Functional Areas of Business

Depending on the size of organization, functional areas may be directed by specific departments with upper management, mid-level and front line managers. In comparison, a small business is often managed by one leader only, who's responsibilities overlap. Management The management role includes more than simply being in charge of employees. Instead, this position coordinates and oversees the work of others, ensures organization goals are accomplished, and ensures the business success.Furthermore, managers monitor the efficiency and effective use of employees because workers are the most important resource f an organization (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Managers also oversee and control functions that are not obvious, but play a crucial role in the company's success. Law is the legal aspect of business that effect business and small firms. Managers use business law to ensure operations are legally sound, noncompliance with all state, federal and international requirements, and regulations to help solve problems.Human resources or short HER address concepts of personal development throughout employee's lifestyle. During the hiring and training process human resources have a high importance. For proper compensation and if disciplinary actions are taken (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). A large role for managers plays the aspect of leadership which covers different ways to influence employees to achieve organization goal, inspire and motivate, handle conflicts, as well as power struggle and organizational change.Accounting maintains and audits financial aspects of a business that is separated into financial and managerial accounting. Financial accounting studies the creation of financial statement, for example, income statements and balance sheets. Managerial accounting looks at statements and helps make decisions, including budgeting for upcoming projects and control cost within the firm (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Finance addresses the process of setting up and maintaining t he fiscal success of the firm including revenue. Finance is useful for managers in many ways, especially when needing fund for new business venture.The study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services within countries and individual firms are a part of economics. It is used to maximize profits and to Andre market conditions, for example, recessions (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Leaders collect data and use methods as well as static to interpret them to find out important information about their business as part of research and statistics. This fiction will help make decisions on what business practices to continue to use and which ones to modify in the future. Operations management is devoted to increasing the value of the firms supply chain.This function is used to ensure that the process f getting goods and service is smooth and error free (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Marketing interests the end consumer in a product or service and to keep this client happy. Such technique is used to determine which product or service to offer, the type of advertising and creation of a good image of their brand. Strategic planning is applied to ensure origination's goals are met. Marketing helps bring all aspects of the firm together and ensures the company's success (Stephen & Robbins, 2010).The Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy addresses why small business, with between five to went employees, Often fail to grow. Most times, the difficulty directly relates to the little or no knowledge of growth requirement and organizations barriers. A SOOT analysis, which included strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, allows leaders to develop a company goal as well as an action plan on how to reach it. According to Perks, â€Å"Small businesses that grow during their flirts four years of establishment more than double their chance of survival (Perks, p. 21, 2010). Omnipotent view of management states that managers are directly responsible for the organization's success as well as failure. Actions and decisions of leaders are directly related to an organization's success. Well performing leaders adjust and maximize chances, improve bad performances, as well as manage the company. Therefore, managers are compensated for the business' success with stock options, incentives, ores. On the other side, upper management is believed to be responsible when profits are down and then fired or replaced by new managers (Stephen & Robbins, 2010).Symbolic view of management describes the failure and success of companies impacted by external influences that are outside of leader's ability to control. This view is arguing that managers have little control over external factors for example customers, economy, competitors, decisions of previous leaders and others. Managers have only symbolized influence and control by creating action plans, and limited influence of failure and success according to this view. Co nclusion Whether in a small or large company, managers oversee a wide range of functions to ensure the success and high performance of all areas. Functional Areas of Business Depending on the size of organization, functional areas may be directed by specific departments with upper management, mid-level and front line managers. In comparison, a small business is often managed by one leader only, who's responsibilities overlap. Management The management role includes more than simply being in charge of employees. Instead, this position coordinates and oversees the work of others, ensures organization goals are accomplished, and ensures the business success.Furthermore, managers monitor the efficiency and effective use of employees because workers are the most important resource f an organization (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Managers also oversee and control functions that are not obvious, but play a crucial role in the company's success. Law is the legal aspect of business that effect business and small firms. Managers use business law to ensure operations are legally sound, noncompliance with all state, federal and international requirements, and regulations to help solve problems.Human resources or short HER address concepts of personal development throughout employee's lifestyle. During the hiring and training process human resources have a high importance. For proper compensation and if disciplinary actions are taken (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). A large role for managers plays the aspect of leadership which covers different ways to influence employees to achieve organization goal, inspire and motivate, handle conflicts, as well as power struggle and organizational change.Accounting maintains and audits financial aspects of