ORGANIZATIONAL UNDERSTANDING BAIF DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH FOUNDATION

BY
Chirag Badala (28009) Prema Jaiswal (28028) Suman Sharma (28099)

Organization Traineeship Segment PRM-28

Submitted to

BAIF Development Research Foundation Faculty Guide: Prof. Madhavi Mehta

August, 2008 INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT, ANAND

Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Mr G.G. Sohani, Executive Vice President, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Maharashtra who gave us the opportunity of working in the organization and extended help we needed for completing this project. We are extremely thankful to our reporting officer Mr. Balwant Thorat who acted as a facilitator throughout the duration of the project and endowed us with his valuable suggestions. The project would not have been completed without the support and cooperation of the employees of BAIF. We sincerely thank all the employees of BAIF at Pune and employees of MITTRA at Yavatmal and Washim for giving us the required information. Last but not the least we are indebted to our faculty guide Prof. Madhavi Mehta for the valuable guidance and encouragement without which it would have been very difficult for us to take up this organization study. Chirag Badala (28009) Prema Jaiswal (28028) Suman Sharma (28099)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. II. III. IV. V. Title: Organizational Understanding Organization: BAIF Development Research Foundation Reporting Officer: Mr. Balwant Thorat Faculty Guide: Prof. Madhavi Mehta Students Name: Chirag Badala (28009), Prema Jaiswal (28028), Suman Sharma (28099)

Objective: To have an understanding of what an organization is all about. To know its activities, its strength and weaknesses. To understand how an organization comes into existence, how it grows, adapts and absorbs changes and sustains itself. To understand the interface between the organization and its external environment. To understand the perspectives and ethos of individuals as it exists in the organization. To understand the dynamics that comes into play at various levels in the organization

Methodology and Source of data: Appreciative enquiry, semi structured interviews with stakeholders, unstructured interviews, observation, and informal discussion constituted the primary sources. Secondary data sources consist of various documents available in the organization e.g. annual reports, project reports, HR manual, review details about each programme etc. An overall framework devised by IDRC was used to assess the organization. Major findings: Even as an NGO it seems to be a well balanced professionally managed organization with a horizontal and flexible structure. The horizontal structure was established from the inception itself with the mission to provide better opportunities for the professionals to apply their skills. The organization is working in 14 states and its core thematic work includes livelihood, agriculture etc. The organization has helped more than 2.5million families from its inception time by working in more than 40,000 villages. We also observed that over the passage of time BAIF is becoming a mentor to other organizations which are locally given the autonomy for decision making and project initiation. Financially too the organization is in stable position and security comes from the number of projects it is involved in and also the ones in pipeline. Conclusion and Recommendations: BAIF is well established in few development domains and its goal includes foraying into basic education for tribal communities which could be used by them in earning livelihood. The present organizations work area includes more of the plains and plateau regions; they could expand towards more hilly and desert areas. The spatial distributions of the organization acts as a hindrance in employees complete organizations detail work areas understanding and follow up. Performance appraisal needs to be more transparent and feedback could be discussed with the reporting head. Similarly the turnover rates needs to be checked to establish better progress in the field operation level. Also more motivated and groomed candidates could be selected for the organization. ii

Contents
1. 2. 2.1 2.1.1 3 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.6.1 6 6.1 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.4.1 6.4.2 6.4.3 6.4.4 6.4.5 6.5 6.6 Introduction ............................................................................................................ i Objectives of Our Study ........................................................................................ 1 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 1 Sources of data ........................................................................................................ 1 BAIF A Learning Organization ......................................................................... 2 Organizational Framework .................................................................................. 7 Organizational Motivation ....................................................................................... 8 Organizational Capacity .......................................................................................... 8 External Environment.............................................................................................. 9 Organizational Performance .................................................................................... 9 Organization Motivation: ..................................................................................... 9 Brief History of the Organization: ........................................................................... 9 Mission ................................................................................................................. 10 Vision.................................................................................................................... 10 BAIF Development and Research Foundations Logo ........................................... 11 Core Thematic Areas ............................................................................................. 11 Culture .................................................................................................................. 12 Interpreting culture ................................................................................................ 12 Organization Capacity: ......................................................................................... 9 Structure................................................................................................................ 17 Basic build-up of the organization.......................................................................... 19 Mintzberg model for understanding organization ................................................... 20 Dimensions of Organization .................................................................................. 21 Leadership............................................................................................................. 23 Human Resource ................................................................................................... 25 Human Resource planning ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Staffing Human Resources ..................................................................................... 27 Developing Human Resources ............................................................................... 29 Accessing and Rewarding Human Resources ......................................................... 31 Maintaining effective Staff Relations ..................................................................... 33 Infrastructure ......................................................................................................... 35 Technology............................................................................................................ 36 iii

6.7 6.7.1 6.7.2 6.8 6.8.1 6.8.2 6.8.3 6.8.4 7 7.1 7.2 7.2.1 7.2.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 8 8.1 8.2 8.2.1 8.2.2 8.2.3 8.2.4 8.3 9 10

Inter Organizational Linkages................................................................................ 37 Network:................................................................................................................ 38 Partnerships ........................................................................................................... 39 Process Management ............................................................................................. 39 Planning ................................................................................................................ 40 Problem-Solving and Decision-Making ................................................................. 40 Communications .................................................................................................... 41 Monitoring and Evaluation .................................................................................... 41 Organization Environment ................................................................................. 17 Legal Environment ................................................................................................ 43 Technological Environment ................................................................................... 44 Feedback Control Model:......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Management Control Systems: ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Political Environment ............................................................................................ 44 Economic Environment ......................................................................................... 45 Ecological Environment ........................................................................................ 45 Stakeholders .......................................................................................................... 45 Strategy of BAIF ................................................................................................... 50 Organizational Performance............................................................................... 17 Program Performance ............................................................................................ 53 Organizational Performance .................................................................................. 54 Effectiveness ......................................................................................................... 54 Risk taking ............................................................................................................ 55 Efficiency .............................................................................................................. 56 Ongoing Relevance ................................................................................................ 56 Financial performance ........................................................................................... 58 Conclusion: .......................................................................................................... 59 References ............................................................................................................ 59

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List of Tables
Table 1 Attrition assessment ................................................................................22 Table 2 Appraisal scoring pattern.....................................................28 Table 3 Innovation-Changes with time .........................................................................50

List of Figures
Figure 1 Learning Organization Framework.........................................................................3 Figure 2 - : The Organization Assessing Framework...............................................................7 Figure 3 Minntzberg Model for BAIF.................................................................................16 Figure 4 Assessing Leadership.............................................................................................19 Figure 5 Components of HR.............................................................................21 Figure 6 Employee breakup as per qualification.................................................................22 Figure 7 Gender breakup in associate organizations of BAIF...........................................23 Figure 8 Employee Breakup (Qualification wise) in Associte organizations...................24 Figure 9 Anand Narasimhan framework of Inter organizational relationship...........32 Figure 10 A simplified Feedback Control Model........................................38 Figure 11 Stakeholders of BAIF............................................................................40 Figure 12 Financial Analysis of BAIF..........................................52

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List of Annexure
Annexure 1 About Mani Bhai Desai.......................................................................................i Annexure 2 - BAIF Historical Mile Stones............................................................................viii Annexure 3 Coverage Table..................................................................................................xi Annexure 4 Board of Trustees..............................................................................................xii Annexure 5 BAIFs Associate Organizations......................................................................xiii Annexure 6 Questionnaire for Management.........................................................................xv Annexure 7 Questionnaire for Finance Department...........................................................xvii Annexure 8 Staff Questionnaire.........................................................................................xviii Annexure 9 Financial Performance Statements...................................................................xxi

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1. Introduction
As part of our Organisation Traineeship segment (OTS) we had the opportunity to work with Indias one of the most reputed and biggest NGO BAIF Development Research Foundation. We were placed with watershed team for our organizational action component, which can best be understood as BAIFs project wing. But the whole structure of the organization lies with human resource department. The operation of this department cuts across all the other departments of BAIF as all are inter related with each other. In this background it becomes important to study the departments and the inter linkages between the departments concerned.

2. Objectives of Our Study

Our study on the organization is mainly focused on getting an insight about the organisation and analysing its different dimensions on various aspects. The following are the major points we emphasized on while conducting our study

To understand the organizations inception, growth and adaptability to change To understand the perspectives and ethos of individuals as it exists in the organization To understand the dynamics that comes into play at various levels in the organization To understand the interface between the organization and its external environment To know organizations activities, its strength and weaknesses

2.1 Scope of Study

The scope of our study varied from BAIFs Pune office to the various associated organizations of BAIF across the country. We had considered Pune office which studying the HR of the organization whereas for the performance, capacity etc we had considered the overall span of BAIF.

2.2 Methodology
For our study of the organization, we studied all the departments within the organization and gain insights about its associate organizations. The various sources of data tapped and respective methodology is explained briefly below: 2.2.1 Sources of data

For our study we collected data from primary as well as secondary sources. 1

1. Primary sources

Interviews/ Questionnaires: We held structured interviews with the top management in the organization. This included Director of finance (refer to annexure no. 7), human resource (annexure no. 6) and senior advisors (annexure no. 6) of the organization. This gave us an overall insight into the functioning of the organization. questionnaire for management cadre can be referred to in annexure no 6. The

Structured and unstructured Interviews with middle level management: We had structured interview and open ended interactions with all the middle management and operational staff. It also enabled us to understand the problems at all the levels within the organization. The questionnaire can be referred to in annexure no 8.

Interaction with Vice President and Executive Vice President of BAIF: A brief discussion with them helped us understand the strategy, goals and challenges within the organization.

Unobtrusive Observation: We observed the work habits and peoples attitudes towards work by simply observing their style of working and interacting with them.

2. Secondary sources Annual reports of the organization Audit Report Byelaws Balance sheet and profit and loss statement of the Organization Organizational Literature Websites of the organization and that of the other sister organizations

3 BAIF A Learning Organization

Good leadership and sound management, however they are described, are a precursor to, but not a proxy for good work.. In order to be effective, development must be knowledge based. Knowing what works and why it is essential to success. Knowing what does not work is 2

equally important. Knowledge involves awareness, memory and the familiarity that develops with experience and learning, particularly true at an institutional level. The inability to learn and remember is a widespread failing of the development community as a whole. Among NGOs it is a particular problem, however, because there are few reasons to disseminate the positive lessons of development, and many more powerful reasons to conceal and forget the negative ones (Smillie 1995) A learning organization is one which is organized in such a way that learning is a prominent feature at a number of different levels: Individual learning Team or work group learning (sharing lessons between individuals together) Cross-functional learning (sharing lessons between departments and sections) Operational organizational learning (focused on improving practice, increasing effectiveness and efficiency) Strategic organizational learning (learning to deal with significant changes in the environment which affects the overall strategy of the organization).

According to Aiken & Briton, an organization which actively incorporated the experience and knowledge of its members and partners through the development of practices, policies, procedures and systems in ways which continuously improve its ability to set and achieve goals, satisfy stakeholders, develop its practice, value and develop its people and achieve its mission with its constituency is a learning organization. BAIF with its decentralized structure and outreach also acts as a learning organization. We have used the Slims framework to analyze BAIF as a learning organization.

Figure 1. Learning Organization Framework

Eight key functions of a learning organization (based on Slim, 1993)

Supporting Culture In BAIF, conducive environment is ensured for all the employees to share their learnings and encourage them to contribute in the organizational learning. Employees are encouraged to share their experiences by writing case studies or research papers and they are rewarded adequately. Senior management encourages its employees to do research and find innovative ways of doing things. Employees in BAIF have full autonomy to take decisions and discuss it with their supervisors in case if there is any disagreement. The employees are given enough training based on their needs and requirements of the projects.

Gathering Internal Experience The process of gathering experience needs to be one based on sharing and exchange. In BAIF, there is a monthly meeting in which the experiences and progress of all the projects are shared by the respective project leaders. In that way, the best practices in any project are shared with the other project teams also. BAIF has very well defined monitoring, review and evaluation procedure for its project and programmes. At the end of each project the learnings and observations are documented and shared with the concerned stakeholders. Employees at all levels are encouraged to learn regularly from their work and share these learnings with other parts of the organization. The best practices in each project are documented and published in the quarterly BAIF Journal, which is circulated to all its associated organizations. 4

Access to External Learning Organizational learning in NGOs has two major sources: what the organization does and what others do. BAIF works with many other NGOs. It basically acts as a Resource Support Organization (RSO) in many projects. For e.g. in NHWDP project it is acting as RSO for 6 districts of Maharashtra, where it is working with other NGOs who are acting as Project Implementing Agencies (PIA). BAIF gives them training and other support as and when required. It also learns from other organizations and encourages its employees to develop a wide range of contacts with other agencies and to learn actively from their experience. BAIF is also a part of wide range of networks where it deals with other organizations and uses these platforms to gather useful knowledge and skills. Being a leader in the sector, BAIFs methodology is used as benchmark by other upcoming organizations.

Communication Systems The communication style in BAIF has tended towards both the heavy and light ends of the spectrum. At the heavy end they have reports and training courses and at the light end they have informal conversations between employees at field level. Internal network in BAIF also plays a useful role in filling the gap between heavy and light communication systems individuals pass on ideas and contacts by emails. Team meetings, monthly meetings, presentations, BAIF Journal etc all plays a part in sharing information and learning between individuals, teams and sections. The information flow in BAIF as judged by the employees is satisfactory and they get information whenever they require. But, still at the field level use of technology is an issue, although the organization encourages every employee to share the information by the best available means. Some of the associated organizations of BAIF have their own websites where they publish their work as well as best practices. The organization is also in the process to develop websites for all its associated organizations, which will act as a platform for information sharing.

