Organisational culture

This refers to ‘The nine dimensions of work that employees care about’ (July 18). While it is true that choosing or changing organisational culture is the toughest — and most crucial — task, it is desirable that every organisation creates its own culture depending on its business strategy and objectives. The template suggested in the article could be a trigger, but the culture has to organisation-specific. A well-designed organisational culture has the force to influence the sub-culture of the surrounding environment.

Pune

This is with regard to ‘Is raising the retirement age, a good idea?’ (July 17). It is a trade-off between experience and potential for future, when one thinks of raising the age of retirement. In a country like India where population is on the uptrend, more women are entering the job market, unemployment among the youth is growing, and technology increasingly replacing jobs it may not be a worthwhile idea to change the goal post of retirement age.

It may be true that longevity has gone up and medical advancement may help a person to work more. But one cannot deny the fact that extending one’s work-life in the quest to accumulate more wealth will surely have a bearing on one’s health. Denying the youth more opportunity to work, by making the older people work more, will not be good for the economy in the long run.

Bengaluru

This refers to ‘Dearth of IT talent biggest issue today: NASSCOM’ (July 18). The facts revealed in the article are somewhat worrying. Till a few years back, entering the IT field was an attractive proposition. But, now, the field is losing its charm. The salaries offered are also not very attractive. On the question of talent, it can be developed if engineering colleges recruit qualified and committed staff and admit candidates on the basis of merit.

Coimbatore

The promises of minimum government, maximum governance and of a simplified company law, are getting broken with increasing frequency.

The latest example is the plan for more rigorous implementation of the CSR obligation on companies. When introduced, it was touted as non-mandatory; which was appropriate since a business enterprise's job is to create value, produce goods and services and comply with laws — not social uplift or building social infrastructure and assets. That function has to be discharged by the government and charitable trusts. A company complying with fiscal, labour, environment and customer protection laws is already socially responsible.

Imposing CSR on companies was discriminatory, since the same was not put on non-corporate businesses in both the public and private sectors. There was serious confusion whether the CSR spending is tax-deductible.

Over time, there has been increasing compliance and regulatory pressure on companies, often under subtle or open threat.

The non-mandatory spirit has gone, and companies are receiving curt and threatening communication. One wonders why industry associations, shareholders, and companies have not agitated the matter in the proper judicial fora.

Kolkata

This refers to ‘Jalan panel moots transfer of RBI's surplus in tranches over 3-5 years’ and ‘Rethink surplus transfer, SEBI chief urges Centre’ (July 18).

The expectations and ‘directions’ expressed/issued by the government in the recent past regarding fund management and appropriation of income by organisations in which the government has majority stake, affect the functional freedom (not to be confused with autonomy) available to them under statutes.

Statutory bodies should have functional freedom to manage their funds in a professional and transparent manner within the statutory provisions.

Mumbai

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