Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree course of
By
Kalaiselvan
Enrolment No:
May 2010
Page No. : 1
Dedicated
To my beloved
Parents, Wife & Children
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INTRODUCTORY PAGES
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PREFACE
The Economic Liberalization has swept across in the last decade of this country has
brought into sharp focus the significance of the Quality Levels in the service sector.
The changed scenario of economy has led to a lot of change in the social setup
resulting in continuous and regular use of Insurance in the day to day life.
The Middle Class, Higher income group and Industries are increasingly using
Insurance owing to its affordable price and Benefits. But a large section of the Customers ,
Channel Partners and the Insurance companies are facing difficulties in maintaining service
quality levels and their market share.
This study attempts to bring out the service quality levels of the Bharti AXA
insurance through customer and Channel partners feedback and satisfaction levels in terms
of various tangible and intangible benefits and to suggest alternate strategies for further
improvement.
K.Kalaiselvan
Place : Bangalore,
Date : 24th May 2010
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Indeed, it is very appropriate to state here on the names of people who supported me
to complete my Project. Success is the epitome of not only hard work, perseverance, zeal,
steadfast determination but also guidance and encouragement served as a “beacon light” and
crowned my efforts with success.
With a deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness, I sincerely and whole heartedly
thank Dr. O P Goel, Academic Counselor, IGNOU Bangalore, my project supervisor for sparing
his valuable time, guidance and giving me valuable suggestions for improvement at every
stage of the project.
I shall be falling in my duties, if I forget to thank all the respondents, without their
active co-operation this study would have never been possible.
I also express my deep gratitude to my wife Dr.M.Prema, Sons: K.Kalai Raj & K.Santosh
Father-in-law Dr.S.Maruthappa, and colleagues : Mr.Rajesh & Mrs.B.Ramani, who supported
my efforts all through the study.
I am also thankful to Miss.Shalini who took lot of effort to help me in typing out the
entire project within a short period of time.
K.Kalaiselvan
Place : Bangalore
Date : 24th May 2010
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CONTENTS
Page No.
Preface
Acknowledgement
(vii) to
Table of Content
(ix)
Synopsis Approval
Originality certificate
(xiii) to
Bio-Data of the Author and Supervisor
(xv)
(xv) to
Synopsis
(xvii)
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1.6 Insurance Agents 10
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CONTENTS
Sl.No. Description Page No.
4.1 Findings
4.2 Conclusions
(viii)
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CONTENTS
Sl.No. Description Page No.
4.3 Recommendations
5. APPENDICES
6 REFERENCE SECTION
BIBLOGRAPHY
Abbreviation
Quote
(ix)
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SYNOPSIS APPROVAL
Page No. : 10
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
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GUIDE BIO-DATA
(xiii)
(xiv)
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SYNOPSIS
(xvii)
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CHAPTER – I
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1.1 INTRODUCTION : The service industry in our country started growing very fast
especially in metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai etc,. Economic
development led to structural changes in our social and cultural setups are the main factors
which resulted in sudden growth of Service sector. Understanding of the concept and the
Obviously, service is different from physical product. The specific characteristics of services
means ‘PLACE’ decisions relate to Location, Delivery and Coverage. The most important
decision element in the distribution strategy relates to the issue of location of the service so
classified into two categories- direct sales and sales via intermediaries.
Direct sales has specific marketing advantages as they help in maintaining better
control over how the service is provided or performed and also in obtaining direct feedback
from customers. Companies are using electronic channels for direct sales. Typical benefits
the companies see in electronic distribution of services are Consistent delivery for
standardized services, Low cost, Customer convenience, Wide distribution, Customer choice
Sales via Intermediaries: To the extent the middlemen exist in a service channel,
they are typically sales agents, since there are no inventories to be purchased or
distributed. Place decisions are therefore, all extra-corporate entities between producers
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and prospective users that is utilized to make the service available and/or convenient. A
Distribution Channel for service organization is, therefore, is a sequence of firms (or units)
configurations, which one can notice in service sector. Rathmell has suggested the
dominant channel configuration in the service sector where agents and brokers play the key
Agent or Broker
(Selling)
Agent or Broker
Agent or Broker
(Buying)
The major function of these agents and brokers is, like any other intermediary, to bring the
producer of service and the user or consumer together. There are obvious benefits in
distributing services through Agents and Brokers. Firstly, they help in reducing the selling
intermediaries possess special skills, expertise and the knowledge of local markets.