a business that is separated into financial and managerial accounting. Financial accounting studies the creation of financial statement, for example, income statements and balance sheets. Managerial accounting looks at statements and helps make decisions, including budgeting for upcoming projects and control cost within the firm (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Finance addresses the process of setting up and maintaining t he fiscal success of the firm including revenue. Finance is useful for managers in many ways, especially when needing fund for new business venture.The study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services within countries and individual firms are a part of economics. It is used to maximize profits and to Andre market conditions, for example, recessions (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Leaders collect data and use methods as well as static to interpret them to find out important information about their business as part of research and statistics. This fiction will help make decisions on what business practices to continue to use and which ones to modify in the future. Operations management is devoted to increasing the value of the firms supply chain.This function is used to ensure that the process f getting goods and service is smooth and error free (Stephen & Robbins, 2010). Marketing interests the end consumer in a product or service and to keep this client happy. Such technique is used to determine which product or service to offer, the type of advertising and creation of a good image of their brand. Strategic planning is applied to ensure origination's goals are met. Marketing helps bring all aspects of the firm together and ensures the company's success (Stephen & Robbins, 2010).The Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy addresses why small business, with between five to went employees, Often fail to grow. Most times, the difficulty directly relates to the little or no knowledge of growth requirement and organizations barriers. A SOOT analysis, which included strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, allows leaders to develop a company goal as well as an action plan on how to reach it. According to Perks, â€Å"Small businesses that grow during their flirts four years of establishment more than double their chance of survival (Perks, p. 21, 2010). Omnipotent view of management states that managers are directly responsible for the organization's success as well as failure. Actions and decisions of leaders are directly related to an organization's success. Well performing leaders adjust and maximize chances, improve bad performances, as well as manage the company. Therefore, managers are compensated for the business' success with stock options, incentives, ores. On the other side, upper management is believed to be responsible when profits are down and then fired or replaced by new managers (Stephen & Robbins, 2010).Symbolic view of management describes the failure and success of companies impacted by external influences that are outside of leader's ability to control. This view is arguing that managers have little control over external factors for example customers, economy, competitors, decisions of previous leaders and others. Managers have only symbolized influence and control by creating action plans, and limited influence of failure and success according to this view. Co nclusion Whether in a small or large company, managers oversee a wide range of functions to ensure the success and high performance of all areas.

Why Health Costs Need to Be Contained Professor Ramos Blog

Why Health Costs Need to Be Contained Have you ever thought how hard it must be for families and relatives of severely sick people that die from a deadly disease? Maybe they wonder everyday if there could have been one simple solution that could have kept them alive for a lot longer? Every year thousands of Americans are diagnosed with a deadly disease. The government should provide equal health insurance for poor and rich people. If Americans could afford better health insurance it would prevent many deadly diseases from arising because doctors could diagnose them and possibly find a cure sooner rather than too late. A huge problem that is happening today is more and more people everyday are dying from diseases and are still in poverty because of the cost of health care. They use what they have left from bills and food for health coverage and with that causing them to stay in poverty because they can not afford many necessities like schooling and transportation. If we had equal health insurance for both rich and poor the death toll would decrease drastically. Lower income individuals should not be kept from getting the medical treatment needed to prevent the sickness from spreading or even worse death. The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that â€Å"Uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993.† Meaning that people that are not insured have greater risk of dying from an illness. â€Å"The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured, even after taking into account socioeconomic, health behaviors, and baseline health,† said lead author Andrew Wilper, M.D., who currently teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine.(David Cecere). If the government provided affordable health care for both poor and rich there wouldnt be as much sickness and death. Certain types of cancer spread at certain speeds and are treated in different manners. If poor people had access to the same health care as the rich people did, it would be easier to find the cure to these types of diseases. â€Å"We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease - but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.†(Andrew Wilper M.D). Now days good health insurance is increasing in price, which induces the lower class people to find out ways to get the same health coverage and that sometimes it is through crime or stolen identity. With the drop of the price of health insurance it would give the people something to look forward to instead of stealing identity and crime against other people through stealing medicine and medical supplies. Health debt that was collected in 2013 was higher than student loans which would in term make it harder for the lower class to get in school to better themselves and also be able to afford health insurance so it turn they would have a hard time paying off all of their debt. With all of that debt how would you be able to ever get out of debt you may ask? If health care was lowered they would be able to afford every other thing which would lead them to a successful life. With them being successful more money would go to the government.