Mechanisms for Drawing Conclusions The process of drawing conclusions and identifying lessons learned is the main characteristic which differentiates organizational learning from simple information exchange. In BAIF, learning from experience is seen as everyones business which includes the field staff as well as the Project leader. Although the inferences vary from person to person, still they are encouraged to learn from the past experiences. This individual learning is then reflected in the mechanism of drawing conclusions by the organization, although there is no set process to take in to account these experiences but the 5

individuals bring in their experiences when they form a team and conclusions are drawn. Being a professionally managed organization BAIF gives much emphasis on proper analysis of monitoring and evaluation reports and also employees are qualified enough to convert the baseline data in to useable information. The mangers regularly visit the fields and encourage the employees to constantly ask themselves of doing things in a better way. Besides this BAIF also takes help of external people to monitor their projects so that BAIF can understand the project from a different angle, for e.g.: BAIF works with IRMA, where participants from IRMA are given projects to evaluate some of their live projects and their recommendations and suggestions are then taken as a external feedback and conclusions are drawn on them.

Organizational Memory Remembering is a crucial element of organizational learning. Although it is true to say that organizations cannot learn, it is reasonable to say that organization can forget. BAIF has a centralized library where all the publications are kept. BAIF publishes quarterly BAIF Journal which is circulated to all the associated organizations. Each associate organization sends their progress reports along with some case studies to be published in BAIF Journal. Besides, this BAIF also publishes many books on different sectors such as watershed, health, peoples organizations etc. But most of the publications are written by the Management Cadre people. The annual report of BAIF also contains case studies from other associated organizations. BAIF has to work more in this area, to ensure proper participation from all level of employees.

Integration of Learning into Strategy and Policy One way of building lessons learned into the fabric of a NGO is to develop policy and procedures which reflects organizational learning. This provides the NGO with a framework for decision-making and resource allocation which is grounded in the organizations own experience and that of other agencies. The policy making is mostly done by the Core Management Group, but it takes in to consideration the learnings from past experiences and forthcoming challenges. These learnings become an integrated part of every policy making by virtue of the individual members who are part of the team. The core management group involves people who are attached to BAIF from a long time and their understanding of the organization is in depth. This experience and understanding is reflected in to the strategies and policies that are formed. Besides that, each associate organization is empowered to take its own projects and formulate policies which are in sync with BAIFs mission and vision. The systems of planning, accounting, budgeting, financial reporting and 6

other supporting processes are also organized to assist learning.

Applying the Learning The ultimate test of learning is the ability to apply what has been learned. Since BAIF is a research organization it believes in development with research. The findings of research in one project are applied to other projects. And it works on continuously improving its learning to ensure increase in performance of the organization. Still, due to lack of robust communication system some of the information is lost, but it is generally ensured that the information which is very much relevant to the project is retained.

Organizational Framework

For our better understanding of the organization we have tried to analyze the organization based on a framework developed by IDRC in 1995. The framework encompasses the following areas: Measuring Organizational Performance Understanding the organization external environment Determining organization motivation Examining organization capacity The schematic representation of the framework is as shown below:

Figure 2: The Organization Assessing Framework

Source: An Organizational Assessment, IDRC, 1995 4.1 Organizational Motivation

It represents the underlying personality of the organization. It is what drives the members of the organization to perform. In this framework organizational motivation is assessed by analyzing a number of organizational dimensions.

One dimension that is examined is organizational evolution and history that is how and why the organization got started, what are its milestones and so forth. In a similar way, the organizations mission, values and vision is explored to understand the driving force behind it. The culture operating within an organization, and the incentives it offers, contribute to organizational motivation. Taken together, these factors give the organization its personality and affect its performance and quality of work.

4.2 Organizational Capacity

It is the ability of the organization to use its resources to perform. In this framework, strategic leadership involves the strategies by the leaders that set the direction for the organization. Program management looks at the ability of the organization to carry out its institutional role, while process management examines the way the organization manages its human relations and 8

work related interactions. Structure identifies the links between how an organization is governed and its mission, as well as the roles that human resources and finance plays in the organizations day to day activities. Finally, the framework describes the ability of the organization to manage its external relationships as inter institutional linkages.

4.3 External Environment

Organizations are open systems, and the external environment in which they operate is very important. They need support from the environment if they are to survive and perform well. The environment is the key factor in determining the level of available resources and the ease with which an organization can carry out its activities.

4.4 Organizational Performance

Most non-profit organizations view their performance in terms of how well they meet the mandates of their stated mission, purpose or goals. The framework defines an organization as a good performer when it balances effectiveness, efficiency and relevance while being financially viable.

5 Organization Motivation
Organization motivation can be explained under the following headings:

5.1 Brief History of the Organization:

It was March, 1946 - the dawn of Indian Independence. The brief sojourn of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi to Urulikanchan, a backward village near Pune, marked the turning point in community development. Promotion of community health through nature cure became a reality with the establishment of a Nature Cure Centre, managed by his trusted disciple Manibhai Desai (refer to annexure no.1). Unemployment, underemployment and erosion of natural resources being the root causes of poverty, Manibhai promoted income generation activities as the main plank of development. Cultivation of high yielding varieties of food crops, vegetables and fruits was his first successful venture but his successful experiments for improving non-descript cattle through cross breeding had greater potential to generate gainful self-employment for most of the poor farmers. The encouraging response from the rural community motivated Manibhai to establish the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) at Urulikanchan near Pune in 1967 and later renamed as BAIF Development Research Foundation, to replicate his novel programme in rural development. 9

President Zakir Hussain himself came down to Urulikanchan to inaugurate BAIF. Then he began leveraging his personal, political and business connections to build BAIF1. BAIF currently focuses on poor rural families to provide sustainable livelihood, health, literacy, clean environment, strong grass root organizations and better quality of life, using degraded natural resources like land, water, livestock and vegetation.( Source: Based on article Better quality of life: A long way to go, Dr. Manibhai Desai) The programmes are implemented through various Associate Organizations. BAIF is now present in around 2.70 million families spread across 45,000 villages in 14 states, as can be referred from the annexure no.3 about these states work area. More details about the evolution and present functionality can be obtained by annexure no. 2.

5.2 Mission
BAIF Development and Research Foundations mission is to create opportunities of gainful self employment for the rural families especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values. This is being achieved through development research effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and up gradation of skills and capabilities with community participation. BAIF is a non- political, secular and professionally managed organization.

5.3 Vision
1. A self-reliant and vibrant rural economy 2. Sustainable development of Rural India, free from poverty and hunger 3. A literate and enlightened Rural Community who care for the conservation of natural resources and a clean environment 4. Rural Society, with a priority to * Reduce child mortality * Ensure safe potable water in all villages * Promote community health, family welfare and better quality of life * Gender equity and social equality * High moral values free from drugs and narcotic addiction

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5. Empowered Society especially of the weaker sections, capable of self governance

5.4 BAIF Development and Research Foundations Logo

The BAIF Development and Research Foundations Logo is a symbolic representation of the Mission of BAIF in Rural Development. It is a visual portrayal of the four important natural resources Land Livestock Water and Vegetation

Anna Bahu Kurveet Tadh Vratam as inscribed in the epitaph, signifies BAIF's commitment to the conservation of these precious natural resources and to promote abundant agricultural production from land.

The crossbred cows located strategically in the centre depicts the efficient conversion of coarse fiber from straws of sorghum, millet, bajra and wheat into milk which is a major source of protein in the diet of the poor rural people, without suppressing the production of food grains. The two milk bottles embedded in the soil signify milk being a product of earth. The microscope highlights the role of research in rural development.

The wheel symbolizes the blend of science, technology and industrial approach towards agriculture practiced by small farmers.

The petals of the blooming lotus form a bell and are synonymous with rural prosperity.

5.5 Core Thematic Areas

Livestock development Agriculture Natural Resource Management Community Health 11

Women Empowerment Agri-business

5.6 Culture
Culture is the set of values, norms, guiding beliefs, and understanding that is shared by members of an organization and is taught to new members. It mostly represents the unwritten part, feeling part of the organization. Every member is the part of the culture of BAIF. In BAIF culture provides employees with a sense of organizational identity and generates in them a commitment to BAIFs mission and vision of working with rural poor. The description on culture below is of BAIFs Pune head office.

5.6.1

Interpreting culture Rites and Ceremonies

An important event at BAIF is the celebration of foundation day ever year on 24th August. This event symbolizes BAIF as a multi disciplinary organization working since four decades for upliftment of poorest of the poor and support that it gets from all its stakeholders. On an yearly basis in the month of November December Annual Employee Sports Event is held after office hours under staff welfare fund which

includes all Indoor games to inculcate team spirit and feeling of sportsmanship in them. There is also a tradition that newly recruited employees will organize New Year Party in the office on 31st December which includes games, skit and other cultural events in Amphi theatre CELEBRATION OF BAIFs 40th FOUNDATION DAY BAIF changed the lives of 2.7 million rural poor over a span of four decades. To commensurate the 40th foundation day of BAIF, a three day seminar in Urulikanchan was organized from 21-23 August 2007 followed by celebration of foundation day on 24 August. The function was attended by 250 employees of BAIF all over India. Seminars were conducted to highlight the achievement of each sister organization and subsequently token of appreciation was given to each employee who served for more than 5 years in management cadre and for more than 10 years in non-management cadre. Charity Commissioner of Mumbai was the chief guest on the main day of the function. The speech of the chief guest was followed by cultural event. 12

Stories

During Induction Programme, a short film based on the life of BAIFs founder Dr. Mani bhai Desai is shown to new employees to inform them about organizations founder and his basic principles. This film serves as an ideal for serving the organization. One of the famous story that we heard from senior employees at BAIF is narrated below: A PRUDENT LEADER In 1970 Dr. Manibhai Desai went to Copenhagen to raise fund for a livestock project. There he was invited to a discussion with a group of experts who made very embarrassing statement unless you bring down the livestock population by massive slaughter, you cannot improve cattle in India. So they put forward two proposals one, BAIF should accept a programme of massive slaughter and second, the Indians should accept beef eating. In reply to this statement Dr. Desai said that he is ready to accept both of his suggestion and will slaughter cows everyday but requested them to despatch an equal number of uterus of the cows. Then one of the member objected that they cannot despatch uterus as it cannot be fabricated and it is god gifted. Dr. Desais answer to this was that than why they are asking him to destroy what cannot be replaced. After this meeting Denmark officials agreed to give donations for livestock project. For the first time BAIF got a sanction for 3.2 million Danish Kroner.

Symbols

On the entrance of BAIFs office there is a large painting of size 30x10 cms depicting an ideal village i.e. Gram Swaraj as seen by Mahatma Gandhi which also signifies BAIFs vision. The painting focuses attention on generating self employment activities, pucca houses with good sanitation and proper drinking water facilities with contended village folk. Apart from this painting BAIFs logo and Dr. Manibhai Desai portrait was seen in cabins of Vice President and President. Rules and Customs

Rules and customs refer to what people can or should do in general, rather than the way 13

specific business processes are carried out. At the beginning of an organization's life there are few rules but as it evolves and more people become involved, rules and customs start appearing. These may relate to the way the organization operates or may govern the social conduct of staff.

At BAIF, we observed, Rules were like laws, are subject to the ratchet effect - they are instituted when problems arise, but never get relaxed or abolished when things improve. Customs gradually build up over a period of time. As per our interaction with the employees we came to know that earlier there was no rule of flexible timings in the organisation due to which female employees faced problem in reporting at 9:00 a.m. but now flexible timings is introduced from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., which motivated more females to join the organisation as now they could easily manage personal as well as professional life.

Dress Code at BAIF is not well defined as employees can wear any dress on job. However we did not see any out of the box styles being followed. People generally wore formals or semi formals. The project teams were very informal in their outlook and dealings.

Although the total number of employees in BAIF Pune head office is 178 the employees spend the majority of their time in a small group of a dozen or as an individual. This is because most of the work in the organization is project and team based giving little scope for interaction with other employees during project implementation phase. Interaction with other employees from different teams was seen during lunch hours, birthday party and other informal parties. Generally team level conflicts are handled at team level only.

Social behaviour is what gives any team the required cohesion. The members of a team generally get along well with each other, are they polite and treat each other with courtesy and socialize outside work. However, wanting to be friends with, or bond with everyone is unrealistic. In our study we found that 90 % of the employees claimed that they have good support from their peers and supervisor. Being polite in the office has become very important. In our two month stint we rarely came across people who were crass, rude, impatient or thoughtless in their office. This may also owe a lot to the kind of work the organization is into. 14

Attitude to work

Two different attitudes to work were seen in the organization- One where the people work to live' and the other where people 'live to work'. The first category people belonged who had no emotional attachment or extra-rational motivation to do what they were doing. Their work for them was a means to an end they enjoyed life outside the work environment and they joined development sector by chance with no proper motivation to work. However, numbers of such employees were only 10-15%. The latter category people belonged who were of less ambitious nature and development of the larger mass was their main motto in life. These employees constituted about 6 female employees who were satisfied with their work life as they could easily manage both personal and professional lives. There is no dearth of wellmotivated people in the BAIF working hard day and night for the cause of mission. There were many senior employees working for more than 10 years in BAIF. The following elements of encouraging environment were seen in BAIF:

Fair and equal treatment to all employees irrespective of caste, class and gender Clear, well defined objectives Rewarding good work with yearly performance appraisal Cohesive groups/teams for different projects Approachable management to all levels of employees

Technology

Since its inception BAIF focussed on building values for improved quality of life and good human values based on knowledge and wisdom from rural poor. This value of BAIF is reflected in every intervention as their focus is bottom up approach i.e., they transfer idea to farmers and adopt programmes according to their priorities.