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However, these agents and brokers also pose some challenges. For example representation
of multiple service principals may lead to poaching in territories of others resulting in loss of
tangible representations are created and transferred. This type of channel is used for
marketing insurance services, where a contact document exists as a physical and tangible
Major issues which should be addressed before hand in deciding the distribution
strategy involving intermediaries: Conflict over objectives and performance, Conflict over
costs and rewards, Control of service quality, Empowerment versus control, and Channel
ambiguity
support. Also through training, it may develop the intermediary to deliver service quality
and gradually move to a cooperative management system and controls. The problem of
standardization and uniformity restrains the service organization to use middlemen to any
great extent and limit the geographical area which the service organizations propose to
individuals may be combined in a group and thus made more certain – small periodic
contribution by the individuals provide a fund, out of which those who suffer losses may be
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reimbursed. In addition to being a means to protect oneself, the Insurance Industry is an
effective conduit for the savings of people to be channeled towards economic growth. In
India, the Insurance Industry is more than 50 years old. It was monopolized by two Public
day-to-day activities of
Fig.2 Insurance schemes
the common man, business houses, industries, agriculturists and other service providers as
shown in fig.2. Insurance not only provides protection for individual and industry through
risk coverage; it also mobilizes funds for economic activity and encourages savings. Thus an
insurance cover is considered an important tool for economic stability. The insurance
The liberalization of the financial sectors in India was started in 1991 and carried
forward by successive governments. These reforms were carried out in a phased manner
and affected the entire financial sector. The insurance sector had been left out of this
reform process for a very long time. The passage of the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority of India (IRDA) bill in December 1999 has paved the way for the
entry of private players into this long neglected aspect of the Indian economy. However,
the opening up of this sector does not mean that its character will undergo a sea change.
The public sector behemoths will continue to enjoy a huge market share. It is up to the new
players to device innovative strategies to both grab business from the existing companies as
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well as expand the size of their pie. The new entrants will look for new channels of
distribution for their products. Banks will play a very important part as they are likely to act
as interfaces between the insurance companies and their prospective customers. The main
benefits of this new competitive environment will be to the consumer, who had limited
This report gives a brief background of the sector and proceeds to highlight the
shortcomings of the existing setup and players. The benefits of a liberalized sector are
enumerated. The report also tried to identify the market potential for insurance products
The number of potential buyers of insurance is certainly attractive but much of this
population might not be accessible. New insurers must segment the market carefully to
arrive at the appropriate products and pricing. Since distribution will be a key determinant
of success for all insurance companies regardless of age or ownership; a total change is
expected in the distribution network as the product move towards the mature stages of
sector has been the subject of much heated debate for some years. The policy makers were
in the catch 22 situation wherein for one they wanted competition, development and
growth of this insurance sector which is extremely essential for channeling the investments
in to the infrastructure sector. At the other end, the policy makers had the fears that the
insurance premium which are substantial, would seep out of the country; and wanted to
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have a cautious approach of opening for foreign participation in the sector. Though some
changes and some restrictive clauses as regards to the foreign participation were included
the IRDA has opened the doors for the private entry into insurance.
Whether the insurer is old or new, private or public, expanding the market will
present multitude of challenges and opportunities. But the key issues, possible trends,
opportunities and challenges that insurance sector will have still remained under the realms
potential private entrants expect to score in the areas of customer service, speed and
flexibility. They point out that their entry will mean better products and choice for the
consumer. The critics counter that the benefit will be slim, because new players will
concentrate on affluent, urban customers as foreign banks did until recently. Start-up costs-
such as those of setting up a conventional distribution network are large and high-end
niches offer better returns. However, the middle-market segment too has great potential.
Since insurance is a volumes game, private insurers would be best served by a middle-
market approach, targeting customer segments that are currently untapped. Exhibit –A
1.2.3 GLOBAL SCENARIO: The hypothesis that the private players would swamp the
market has been disproved in many emerging markets worldwide not only in case of the
insurance but in numerous different sectors (Power, Energy, Telecom, Insurance etc.).
