surveys called “Our Opinion” where the employees share their
views about the work in general, the working environment and where they can also express
their own ideas for improvement.
Big Bazaar(Future Group) managers pay great attention to these surveys and try to do
their best to improve as much as they can. Another important aspect is that Big Bazaar(Future
Group) has well developed its internal communication via the Intranet. Communication with
employees is very important not only to keep the employees updated, but also to inform them
about current events. Big Bazaar(Future Group) sees it as essential to keeping their customers
up to date, which is a good thing and also contributes to the acceptance of the first hypothesis.
The proper care for its employees can also be seen in the way they care about their new em-
ployees. In the introductory period, the new employees are introduced to the corporate culture
and structure of the company, they are provided with welcoming brochures, they are guided by
supervisors for the first several months of their new job and they are also enrolled in special
training sessions. These training sessions provide proper information needed for their job as
well as learning new skills in order to perform their new jobs better. It is also important to men-
tion that these training sessions are not provided only for
the new employees, but also for the current employees, for whoever wishes to attend and ex-
pand their views or knowledge as further development in their jobs. All these factors also con-
tribute to the acceptance of the first hypothesis. Big Bazaar(Future Group) also holds Employ-
ment Forums where the supervisors and managers listen to the ideas of the regular employees of
lower non-management positions. This also shows that Big Bazaar(Future Group) really cares
about their employees. The compensation of employees is also relatively competitive.
The second stated hypotheses: Big Bazaar(Future Group) implements Human Resource
goals into their overall business strategy can be partly rejected, but the answer is not so simple.
Big Bazaar(Future Group) does have specific HR goals and visions set, and as can be seen
above, Big Bazaar(Future Group) really takes good care of their employees, but the overall vi-
sion of the company is as follows: “The vision of the company is based on high quality goods,
low prices and continuous improvement of services.” That does not really include its employ-
ees. But, Big Bazaar(Future Group) is currently one of the most desired employers, so the idea
that they have an employee strategy and goals concerning the employees has to be known
somehow. The focus on employee welfare is obvious, even though it is not included in the pub-
lic vision of the company. The HR department has its goals and ideas clearly set. Otherwise the
focus would not be so great. The internal plans obviously calculate with the focus on employees
and their wellbeing, because Tesco’s focus is not only on high profitability, but also on its em-
ployees who, in Tesco’s definition, form the basis of its success. This shows great emphasis on
the employees as being essential parts of the company. Nonetheless, not all strategic plans for
the future can mention anything about employees (i.e. finances or sales goals).
We can easily conclude, that Big Bazaar (Future Group) values its employees and does as
much as it can to help them feel valued and develop their skills to better suit their occupation
and further career.

9. References :
1. Human Resource Management (Sharma, Surana, Sharma) edition 2013-2014
2. Theory & Practice Of Management (Sharma & Surana) edition 2013-2014
3. Strategic Management Dr.P.C jain edition 2015-2016
4. Research Methodology : Big Bazaar Stores : Wikipedia, Encyclopedia.
5. Future Group’s Timeline : http://www.futuregroup.in/
6. Career Informations : http://www.futuregroup.in/
7. Presentations provided by www.slideshare.net/
8. Various websites, magazines, news papers.