BAIF is a professionally managed organization which believes in changing and adapting with time. With change in technology BAIF has also changed its style of working. BAIF consider that proper networking of people and department within the office premise on various ongoing projects is very important in order to cooperate and share information. For this each employee in the organization is sufficed with a Desktop with internet connection. Internal information sharing is well developed with Novell client as the operating system whereby each employee can access and share information on various sectoral issues, projects, training, 15

research and development, etc. Recently a major step is taken towards implementing Management Information System (MIS) in the organization. MIS is a computer based system that provides information and support for managerial decision making. In BAIF, MIS is not yet fully functional. Till date MIS is limited to specific project like- Peoples organization (PO) only. Due to decentralization of sister associates of BAIF, each sister associate reports directly to the concerned Vice President (each vice president takes charge of 2-3 sister associates) monthly and subsequently issues and concerns are discussed in quarterly meetings. Each sister associate has a separate MIS but centralized MIS is still missing at head quarters as BAIF is a big organization and process will require huge resources and time 5.6.2 Feedback Control Model:

Figure 3: A simplified Feedback Control Model

1.Set Strategic Goals

2.Establish Standards of Performance 3.Measure Actual Performance and Compare to Standards

4.Take Corrective action & changes as needed

In BAIF effective control system involves the use of feedback to determine whether organizational performance meets established goals and objectives. Feedback system is incorporated after every training programme in any discipline, Management development programme (MDP) and various other project feedback from funding agencies. The feedback control model helps in assessing actual to standards and correcting or changing activities as needed. e.g. In Yashwani project (helps in imparting 8 months residential training to 25 needy women for generating self employment in rural areas), funded by Sri Ratan Tata Trust

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(SRTT) which started last year was critically examined and proper feedback was taken from all the stakeholders before planning for this years work. Organizational motivation is very high among employees as 80% of the employees work because of their faith in organisation and for the noble cause of alleviating poverty and distress in India. All the old employees associate very closely with Dr. Manibhai Desai and takes pride in working with BAIF whose values, vision and mission takes about sustainability and bottom up approach. Flexibility provided by BAIF in the form of flexible timings, dress code, updated technology and decision making power further adds to their motivation.

6 Organization Capacity:
Organization capacity can be understood under following headings: 6.1 Structure: The organogram of BAIF is as shown in the following diagram. It shows the flat structure of the organization especially at the Core management group level.

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Figure 4: Organogram

Pl. Note CRS- Central Research Station CF Central Finance RCC Research Coordination Committee HRD-Human Resource Development PPD- Principal Program Director PD- Program Director CPC- Chief Program Coordinator

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6.1.1

Basic build-up of the organization

In BAIF there are 13 Board of Trustees who support as well look after the working of BAIF. Each of them represent excellence I their diverse fields. They have been incorporated for lifetime in the BoT, unless an exception of any particular BoT is required based on some grounds (disinterest, dysfunction etc). A few e.g. are Mrs. Sudha N. Murty, her association with BAIF is of help to BAIF in realising the unique partnership between industry and voluntary organizations in promoting sustainable livelihood in the country. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Trustee Baif, helps in establishing linkages with leading scientific institutions engaged in agricultural development.

They have elected the Mr. N.G. Hedge as Managing Trustee and President of BAIF.

There are four main divisions or groups which make sure that the organization runs smoothly. 1. Research Coordination Committee- This committee includes the three VicePresident, Director of Research and Chief Scientist. The role of this committee is to monitor the work related to research. BAIF has a Central Research Station (CSR) at Urulikanchan which is working in Embryo Transfer and Reproduction Biotechnology for livestock development. There are many other researches going on in CSR related to Agriculture, Seri culture and Wadi. The work of this committee is the analysis of working and planning of various projects and their related research work. 2. Core Management Group- This is the main group of BAIF which is supposed to make the organisation run. It constitute of President and Vice President who make plans for future and asses the present condition. They take all the strategic decision related to BAIF. 3. Thematic Core Groups- This group serves as the platform for discussion and knowledge sharing. The entire subject matter specialist like of Agronomy, Agri-horti-forestry (WADI), Livestock etc. are present and the related heads of the respective state societies. They all discuss about their related field issues in groups and also share their experience. Each thematic group is headed by a VP. They are guided by the Thematic group VP who not only direct them how 19

to work efficiently in a project but also how the future projects that the thematic group should undertake. 4. Executive Committee- There is also a functional Executive Committee which includes apart from the VPs and the Director, the Chief Program Coordinators. They are responsible for the fluent flow of the technical challenges if any arise. They are 14 in number and usually are BAIF employees working in the organization for long, who have got expertise in their respective fields and a through knowledge of the culture and functioning of BAIF.

6.1.2

Mintzberg model for understanding organization

Figure 5: Minntzberg Model for BAIF

Henry Mintzberg is a Canadian management thinker who is known as someone apart from the mainstream (of management thinking) able to analyze basic assumptions about managerial behavior. He had devised the following structure to help in the understanding of the structure of any organization. He divided the organization into five parts. We too have identified BAIF Development Research Foundation under these parts.

Strategic Apex: This is constituted by the top echelons who give direction to the organization. 20

They are the key strategic decision makers.

Middle Line: It comprises the the core management group (CMG) including the executive vice president, other five vice president and the president Dr. N.G. Hegde. They are a link between the apex (BoT) and the rest of the organization and help in not only implementation of decisions taken by BoT but also hold decision making powers in getting approvals about projects.

Techno Staff: These are the technically fluent employees (Chief Program Coordinator) who also perform the functions of supervising subordinates, implementation of the projects and the strategic decisions taken by the apex level.

Operating Core: They are the implementation staff. It includes the field employees who work with the farmers at grass root level directly. In BAIF this includes all the associate organizations field employees who work directly with the village/ cluster communities.

Support Staff: They include the employees who are indirectly involved in the overall functioning of the organization. They provide the indirect support e.g. the accountants, security staff, contract employees involved in cleaning, drivers and office administrators.

6.2 Dimensions of Organization

Centralisation- All the major decisions are taken at the head office only. But after the demise of the founder Mr. Manibhai Desai, there was gradual shift towards decentralisation. The present President and the Executive Vice President have made efforts for the sister associates to work on their own like BAIF under the leadership of Vice President at the top. They feel they are now big enough to handle the responsibility on their own and they should build their capacity by learning and gaining experience. According to their senior staffs BAIF has decentralized 4 years back but still major decisions related to financial matters and recruitment of permanent employees are under BAIF, Pune domain. Cattle Breeding Centre is fully decentralized. Formalisation- The employees in the BAIF are working under standard working schedule and process. But they are also having option of working differently as per 21

requirement. Senior staff gives juniors scope of digressing from the fixed way of working only if it helps the project to make more efficient and less costly. They also encourage the junior staff to find innovative way of completing the work. Complexity- BAIF is now working in 14 different states and in 45,000 villages across India. This means they have high spatial differentiation and due to high spatial differentiation they are having high horizontal differentiation with six Vice Presidents looking in the matters of 12 sister associates and CRS. They are also having number of layers within the organisation and different committees for smooth running of organisation. So we can say they are having complex structure. Area of Expertise- They are having specialist for each projects and for each department. They are known to be hard-tech at higher or strategic level. They are having highly qualified staff at the higher level because the strategy formed by them is having direct bearing on the poor beneficiary. They are soft-tech at lower level. Lower cadre staffs generally deal with local people in field level so they belong to local community and they hire graduate or under-graduates for these posts. They are only meant for implementing the programme. Departmentalisation- There are different departments present in the organisation for proper functioning. The departments include Finance, HR, Accounts, E.D.P, Administrative, Research and Project wing. They have audit along with monthly review meeting. But the organisation has the policy of giving encouragement to cross functionality. They feel that if the employee knows the working of other department it will help in better understanding and smoother working. For knowledge sharing there are two monthly meetings one related to project wing whereby project heads of each project informs other employees about their project status and other meeting on common issues related to organizations working as a whole. Responsibility- In the organisation employees are given responsibility on two bases. One the post he is handling and second the interest he/she has in taking other work or extra job responsibility. In the organisation employees are given job responsibility according to their calibre and nobody complaint about extra work pressure. The one who is interested in working for different projects also gets additional responsibility if the supervisor finds him suitable for the job. The employees who get new ideas are also 22

encouraged and he/she is asked to put his point in front of senior employees. If he/she is on the right path, then they are guided by the experts to make the new finding refined and workable in the project area.

6.3 Leadership
Leadership is basically the process through which leaders influence the attitudes, behaviors and values of others towards organizational goals (IDRC, 1995). Indeed no one can deny its critical importance to the success of any organization, no matter where the organization is located or what its purpose is.

At BAIF the leaders could be considered having the following qualities and competencies: Collaborators skilled at facilitating, coaching and fostering dialogue; Innovators skilled at visioning, championing and diffusing; Integrators skilled at organizing, improving and bridging; Producers skilled at targeting, improving and measuring;

Figure 6: Assessing Leadership

Collaborative leadership is observed at BAIF by the reporting officers by being very approachable to all employees. As discussed with almost all reporting subordinates they in 23

unison said that their boss was available whenever required. They were available for discussions, doubt clearing and showing direction.

Innovative leadership is observed at BAIF too. This is because in all departments not only projects are decided at the top echelon but also new projects which if comply with the mission and vision of the organization are supported by the leaders e.g. Nahari project running successfully in south Gujarat. Nahari Project is an initiative by the Women and Child Development (WDC) wing of BAIF where in they are helping the women in rural areas to establish Tiffin kitchens (dhabas) specializing in indigenous food recepies in towns close to their village. This is an innovative idea supported by Mr. B.K. Kakade (VP).

Integrative leadership is also undertaken. The leaders or heads sometimes try and find new projects. They also enthuse their subordinates to come up with out of the box ideas which could be later replicated too e.g. farm ponds of Hassan district in Karnataka. This is an example where ideas were improved upon and supported by the management echelons to keep its mission afloat.

Productive leadership is observed in BAIF at all levels. The projects are usually target based and so the leaders maintain and cross check the targets regularly. The quality is ranked high by all the top managements. The same thought is spread to their field staff. New ideas are welcomed and better monitoring and project evaluation is followed by the project leaders as well as the involved staff.

The above qualities are not restricted to top management or executives only but extend to employees at all levels of the organization. Leadership exists at many places in the organization, both formally and informally. When asked about autonomy at work place the response was that they enjoy complete independence when it comes to their defined work area. This showed that the leaders in BAIF are good at not only delegating work but if any one shows interest in taking up responsibility he does not face any golden axe by the top management. He is entitled freedom tethered by his post in the organization. So this helps in supporting even informal leadership in the organization. The formal leadership is also revered by the employees. We can say that there exists distributive leadership in the organization 24

wherein leadership is formally associated with the position(formal leadership) and also associated with taking up responsibility if required in certain situations or initiating an innovative multi-disciplinary approach to a research problem (informal leadership).

In the organization each employee believes that he/she could and should contribute to the success of the organization, act as a partner, be largely self directed, and assume responsibility for his/her actions and contributions.

6.4 Human Resource

Human resource management involves the planning, implementation and monitoring of the organizations labor force. Another way of looking at the organizations human resource is in terms of the human capital, which refers to the knowledge and skills of the labor force. Clearly the human resource of any organization is its most important asset. Critically important to effective human resource management is to develop and instill core values throughout the organization (IDRC, 1995). These values include integrity and honesty, commitment to the organizations mission, accountability for and pride in ones work, commitment to excellence and building trust. They form the basis for developing the cohesiveness and teamwork, as well as developing policies, procedures and programs that focus on meeting the needs of the village and other functional area of BAIF.

The following section examines five aspects of human resource management: planning, staffing, developing, accessing and rewarding, and maintaining effective relations.

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Figure 7: Components of HR

6.4.1

Planning

It involves forecasting the human resource needs of the organization and planning the steps necessary to meet these needs. It is also closely linked to the organizations strategic objectives and mission.

BAIF is 3808 employee strong organization, which includes its associated societys employees too. Its annual intake is growing because of the expansion in various regions and also its foray into newer domains. The Human Resource caters to this growing demand by recruiting from institutes like IIRM, Rahori Agriculture Institute, Poona Agriculture Institute and also some other management institutes. It also sometimes advertises for the job opening in the newspaper. The resource planning is based on the requirement of the MDMTC and also other associate society.

BAIF believes in placing professionals in the right place as defined in the mission of the organization. The follow the right person for the right job objective and try to adhere to it as far as possible.

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Table 1: Attrition assessment

STARTING PERIOD STRENGTH 1st April, 2006 to 183 30 19 ADDITION ATTRITION STRENGTH 172 CLOSING

31st March,2007 1st April, 2007 to 30 November,2007 Source: HR Data as on Aug 07 172 19 15 168

The above table shows the attrition for BAIF in terms of numbers from total strenght in the BAIF, Pune. We can find that about 10% attrition can be seen in BAIF on an average (for the given two time periods).

There is low availability of field personnel in the work sites. The

recruiting pool of

candidates (as sated earlier) from where they recruit is not very huge and is limited by factors like brain drain, labor market wages in the private sector being more attractive.

The management still does not see it as a threat. They say that they have a good name in the development sector and people are always available, especially who are more devoted towards serving the rural community. The planning does not include any provision for the growing attrition as yet. 6.4.2 Staffing

Staffing an organization means searching for, selecting and orienting individuals who have the appropriate rang of knowledge, skills, behavior and values to meet the organizations needs. Staffing is done at the centre as well as the associate state societies. Each of them identifies the kinds of human resource required to perform well in their region ranging from technical to non-technical staff. A good gender ratio is also tried to be maintained in the work place as seen from the figure below:

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Figure 8: Gender breakup in associate organizations of BAIF

Source: HR Data as on Aug 07

Figure 9: Employee Breakup (Qualification wise) in Associte organizations

Source: HR Data as on Aug 07

Each associate organization tries to maintain a good representation of qualified professionals too. This is indicated by the figure above. This helps them in resolving some technical issues without the interference of the head office always.

The common problem identified by us in the field during our stay was the lack of adequate 28

field staff in few of the work area. This is because of the available opportunities available to the employees. But each society tries to manage by incorporating more staff as and when required so that the implementation does not get hampered.

6.4.3

Developing Human Resources

Developing human resource means improving employee performance by increasing or improving their skills, knowledge and attitudes. The team involved for training in the organization at the central level comprises of Mrs. Meena Gokhlae and Ms. Arpita Saha. Both are management graduates from TISS and IIRM respectively. The two feel that building resource skills, knowledge and attitudes is becoming increasingly important as the organization is growing and foraying into new domains. Therefore they have designed the staff training and other development programs keeping the above in view. They both are not only involved in scheduling and co-coordinating the trainings for the year but also take active part in delivering the trainings too.

The training imparted can be classified under two heads: o Internal Training o External Training

6.4.3.1 Internal Training: could be further classified as follows: o Induction training: Every new employee of the organization undergoes a defined training module. The induction is mandatory for all new recruits at any level. It is usually class room based training wherein the modules is extensive and stretches up to 15 to 20 days as required. The module speaks about topics ranging from the history and evolution of BAIF as an organization to each of the field or sectors BAIF is involved in the country.

