A Cooperative Jute Mill In Assam Management Essay

A Cooperative Jute Mill In Assam Management Essay Assam Co-operative Jute Mills ltd. being in the cooperative is unique of its kind in the country. Though it has a glorious history it plunged into oblivion for running around one and a half decade due to its internal crisis. But with pressure from the public and the employees it was re-opened and since then it never looked back. Obviously the reasons behind the organization’s revival and sustenance are worth exploring. The study established the existence of Employee Commitment in the organization, which in turn was found to be related to organizational performance. The study also explored and revealed the reasons behind the lack of performance during certain periods. Key words: employee commitment, work involvement, organizational performance Introduction The Assam Co-operative Jute Mills Ltd. is situated on the south bank of the river Brahmaputra at Silghat in the Nagaon district of Assam. This is the only Jute Mill in the country in Co-operative Sector. It was registered in the year 1959 under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act and after much struggle it was commissioned in the year 1970 with the initial investment of around Rs. 150 lakhs. But the Mill after running for about 14 years in rough weather had to close down during March 1984 for about 2 years due to acute financial crisis and other infrastructural problems. Again, the Mill was re-opened on 1st January 1986 under public demand with the financial assistance from the Central Government as well as State Government. However, in spite of sufficient government assistance, financial depression developed again due to imbalance in the income and the expenditure. The mill experienced teething operational problems due to huge accumulation of unsettled liabilities, shortage of working capital etc. But, after continuous struggle and efforts, the Mill started improving its economy from the year 1992-93 and thereafter making progressive net profits. Now, the Mill is completely free from all loans and li abilities and achieved an economically viable position. The Mill is implementing the scheme for renovation/modernization of its plant and machinery from its own resources. Today it provides direct employment to about 800 men. The mill has institutionalized corporate governance and discipline in all aspects of its functioning. During the year 2007-08 the Mill achieved the highest ever turnover of Rs. 18.67 Crores and best ever profitability after tax of Rs. 1.83 Crores. Looking at the above background it ignited the researchers to find out as to what are the reasons that prompted the organization to revive. Why the employees wanted the organization to sustain and above all what made these people to stay in the organization inspite of not being paid highly. The findings could be important learning for replication in other sick organizations and cooperative sector units. Thus the study was carried out with the following objectives. i. To determine the level of employee commitment in AC JM. ii. To explore the relationship between â€Å"Employee commitment† and the â€Å"Organizational performance† in ACJM. Thus the study did not elaborately take into account other aspects of management. Method Sample included all executives and staff, and 50% of workers from each department (12 departments). The response rate of the former was 76% and that of the latter was 78%. Questionnaires and schedules were used to gather the primary data. An extensive study of the available secondary sources of data available in the organization was carried out.