(Holly Fletcher). We all want the best for us and our loved ones and we want the best care we get sick but the more money Americans spend on healthcare, the more we harm our country by spending so much on it. According to the OECD Health Statistics (2013) The United States is public health insurance expenses match a lot over other countries; It is our private health insurance that surpass the expenses of all.(Vox). Forcing people to pay for insurance is not the solution. According to The Washington Post Magazine, there are few genuine solutions to our health-care problems only changes that are less bad than the alternatives. Writing in the liberal Washington Monthly magazine, Paul Hewitt and Phillip Longman suggested that Congress should adopt the Medicare fee and reimbursement system for the entire country.(Robert J. Samuelson). They believe that if this were to be done the employer-paid premiums would drop drastically allowing the money save from that to be used to pay for the new and improved more affordable services that would help those in need. â€Å"We need to slow medical spending and relax the pressures on wages and other government programs. The recognition of the huge gap between Medicare and private reimbursement rates creates the opportunity to do that†.(Robert J. Samuelson). If we continue to work together as a country to solve this severe healthcare issue, We can achieve great progress in our nation that will lead to better possibilities and new improvement in the medical field. Everyday Nurses and Doctors are saving the lives of many humans, we all need these heroes to ensure the future of our people. That is why it is important that the government makes it a priority that all Americans should equally share a improve health system that is affordable and accessible to all. Andrew Wilper, M.D., University of Washington School Of Medicine , 2008 niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.viewcontributorsbioid= Andrew Wilper, MD, is an internist with Cambridge Health Allianceand a fellow in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School. He received his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. David Cecere and Cambridge Health Alliance New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage The Harvard Gazette, Health and Medicine, September 17, 2009 https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/ Holly Fletcher Health care gap widens between rich and poor, Tennessean Network, August 13,2016https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/health-care/2016/08/13/health-care-gap-widens-between-rich-and-poor/88470962/ Holly Fletcher covers health care for the Tennessean’s business desk, working to explain how the changing health care landscape will impact the people who need health care (everyone) and the businesses that provide care. Before joining the Tennessean, she covered mergers acquisitions in the power, utility and clean energy sector for five years for Power Finance Risk in New York City. She was named a ‘Top 10 NYC Energy Leaders Under 40’ in 2014. Holly is a native of Springfield, Tenn., who has a degree in international affairs from Northeastern University in Boston and a Master’s of science degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism in NYC. Paul S. Hewitt and Phillip Longman The Case for Single-Price Health Care, Washington Monthly Magazine, June 2018 https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/april-may-june-2018/the-case-for-single-price-health-care/ Paul Hewitt is an economic adviser to the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. His views do not necessarily reflect those of CAHC or its members. Phillip Longman is senior editor at the Washington Monthly and policy director at the Open Markets Institute. Robert J. Samuelson There’s a genuine solution to our health-care problem, Opinions Washington Post, April 29, 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-a-genuine-solution-to-our-health-care-problem/2018/04/29/2d82bdf2-4a3e-11e8-9072-f6d4bc32f223_story.html?noredirect=onutm_term=.a10652b0f2b8 Columnist focusing on economics Education: Harvard College, BA in political science Robert J. Samuelson writes a twice-weekly economics column. Both appear online, and one usually runs in The Washington Post in print on Mondays. He was a columnist for Newsweek magazine from 1984 to 2011. He began his journalism career as a reporter on The Post business desk, from 1969 to 1973. From 1973 to 1976, he was a freelance writer. He was an economics reporter and columnist for National Journal magazine from 1976 to 1984 - when he joined Newsweek. He grew up in White Plains, N.Y., and attended Harvard College. He lives in Bethesda with his wife, Judith Herr. They have three grown childr en.Honors Awards: Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for commentary, 1998 Vox News video, November 30, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNla9nyRMmQV Vox is an American news and opinion website owned by Vox Media. The website was founded in April 2014 by Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias and Melissa Bell, and is noted for its concept of explanatory journalism.

The lost youth of all quiet essays

The lost youth of all quiet essays All Quiet on the Western Front Themes "We run, we throw, we shoot, we kill, we lie about, we are feeble, and spent... Paul Baumer A book of the tragedy of war expressed in sorrow by Erich Maria Remarque explains All Quiet on the Western Front to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure. Throughout this novel many themes are expressed that of which all sum up to the major themes of the senselessness of war. Comradeship, wars brutality, and the lost generation, these themes express the book in its purest form, showing it from a soldiers perspective. We are at rest five miles behind the front. The importance of this line, the opening line of the book, is to notice that Paul is a first-person narrator, and the first word of the book is We. This shows how Remarque wanted to display comradeship as such an importance. Being the only good thing to come out of the war comradeship takes a large place in the novel. Pauls closeness with his comrades begins to grow until he sees the enemy ads comrades with different uniforms. Comrade, I did not want to kill you.... But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response.... This was said after Paul killed Gerald Duval and realized he had a family and friends just like Paul. In Remarques epigraph he states that its dedicated to men destroyed by the war, this having two meanings to it, physically, and mentally. War brutality is highly expressed as Paul sees many of his friends die, and to many it doesnt touch them anymore. As he gets his leave its only misery and pain as he can never read books again or do any other favorite activity stating at the end of his leave simply, I ought never to have come on leave. The death, pain, suffering, starvation, and countless other reasons back up the statement o ...

People Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

People Management - Assignment Example These other steps are of great importance in the marketing sector, where a good relationship with the customer is the ultimate goal( Armstrong, 37) Human resource is one of the most difficult and challenging resources to manage. Humans have emotions as opposed to machines which can be programed to do various tasks. Skills on management of people who are hard to manage are therefore very necessary. Most of the time the hardest challenges have the simplest solutions. First the managers have to accept that management is cumbersome and stop fighting it. This helps in approaching delicate employees’ issues with positivity. Secondly, they should face those issues head on and solve them promptly. In order to handle the challenges effectively, they should see them both from the managerial and employee perspective. Employees can sometimes be very difficult and stressful to deal with, therefore help from others like a colleague, a mentor or one’ own manager, would be very helpful. Their response about a given employee would be very critical in decision making. Setting up of clear and measurable goals is also an important to ol when evaluating individual employee’s performance. Lastly, they should view employees from the perspective of â€Å"a liability or an asset†. If an employee is an asset, keep him/her but if a liability let go (Richardson, 36). 1. Have a one-on-one discussion with her. Make her free to present her case and listen carefully to her concerns. This will help in coming up with an amicable solution to her problems. Listening to her would save the day because there could just be a mere misunderstanding. 2. Provide her with a crystal clear behavioral feedback. This would involve telling her what she should do differently to regain the trust of the customers. This may entail transferring her to another branch to meet new customers (Neil, 80). 3. Make a list of the mistakes Alexander has

Department of Political Economy _MA Public Policy _The Third Sector Essay

Department of Political Economy _MA Public Policy _The Third Sector and Public Policy - Essay Example Introduction Social, economical, and political spheres are critical in the wellbeing of society. These three spheres are inextricably linked, that is, the functioning of one sphere greatly relies on that of the other. Generally, public policies are shaped by economical, political, and social actions. The third sectors are critical in public policy as they integrate a wide range of institutions (governmental and non- governmental) into attaining set public policy objectives. Social capital is greatly considered as one of the key ingredients of the Third Sector and public policy (Coleman, 1988, p. 95). It is against this background that it is important to discuss what the term â€Å"social capital† means and its importance to public services. The term â€Å"social capital† has increasingly become the lexicon of everyday language; the term is gaining increasing popularity in public policy even though it is relatively new concept in the field of public policy. The term â₠¬Å"social capital† is defined in a number of ways. Even though there are different definitions to the term, there are certain aspects that create a point of convergence among all the users of the term. The users of this term agree that any definition of â€Å"social capital† should include some if not all of the following aspects: connection between individuals; clear distinction between economical and social capital; presence of contradictory and different social processes; involvement of reciprocity and trust principles; non- monetary forms of power and influence; and focus on positive aspects of social life (Portes, 1998, p. 8-9). So, how is â€Å"social capital† defined? According to the World Bank (1999), social capital encompasses norms, institutions, and relationships that shape the quantity and quality of interactions within the society. It implies that social capital is not simply the sum of institutions, norms and interactions that underpin the society, but rather they act as glue that holds the society together. Also, social capital is defined as the connections among individuals, norms of trustworthiness and reciprocity and social networks that arise from connections among individuals (Putnam 2000, p. 19). From this definition, it can be deduced that social capital requires that civic virtue be embedded in the reciprocal social relations. This is because a society needs connected and virtuous individuals for it to be considered rich in social capital. (Bourdieu 1983, p. 249) defines social capital as the aggregate of the potential or actual resources, which are connected to possession of a long-lasting network of institutionalized relationships of mutual recognition and acquaintance. From the above definitions, it is evidently clear that the term â€Å"social capital† cannot be defined entirely in a single definition that can cover all the aspects. The definition of this term seems to stem from a basic concern of explorin g processes of ensuring that there is equal access to resources, differentiation of power, and diminishing the essence of creation of elites and class formation. In most cases, the term â€Å"social capital† is defined against the term â€Å"economic capital†. Actually, there is a belief among many proponents of social capital that the concept seeks to correct the â€Å"wrongs† created by economic capital in the society (Alcock, 2010, p.