The new recruits who have no experience are sent for a 15 days residential stay in villages across the country to have firsthand experience of field realities. Initially this period was 3 months, but transition has happened over times and reduced to a fortnight only. They are given assignments to check on their learning from the fields too. Later they are sent to various state organizations or MDMTC itself 29

involves them as per the requirement and their profile.

Due to the growing need of the induction training now the training has been started at the state societys level too for their local recruited staff. The module remains more or less identical. o Management Development Programme (MDP): The induction training were for the new staff of BAIF while the MDP is for the experienced and in whom the organization sees the light to grow and spread the same to others, those who have leadership attributes and also could lead a swarm of new generations. Keeping these in mind the training is designed for the BAIF employees who have had minimum ten years of experience in the organization.

The training module includes soft skills training, presentation skill enhancement, financial management, HR related training, team building, technical know-hows, research area training, the latest technology and best practices followed. It also showcases the process or innovative procedures which could be replicated by these attendees in their own regions.

The training extends for 10-12 days when held in the central BAIF organization i.e. in MDMTC. Like the induction now the MDP is also being held in the state societies. The duration is about 8 days.

At both these trainings the common mission is to spread their learning to other employees in their regions. They do so by hosting training at their regions and the privileged few who attended the MDP spread the learning to their colleagues. This is a good practice as it helps in better understanding as well as wider spread of the same module to a bigger audience. Last years MDP also included topics like Agri- Tourism, carbon credit, retailing etc. Training as per requirement: The training department also recognizes the importance of training not just a few but also all who seem to be needy or interested in taking trainings on various allied subjects. The need and topics for such trainings are derived from the employees themselves via their performance 30

appraisal forms. Both the employee and their reporting head decides what more training could be imparted to them to enhance their profile and working capabilities. It could range from presentation know-hows to technical knowledge up gradation.

The advantage of having professionals in the training team has made all trainings very formalized. They had devised a training calendar for BAIF employees which was based on the requirements obtained from the employees directly apart from the regular induction and MDPs.

6.4.3.2 External Training: BAIF is involved in imparting and receiving external trainings too. BAIF employees are sent for other trainings for getting knowledge about the latest happenings in different sectors which could be of help for BAIF. Apart from technical trainings like SAP for MIS establishment in BAIF there are even soft skills training e.g. Mrs. Meena Gokhale had undergone a Time Management training organized by MAFO, Mumbai. She found it extremely helpful and would host one similar for the other teams in BAIF. Other e.g. includes MDP at IRMA, Gujarat, Aquadam (watershed based) in Pune etc.

There is no mandatory number of external trainings, but it is based on the requirement and interest of the employee.

6.4.4

Accessing and Rewarding Human Resources

An important aspect of human resource management function is the system and approach the organization uses to collect information and provide feedback to the individuals as well as teams. This means accessing the contribution of each staff member and also to distribute rewards (direct and indirect, monetary and non-monetary) within the legal regulations of the region and the organizations ability to pay.

Awards and Rewards included in several fields by BAIF are as follows:

31

o Dr. Manibhai Desai Fellowship: To encourage senior staff to take up special assignments in specific and development work related to BAIFs mission and programmes.

o Awards for Case Studies: To encourage documentation of BAIFs learning. 1st Prize Rs. 1000/3rd Prize Rs. 600/Consolation Prizes Rs. 200/- each (5). 2nd Prize Rs. 800/4th Prize Rs. 400/-

o Best Scientific Paper of the Year: To encourage the research work done by BAIF scientists in various aspects of Rural Development. Cash prize of Rs. 5000/- is awarded.

o Best Publication of the Year: To encourage the employees to publish their articles cash prize of Rs. 2500/- is awarded.

o Awards for Employees Children: To encourage and motivate children of the employees to study hard and to come out with flying colors in their SSC and HSC examination. A certificate of appreciation was awarded to all children who secured more than 75% in HSC and SSC.

Performance Appraisal is done to achieve the following: To assess the employees every year in the month of Jan-Feb before the release of Annual Increments in April every year. The Appraisal form which is self explanatory is to be completed in an objective manner The following codes are used to measure an employees performance in different areas which are significant to effective performance in his/her position.

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Table 2: Appraisal scoring pattern Above 80 60 - 79 Excellent Good Outstanding or exceptional performance Better than normally excepted producing results which exceeds the requirement of the position Performance which meets the usual requirements expected from the position Performance does not meet the requirement and is not acceptable

40 - 59

Normal

Below - 39

Poor

The salient aspects of the form are as follows: Who does the appraisal It is the responsibility of the Employees immediate supervisor to prepare the appraisal report. In this process s/he may like to associate his/her HoD or some other senior employee who has had the opportunity to interact with the employee so as to make the appraisal as objective and realistic as possible. The Supervisor assessing an employees performance should have had the chance to observe the employees performance at least six months. In case the employees supervisor has changed during the year, a joint appraisal by both supervisors is carried out. The process of appraisal calls for a face to face meeting between the employee and his reporting head, but mostly due to work load the reporting head is unable to meet the employee and thus they mark staff based on their judgment alone. This is an area of dissatisfaction amongst all employees. According to them the procedure is non transparent and inexplicable and sometimes they just get a feedback without getting a chance explain or discuss their work. But there is an annual team meeting wherein the team members define their objective for the year ahead and also showcase their work in front of the entire team. The peer review system is not present and HR does not still find the need for having a 3600 feedback for BAIF. 6.4.5 Maintaining effective Staff Relations

This aspect of the human resource management deals with all the programs and systems in place to ensure employees are protected and dealt with in accordance with appropriate 33

legislation. Following indicators define how the HR tries to define work rules for the staff and the opportunities given to them. Hours of Work

o Flexible timings (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.) Types of Leave

o Earned Leave (30 annually) for annual recuperation/ rest and fulfilment of personal, social or religious obligations of the employees o Casual Leave (7 annually) short periods of leave to meet emergent, special or unforeseen circumstances o Maternity Leave (3 months) continuity of service to eligible female employees during the period of absence from the job for commitment due to pregnancy o Paternity Leave (1 month) for male to take care of the baby as well as the family o Adoption Leave (1 month) for employees desirous of adopting child o Sabbatical Leave to employees desirous of taking up special assignments related to scientific and development work related to BAIFs mission and programmes. Discipline

When an employee commits any misconduct, organization may decide to impose suitable penalty depending on the seriousness of the misconduct. However, before taking any such disciplinary action, all opportunity will be given to the employee to explain his/ her action.

Gender Policy o To prevent/ stop/ redress sexual harassment at work place, which hinders organizational development o To provide for resolution, settlement or prosecution of such acts and o To ensure a safe, equal and gender-friendly workplace o To enhance equal opportunities for men and women at workplace o To enhance productivity by creating harassment-free-work environment, o To comply with good employment practices 34

o To organize in-house gender sensitisation programmes.

We found that the women found BAIF as a secure and safe workplace. They were respected by other employees as co-workers. A healthy gender ration was maintained and special emphasis was given to this at the time of recruitment. Grievance Handling

The objective of the grievance procedure is to facilitate that grievances are heard, investigated and if proved, justified, remedied promptly. The procedure is only for handling individual grievances and not group grievances. There was no reported case of grievances in BAIF since time of its inception.

BAIF has incorporated a number of HR rules and facilities for its employees. But the irony of the situation that we found in the organization was that the employees were not aware of all the HR policies. During our casual talks with the employees we found that some were completely unaware about leaves like Sabbatical, adoption leave or the Grievance redressal committee etc. They were also ignorant of the fact that there was a complied HR policy manual present in the library. Due to the small team size of HR (only 1 permanent and 1 advisor) the HR team was sometimes unapproachable by the employees. This emphasis on the fact that though the organization is successful in generating a very effective HR policy but it fails in generating awareness about it in its employees. Overall employees were found satisfied with the HR policy and found them favorable. They could concentrate on their work more as they did not have to face the nitty-gritty of policies of HR. Examples were found where in they did not had to sacrifice their personal life for the professional and so were happy to be in BAIF. The approachable team head gave them due permission to manage their schedule as long as the work was complete. This helped in not only generation of satisfaction amongst the employees but also quality for the project work and thus organizational performance also improved.

6.5 Infrastructure
While human resources and financial resource are quiet typically reviewed in most organizational assessment, more attention needs to be paid in developing countries like India 35

to the state of the infrastructure required to support organizational performance (Nourzad, 1997).

Infrastructure refers to the basic conditions (facilities and technology) that allow an organizations work to proceed e.g. reasonable space in a building with adequate lighting, clean water and a dependable supply of electricity, as well as viable transportation to and from work for employees.

The infrastructure provided to the BAIF employees is of great comfort. Initially they were accommodated in a 3 storey building in the Senapati Bapat road in Pune. But the demand for more sitting accommodation and better infrastructure gave way to the new office in Warje, Pune called Manibhai Desai Management Training Centre (MDMTC) in 1997. The office has a capacity to seat 150 employees providing each with an individual cubicle and computer system, a desk. All the sampled employees appreciated the physical office space provided to them (sitting space, ventilation). The management budget is around Rs.50, 000/ month for up keeping of the building and surrounding. An additional Rs.19, 850 is spent on the security contracted to Cross Way securities. The maintenance is also contracted to the M. P. Enterprises.

The building also provides for clean drinking water facilities, well providing mess, and good sanitation units. Typically the basis of many infrastructure problems is maintenance, which often suffers due to lack of recurrent budget for upkeep

6.6 Technology
The technological resources of an organization encompasses all of the equipment, machinery and systems (including the library, information systems hardware and software) that are essential for the organization to function properly.

Library was a built asset of BAIF from the time of MDMTC. It houses all the required books, journals, magazines, records that employees may need for the project. It also houses books from its own publication for the members and also for sale to the visitors. The amount from sale ranges from Rs 700 to Rs 5000 in a month. The librarian Mrs. Sunanda is always up to date with the latest functional Library Systems. BAIF has spent Rs. 13,000 on book keeping system purchase. 36

It also provided for the www.indiastat.com membership to its employees up till the last financial year. But this year the rise in the annual membership fees has restrained them from extending the membership. The present system of information sharing is via excel sheets, mails and network place sharing of some common drive spaces by the project leads. But the organization is ardent to install a better Management information system (MIS) for better information sharing in near future.

There is provision of internet facility for all employees in the BAIF, Pune office. But we found frequent complaints from the employees about slow access speed or unavailability of internet. They said it sometimes lags their work, in times of official mail correspondence, or searching about the latest happenings in the industry.

Still, the employees of BAIF feel that instruments of technology are merely tools for enhancing services and products, ideas must still inspire the technology.

6.7 Inter Organizational Linkages

For organizations engaged in creating and utilizing knowledge, it is vital to cultivate contacts with other institutions, organizations, and groups of strategic importance to the work. These may be potential collaborators and collegial bodies, potential funders, or key constituents. Formal links with others can result in a healthy exchange of approaches and resources (including knowledge and expertise) and can serve as an important reality check. The inter organizational relations can be measured on two levels: o Networks o Partnerships The following framework could be used to analyze each of the above levels.

37

Figure 10: Anand Narasimhan framework of Inter organizational relationship1

Partnership Other NGOs

Network Local NGOs

6.7.1

Network:

Networks are defined as groups of individuals or organizations that share a common interest and exchange information or resources in various forms on a regular or organized basis. Network members share a common problem or objective and are able to jointly define a common approach or strategy for finding solutions. They have long-term commitment as well as the technical competence to contribute to finding a solution. Weak members are being balanced by strong members; both formal and informal training is be provided through the network. BAIF is networked with a number of local NGOs in its operational areas to attain common goals to be achieved by the projects floated in that region. Its relationship with these networks can be explained in two ways: It shares an Institutionalism with a few NGOs for which it acts as a mentor where in coercive forces act between the two. As in the case of BAIFs relation with other NGOs or
1

Draft, Richard L, Understanding the theory and design of organization

38

stakeholders, it usually has more dominant position when it comes to power strategies. This is because over the time span it has created a name for itself in few domains and is ranked high in the country. There exists a power difference which leads to resource dependence (technological, know-hows etc) by the local NGO onto BAIF. The local NGOs with which BAIF is currently working are Dilasa (it fulfills its training needs), Gomukh etc. These organizations are up coming and need the mentoring provided by BAIF. While BAIF gets help in establishing its presence across the country via these organizations, also it gets local support and mobilization is already established by the local organizations.

Another relationship is of the Collaborative as the local NGOs could be of dissimilar types but the relationship can be formed as collaborative. The dependence is based on two factors; one is the available resource in the local community or work area and second on the discretion and monopoly over allocation and use. E.g. there are local networks in the Raurkela region to support the 15 villages around Raurekela Steel Plant (RSP). The CSR of RSP has initiated this work. BAIF is also working in the same region with NIRD to support KBK region of Orissa. It is hosting a joint study with NIRD and developing solutions that can be implemented and also involves the local community.

6.7.2

Partnerships

Over the past decade, new alliances, consortia, and partnerships have formed in both the developing and developed world to enable like-minded organizations to come together and share resources to achieve common goals and objectives.

Population Ecological relationship is also seen between different organizations working with BAIF under projects floated by government or other agencies. Here we can cite the example of an NABARD supported Holistic Watershed Development Programme (NHWDP) where a number of NGOs are working across the Vidarbha region on the common cause for elevating the poor in the distressed region. BAIF along with other competitive NGOs like WOTR is working in this programme.