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Exhibit - A illustrates the current scenario in Insurance
market
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Yet, multinational insurers are keenly interested in emerging insurance because
their home markets are saturated while emerging countries; like India have low insurance
penetrations and high growth rates. International insurers often derive a significant part of
their business from multinational operations. As early as 1994, many of the UK’s largest life
and general insurers derived 40% to 60% of their total premium from outside their home
markets. Though the global operations of the multinational insurers have an immense
impact on their typically foreign insurers take only a small share of an individual country’s
market. For example in Taiwan the foreign companies took only a 3% share even seven
years after opening up while in Korea, their share was barely 1% after 20 years. In India,
therefore, the new entrants would face the challenge of playing within a small share of a
1.2.4 UNTAPPED OPPORTUNITIES: There is no doubt that the potential market for
the buyers of insurance is significant in India and offers a great scope of growth. First, while
estimating the potential of the Indian insurance market we often tempt to look at it from
the perspective of macro-economic variables such as the ratio of premium to GDP which is
indeed comparatively low in India. For example, India’s life insurance premium as a
percentage of GDP is 1.3% to 1.5% against 5.2% in the US, 6.5% in the UK or 8% in South
Korea. But the fact is that; the large part of the India’s, (the number of potential buyers of
insurance) is certainly attractive. However, this ignores the difficulties of approaching this
population. New entrants in other mass industries such as consumer products or retail
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banking have discovered this after suffering heavy losses. Much of the demand may not be
accessible because of poor distribution, large distances or high costs relative to returns.
Secondly most new entrants have a tendency to target the business of existing
companies rather than expanding the market, this is myopic. This not only leads to intense
competition for the new players but also much of their effort is spent on trying to capture
existing customers by offering better service or other advantages. Hence, the benefits of
this strategy are likely to be limited. For example, 50% of the current demand for general
insurance comes from the corporate segment. The corporate are likely to shop around for
the best rates, products and service. Nevertheless, the corporate segment, as a whole will
not be a big growth area for new entrants. This is because penetration is already good,
companies receive good service because of their size and rates are tariff-governed. In both
volumes and profitability therefore, the scope for expansion is modest. A better approach
1.2.5 NEED OF INNOVATION FOR NICHE PRODUCTS & SERVICE : The new entrants
would be best served by micro-level two pronged strategies. First, is to introduce innovative
products offering a right mix of flexibility/risk/return depending which will suit the appetite
of the customers and the secondly they would target specific niches, which are poorly
(i) The first prong of a new insurer’s strategy could be to stimulate demand in areas
that are currently not served at all e.g. Indian general insurance focuses on the
manufacturing segment. Whereas, the services sector is taking a large and growing share of
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India’s GDP. This offers immense opportunities for expansion opportunities. e.g. revenue
the next ten years. Insurers could respond with various liability covers.
(ii) Being the agrarian economy again there are immense opportunities for the new
entrants to provide the liability and risks associated in this sector like weather insurance,
(iii) Financial sector is aggressively targeting retail investors. Housing finance, auto
finance, credit cards and consumer loans all offer an opportunity for insurance companies
to introduce new products like creditor insurance etc. Similarly, organized sector sale of
TVs, refrigerators, washing machines and audio systems in 1998 was around Rs.110 billion.
Only a negligible portion of these purchases was insured. Potential buyers for most of this
insurance lie in the middle class. Existing players can also profitably exploit these areas.
(iv) Life Insurance products have to compete with savings and mutual funds hence
market indices, inflation etc. making them more competitive and appropriate risk/return
appetite for different investors at present there are no such products. For instance, pure
protection products like term assurance account for up to 20% of policies sold in developed
countries. In India, the figure is less than 1% because policies are inflexible. They compete
with investment and savings options like mutual funds. It is imperative that they should
offer comparable returns and flexibility and there is immense scope of developing pure
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(v) The lack of a comprehensive social security system and demand for pension
products will be large. However, current penetration is poor. Making pension products into
attractive saving instruments would require only simple innovations already prevalent in
other markets. For example, their returns might be tied to index-linked funds or a specific
basket of equities. Buyers could be allowed to switch funds before the annuities begin and
(vi) Health insurance is another segment with great potential because existing Indian
products are insufficient. Till now, LIC’s Mediclaim scheme covered only 2.50 million
people. Indian products do not cover disability arising out of illness or disability for over 100
weeks due to accident. Neither do they cover a potential loss of earnings through disability.
Agents in a legal sense means a person who is employed to perform and act on half
of others (principal) for a price called as commission. Agents in life insurance context means
the person holding a valid license from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA)
any recognized Board/Institution, where the applicant resides in a place with a population
of five thousand or more as per the last census, should have passed in 10th Standard or
other place.