HSBC Bank Development Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

HSBC Bank Development - Case Study Example This paper is a review of its strategic planning and resulting growth along with a brief history of the company. The original Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was started in 1865 by a visionary Scottish businessman called Thomas Sutherland to facilitate growing trade between China and India and the Europe. The company began rapid expansion in Europe and USA even though the main focus was expansion in Asian countries. The company at that time grew large enough even to fund government projects in many developing countries in Asia. World War II saw many of its operations in Asia being closed down. The bank realised that focusing only on Asia was risky and began a expansion program mainly through acquisitions in Europe, Asia and the formation of a organization in the USA. The prominent acquisitions include the Hand Seng Bank, the Mercantile Bank and the British Bank of the Middle East (all in the Asia-Pacific region), the Marine Midland Bank (USA) and the Midland Bank (UK). "The formation of HSBC Holdings plc in 1991, creating a holding company for the entire Group with its shares quoted in London and Hong Kong, showed that the Group viewed Europe and the London market in particular, as a vital part of its future development." (Group History 1980-1999. 2009). A typical departmental structure is explained here. ... It should be noted that the structure is based on its policies of customer service policies and other strategies. The head of the structure is the CEO followed by nine departments. They are legal and financial control, Operations, Human resources, Commercial Banking, Internal Audit, Marketing, Treasury and Personal Financial Services. There is an administrative department under the financial control department. Under the Operations section, there are seven departments, namely IT, Support services, Property and security, Credit operations, Credit cards, Projects and Cash. The ATM department comes under Cash section. Under Commercial Banking, there are the Trade Services and Credit departments. Under the Personal Financial Services Department there are Customer Service, Teller Area, Consumer Finance and Loan Approving Department (for personal financial services). (Organization Chart. 2008). Group structure of HSBC Holdings Plc: Considering the size of the company, the organisational structure of the bank is extremely complex with seven major division and many other divisions formed under each of the seven ones mentioned above. The seven major divisions are HSBC Latin American Holdings (UK) Ltd, Grupo Financiero HSBC SA de CV, HSBC Investment Holdings Plc, HSBC Finance (Netherlands), HSBC Overseas Holding (UK) Ltd, and HSBC Bank Plc. As the name suggests, HSBC Latin America bases its operations in those countries while Grupo Financiero operates in Mexico. HSBC Investment Holding operates in UK and Taiwan. HSBC Finance headquartered in the Netherlands has operations in several countries (mainly in Asia) like Malaysia, Panama, Middle East, Hong Kong, China, Bermuda and Japan. It has control over the original Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking

The Unorganised Sector Issues And Concerns Essay Example for Free

The Unorganised Sector Issues And Concerns Essay Problems of Definition The bulk of the Indian labour force is employed in what is loosely referred to as unorganised sector. Most of them are neither organised nor hive any access to social security. Their employment is unprotected, their wages are extremely low, and a large section of them live under conditions below the poverty line. The developmental efforts by the state have done little to improve their living coalitions. This is a matter of concern not only for the trade unions but also for every rational person in this country. Defining the term unorganised sector is a difficult task indeed. Apart from the conceptual difficulties, the definition also depends on who is defining it and for what purpose. There are broadly three different usages of the term. Firstly, the government plan documents m-id demographic surveys extensively use the term. According to this usage, the unorganised sector is defined rather negatively, is comprising of the labour force that falls outside the organised sector. The organised sector is defined is the one covering labour force employed in all the enterprises in the public sector and only the non-agricultural establishments in the private sector employing 10 or more workers The criterion of 10 is derived from the Factories Act, which covers all the establishments employing 10 or more people. This definition though indicative of the structure of employment fails to qualify each sector, and therefore leaves many questions unanswered. It nonetheless serves the purpose of government planning and projections. Given the fact that unorganised sector accounts for more than 90% of the labour force in the country, the inadequacies of this definition as reflected in the statistical data, appear to be marginal, even though in actual terms the numbers may be very high. Another governmental source, which defines the unorganised sector, again for statistical and administrative purposes, is that of the Central Statistical Organisation. According to this definition, the unorganised sector includes all those unincorporated enterprises and  household industries (other than the organised ones) which are not regulated by any legislation and which do not maintain annual accounts or balance sheets. This definition also serves the limited administrative purposes, and does not qualify the sector. In any case, both the above definitions are based on the existing legal framework, whether concerning labour or business establishments, and are therefore liable to change with every change in legislation. Therefore, these definitions are hardly adequate tools for social analysis. The second source of definition of the term unorganised sector is literature in the economics discipline. Economists have tried to define this sector in terms of the organisation of capital, nature of products, technologies used (traditional or modern), the markets served (local or general) or the consumers of the products (rich or poor) The thesis has been that the unorganised sector is characterised by low technology that it caters to local markets and to consumers who come from the lower segment of the society. There are many difficulties with this definition too. Bannerji argues that attempts at clearly delineating the character of the unorganised sector have not been successful because such clear-cut demarcation is not universally valid. The exact combination of activities that