6.8 Process Management

Taking a vision and making it a reality through smooth-flowing, daily work in an 39

organization is largely dependent on the ongoing "processes." These are the internal management systems the many mechanisms that guide interactions among people to ensure that ongoing work is accomplished rather than hindered or blocked. They include planning, communication, decision-making, problem-solving, monitoring, and evaluation. Every piece of work in an organization goes through these systems. The organizational processes involved in process management are: Planning Problem-solving and Decision-making Communications Monitoring and Evaluation Process management takes place at every level of an organization. Boards of trustees must know how to plan, problem-solve, and make timely decisions. According to BoT if they become deficient in these areas, organizational direction will often be hampered. These same processes are at work throughout the organization, albeit at more operational levels. For instance, project units and departments are able to set direction and create mechanisms to carry out activities in service of this direction. 6.8.1 Planning

The top echelons of organization are involved in the planning phase initially getting projects and conversing with the funders. But the actual planning is done by the project teams in consultation with the funding agencies. The team involved is headed by the project leader and he is supported by their reporting heads. The autonomy received is complete. Policy and procedure development are plans setting out courses of action for organization members. The planning of policies and procedures should provide direction adequately at all levels of the organization: for projects, for departments, and for the organization as a whole. The plans are followed well throughout and the plan is in phases for the whole duration of the project. The buffer time for each event in the plan is also taken care of during the planning. 6.8.2 Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Problem-solving and decision-making are two interacting and mutually reinforcing processes that must function well at every level of an organization. For the employees, these above processes entail the ability to define important problems, gather the data to frame the issue, 40

create a set of alternatives to deal with the problem, decide on solutions, create the conditions to carry out decisions, and monitor these decisions and the problem's progression. Timeliness is a key element in this process: Organization identifies important issues and act in a timely fashion in case any emergency occurs. E.g. A tractor was used in the fields in the NHWDP, Vidarbha region which was not permissible. But the field officer with help from the head office resolved it by taking immediate steps and conversing with NABARD over the default that has occurred. This also shows that the problem-solving and decision-making are skills found on the governing board and the ranks of senior managers. 6.8.3 Communications

The exchange of information and the achievement of shared understanding among members of an organization are vital goals of the internal communications function. In BAIF continuous communication, both formal and informal, about ongoing activities takes place. The transparency about the details is maintained by a number of ways like coordinating committees, newsletters, and meetings provide vehicles for transmitting correct messages. The meetings are project based once in a month detailing about the project status which includes the team members. There is also a provision for the monthly meeting of the BAIF Pune office where they share information about each project overview with other project teams and other employees. When asked about the transparency and adequacy of the information flow and the communication established all the employees questioned ranked it good (4 on a scale of 5). Aside from the specific information needed to carry out work, organization members are kept updated about the information to make them feel part of an important effort and a wider purpose. 6.8.4 Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring helps in clarifying program objectives, link activities and inputs to those objectives, set quantitative performance targets, collect data routinely, and feed results directly to those responsible. Evaluation looks at why and how results were or were not achieved, links specific activities to overall results, includes broader outcomes that are not readily quantifiable, explores unintended results, and provides generalizable lessons for adjustments to programs and policies to improve results. The monitoring in done at two levels usually for a project term- one at the output level (immediate level) and the other at the outcome level (long term results). The indicators are 41

selected keeping the broad objectives of the programme. But they keep a provision of modifying it little based on the local variations. They monitor the output level indicators on a frequent basis e.g. the NHWPD project is monitored every month and a report is generated. A six monthly report is also generated to consolidate the half year work. Organizations may use their own staff as evaluators (internal assessment) or evaluators from outside the organization (external assessment). The above are well documented before and after the project or process in BAIF. They give immense importance to not only work on field but also to obtain documentation at each phase so that a comparative study could be done in the later stage of the program.

In our process to understand BAIF in terms of organization capacity we sought eight heads. Each described some attribute of the organization as perceived by their work staff. The peoples view towards a number of these eight indicators was positive. They were cordial with their project leaders and the other team members. The resources were adequately supplied with the exception of a few (as mentioned earlier). But in our understanding of the organization we found that there was a certain level of complacency in most of the Pune office members. The relaxed atmosphere was inductive and sometimes valuable time was lost in cross talks during office hours. The flexible timing was used freely and by 5:30 pm the office was vacant. But this could not be generalized; few dedicated members were also encountered whose values matched those with the organization, the uplifting of the weaker section. The organization did give liberty to its employees but it could tether them a little more to motivate them to perform to their utmost.

7 Organization Environment
Organizations do not exist in vacuum. Each organization is set in a particular environment to which it is inextricably linked. It is the key factor in determining the level of available resources and the ease with which an organization can carry out its activities. This environment provides multiple contexts that affect the organization and its performance, what it produces, and how much it operates (Nabli and Nugent, 1989 from IDRC,Canada) Any effort to diagnose and improve the performance of an organization requires an understanding of the forces outside the organization that can facilitate or inhibit that performance. For better understanding of the BAIFs environment we have tried to analyse it 42

with the help of Lusthaus, Anderson and Murphys framework (IDRC (1995), Canada). The framework talks about the enabling environment and says that enabling environment is made up of the various components- Legal, Technological, Political, Economic, Ecological, Sociocultural and Stakeholder factor.

7.1 Legal Environment

Legal environment looks at the design and function of the organization as a whole. In BAIF the following acts are applicable which define its nature of working and legal aspects: 1. Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950: This act provides machinery of charity commissioners to regulate the administration of public religious and charitable trusts. 2. Income Tax Act, 1961: Organizations that meet the requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 501(c) (3) are exempt from federal income tax as charitable organizations. 3. Service Tax Act, 1994 4. Maharashtra Labour Welfare Act, 1953: This act provide for the constitution of a fund for the financing of activities to promote welfare of labour in the state of Maharashtra. 5. Provident Fund Act: This act provides for compulsory contributory fund for the future of an employee after his retirement or for his dependents in case of his early death. 6. Employees Pension Scheme Act, 1995: As per this act, the employer shall pay the contribution payable to the Employees' Pension Fund employed by him directly or by or through a contractor. 7. Profession Tax Act, 2004: In India, the State Governments are authorized to levy and collect professional tax on any income earned by an individual. A deduction of sum paid by the taxpayer on account of professional tax is allowed as a deduction from the income of the individual. However, the deduction is allowed in the year in which the tax is actually paid by the individual. 8. Minimum Wages Act, 1948: As per the law every individual working in any organization is entitled to get minimum wages. 9. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: This law is applicable in cases of disputes arising between employer and employee and employee-employee. BAIF comes under section 35 (1) (ii) which characterizes it as a charitable organization. This act characterizes it as a unique organization which can accept donations and is approved by 43

Ministry of Science and Technology as a Scientific Research organization. BAIF works in compliance with all the laws mentioned above which provides it a legal framework and any changes in the above mentioned laws would bring about a change in the working of BAIF.

7.2 Technological Environment

Technology refers to the work processes, techniques, machines and actions used to transform organizational inputs (materials, information, ideas) into outputs (products, services). BAIF is the pioneer organization who worked on livestock development. In order to keep pace with the changing technology in the field of livestock BAIF has always strived to be one among the best in this field. The ISO 9002 certified semen freezing laboratory now produces over two million doses of frozen semen annually. About 0.8 million doses are used by BAIF and rest are sent to other organisations engaged in dairy development. The semen testing laboratory in Urulikanchan is among the top four laboratories of India. BAIF believes in enhancement of agricultural productivity and profitability through proven technological

intervention by ICAR and other agriculture institutes. As a part of innovation BAIFs wadi project on agro-horti culture has been a huge success and this model is replicated by many other development agencies to generate sustainable means of employment.

BAIF in its vision has emphasized on the use of development research, effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation for creating remunerative self employment at the door steps of the rural poor.

7.3 Political Environment

Variables of political environment include political setup, political instability, type of government and government transparency. BAIF was established during congress partys rule and it got immense support from the leaders at that time. Even with the shift of power to BJP government BAIF did not faced any difficulty in fulfilling its mission and vision. Over the years it has received tremendous support from all political parties. Today major portion of funds come from Government of India. BAIF is free of any political influence or political party and do not believe in unfair means of attaining projects/proposals/funds. It is purely non-political and secular organization. 44

7.4 Economic Environment

BAIFs working gets influenced with the change in economic and fiscal policies of the government. In 1983-84, Government of India changed the policy that corporate companies would not be exempted from Income Tax under section 35 (1) (ii) as a result of which all the companies stopped their support to BAIF and the organization faced huge financial crisis resulting in cessation of all the projects and inability to pay its employees. This year too due to rise in Inflation BAIF may approach government to support extra expenditure due to soaring prices. BAIF is of the view that it can work well only if government policies are pro poor.

7.5 Ecological Environment

BAIF works throughout different geographical areas of India. Its focus area is generally tribal belt of India where sources of income are meagre due to prevalence of marginal land. Due to fast depleting natural resources and increase in pollution BAIF recently forayed in conservation of soil and water activities through Watershed work in various areas. It is also involved in regeneration of degraded resources such as land, livestock, water, vegetation and manpower through Afforestation and bio-energy generation.

7.6 Stakeholders
The stakeholders are the entities who are linked with BAIF either supporting it in its mission or getting benefited due to the activities being taken up by the same. The following diagram pictorially depicts the stakeholders in BAIF. BAIF works in collaboration with central government, Maharashtra government and its other sister organization spread across 12 states in India. The funding is mostly from Government of India, International and National funding agencies. BAIF even works with many corporate organizations like sugar factories in Maharashtra in the initial years and in other Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) of the organization. Corporate indulge in CSR activities with BAIF due to social

appraisal/recognization and also to get exempted from 100% income tax clause. We have tried to identify key points of some of the major stakeholders in BAIF. They are as follows:

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Figure 11: Stakeholders of BAIF

a. Beneficiaries from the BAIFs Programme: BAIF believes that the focus of a programme should be on the rural family rather than on a village. Beneficiaries of BAIFs programme include all such rural poor families for whom the programme is designed. Over the last 40 years, BAIF has been able to identify the problems of the rural people and promote appropriate technologies for providing gainful self-employment and livelihood. Thus, these beneficiaries are the stakeholders in terms of the programmes and their needs. Till date about 2.7 million families have benefited spread across 45,000 villages in 14 states. The small case study below speaks the story of success (Source: BAIF annual report 20062007): IMPACT OF BAIF ON THE PROFILE OF BENEFICIARIES IN RURAL MAHARASTRA As per the study conducted by some of the BAIF officials in Ahmednagar, Nashik and Pune it was found that BAIFs programme reached over 90% families in the operational area. It was reported that 63.11% families earned an annual income between Rs. 16,001 to Rs.39,000 and 74.67% enjoyed better quality of life. 87.11% had brought additional area under cultivation. 87.55% reported increase in milk yield of their dairy animals. 89.33% are immunising children, 88.67 % have adopted improved hygiene and sanitation habits, 78.22% have adopted family planning, 70.67% are ensuring balanced diet and 83.56% reported availability of drinking water throughout the year. The beneficiaries had formed social organisations such as Wadi Tukadi and Gopal Gats. 46

During our field visits we found the work of BAIF satisfactory and beneficiaries were also satisfied with the efforts of BAIF. The living standards and knowledge domain of the villagers has increased significantly. Benefits of one such programme (NHWDP) of BAIF can be seen in the case study belowA STRONG WILL CAN EVEN CHEAT THE FATE AS PROVEN BY HASSAN IMAM PARSSWALE, A CASE STUDY NAME AGE EDUCATION WORKPLACE FAMILY ACHIEVMENTS Hassan Imam Parsswale 40 years Illiterate Surkhandi village, Washim district, Maharashtra Wife, two sons, two married daughters and himself Works as a labour in NHWDP. Blind yet known for his efficient and diligent working style.

Aankhen nahi hain, par zameen toh hai. Hassan Imam Parsswale

Our first impression about Hassan bhai was that he is faking blindness. He got up to greet us like any other men of the village, called for water for the guests and mat for them to sit upon. We were expecting someone with dark glasses completely dependent on his family and neighbours for help, but what we saw was surprising. He definitely was faking his blindness, we were sure. But after spending some time with him we realized that he was quick to grasp the direction of upcoming sounds and responded as required. Hassan bhai was born with this aliment of night blindness. He shares this problem with his other siblings. They all have lived life wherein the darkness grasps as the sun sets and this is compounding as more senile problems grasp them. All the five siblings fought with fate but Hassan bhai tried harder. Initially he was not only blind but landless too. But he has a talent that he can sense directions. He was a strong youngster who initially started as a wrestler and won a number of local and vicinity village matches. But then the earnings were not much from this profession. So he decided to use this gift of direction sense to his favour and started working in and around the village for some petty jobs until he himself is proficient in them. 47

Then he forayed for more by working as waged labour in government floated projects like Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). He used his earnings economically and gradually earned enough not only to provide 2 square meals to his family but also elevated the family from landless to land owning community in 1998. He today is a proud owner of 5 acres of land.

Even today he doesnt dissuade from hard work. He is working in the NHWDP run by BAIF and just needs to be directed the start point of the trench or the farm bund or the water way and he exactly knows how much to dig and how straight to go. He earned fifteen thousand last season from this work and plans to do much more this time. He repaid his last debts from this money. When asked what wants to do from the next earnings, he meekly smiles and says buy new land and hope many such programmes to come in near future from BAIF so that more poor could be benefitted. It was sad to see his fate that one of his sons suffers from polio. But like his father he too has not submitted to fate. He is inspired by his father and is a student of arts in the college in nearby Washim town. Hassan bhai is growing weaker as day passes by, but not his ambition to own lands and provide more amenities to his family. Now he doesnt have to go away from home and can earn a living closer to home. BAIF has provided for one more family a descent life and catered to make their dreams come to life.

b. Government: Being a multidisciplinary organisation, BAIF works in collaboration with the government. About 85% of the projects under BAIF are funded by Central government and various state governments and it works in close proximity with rules and guide lines of the government projects like National Agriculture Innovation Plan (NAIP), NABARD Supported Holistic Watershed Development Programme (NHWDP) and National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC). NHWDP is currently running in six distressed districts of Vidharba under Prime Ministers relief fund. NEAC is supported by Ministry of Environment and Forestry and NAIP by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).

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c.

Banks: Various financial Institutes that are supporting BAIFs programme are-Bank

of India, State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, United Western Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation and ICICI Bank.

d.