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1.3.2 PRACTICAL TRAINING: The applicant shall have completed from an approved
institution, at least, one hundred hours' practical training in life or general insurance
business, as the case may be, which may be spread over three to four weeks, where such
applicant is seeking license for the first time to act as insurance agent.
Provided that the applicant shall have completed from an approved institution, at
least, one hundred fifty hours' practical training in life and general insurance business,
which may be spread over six to eight weeks, where such applicant is seeking license for the
1.3.3 LICENSE: Where the applicant, referred to under sub-regulation should have
completed, at least, fifty hours' practical training from an approved institution viz:
(iii) An Associate/fellow of the Institute of Costs and Works Accountants of India, Kolkata.
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1.3.4 Renewal of license: An applicant, who has been granted a license after the
insurance agent, shall have completed, at least twenty-five hours' practical training in life or
general insurance business, as the case may be, from an approved institution.
Provided that such applicant before seeking renewal of license to act as a composite
insurance agent shall have completed from an approved institution, at least, fifty hours'
Insurance is system by which the losses suffered by a few are spread over many,
exposed to similar risks. Insurance is a protection against financial loss arising on the
happening of an unexpected event. Insurance policy helps in not only mitigating risks but
also provides a financial cushion against adverse financial burdens suffered. Insurance
policies cover the risk of life as well as other assets and valuables such as home,
automobiles, jewelry etc,. The functions of Insurance can be bifurcated into three parts:
against future risk, accidents and uncertainty. Insurance cannot check the happening of the
risk, but can certainly provide for the losses of risk. Insurance is actually a protection against
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(ii) Collective Bearing of Risk: Insurance is a device to share the financial loss of few
among many others. Insurance is a mean by which few losses are shared among larger
number of people. All the insured contribute the premiums towards a fund and out of
evaluating various factors that give rise to risk. Risk is the basis for determining the
(iv) Provide Certainty: Insurance is a device, which helps to change from uncertainty
to certainty. Insurance is device whereby the uncertain risks may be made more certain.
causes lesser payment to the assured by the insurer and this will encourage for more
savings by way of premium. Reduced rate of premiums stimulate for more business and
(ii) Small Capital to cover Larger Risks: Insurance relieves the businessmen from
security investments, by paying small amount of premium against larger risks and
uncertainty.
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(iii) Contributes towards the Development of Larger Industries: Insurance provides
development opportunity to those larger industries having more risks in their setting up.
Even the financial institutions may be prepared to give credit to sick industrial units which
(i) Means of Savings and Investment: Insurance serves as savings and investment,
insurance is a compulsory way of savings and it restricts the unnecessary expenses by the
insured's For the purpose of availing income-tax exemptions also, people invest in
insurance.
country can earn foreign exchange by way of issue of marine insurance policies and various
other ways.
(iii) Risk Free Trade: Insurance promotes exports insurance, which makes the
foreign trade risk free with the help of different types of policies under marine insurance.
telecom, agri business, financial services, retail and manufacturing. Bharti has been a
pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit. Bharti
Airtel has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The
Wall Street Journal. Bharti Teletech is the country’s largest manufacturer and exporter of
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telephone terminals. Bharti has joint ventures with AXA, world leader in financial protection
and wealth management, for Life Insurance, General Insurance and Asset Management.
Bharti has retail business under a company called Bharti Retail. It also has a joint venture -
Bharti Wal-Mart - with Wal-Mart for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain
AXA GROUP (AXA SA) : Since the AXA name was created in 1985, the Group's
growing international presence and wide range of quality products and services have
established. AXA as one of the few successful global brands in the financial services
industry. As of 31 December 2009, AXA had over 85 million clients worldwide, 135,000
employees, 91.2 billion Euros in consolidated revenues, 816 billion Euros in assets under
management, and 4,044 million Euros in underlying earnings. Headquartered in Paris and
active across all five continents in 55 countries. Group supports its clients, both individuals
and businesses, at every stage in their lives by providing products and services to meet their
AXA is listed on most of the world's major stock markets. The Group enjoys AA-
range ratings with the three leading global rating agencies. AXA was also ranked 15th in
2008’s FORTUNE GLOBAL 500 survey of “The World’s Largest Corporations”, and ranked top
under the category “Insurance: Life, health (stock)”. AXA was ranked no. 55 in Interbrand’s
list of “Top Global Brands” in the Business Week magazine published in September 2008.
