Appraisal of existing management information system in district co-operative banks in Kerala

Abstract

To meet the challenqes of present day banking environment, co-operative banks , and DCBs in particular have to introduce better planning and control by way of efficient information system. The managerial ability of DCBs to respond quickly to the changes in environment depends upon their ability to collect.process and utilize information. The study entitled "An appraisal of existing Management Information System in District Co-operative Banks in Kerala" was conducted with the following objectives. To examine the decision making process in District Co-operative Banks at various levels of management with a view to identify the information needs for management. To assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing system in meeting the information needs for management. The primary data required for the study were collected by administering a pretested structured schedule among the respondents of four sample banks. The respondents belonged to two management levels in each banks namely top management and middle management. Method of stratified random sampling was employed for selection of sample banks. Accordingly, on the basis of volume of business, four banks were selected namely, Ernakulam District Co-operative Bank, Thrissur District Co-operative Bank, Palakkad District Co-operative Bank and Kozhikode District Co-operative Bank. The study was conducted during the period of December 1998 to July 1999. Decision making process in DCBs was identified by conducting discussions with respondents. After tabulating the responses from the schedules, analysis was done using indices. The effect of independent variables on efficiency and effectiveness was detected using confluence analysis. Decision making process were delineated for ten selected aspects which were identified during the course of the study. Stages of decision making remained similar \ '. in all cases, but deviation was noticed in the matter of decision making authorities and sections which handled the work. In the decision making process of fixing of bank's deposit targets, no significant deviation from the pattern was noticed. Introducing new deposit schemes and loan schemes were done by similar process in the all banks but for the difference in sections handling the work. Planning department was in-charge of preparation of draft schemes in all banks except for Bank E where general section did the work. Sanctioning of loan proposals constituted a five stage process. Executive Committee remained the decision making authority in all banks except Bank K, where delegation of powers for loan sanction upto specified limits was done to General Manager and Branch Manager. In the case of monitoring of default accounts, Bank T alone maintained separate recovery section in head office to which default accounts were transferred and monitored. Other banks did this in branch level itself. Decls.on on investment of available funds was done by General Manager with ratification from President in all banks except for Bank P where the decision was taken by Executive Committee. Maintenance of statutory reserves, profit planning and provision of additional facilities to branches were done along the fixed pattern in all the sample banks. . Decision on employee's job rotation was taken by Executive Committee in Bank K whereas it was done by General Manager in all the other banks. Framing strategies to avoid delays in customer service was done at two levels, firstly at the level of branch manager, who directly deals with complaints and offer solution and secondly at the level of Board of Directors who designs strategies. The following information gaps were identified under the functional management heads. Regarding deposit, credit and customer service management, bank's top management and middle management were not considering information on competitors strategies. Also identification of customer preferences was not given due importance by bank's top management. In recovery management feedback on terms and conditions of loan and repayment schedule was not considered by any of the banks. Management of investment, fluid resources, profit and physical assets did not face information gap in all the sample banks. Human Resource Management was affected by non-availability of information on performance appraisal and manpower forecasting. Top management did not give enough stress on information on job rotation. Customer service management was the poorest in information availability, where top management of banks were not keen in collecting information on customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction points, customer awareness programmes and identification of areas where rapport has to be built up. Categorisation of efficiency indices of banks showed that majority of banks fell into "moderately efficient" category. Bank E stood first in efficiency of information system. Bank T was last in ranking for efficiency. Regarding effectiveness index, all the sample banks were classified as moderately effective. Here also Bank E topped the tally and Bank T stood last among the sample banks. Confluence analysis reveals that there is significant influence on efficiency by timeliness, adequacy and cost effectiveness for all banks. Regarding effectiveness, insignificance of certain factors was observed in some sample banks. Non-redundancy is not having significance in Bank T. Relevance is not influential for Bank P and reliability is insignificant factor of effectiveness in the case of Bank E and Bank P.