Trustees: BAIF is a professionally managed organization and its board of trustees

includes professionals from corporate organization which provides it an edge over other NGOs. These trustees help in building opinion and provide necessary inputs during decision making process. The list of its board of trustees is in annexure no 4.

e. Employees: There are about 3000 employees working all over India as one of the important stakeholder of BAIF. Among these about 78 are employed in BAIFs head office, Pune. Employees of head office includes office staff, Vice President, Executive Vice President and President who take important decisions regarding financial and project related activities. Other employees work in Associate sister organizations of BAIF as field staff and office staff. Employees in BAIF are dedicated towards development and work for the mission of the organization. f. BAIFs Sister Associates and other NGOs: BAIFs work is spread all over India in 12 states through its Sister Associate organization. Each sister organization works independently as a separate entity and carries out development work as per need of the grass root people in a particular state. BAIF also acts as a Resource Support Organization (RSO) for project like NHWDP and provides technical and managerial support to other NGOs like- SEWA, Gomukh, Dilasa, etc. apart from its own sister associates. BAIF has also been assigned as Regional Resource Agency (RRA) for NEAC project by Ministry of Environment and Forestry since 1986 to support other NGOs. The names of BAIFs sister organizations are in annexure no. 5. g. Funding Agencies: Funding agencies including National and International contribute about 15% of the total funds/grants received for the organization. Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), is providing regular funds to BAIF since 1993. Some of the major funding agencies include: Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), Canadian International Development Agency, International Development Research Centre, Embassy of France, India Canada Environment Facility, Deutsche Welthungerhilife-German Agro Action, NABARD, Council for the 49

Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology, ITC Ltd., National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Small Industries Development Bank of India, International Fund for Agriculture, Department for Development Cooperation, Project Concern International, JOP Group, University of Wales, The Scottish Agricultural College, University of Queensland, Stirling Throne Associates, International Crops Research Institute For Semiarid Tropics, United Nations Development Programme, International Livestock Research Institute, Vaishno Mal Malhotra Public Trust, Indian Petro Chemicals Co operation Ltd., Gokak Forbes Ltd., Hindustan lever Ltd.,Rourkela Steel Plant, J.R.D Tata Trust, Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Dudhsagar Dairy, Mehsana, Vasudhara Dairy, Chikhli, Intervet India Pvt. Ltd., Indian Institute of Management and many others. BAIFs stakeholder has increased over the years. In the initial years few beneficiaries, employees and few trustees were the stakeholders. As BAIF scaled its operation to all India level and people started recognising its quality work across the states its stakeholders has also increased which now includes major banks, international funding agencies, corporate houses, etc. Most important among all the stakeholders are the 2.7 million beneficiaries for whom BAIF and other stakeholders are working. BAIF has succeeded in building good relation with all its stakeholders. This network building would help BAIF immensely to serve its purpose in long run.

7.7 Strategy of BAIF

Current strategy: Their present structural strategy is to make the different sister associates working across the country totally autonomous. They want them to take decision on their own and BAIF head office will only provide the expertise knowledge to them. They also want these sister associates to become financially self-reliant like BAIF and have some source of income either charging for their service after some time or have some income generating units like Nursery, Fruit Processing, etc. Image makeover: After its inception BAIF was not much interested in getting recognition from people other than people of project area and was interested in completing its responsibility of development which they have taken. They also faced problem that maximum people know BAIF as an NGO for livestock development and not for other development activities. BAIF now has understood the importance of Mass Media, Print Media etc. and wants to use as a tool to make people aware that BAIF is not only related to livestock development but it is also dealing in many other 50

development activities. Secondly, they also want to make people, government agencies, different NGOs and other funding agencies aware about the development activities and intervention they have successfully completed or about the new one they have undertaken to show their strength as quality of work they do. Long term: Presently they are facing few problems like no proper documentation of the tacit knowledge of experienced staff that can be used by juniors for better understanding. They are not having proper information channels for sharing of experience of different sister associates. Many agencies have gained expertise in different fields but they are unable to share their experience like implementation and financial problems faced at the time of implementation and how they overcome. BAIF head office now wants to have some channel and common platform through which there could be cross learning and sharing of experience, simultaneously best works can be documented and circulated among different agencies. To overcome the problem of documentation of best practices and cross learning, the management is doing annual meetings, where heads of all the associate organizations come to one platform and discuss their progress as well as share their knowledge. BAIF has also taken the help of technology by building websites for some of the associated organizations like GRISERV, MITTRA, RRIDMA, DHRUVA etc. Also to improve upon the documentation of the tacit knowledge of the experienced staff, BAIF encourages its employees to write research papers and case studies and they are appropriately rewarded in the annual function. The second part of their long term strategy is to check their speed of spread across the country. They now dont want to accept every project they are getting from the government or funding agency. They want to be selective in choosing and with their vast expertise they want to play the role of enabling agency from programme implementing agency. According to Porters Competitive Strategies, BAIF follows a differentiation strategy from other NGOs. It has a highly decentralized structure and also working towards making it more decentralized. It has a flat structure with good horizontal coordination. BAIF over years has developed a strong capability in research. The founder of the BAIF, Mr. Manibhai Desai was of the view that research without development is of academic nature and development without research is not sustainable for long period. 51

So he had always given emphasis on development with research. BAIF also rewards its employees for taking some good research, innovation in some area etc. to encourage other employees to follow the same.

8 Overall Organizational Performance

A measurement of organizational performance needs to involve the perceptions of the organizations multiple constituencies or stakeholders, including those who work within the organization (Hassard & Parker, 1993). In other words, the concept of organizational performance is, at least in part, individually constructed. We had tried to analyze the performance of BAIF at four levels: The individual employee (performance appraisal) The team or small group (team performance) The program (program performance) The organization (organizational performance)

Individual/Team Performance The organization primarily has a project based work approach and this is clearly reflected even in the performance management of the organization. The appraisal system is loosely centered on the Management by Objective (MBO) philosophy wherein the Team leader discusses the tasks that the team members need to carry out on a daily and yearly basis. These tasks essentially define the code of conduct as well as the competency measures that would be expected out of employees. They also figure out the areas of interest and areas of improvement that a team member and the team leader jointly bring out after consultation. Sometimes the goals that the team member needs to achieve are decided by the team leader and then conveyed to the members. In case of a dissonance, the member is free to consult the team leader. But in most cases, the problems that are inherent with this form of appraisal which are namely miscommunication, information asymmetry etc. are considerably mitigated as the leader and the member share close personal association. For field associates, who have fixed tasks, appraisal is generally done on individual level, the goals set out for them are more or less homogeneous in nature. Sometimes the whole team can be called for a general body meeting and the targets can be fixed for the whole group and the choice of subdividing the targets into small attainable goals are given to the team members. 52

The appraisal system, as it is clearly discernable, is not uniform through the organization. There are a few major reasons for the same:i. Since the organization is primarily project based and has an adhocracy structure, most of the performance appraisal techniques followed differ both at the team level and project level. ii. The performance appraisal technique followed also depends on the nature of work. For example, field workers who generally have standardized jobs are graded on certain preestablished traits that most field workers would be expected to adhere to. The justification in favour of this type of appraisal is that since they perform a routinized job, it is easy to judge the performance based on traits. It is just not sufficient to have traits as performance measure because with the changing scenario and increasing responsibilities the job of field worker has not remain just routinized. iii. A greater management interest and intervention is observed at the higher level in the organizational hierarchy. So, while homogeneous goals are set at the field staff level, individual appraisal is taken up for each project coordinator and team leader. During the appraisal period, which is mandatory once a year but can be carried out as per the need of the team leader, the employees are evaluated on the basis of the tasks that were fixed at the start of the year. Use of Performance Appraisal The performance appraisal is used for employee development as well as for making promotion related decisions and increments. In the case where the performance is found unsatisfactory, warning is being given to the employee in terms of no increment or less increment. The team leader than analyses whether the problems being faced by the member are due to the composition of team or certain other internal or external reasons. The employees views on the existing performance appraisal system has already been discussed above under Section 6.4.4

8.1 Program Performance

BAIF has a very strong monitoring and evaluation system for each of the project. The system had developed over a long period of time and is so robust now that external agencies have very high regards for the BAIFs M&E system. Each program is evaluated on a regular basis to evaluate the performance and also after the program is over, it is evaluated for some years on annual basis to see long term impact of the program on the people. The observations and learnings are documented and used for future reference. The observations and learnings are also 53

shared with the concerned stake holders and also incorporated in to other ongoing programmes. BAIFs performance in programs has improved a lot with the passage of time and increase in resource base. With so many years of experience in almost all the fields, the performance of BAIF in the programmes is considerably good. For the same reason, government considers BAIF as the mentor organization and invited BAIF to act as resource support organization in many projects.

8.2 Organizational Performance

Organizational performance has four main elements: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and financial viability. 8.2.1 Effectiveness

The starting point for assessing the performance of any organization is its effectiveness. It evaluates the extent to which multiple goals whether official or operative are attained. Effectiveness for an organization like BAIF can be defined as promoting sustainable change that addresses the causes as well as the symptoms of poverty and marginalization. It reduces poverty and builds capacity within communities, civil society and government to address their own development priorities. BAIF builds creative and trusting relationships with the people who are its beneficiaries and to meet program standards which: give priority to the needs and interests of the people they serve; encourage self help and self-reliance among beneficiaries and thus avoid creating dependency; involve beneficiary groups to the maximum extent possible in the design, implementation and evaluation of projects and programs; seek to enhance gender equity; and are based on an understanding of the history and culture of the people served.

BAIF has certain qualities that contribute to its effectiveness. These include: High quality relationships One of the critical features of BAIFs work is that apart from humanitarian response, most of the times it does not implement directly. Instead, reflecting a commitment to building local capacity and self-reliance, BAIF chose to work through local implementing organizations. For this process to work effectively, BAIF place a high value on the quality of the relationship between themselves and their implementing partner. Good relationships evolve over time, based upon trust, mutual learning, accountability and 54

acceptance of difference. The purpose of good relationships is to build capacity of implementing partners and increase the process of self-reliance and/or local ownership. Long term engagement Development situations are usually complex and most often require engagement that goes beyond short-term project and program cycles. BAIF seeks to work in ways that allow for long term engagement in locations, in sectors and with people, for the purpose of more effective and sustainable solutions to development problems.

Learning Given the dynamic nature of development, BAIF and their implementing partners seek to undertake ongoing reflection about their work and the context of that work, for the purpose of improvement.

Adaptation As above, BAIFs work in situations of change and new information. It seeks to adapt to information and try to be responsive to changing circumstances. Working together In many situations BAIF is able to bring about increased impact and effectiveness by working together, either in the field, or in coalitions within State/ Central Governments. Through the ongoing work on quality and effectiveness the NGO community is focusing and placing greater emphasis on the value and importance of working collaboratively and in cooperation. Working in difficult contexts is by definition harder and more complex than working in less complex contexts. Working together with other NGOs can only be of benefit. 8.2.2 Risk taking

BAIF often chooses to work in situations where outcomes are less certain, in order to meet the needs of people otherwise poorly served by other aid delivery mechanisms. As quoted by the executive vice president, Mr. G.G. Sohani, BAIF ventures in to that area where no one else would like to venture. This belief in ones owns capabilities make BAIF an organization which takes risk for the greater benefits to the society. Quality of staff employees It appears that the quality of people employed by BAIF is one element of their effectiveness. It employees qualified employees who are competent to undertake any responsibility. 55

8.2.3

Efficiency

The efficiency of an organization like BAIF is mostly measured in qualitative terms. Although, the attrition rates and other general indicators such as financial indicators (ROI etc.) which show how efficient an organization, are present in BAIF. BAIF does not publish its balance sheets in its annual report. The reason behind it is the decentralized structure of BAIF. Each associated organization is an independent entity in its own and they handle different projects, hence they publish their balance sheets individually which is then sent to BAIF HQ at Pune. BAIF has its own indicators for measuring the efficiency and success of any project or programme that it undertakes some of which includes cost per service or program provided, overheads to total service or program cost, program completion rates and timeliness of delivery of services. BAIF being run by professionals is highly efficient in achievement of objectives, the success rates vary in between 70 to 85% in the projects that are undertaken by BAIF. 8.2.4 Ongoing Relevance

Ongoing relevance of an organization is defined as the ability of an organization to meet the needs and gain the support of its priority stake holders in the past, present and future. The ongoing relevance is assessed on two basic dimensions, the first relates to the ability of an organization to keep its key stakeholders satisfied. As mentioned above, BAIF also has many key stakeholders which include Funding Agencies, Beneficiaries, Other NGOs etc. BAIF since years had gained a reputation among all its stakeholders by performing well constantly. It has never compromised on its mission of providing sustainable livelihoods to disadvantaged sections and because of that BAIF enjoys high regards in the fraternity of other NGOs too. The second dimension to assess ongoing relevance is the ability to innovate and create new and more effective situations as a result of insights and new knowledge. While part of ongoing relevance is simply meeting stakeholder expectations, another factor is anticipating their needs. Innovation and adaptation to changing conditions are other aspects of ongoing relevance, albeit more speculative ones. BAIF anticipates the future and forays in to different areas, create new services and work towards the emerging needs of its stakeholders. Since BAIF is a research organization, it innovates and adapts according to the requirements. It is only possible when organizational itself is capable of change (IDRC, 1995). Changes can be thought of as occurring at five levels:

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Table 3: Innovation-Changes with time changes Localized Goal Improving Means to achieve goals. individual Introduction of training department to bring about

processes (activities) to bring a detailed understanding within the organization greater efficiency, about the operations underway and thereby improve efficiency. MDPs are started to develop second line of management. Integration Making processes or different Development of MIS around the various parts of the organization functions to provide better coordination and also work together more increase efficiency.

productivity or reduced cost.

effectively and efficiently. Process redesign Changing a process to give BAIF is a leader in process redesigning. It was dramatic improvements in one of the first organizations to start the wadi quality, cost, performance or concept and documented the best practices which ease of use. can now being used by other NGOs. Its contribution in livestock sector is also

commendable. BAIF has latest technologies for Artificial Insemination which is at par with international standards. Infrastructure Changing the composition of BAIF has its own infrastructure, and since it has and improving the way the started its activities in to many states it is building external infrastructure works Purpose the necessary infrastructure wherever required.

Changing the nature of the On this front the organization has not changed a organization by changing lot since its inception. However off late it has

its raison d' etre, vision, also started to indulge into activities like tribal mission or target market hotels and marketing cooperatives in an attempt to reduce the pressures on commons. This has however not brought any major change in the organization or its mission and vision. It had its effects only on the scales of operation.