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business and retail, and AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management.
The joint venture company has a 74% stake from Bharti and 26%
footprint of distributors trained to provide quality financial advice and insurance solutions
to large Indian customer base. As the company plans to expand its presence across the
country with a large network of distributors, it continues to provide innovative product and
service offerings to cater to specific insurance and wealth management needs of customers.
Retail : Bharti AXA has made available an array of insurance policies that one can
rely on for protection in various kinds of circumstances personal and business viz Motor,
personal accident, health, fire, marine, engineering, liability etc,. Security of family against
spiraling costs of hospital treatment. Insurance of car or two-wheeler against theft and
requirements is evident from these products which are flexible and cost-effective. From
micro-enterprises, SMEs to large corporations, Bharti AXA has addressed the risks faced by
them and provides the right insurance solution to manage those risks effectively. It brings
Rural : The many important economic activities that are carried in rural areas such
as farming, cattle rearing, sericulture etc. are exposed to several risks that threaten the
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livelihoods of the people engaged in them. Attentive to the needs to the rural sector, Bharti
AXA has a range of Rural Insurance products to mitigate those risks and offer financial
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS
"Our claim for car insurance has been now settled satisfactorily by your company. Thanks for the
quick actions and co-operation extended from your side in this regard."Anjali Kulkarni, Pune
"We are thankful to you and your service. Payment was made before commitment date. Thanks for
your support, and we are happy with your hospitality service."Babu, Radha Madhav Toyota,
Vijaywada
"We are very happy with the services received by Bharti AXA General Insurance."Mahesh Iyer,
TATA Chemicals, Rajkot
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Exhibit – C Publication by Bharti CEO
Page No. : 34
Exhibit – D Bharti : Insurance claim form
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CHAPTER – II
2.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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CHAPTER - II
(i) To ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the current distribution channel of
(ii) To ascertain the satisfaction level of the channel partners of the company, and
difficulties faced by them, if any, which may become hindrance to the company’s
growth?
(iii) To find out the comparative status of offerings of the channel partners of Bharti
The purpose of the study details to bring out information oriented descriptive research
report dealing with the service quality of Bharti AXA in Bangalore and its growth potential
through measuring customer and Channel Partners satisfaction. The study envisages
“Descriptive Research Design”. The study assures certain underlying characteristics of the
description research is put to much statistical analysis. Here, an attempt is made to study
on quality search for the Bharti AXA by assuming certain attributes sought by
customers/Channel Partners and measure their satisfaction level and thus enable the study
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to conclude whether the present quality level of the service is favorable to their own
Tools For Primary Data Collection : In this study, the popular method of collection
used to collect the data from the customers. The questions are formulated in advance; all
the required information is obtained an orderly and systematic manner through the
questionnaire. The exact wordings of the questions have been carefully worked out to
reduce the possibility in ambiguity and misunderstandings. The questions are put before all
respondents in the same order, it offers maximum control on the interviewing process and
information content. The reason for adapting structure direct interviews through
i. A structured questionnaire has fixed alternative answers to each question. They are
ii. Population to be covered is very large and study wishes to collect data about specific
In order to ensure that all respondents are able to give the information on the
questions asked, every care has been taken to limit the questions purposiveness to the
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required information. Questions are worded such that they are easily understood, they are
simple, and they are concrete and the question sequence conforms to respondents’ way of
thinking.
Sampling Plan: Sampling plan encompasses the target population, sampling unit,
sampling size and sampling method. In developing sampling Design, the first step is to
define population of the study consisting of all customers of Bharti AXA residing in
The sampling units considered in this study are an individual customer and channel
partners of Bharti AXA irrespective of gender, class, caste, creed, income etc. This is aimed
at defining strategy for the target market segment. The study envisaged simple random
Sample Size Determination: The exact sample size decision in a survey of this nature
(i) The average estimate of the responses to question asked i.e., if we try to get
responses from 10 people, only about 7 may respond and the remaining 3 may
refuse to respond.
(iii) The confidence with which it is desired to achieve the level of positive opinions
chosen.
The Data from the customers was collected using a structure questionnaire. After
doing a pilot survey of 10 respondents, the questionnaire was amended to make it simpler
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and easy understandable by the respondents. One hundred questionnaires were printed
and were personally administered by the researcher. The respondents were selected
randomly within Bangalore city limits and were reached in their offices and also at their
residences. One hundred completely filled up questionnaires were included in the study.