actually exist in any one region at a given time, seem to be an outcome of the interaction of various factors such as complexity of the economy, the actual extent and distribution of control of investment resources and the technological choices available to that economy. Since the configuration of such factors is almost always specific to each situation, what is true of one country at one time, fails to apply to another Attempts to distinguish the two sectors on the basis of products, markets and technologies have a severe limitation, bec ause of the extensive linkages that exist between the sectors, very often the organised sector taking advantage of the low cost operation in the unorganised sector to manufacture its own products which are for general market. Moreover, bulk of the export goods are manufactured in tile unorganised sector through a systematic decentralisation of the production process and the putting-out system. The third usage of the term unorganised sector is by the trade unions and those concerned with labour. The attempt made by Nirmala Bannerji comes under this category of usage of the term. According to her, the unorganised sector usually consists of productive activities with  loosely formed groups bound by diverse types of informal working contracts. It includes a section of the self-employed, wage earners, family producers as also household workers. The significance of this definition is that it brings in the nature of employment relationship as the main factor that distinguishes organised from the unorganised sector. The unorganised sector consists of productive activities carried out by loosely formed groups which are bound by informal contracts. Even though Bannerji’s definition brings out the most imp ortant characteristic feature of the unorganised sector, from labours point of view, further exploration is required to get an insight into the complexity and the diversity of this sector. There are certain fundamental difficulties in using the existing categories of organised sector and unorganised sector for trade union purposes. Trade unions by their very nature are essentially concerned with protecting labour from exploitation and arbitrariness of whoever employs them. If labour Protection is taken is the basic criterion of the trade unions, then organised and unorganised cease to be homogeneous categories, because we find unprotected labour in both the sectors. Even though the unorganised sector accounts for the majority of them, even the organised sector has its own share of unprotected labour in the form of casual, contract, badli, and temporary workers whose employment conditions are similar to those in the unorganised sector. One may argue that the proportion of the unprotected labour in the organised sector is very marginal. This is however not true, because, during the eighties there has been a gradual decline in permanent employment accompanied by a sharp rise in the casual employment. A recent survey of seven major industries, commissioned by Friedrich Ebert Foundation in 1991, reports that during the eighties, in almost all the industries the proportion of casual and temporary employment has increased phenomenally, ranging between a quarter to nearly half of the total workforce. The National Sample Survey data also show a similar trend. According to this data, in the organised sector, the employment growth rate has declined from 2.48 per cent during 1977-78 1983 to 1.38 per cent during 1983 1987-88. In the organised manufacturing sector, particularly, employment had virtually stagnated during 1983- 1987-88. Given the above trends, from the trade union perspective, it would be fallacious to characterise organised sector as the protected sector, and the unorganised sector as the  unprotected sector. Apart from these conceptual difficulties, very often, among the trade union circles, there exists confusion between the terms unorganised sector and unorganised labour. Many use these terms synonymously, even though there is a substantial difference between the two. While the former refers to the unorganised part of the industry or the whole economy, the latter refers to workers who are not organised as trade unions. It is true that the bulk of the labour force in the unorganised sector is not organised, but at the same time there are also unorganised workers in the organised sector. Similarly, there are also some workers within the unorganised sector, as we shall see, who are organised as trade unions. From a purely trade union point of view, it may be more appropriate to use the terms protected sector and unprotected sector which cut across both organised and unorganised sectors. However, it would be impossible to totally discard the terms that are currently in use because the entire edifice of the statistical data is built on this foundation. Nonetheless, it would be useful to be aware of the inadequacies of the existing categories. One needs to be, particularly, careful while interpreting the official data. Labour in the Unorganised Sector Keeping the above mentioned definitional problems in view, let us now examine the salient features of the labour force in the unorganised sector as reflected in the official data. According to 1991 census, the total labour force in India is estimated to be 317 millions. Out of this, the organised sector employs only 26.8 millions (8.5 %), while the unorganised sector employs as many as 290.2 millions, (91.5 %) (See Chart 1 and Table 1). Pension scheme for agricultural labourers all over the country. As discussed earlier, the distinction between these two sectors is very crucial from the point of view of employment relationship. It is not clear from the census data whether the figures for the organised sector employment include the casual / contract workers also. If it does, then the proportion of the protected labour will be less than 8.5 per cent. While the majority of workers in the organised sector hive regular salaried jobs in the registered factories and service establishments, the workers in the unorganised sector are either self-employed or work as casual wage labourers in a wide range of sectors both non-agricultural and agricultural. The crucial distinction between the sectors is the nature of employment relationship. Going by Bannerji’s definition cited earlier, the unorganised sector includes agricultural labourers, construction workers, forest workers, fish workers, beedi workers, workers in smal l and tiny industrial units, powerloom and handloorn workers, self-employed workers, domestic workers and so on. If we use the term unprotected sector, then the list also includes all the casual / contract workers employed in the organised sector. Technically, labour laws do not differentiate between