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8.3 Financial performance

It is only one part of the picture, although many financial analysts think that they can discover everything of importance about an organization from its financial books, this is not true. The books cannot say if a competitor is about to put them out of business, if the workforce is becoming out-of-date in its skills, or if a reorganization is required because of future legislation. Financial performance could be about keeping the books straight, making a profit for future investment, distribution of dividends to the owners, building up reserves or paying high salaries to the senior executives or partners. Each organization must understand what it means by financial performance and have a strategy for achieving it. While looking at the balance sheets and income statements over a period of 5 years, it can be seen that, BAIF has been successful in fully utilizing the resources and funding. Also, the funding has increased over the period which suggests that BAIF has increased its work area. It can also be inferred that, BAIF has acquired more fixed assets with the increase in its project base. More details about the financial performance can be deduced from annexure no 9.

Figure 12: Financial Analysis of BAIF

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9 Conclusion
We have tried to reflect our learnings about BAIF Development Research Foundation by SWOT analysis. On one hand decentralized state societies, professional management, established knowledge base acts as strengths to BAIF, at the same time low remunerative packages and spatial differentiation are its weakness. Regarding the low remunerative package the Executive Vice President, Mr. G.G. Sohani is of the view that BAIF is paying at the prevailing market rate to the employees, but at the same time increased competition over resource acquisition due to dearth of qualified people has raised this level considerably in recent years. The opportunities as seen by the top management and the employees are consultation to international organizations, and development of new thematic areas like education & health whereas threats are changing and unpredictable government policies and retention of employees.

10 Learning On The Whole

The best part of the whole period of BAIF was the opportunity to understand the response of an organization to the sudden anticipated and unanticipated changes in external environment. 59

The way BAIF responded to the change was really unique one; especially in the context of NGOs. We also get an opportunity to understand the field level work and the intervention method of the BAIF. The freedom to work is providing an opportunity to come up with new ideas. The flexibility in the working of the organization and coping strategy is providing it to work more efficiently. The decentralized structure of BAIF is very unique among all other NGOs and gives it a edge over all other similar organizations All in all it provided us an opportunity to sensitize ourselves about the various ecological issues which the world is currently facing and the probable solutions.

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11 References
Aiken, Mike & Britton, Bruce (1997), The learning organization and the voluntary sector, in Janice Cook et al. The Learning Organization in the Public Services, Gower BAIF (2007) Annual Report 2006, Pune: BAIF Development Research Foundation BAIF Financial Reports 2005-07, Pune: BAIF Development Research Foundation BAIF Integrated Rural Development for Sustainable Livelihood (Aug, 1998). Pune: BAIF Development Research Foundation Britton, Bruce (July, 1998) The Learning NGO, paper presented at INTRAC, UK Daft, R.L (2007) Understanding the Theory and Design of Organizations. Delhi: Thompson South Western IDRC (1995) Organizational Assessment, Canada Slim, Hugo (1993), Institutional Learning Review and Future Priorities , unpublished SCF Paper, Nov. Smillie, Ian (1995). The Alms Baazar: Altruism under fire Non-profit Organizations and International Development, London: IT Publications

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ANNEXURES Annexure 1
About Mani Bhai Desai, Founder of BAIF Research Development Foundation Youngest of four sons of a well-to-do Brahmin family, Mani bhai Desai was born on April 27, 1920, in the village of Kosmada, Surat District, Gujarat, India. His father, Bhimbhai Fakhirbhai Desai, as owner of 27 hectares of ancestral lands, was the leader among the farmers of the area. From him, Mani bhai Desai inherited his excellent managerial talents; from his mother, Rami bahen, his strong common sense. At the time of his fathers death in 1927, young Mani bhai Desai was in first grade at the elementary school in his native village, where he ranked first in his class (1927-1931). He also excelled in sports and was a leader in the Boy Scouts. During his childhood and youth as he saw, India was being shaken by Mahatma Gandhis hartals (abstension from work) and satyagrahas ( insistence on truth, but in fact calls for civil disobedience). Mani bhai Desai was deeply moved by an incident when he was ten and it greatly influenced his life afterwards. Patel bhai, a young man of the village, joined Gandhis famous march from Ahmedabad to Dandi, where the marchers raided the salt stocks as a protest against the governments tax on salt. Instructed to return to the

village and ensure that a pinch of salt , which had become a symbol of the struggle for independence, was distributed to each household. Patel bhai chose Mani bhai Desai to help him carry out his task. Mani bhai Desai was deeply moved when the villagers bowed low as they ate the salt, and at that tender age he felt the call of Gandhi ji in his own life- the call to service and self-reliance. His early days Mani bhai Desais schooling was done in other house. He stayed with a relative who did not hesitate to assign him a wide variety of household and garden chores. Far from finding

work degrading, Mani bhai Desai enjoyed most of the tasks, including tasks usually assigned to women such as fetching water from the village well and feeding, milking and taking the cow to the village pond. His mother, however, was shocked and the

following year placed him in the hostel of the Anavil Ashram, the philosophic centre of the Gandhian movement. There, he came under the influence of the ashrams founder, Dayalji bhai Desai, a close friend of Gandhi ji, and Brahmanand Swami, a philosopher who visited the ashram and instructed the boys in mental and physical self discipline. In his later years he studied engineering as his family desired, but was emotionally i

caught up in Gandhi jis Quit India movement. On August 9, 1942 all the leaders of the movement were arrested. In defiance and without informing his family - Mani bhai

Desai left college and joined the movement. He spent the next 19 months derailing freight trains and blowing up bridges in an effort to disrupt British communications. The

clandestine and violent tactics engaged in by the underground, however, disturbed Gandhi ji and were stopped on his saying. Later he was imprisoned. From the dust of a struggle In 1944, when he left prison he thought of rural development on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi. He thought of completing his university education first, which he had left in between. In April 1945, he completed his B.Sc. with a first class in Physics and Mathematics. His resolved to devote himself to rural development and met Gandhi ji. As part of his decision, he renounced any claim to ancestral lands, realizing, as he said, people place greater confidence in you if you have nothing of your own - no distractions, no private interest - and that in India, if you have sacrificed, you can penetrate the hearts and minds of people very easily. Gandhi ji accepted Mani bhai Desai as a disciple in principle, but insisted he must first return to his village and forget everything he had learned. Mani bhai Desai obediently returned home to Kosmada where he began organizing the village for social change, but four months later he received a letter from Gandhi ji calling him to Sevagram Ashram (Wardha District, Maharashtra State), the headquarters for the Mahatmas activities. Shortly after his arrival at Sevagram, a virulent outbreak of cholera hit the district. Gandhi ji ordered the ashram to control the epidemic, but its residents were Mani bhai Desai volunteered.

understandably reluctant to venture into the infected area.

Accompanied by two doctors and a group of 50 boys, he treated the ill with a saline solution to prevent dehydration, carried the dead to the funeral ground, and vaccinated those still well. The volunteers also taught the people to clean the village, boil their water,

and cook their food thoroughly. These techniques stopped the epidemic. Gandhi ji, recognizing he had in Mani bhai Desai one who could be entrusted with important tasks, nevertheless tested him further by assigning the young Brahmin

university graduate the task of cleaning the ashram latrines and making compost from excrement and trash. After a month and a half, when Gandhi ji was sure of his

disciples willingness to carry out even these tasks of the untouchables, he invited Mani ii

bhai Desai to join his personal staff. On January 26, 1946, the day Jawaharlal Nehru declared the premature independence of India, Mani bhai Desai took a vow of celibacy so that he could devote himself entirely to the development of his country through service to the rural poor. In heart break country Gandhi ji therefore chose Mani bhai Desai to establish the nature cure ashram and development programme in Urulikanchan, Maharashtra, that he considered central to his plan. Although anxious to begin a rural development programme in his native Gujarat, Mani bhai Desai agreed, and undertook the development of Goshala Ashram on 10 ha of land acquired by the Gandhian movement through donations in cash and kind. He started his work with youth of the village. One of his priorities was to organize the young people not yet spoiled by indolence or anti-social activities. A youth culture centre which encouraged sports and dramatic performances was one effort; a secondary school was another. He began the latter in 1950, teaching 30 boys in his own cottage. Meanwhile, he also started a

cooperative bank to wean the villagers away from the usual usurious moneylender. Mani bhai Desai also undertook to discover what the villagers considered their most pressing need. By sitting hidden near the village well and eavesdropping on the

conversations of women as they did their laundry, he learned that the villagers were united in a desire to rebuild their temple. Accordingly, he called a meeting and When the committee was

organized a committee to raise money for a new structure.

preparing to go to Bombay to solicit funds, Mani bhai Desai convinced them that by adding a school (his project) to the temple proposal they would be more likely to obtain donations. His advice proved sound. By 1954, the new temple and a secondary school was built. Rated nationally as one of the best schools in a rural area, Mahatma Gandhi Vidyalaya today has some 90 well-qualified teachers to instruct 3,000 students in its three categories of study-academic, agricultural and industrial. Livestock Development Good milk cows, he reasoned, could increase both the nutrition and the income of the local farmers. To gain insights about cattle breeding Mani bhai Desai studied about 400 carcasses of cow. In 1948, he started a herd using the local Gir breed. The herd made such excellent

progress that in 1953, the State of Gujarat donated eight top quality heifers, one bull calf and one adult bull, for the herds further improvement. iii From 1957 through 1962,

the Goshala Ashrams cows captured first and second prizes for highest milk yield in the country. Agriculture In 1960, he began planting local varieties of grapes, in particular Selection 7 and Bangalore Purple, and an imported variety which seemed well suited for raisins, Thompsons Seedless known in India as Madras Kismis. Mani bhai Desai obtained 10,000 cuttings of Madras Kismis from a small group of families in Tamil Nadu who had

themselves been given cuttings by Christian missionaries. One ha in UruliKanchan was planted to this variety. Mani bhai Desai spent 14 to 15 hours a day in taking good care of vines. Irrigated with the minimum amount of water for good fruiting, the plants yielded 38,765 kg. per ha, more than the record California variety. At the same time when he was experimenting with grapes, Mani bhai Desai was asked by local entrepreneurs if he would persuade some of region to invest in a sugar cooperative. would also be allowed to join. the wealthy landowners in the

He agreed on the condition that smallholders

With his help, some 500 smallholders applied for a loan

of Rs. 5.3 million to invest in the Yeshwant Cooperative Sugar Factory, which proved a success from the beginning. It soon developed numerous branches and began

engaging in other community socioeconomic projects, e.g. Schools, Hospitals and Water resources.

Inception of BAIF It had become apparent to Mani bhai Desai by now that if the fruits of his 20-years of labour were to have a national impact, a sophisticated professional organization utilizing top-level managerial skills was required. Accordingly, he founded the Bharatiya Agro 1967. Industries Foundation (BAIF), which was registered as a Public Trust on August 22, Two days later it was formally inaugurated by the President of India in Pune,

where central finance and administrative offices would be located and from which field programmes would be coordinated. in concept. In 1969, Tristram Beresford, Chairman of Britains Agricultural Society, visited Urulikanchan and unknowingly became the catalyst to project BAIF onto the national and international scene. Deeply impressed with what he saw, he offered to help raise funds for the ashram. More importantly he produced, through the British Milk Marketing iv However, for the next two years, BAIF existed only

Board, a consignment of 7,000 doses of frozen semen from top quality Jersey and Holstein-Friesian bulls for the cattle project. With the acquisition of the frozen

semen, BAIF ceased being merely a concept and became a functioning organization. Six veterinarians were hired and assigned to local centres that were established and supported by the Sugar Cooperative. Local cows belonging to individual farmers were inseminated in order to produce high quality crossbred animals. From cows which gave less that

200 litres of milk in a lactation, were bred cows that produced 2,500 litres. Poor cows which had been a liability to farmers were converted into economic assets. Two subsidiary research centres were established under the BAIF umbrella in 1971. The Research Institute for Cattle and Agricultural Development was started in Maharashtra on 40 ha of land donated by the Government; it now has 120 ha, Supporting the development institute is the Research Institute for Animal Health. With a donation of equipment from DANIDA, the latter began producing vaccine for foot and mouth disease in 1947. Three years later, the Indian Ministry of Agriculture approved a recommendation by the Planning Commission to entrust BAIF with the production of 100,000 crossbred cows in areas under the Governments Drought Prone Area Programme. BAIF also started promoting permanent agro-forestry arrangements of intercropping rows of Leucaena, planted about five m apart and pruned to a suitable height-with a grain crop. In 1980, BAIF started experimenting with sericulture as a complement to the established dairy programme. Mulberry trees, to provide food for the silkworms, were interplanted

with Leucaena. The two projects provide employment for the farmers entire family. By 1988, BAIF was operating in six states, with 500 centres and a massive extension network. BAIFs decision to decentralize, establishing 10 separate organizations, each responsible for 50 centres has required very strong coordination from the Foundation headquarters. This was possible because BAIF has been the pioneer among voluntary

non-profit, non-government organizations in its emphasis on professional management and on financial control systems. Despite the size and ever-increasing sophistication of BAIF, Mani bhai Desai never ceases to remind his highly educated staff that the focus of their work is not research, but the man who benefits from it. We in BAIF, he wrote in the BAIF Journal several years ago, have never looked down on the rural people as either pitiable or contemptible creatures, Indias rural people represent perhaps the finest specimen of hardy manhood. v They have withstood

generations of exploitation and tyranny and yet retain love of the land, love of the animals and, above all, zest for life and the capacity to adapt to changing times. As such, we recognize the rural people as men, richly worthy and deserving of being own

betterment given an opportunity, as their right, to work for their own. Special Recognisations Aside from heading the various organizations he has founded, Mani bhai Desai has been Director of the Maharashtra State Irrigation Development Corporation and the Gujarat State Rural Development Corporation; a member of the board of the All-India Peoples Action for Development; and on the governing broad of Mahatma Phule Krishi Agricultural University, from which he received an honorary doctorate in 1977. The President of India recognized his services in 1968 by honoring him with the Padma Shree Award. In 1982, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Public Service Award for practical fulfillment of a vow made to Mahatma Gandhi ji 36 years ago to uplift, socially and economically, the poorest villagers. In 1983, Mani bhai Desai was awarded the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Award for pioneering research on the application of Science and Technology for rural development, and in 1986, the Bio-Energy Society of India gave him its first award for dedicated, dynamic and innovative work in the field of bioenergy. Also in 1986, BAIF, under Mani bhai Desais devoted leadership, received the Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshmitra Award for Afforestation and wastelands development. After 50 years of committed service to grass root development, Mani bhai Desai breathed his last on November 14, 1993.Mani bhai Desai was the pioneer in initiating sustainable management of natural resources for rural upliftment through the voluntary movement in India.