Another questionnaire was designed and used to collect primary data from the
channel partners ( the agents) of the Insurance companies. Twenty five agents , who deal in
The data collection instrument used for obtaining desired information is the
structured questionnaire for customer and Channel Partners. The same is appended as
Interviews : An attempt has been made in conducting the unstructured direct “In-
depth interviews” through probing questions from one to one interaction and discussions
to Bharti AXA employees, Bangalore office to obtain all the desired information considered
respondent was at ease. The level of vocabulary used to ensure that questions are fully
understood and good rapport was developed and maintained throughout the interviews.
The advantages of the interviews are : Its ability to discover and be explored at lengths. It
express interview.
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Secondary Data : As the secondary data about Bharti AXA in the city is scarcely
Name Address
Allianz Bajaj Life Insurance Legacy House, #6, 1st Floor, Convent Road (off Richmond
Company Ltd. Road),Bangalore 560 025
Metlife India Insurance Company Brigade Seshamahal, No. 5, Vani Vilas Road,
Pvt. Ltd. Basavanagudi, Bangalore-560 004.
Page No. : 42
2.4 LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN BANGALORE (continued)
Name Address
The data was collected personally by the researcher from between 5th May’10 and
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the age group of 25-40 followed by 32% in the age
2.6.4 Possession of Life insurance policy: All the respondents had at least one insurance
policy. Thirty eight percent of them had two policies and 14% had more than two policies.
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Chapter III
Page No. : 45
CHAPTER - III
The data collected from the field survey was processed and analyzed as laid down in
the research plan. The processing of data involved the following steps: Editing, Coding,
Classification and Tabulation of the data collected, so that they are amenable to analysis.
(i) Editing of Data: The editing of data involved a careful scrutiny of the completed
questionnaire. Raw data was examined to detect errors, omissions and to correct
questionnaire schedules were edited. Corrections were carried out for the obvious
could also be recorded by reviewing other information Such data was corrected for
obvious errors, such as an entry in the wrong place and in appropriate or missing
replies.
(ii) Coding of Data: For coding of data, Alphabetical symbols were assigned to the
However, the coding decision was made at designing stage of the questionnaire itself.
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(iii) Classification of Data: The raw data collected through the survey has been reduced
into homogenous groups for meaningful analysis. Thus the data was arranged in
attributes, qualitative classification is attempted to. All the classifications data were
(iv) Tabulation: The tabulation of data is made based on classification of data with
reference to certain variable. The tabulation of data is used for summarization and
summarization of data was made. The Tabulation is used to organize the information
and prepare a summary that highlights the salient features. Grouping of similar
The collected data has been analyzed keeping the research objectives in mind. It results
obtained have been divided into two parts: Analysis of Customers’ data and Analysis
Agents 58%
Internet 13%
Banks ATMs 5%
Page No. : 47
Table 3.1
Table no. 3.1 above depicts the preferred channels of customers while dealing in
their life insurance needs. As can be noticed very clearly that the customers in India still
believe in the concept of ‘an Insurance agent’ more than any other technologically
supported channel. Twenty four percent of the customers prefer to deal with the
companies through their branch offices, again eliminating the need to deal with the
Branches
The data in the table no 3.2 above has been compiled for only those respondents
who have reported to be using the subject channels. The agents of LIC are found to be
much better than any of the other insurance companies. Customers using internet mode of
buying an insurance or paying payment have reported Bharti AXA to be best, but as the no.
of such customers using internet is very small, the company will need to work on improving
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the other channels until the internet mode becomes much more popular among the
customers.
respondents between 5-10 years and 10% respondents for less than 5 years.
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According to chart no 3.2, majority of the respondent (49%) believe that covering
future uncertainty is the biggest benefit of insurance policy. Thirty nine percent & 12% of
them, respectively, believe that tax benefit and future investment are the biggest benefit
of life cover.
As can be noticed from the table no 3.3 , the most important feature, the customers
( 62%) look at while buying an insurance policy, has been reported as ’the returns and
benefits’ that included the life cover provided by the insurance policy.
Out of total 25 nos. of agents interviewed by the researcher, twenty one of them
reported to be dealing with more than insurance company , but 4 of them deals with LIC
only.