organised and unorganised sectors. However, in practice, they provide ample opportunities to the employers and their contractors to deny basic rights to certain categories of workers. As we shall see later, there are certain structural problems, which make, it difficult for workers to assert their rights. In the organised sector, for instance, the production strategies such as subcontracting, ancillarisation, etc., are essentially geared to by-pass the protective legislations. As a result, over the years, the proportion of casual and contract labour has  been increasing in almost all the industries in both private and public sector. An important characteristic feature of the unorganised sector is that it employs a large number of women. The relative proportion of female workers is very high in this sector. As shown in Table 1, only 4.2% of the total female workers (as defined in Census) are in the organised sector. The corresponding percentage for male workers is 10.2%. The difference is rather striking if we look at the absolute figures. As against 23 million male workers there are only 3.8 million female workers in the organised sector. That is, for every six male workers there is only one female worker. In contrast to this, in the unorganised sector, there are 86.8 million women workers against 203.4 million male workers. That is, there is one woman worker for every two and odd male workers. Table 2 shows the sex distribution in both the sectors. In the organised sector, women constitute 14.2%, whereas in the unorganised sector they constitute 30%. In terms of wages and earnings, there exists a substantial difference between the organised and the unorganised sectors. Table 3 shows the aggregate figures for the year 1981. Out of the total annual income of Rs.87,840 crores, the self-employed workers earned Rs.44,719 crores (50.9%,) while the wage and salary earners earned Rs.43,121 crores (49.1%). Within the wage earners category, the organised sector accounted for Rs.24,850 (28.3%) while the unorganised sector accounted for Rs.18,271 crores (20.8%). If we look at overall sector-wise figures by combining self-employed and the wage earners in the unorganised sector, we would get the broad picture of earnings in the unorganised sector in contrast to those in the organised sector. The unorganised sector accounts for 71.7 per cent of the total earnings in comparison to 28.3 of the organised sector. The organised sector workers, even though account for only nine-tenth of the total workforce, earn more than one-fourth (one third according to the latest figures) of the nations total wages and incomes. The figures of the average annual income per worker bring out the contrast between the sectors more sharply. While the organised sector worker earned Rs.10,851 per annum, the wage earner in the unorganised sector earned Rs.2,482 and the self-employed person earned Rs. 3,549. If we take the average of the unorganised sector as a whole, the figure would be much lower. These figures are for the year 1981, and the present figures in actual terms may be relatively higher. Issues and Concerns The primary concern regarding labour in the unorganised sector is that most of them live below the poverty line. Their access to the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, shelter, education, health and other forms of social security is extremely poor. One of the major reasons for this is that they are not organised. They lack organisations which can effectively represent their issues and problems at the national level. The established trade unions in the country, including the left unions, have completely neglected this sector. This is reflected in the membership figures of the central trade union organisations. According to the latest verification of membership conducted by the central government in 1990, the membership of the top five unions is around 10 millions, which is roughly around 3 per cent of the total working population in the country. Even though this includes both the organised sector as well as the unorganised sector, the proportion of the latter is very in significant. For example, according to 1980 figures, the INTUC, which at that time was the largest union, had only 15 unions in the agricultural sector with a membership of 25,931, which is slightly more than one per cent of its total membership of over 22 lakhs. Similarly, CITU hid only 14 unions with a membership of 2,212, which is less than one per cent of its total membership of over 3 lakhs. There are, of course, certain structural difficulties in organising workers in the unorganised sector. Unlike in. the organised sector, the existing conditions are not conducive to the functioning of trade unions. In the organised sector, that is, in large factories and other establishments, collective  bargaining institutions are well developed and trade unions are accepted as legitimate organisations representing workers. In other words, the means of struggle for better wage and working conditions are institutionalised. This is however not the case with the unorganised sector. The following are some of the problems at the very fundamental level in this sector. 1. Employment regulation In the unorganised sector the primary issue is regulation of employment. This is a very difficult task for unions to achieve. The employment contract is unwritten and informal. Workers are at the mercy of the employer. Giving an appointment letter is unheard of in this sector. By making the very employment relationship informal, the employer keeps himself out of the statutory obligations. Workers in order to make any legal claim have to first identified the employer and establish the employment relationship. Quite apart from these legal problems, since workers depend on the employer who may be a contractor or a middleman or the principal employer himself, for their sustenance, they dare not take recourse to legal action. This problem is more acute in the case of migrant workers, for instance, in the construction industry. Another means of bypassing a formal employment relationship adopted by trader-merchant-manufacturer is to utilise the home-based family labour. The so-called self employed workers in beedi, carpet, handloom, coir, hosiery and a host of other industries, come under this category. The trader-merchant-manufacturer or his middlemen provide the raw material to the home-based workers and collect the semi-finished or finished goods which they market themselves. The price that the workers get for their value-addition is very low and equivalent to wages, and their living conditions are no better than the wage labour. So, the self-employed who constitute nearly 56 per cent of the total workforce in the country are not really self-employed