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Annexure 2
BAIF Historical Mile Stones
Concept of BAIF was established on August 24,1967 with basic activities as Agro based- wastelands development, agro forestry, horticulture and livestock development Seminar on February 15-16, 1969 at Pune for attracting people to accept and join it. Dr. M.R. Marathe and Dr. D.V. Rangnekar joins BAIF In 1970, Denmark gives initial support to Central Research Station (CRS) Semen lab Bull station worth 3.2 million Danish Kroner (DK) In 1971, Mani bhai Desai thought of Cattle health. Mr. Wagholi, Dr.C. M. Singh (Director of IVRI), Dr. Gorkhe joined BAIF. Wagholi project was born and lab produced many vaccines like- Foot and mouth disease, H.S., B.Q., Rinderpest and other 50 products. In 1972, there was no recruitment of Veterinarians by the Government of

Maharashtra so entire batch of Vets from Bombay and Nagpur joined BAIF Door step services idea standardised Goshalas and Sugar factories brought into programme Programme model established on the field BAIF started first CSR activity with Rourkela Steel Plant for providing Irrigation facilities to farmers in Gujarat

In 1974, Dr. N.G. Hegde (present President) joined BAIF In 1975, BAIFs programme was accepted under Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) by Ministry of Agriculture. BAIF Institute for Rural Development Uttar Pradesh (BIRD-UP) was registered as a Public Charitable Trust under Uttar Pradesh Amendment Act in 1975, with its Head Office in Allahabad. In 1976, a centre was started in South Gujarat for milk procurement, processing and marketing as Kalyan bhai Mehta, Arvind bhai Mafatlal and Naval Tata came together. vii

Semen Laboratory started in 1976 From 1976-1979 BAIF suffered huge financial crisis due to change in government policy whereby all corporate withdrew financial assistance. BAIF had to close down man of its Cattle Breeding Centres. In 1978, 50 cattle breeding Centres started In 1980, three day brain storming session was called by Mani bhai Desai where he consulted all his employees about venturing in other development sectors apart from Livestock. In 1980 SHG programme started for empowering the women In 1980 G. G. Sohani (presently Executive Vice President) joined BAIF after graduating from IIM A In 1982 Wadi Model came into existence and first Wadi model turned a huge success in South Gujarat In 1985, GRISERV (Gujarat Rural Institute for Socio-economic Reconstruction Vadodara) was established in Vadodara. In 1986, BAIF, under Mani bhai Desais devoted leadership, received the Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshmitra Award for Afforestation and wastelands development BAIFs name was changed to BAIF Development Research Foundation in 1989 to get Income tax exemption In 1992 Watershed activities started in Ahmednagar Wagholi Laboratories closed in 1993 due to profit making enterprise. Mani bhai Desai Management Training Centre (MDMTC) was set up in 1993 to provide training to BAIF staff and to the staff of other development agencies, in sustainable management of rural development programmes. Mani bhai Desai died in November, 1993 due to prolonged illness. Dr. N.G. Hegde succeeded him as the new President Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA) was established as a Public Charitable Trust in 1993 with its headquarters at Nashik to coordinate the multidisciplinary programme being implemented in Maharashtra. viii

Rajasthan Rural Institute of Development Management (RRIDMA) was established in 1993 under the Societies Registration Act, 1950. The head office is located at Bhilwara.

DHRUVA was established in 1995 with its head office at Kaprada in Dharampur in Valsad district of Gujarat

Society for Promotion of Eco-Friendly Sustainable Development (SPESD) was established in 1996 as a Public Charitable Trust with its head office in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

BAIF shifted to new office named BAIF Bhavan in Pune on 19 June 1996. In 1997 BAIF got the largest Project in terms of geographical spread and duration. The project aimed at bringing 35,000 families in 217 villages across 5 states in 8 years above poverty line, supported by European Union. The success rate of this project was 85%.

1997 BAIF ventured in Sericulture for small farmers Vasundhara Cooperative was set up in 2000 in Valsad district of Gujarat for marketing of Mangoes.

In 2001 BAIF conducted its first Management Development Programme(MDP)

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Annexure 3
Coverage Table

Annexure 4
Board of Trustees

Mr Arvind N. Mafatlal, Chairman ( Chairman, Arvind Mafatlal Group, Mumbai) Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Vice Chairman (Chairman, M.S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai)

Mr. Jagmohan L. Bajaj ( Former Chairman, UP Electricity Regulatory Commission, Lucknow)

Smt. Rajashree A. Birla ( Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, Mumbai) Mr. Atul C. Chostsey ( Managing Director, Apcotex Lattices Ltd., Mumbai) Mr. Bhalchandra G. Deshmukh (Former Cabinet Secretary, Government of India) Mr. Nanda B. Lohani( Chairman, All India Institute of Local Self Government, Bhopal)

Mr. Hrishikesh A. Mafatlal( Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mafatlal Industries Ltd., Mumbai)

Mr. Deepak C. Mehta ( Managing Director, Deepak Nitrite Limited, Pune) Mr. Sudha N. Murthy (Chairperson, Infosys Foundation, Bangalore) Mr. Pratap G.Pawar(Managing Director, Sakal Papers Ltd.) nnnaatuhMr. Hasmukh S. Shah ( Chairman, Gujarat Gas Company Ltd.,Vadodara) Mr. Girish G. Sohani( Executive Vice-President, BAIF) Dr. Narayan G. Hedge( Managing Trustee and President, BAIF)

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Annexure 5: BAIFs Associate Organization Details Dr. Dr. Manibhai Manibhai Desai Desai Management Nagar, Warje, Training Pune 411 Centre 058, (MDMTC) Maharashtra,

Phone: 020-25231661 Fax: 91-20-25231662 E-mail: baif@vsnl.com Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA)

BAIF-MITTRA Bhavan, Opp. Nivas Homes, Behind Bodhale Nagar, Nasik-Pune Road, Nasik 422 011,Maharashtra,

Phone: 0253-2416057 Fax: 0253-2416056 E-mail: mittra_nsk@dataone.in Website : www.mittra.org BAIF Institute for Shardanagar, Fax: Rural Tiptur Development-Karnataka 572 E-mail: 202, birdktpr@gmail.com (BIRD-K) Karnataka, Website:

Kamadhenu', Phone:

08134-250659

08134-251337

www.birdk.org Rajasthan Rural Institute of Development Management (RRIDMA)

BAIF Bhavan, G Block, Near Community Hall, Hiran Magri, Sector 14, Udaipur 313 002, Rajasthan, Telefax: 0294-2640133/ Phone: 6533707 E-mail: ridma@sancharnet.in Gujarat Rural Institute for Socio-Economic Reconstruction-Vadodara (GRISERV) Indra Complex, Near Namrata Society, Manjalpur, Vadodara 390 004, Gujarat, Telefax: 0265-2651802 E-mail: griserv@griserv.com Website: www.griserv.com BAIF 27 A Institute Tagore for Town Rural , Development-Uttar Allahabad 211 Pradesh 002, Uttar (BIRD-UP) Pradesh,

Phone: 0532-2466220 Fax: 0532-2465475 E-mail: irdald@dataone.in Society for Promotion of Eco-friendly Sustainable Development (SPESD)

Surabhi, Lala Lajpat Rai Society, E-7/65 Arera Colony, Bhopal 462 016, Madhya Pradesh, Phone: 0755- 3042710 Fax: 0755-2428619 DHRUVA A/p Kaprada, Near Kaprada Police Station, Tal. Kaprada, Dist. Valsad 396 065, Gujarat, Phone: 02633-220023 Fax: 02633- 220025 E-mail: dhruva_org@rediffmail.com BAIF Institute for Rural Development-Andhra Pradesh (BIRD-AP) E-mail:baif_mp@yahoo.com

Door No. 10-1-80/8 Alampalli Complex, Nagarjuna Sagar Road, Karmanghat, Hyderabad xii

500 Telefax: 040-24073406 E-mail: baif_ap@rediffmail.com BAIF House Institute No. 2, Road for No. Rural 8, East DevelopmentPatel Nagar, Bihar Patna 800

079

(BIRD-Bihar) 023, Bihar,

Telefax: 0612-2292486 E-mail: pat_drakjain6@dataone.in BAIF Institute for Rural Development-Uttarakhand

Gyanlok Colony, R.K. Mission Road, Kankhal, Haridwar 249 408, Uttarakhand, Phone: 01334-394512 Fax: 01334-240576 E-mail: baifuttaranchal@sancharnet.in BAIF Institute for Rural Vocations and Advancement (BIRVA)

Farmers' Training Institute Campus, (Near Sudha Dairy), HEC Sector II: Dhruva, Ranchi 834 004, Jharkhand, Ph: 0651-2444188, 2444114 Fax: 2444114 baifjkd@dataone.in

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Annexure 6
Questionnaire for Management
Years of experience in BAIF and total? Haw have you reached this position? Educational Background? Why development sector? Your roles and responsibility? How do you define BAIFs organization structure with respect to Associated Organizations Autonomy Decision making Formalization Decentralization How do you define BAIFs organization structure with respect to its employees Autonomy Decision making Formalization Decentralization What was the biggest crisis faced by the BAIF management? How did you deal with it Leadership Crisis Financial Crisis Any other How do you resolve management conflicts? If any? Conflicts with funding agencies? Any legal allegation against BAIF ever? When do you do goal setting exercise? Who are the people involved in this? Is it influenced by mission, vision or nations need? Relationship with government and how it influences BAIFs functioning? Do you define objectives for employees Is there a match between goals of employees and BAIF

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Different linkages Government Corporate Other NGOs International

Major funding agencies How do you mobilize the funds Your relationship with funding agencies? (project based , long term) How do monetary and fiscal policies of nation affect BAIF (inflation, taxation, interest rates)

Why should one join BAIF How do you motivate employees? Internally and externally? Is there high TO? If so how do you curb them and what are the reasons for these? Any annual employee gathering event How moral of people maintained Supervisor and subordinate relationship Biggest problem at hand? Any solutions defined? And how are you achieving it? How do you contribute MDG? On what all fields Are you planning to foray into any new development sector? What hindrances do you foresee? What measures to achieve them How are you trying to adopt to new technologies ( MIS, 3600 feedback) How does BAIF maintain its identity despite growing no of NGOs? Do you see them as a competitor or network with them?

Any alteration in mission, vision and objectives? When and why?

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Annexure 7
Questionnaire for Finance Department
Is regular and periodic financial planning undertaken to support performance? Is there an adequate budgetary planning? Are cash requirements analysed through cash flow statements? Are budget plans timely? (Any incidence of not done on time?) Are budget plans updated as financial information comes in? Are members of the governing body/ funding agency involved in the financial planning and monitoring? How much is their control/ involvement? Are human resources adequate to ensure effective financial planning? (Educational Qualification and competency of employees?) Are comparisons of both actual and planned budgets monitored and analyzed for decision making? If yes, which bodies are involved in decision making? Besides project funding is there any other sources of funding? Are there appropriate capital and equipment forecast? Are reports provided to senior managers, the board, and the funders on a regular basis? Is financial information provided in a timely fashion to those who needed? (Is it open to all?) Role of Central Finance in budgeting of Associated Organizations Do members of BAIF follow clearly stated financial procedures? (Are they clearly stated, does emergency lead them to shortcuts?) Are the auditors satisfied with BAIFs control on cash and assets? (Auditors Review Frequency) How many internal and external audits in a year? When the Financial Year does starts? Are any objectives defined for this period? If yes, who does so? Does the BoD review financial policies and procedures regularly? If yes, what they do? Is there an adequate book keeping system that can generate monitoring information?

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Annexure 8
Confidential Staff Questionnaire
We the students of IRMA assure you that the information provided by you will only be used for academic purposes and be kept confidential otherwise. Which Department do you work for?

What is your age and gender?

How long you have been working with BAIF?

Total Work Experience?

Education Qualification?

What are your reasons for working with BAIF? (Please rank in order of your preference, 1 being highest & 5 being lowest preference) Development/ Help Others By Chance Own Experiences of Issues Organizations Proximity to Home Others Please Specify ___________________________________________________________

What according to you are the BAIFs basic principles/ values?

When is BAIFs Foundation Day? 27th April 24th August 15th August 24th October Please rank the following as per your experiences at BAIF: xvii

(1 Very Bad, 2 Poor, 3 OK/ Acceptable, 4 Good, 5 Excellent) 1 Work Place/ Office Physical Environment (eg: Sitting Area, Ventilation etc.) Furniture/ Equipment Work Load Stress Support / Relationship in your work from other employees (eg: Team Work etc.) Support in work from supervisor/ reporting head Support from other departments Training Growth Opportunities 2 3 4 5

In your opinion what is the most important training area for the staff at BAIF?

Please rank your opinion: (1 Very Bad, 2 Poor, 3 OK/ Acceptable, 4 Good, 5 Excellent) 1 Remunerative Package (eg: Salary etc.) (Any Financial Crisis?) Compensation, Perks & Allowances Information Flow Individuals Decision Making Power Knowledge of Latest Technology used in the Organization Motivation provided for work (How?) Performance Appraisal (Annual xviii 2 3 4 5

Objectives?) Please rank your opinion of BAIFs development over the years: (1 Very Bad, 2 Poor, 3 OK/ Acceptable, 4 Good, 5 Excellent)

1 Administrative System (eg: Paper Work etc.) Financial System (eg: Budgeting etc.) Learning and Planning System (eg: Reporting Capabilities, Computer Knowledge etc.) Information Sharing (eg: Internal Communication etc.) Decision Making System (eg: Autonomy to employees etc.) People Friendly Organizational Policies (eg: Rewards, Loans etc.)

Improvement Area for BAIF according to your view point

Do you face any difficulties in balancing personal and professional lives? If yes, how do you deal with it?

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