It is common for insurance agents to deal in multiple companies. As the data in chart
3.3 depicts, all the respondents deal in LIC policies where as 84 % of the agents deal in
Page No. : 50
Chart : 3.3
Page No. : 51
Chart :3.4 ( 5 point scale)
Life Insurance corporation has the widest range of products in the form of insurance
policies. Bharti AXA has been ranked at no. 4 at a rating of 3.9 on a 5 point scale (chart
no.3.4)
LIC and Bajaj Allianz has been reported to be the best insurance company when it
comes to value for money. As presented in the chart no 3.5, Bharti AXA along with ICICI
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(iii) Quality of Customer Service
ICICI has topped the list of best service providing companies. The data in chart no
3.6 reveals that LIC lags behind al the private sector insurance companies when it comes to
Chart 3.6
ICICI Prudential has emerged as the best claim settlement company with a rating of
Page No. : 53
Chart 3.10
Seventy Six percentages of the agents of Bharti AXA agents reported some or the
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3.3.6 Overall rating of Bharti AXA Insurance company by the channel Partners ( by only
those who deal into Bharti AXA along with at least one more company)
45% of the channel partners report that , on an overall basis, Bharti AXA is among
the top 10 insurance companies in the country, where as 35% of them feel it is among the
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CHAPTER - IV
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CHAPTER 4
4.1 FINDINGS:
(i) Biggest strength of Bharti AXA Insurance company can be attributed to its preparedness
towards using new channels of distribution in insurance sector. As the per capita usage
of internet is on a steep rise in the country, it looks quite obvious that more and more
(ii) Although the company has been fairing well in terms of customer service and value for
money along with its rival companies like ICICI, the management need to clearly
differentiate its product offerings to find a prominent place in the mind of the
customers.
(iii) Products offering is a relatively weaker area of Bharti AXA , when compared with LIC.
The company needs to identify the target segment and offer a complete solution to
the customers which can be clearly differentiated through a package of products and
services.
(iv) Until the time alternate channels of delivery assume significant importance, it is
necessary for any of the insurance company to keep its agents satisfied and motivated.
Majority of the agents reporting some of other kind of issue with Bharti AXA is a serious
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cause of concern which the management must address on priority. Seventy two of the
agents, not getting expected response from the company’s office or the call centre
(v) The channel partners have significant impact on the company’s top line as well as
bottom line. This becomes more important when the same agent also deals in the
competitive products. Almost half of the agents perceive Bharti AXA as a very mediocre
company falling into upper 10 companies in the sector. Until an agent is convinced that
the company which he represents is the best in the industry, the success possibilities of
4.2 CONCLUSIONS:
Life insurance industry of India is as old as it is in any other part of the world. A
number of players (over 250 in life insurance and about 100 in non-life insurance) mainly
with regional focus are present all across the country. However, the Government of India,
concerned by the unethical standards adopted by some players against the consumers,
nationalised the industry in two phases in 1956 (life insurance) and in 1972 (non-life
insurance). The insurance business of the country was then brought under two public sector
companies, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation of
India (GIC).
4.2.1 Insurance market in India : By any yardstick, India, with about 200 million middle
class households, presents a huge untapped potential for players in the insurance
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industry. Saturation of markets in many developed economies has made the Indian
market even more attractive for global insurance majors. With the per capita
income in India expected to grow at over 6% for the next 10 years and with
4.2.1 Winds of change : Reforms have marked the entry of many of the global insurance
majors into the Indian market in the form of joint ventures with Indian companies.
Some of the key names are AIG, New York Life, Allianz, Prudential, Standard Life, Sun
Life Canada and Old Mutual. The entry of new players has rejuvenated the erstwhile
The following are the key winds of change brought about by privatization :
(i) Market Expansion: There has been an overall expansion in the market. This
has been possible due to improved awareness levels thanks to the large number of
advertising campaigns launched by all the players. The scope for expansion is still
unlimited as virtually all the players are concentrating on large cities and towns -
except by LIC to an extent there was no significant attempt to tap the rural markets.