in the true sense. In the absence of a formal employment relationship the established trade unions, which are more used to functioning in the organised sector where all that they have to do is submit charter of demands and negotiate a reasonable bargain for the workers, find it extremely difficult to fight for workers in the unorganised sector. Trade union work in the unorganised sector is much more demanding and relates to certain structural changes of very fundamental  nature which requires struggle at various levels. The means and strategies to be adopted for achieving these changes also differ very much with those that are adopted in the organised sector. The following are the three different levels at which the trade unions in the unorganised sector have to fight. †¢ Grass-root Level †¢ Labour Courts †¢ Political Level At the grass-root level, as mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to identify a single, consistent employer to deal with. As a deliberate strategy, contractors keep changing from time to time in order to avoid any legal binding. Also, at times, workers themselves move from one workplace to another. In certain cases such as domestic workers, unions have to deal with multiple employers who are not concentrated in one place but scattered all over. Given such a wide variation and the fluid state of employer-employee relationship, unions in this sector have to evolve innovative strategies to fight for the basic rights of their members. The second level of struggle is in the labour courts. Since the employer-employee relationship in this sector is not institutionalised, the disputes invariably end up in litigation. For instance, in case of contract workers in the organised sector much of the trade union work involves fighting court cases, which demands not only determination on the part of the unions but also resources. This is one of the major reasons why the unions of the workers in the organised sector turn a blind eye to the plight of the contract and casual workers. The third and the most important level of struggle is at the political level for policy changes and enactment of protective legislation by the government. This requires the unions to have a wider support base coupled with political campaigns. 2. Lack of trade union consciousness In this sector the very idea of trade union organisation is new. Due to their insecure employment situation, workers are not always forthcoming to participate in the union activity. The unions have an extremely difficult task of gaining the confidence of workers to begin with, and then convincing them -about the importance of dealing with their employers collectively  rather than as individuals. 3. Struggle for legitimacy In the unorganised sector, the basic struggle of the trade unions is for legitimacy of their own existence and freedom to function as trade unions. They are confronted with hostile employers whose basic advantage in operating in the unorganised sector is its unregulated employment and availability of cheap labour. Since trade unions by their very nature fight for regulation of employment, better wages and social security measures, they strike it the very root of this advantage. This results in a bitter conflict in which very often the trade unions are at the receiving end. Given such hostility to any form of trade union activity in this sector, the union activists have to find various means of obtaining legitimacy. Where hostility is very high, the activists function only as a voluntary organisation. As the situation improves they start functioning both as a voluntary organisation as well as a trade union simultaneously. Since, by definition, these two types of organisations have different legal status the activists function as either, depending on the need and circumstance. Such a strategy is essential in order to continue the organisational effort in a hostile environment. 4. Issues related to development policy Trade unions in the unorganised sector are confronted with not merely employment and wage issues, but also are forced to raise certain fundamental issues related to developmental policy. This is so because, in various sectors, such as fisheries, forestry, agriculture, etc., the workers directly depend, on natural resources for their livelihood. Governments development policy has a direct bearing on their lives. For instance, the forest workers, who have for generations lived in forests and enjoyed certain customary rights over forest resources, are now confronted with modem developmental agencies such as state corporations which have drawn boundaries within the forest area depriving them of their traditional rights, and in many cases even displacing them. The local people depend on forests for fuel, fodder, and material to build their houses. The forest corporations which were created with the explicit purpose of directly taking up commercial activity related to forest resources, and thereby replacing  the middlemen who had been exploiting the forests, have, in reality, deprived the local peoples access to the forests. Another example is that of fish workers living near and around Chilika Lake located in Orissa on the eastern coast. Thousands of fish workers for generations hid depended on this lake for their livelihood. But now, with government leasing out the lake to private entrepreneurs for developing prawn culture for export, these workers have been debarred from fishing in the lake. Such issues, related to the governmental policy can be taken up only at the national level, which means that there should be a national level organisation to represent the interests of the unprotected workers in the unorganised sector. Today, unfortunately, such an organisation does not exist. 5. Lack of visibility Lastly, the workers in the unorganised sector lack visibility at the national level. In contrast to workers in the organised sector, their working conditions and problems hardly ever become subjects of national debate. This is best illustrates by the fact that the primary focus of the New Economic Policy is the organised sector. The question of exit policy has generated a great deal of debate, and become a politically sensitive issue. It is a different matter whether the government is genuinely concerned about the retrenched workers in the organised sector. The point is, in the unorganised sector, which employs more than 90% of the total workforce in the country, redundancies and retrenchments are a daily affair. Ironically, this issue has never merited a debate or discussion either in the media or in the trade union establishments. Source:Unprotected Labour in India – Issues and Concerns by Sarath Davala (ed.) Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 1994, pp:1-13.