(ii) New Product Offerings: There has been a plethora of new and innovative
products offered by the new players, mainly from the stable of their international
partners. Customers have tremendous choice from a large variety of products from
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offered unbundled products with a variety of benefits as riders from which they can
choose. More customers are buying products and services based on their true needs
and not just traditional money-back policies, which is not considered very
appropriate for long-term protection and savings. However, there are still some key
(iii) Customer Service: Not unexpectedly, this was one area that witnessed the
most significant change with the entry of new players. There is an attempt to bring
latest technologies. Advice and need based selling is emerging through much better
trained sales force and advisors. There is improvement in response and turnaround
times in specific areas such as delivery of first policy receipt, policy document,
premium notice, final maturity payment, settlement of claims etc. However, there is
a long way to go and various customer surveys indicate that the standards are still
(iv) Channels of Distribution: Till two years back, the only mode of
distribution of life insurance products was through Agents. While agents continue to
channels are being offered to consumers. Some of them are bank ATMs, the
internet and direct marketing. Though it is too early to predict, the wide spread of
bank branch network in India could lead to bank assurance emerging as a significant
distribution mechanism.
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4.3 RECOMMENDATIONS :
(i) Companies must make general public aware about pros and cons of Insurance.
(ii) Companies must enhance the knowledge of people about their products i.e. they
be increased.
(iii) Consumers must be aware of the difference between the Health Insurance and
Life Insurance.
The study has given insights about the situation of channel partners with respect to
the offerings of Bharti AXA. Future studies can be directed towards identifying the key
constructs which can differentiate an insurance company from its nearest competitor.
Future studies could also be focused at the ways to increase use of alternate
distribution channels by creating awareness and possibly the companies having some tie up
with the cyber cafes for making it convenient and attractive for the larger customers base
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4.5 LIMITATIONS THE STUDY:
(i) Sample size of 100 respondents and 25 agents may not be large enough to
(ii) Though every effort was to make it an objective study, some biasness at the end
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CHAPTER - V
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APPENDIX - A
QUESTIONNAIRE- CUSTOMERS
A study with reference to Bharti AXA” The information provided by you shall be used
for academic purposes only. Kindly give your free responses. Your cooperation will be highly
appreciated.
Kalaiselvan
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4. Do you have any life insurance policy?
7. What do you think are the benefits of your life insurance policy?
8. Are you satisfied with the benefit available with your policy?
9. What are the features of the policy that are important for you?
(3) Rider Benefits (4) Premium paying Term (5) Returns & Benefits
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10. Are you satisfied with the following feature of the policy?
11. Are you satisfied with problem solving system of your insurance Company?
13. What is the chance of your buying (policy) from your earlier insurer?
14. Do you think your life insurance policy can give life to your beneficiaries after death?
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16. Is BHARTI AXA Insurance more affordable than the other Insurance available on your
nearest Area?
Agents
Internet
Banks ATMs
Any other
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18. Please rate your experience with the distribution channels of following Life
Insurance Companies ( with whom you have dealt- with ONLY) using a 5 point scale
Branch
LIC
ICICI Pru
Bharti AXA
HDFE Life
Bajaj Allianz
Any other
(Pls specify)
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APPENDIX – B
A study with reference to Bharti AXA” The information provided by you shall be used
for academic purposes only. Kindly give your free responses. Your cooperation will be highly
appreciated.
Kalaiselven
1. Which all insurance companies you deal in ? Pls tick whichever is applicable
LIC
ICICI Prudential
Bharti AXA
HDFC
Bajaj Allianz
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2 Based on your perception or experience, please rate the following insurance companies
on a scale of 1 to 5 ( 1 being worst and 5 being best ).
Product/Policies
Premium
Customer Service
Claim Settlements
3 If your have ticked on Bhaarti AXA in question no 1, please answer the following
questions
Yes / NO
4 How would you compare Bharti AXA with other insurance companies on an overall
basis ? Please tick any one
a) Best in Class
b) Among top 3
c) Among top 10
5 Would you like to share any other information about the company ? Please feel free to
write below
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Gupta, Pradeep and Bhyana, Sanjay, 'Insurance Sector: Challenges & Strategies', JIMS 8-
M, (October-December, 2002).
(February, 2004).
Rao, C.S., 'Insurance Industry: The Happening Sector', Chartered Financial Analyst,
(February, 2004).
Roy, Dilip and Banerjee, Saikat, 'Some Aspects of Insurance in the Context of Risk
JOURNALS
WEBSITES REFERRED
www.irdaindia.org.com
http://www.indiainfoline.com/bisc/insu.html
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http://www.mib.com/kd/html/India_InsuranceMarket_Next.html
http://www.einsuranceprofessional.com/artgeneva.htm
http://www.timesofmoney.com/insurance/jsp/insurance_news.jsp
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