Indepth Interview With Prof Chowdari Prasad On Banking Research

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (PG 521)

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW WITH A

RESEARCHER ASSIGNMENT No. 6

SUBMITTED BY: GROUP NO. SECTION

:2 :C

GROUP MEMBERS: RAJAT CHADDHA NAVJOT SINGH DHIRAJ KUMAR NEHA SINGH SWAPNIL SAXENA

(07PG165) (07PG154) (07PG136) (07PG155) (07PG181)

SUBMITTED TO

:

DR. K. S. SRINIVASA RAO

DATE OF SUBMISSION

:

21.01.2008

CONTENTS Serial No. 1.

Topic

Page No.

Acknowledgements

3

2.

Declaration of Consent

4

3.

Introduction

5-7

4.

Researcher’s Profile

8

5.

Interview

9-12

6.

Conclusion

13

7.

References

14

2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We express our heartfelt thanks to Professor Chowdari Prasad who was kind enough to let us interview him and also gave his valuable insights regarding research and research methodology. We are also grateful to Dr. K. S. Srinivasa Rao who provided us with an opportunity to work in this regard and provided us with encouragement and support during the whole process.

DHIRAJ KUMAR

(

)

NAVJOT SINGH

(

)

NEHA SINGH

(

)

RAJAT CHADDHA

(

)

SWAPNIL SAXENA

(

)

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DECLARATION OF CONSENT

I, Professor Chowdari Prasad, hereby give my permission to Mr Rajat Chaddha, Mr. Dhiraj Kumar, Mr Navjot Singh, Ms. Neha Singh and Ms Swapnil Saxena to present my response to the In-depth interview in their report. I understand that this report is to be submitted to Dr. K. S. Srinivasa Rao as part of their Research Methodology course in Term III.

(

) Professor Chowdari Prasad

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INTRODUCTION What is an In-depth Interview? In-depth, qualitative interviews are excellent tools to use in planning and evaluating Extension programs. In-depth interview is an open-ended, discovery-oriented method that is well suited for describing both program processes and outcomes from the perspective of the target audience or key stakeholder. The goal of the interview is to deeply explore the respondents point of view, feelings and perspectives. In this sense, In-depth interviews yield information. There are key characteristics that differentiate an In-depth, qualitative research interview from a regular interview. Some key characteristics of In-depth interviews include: •

Open-ended Questions.

•

Semi-structured Format.

•

Seek understanding and interpretation.

•

Conversational.

•

Recording responses.

•

Record observations.

•

Record reflections.

In essence, In-depth interviews involve not only asking questions, but the systematic recording and documenting of responses coupled with intense probing for deeper meaning and understanding of the responses. Thus, In-depth interviewing often requires repeated interview sessions with the target audience under study. Unlike focus group interviews, Indepth interviews occur with one individual at a time to provide a more involving experience.

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Conducting an In-depth Interview Kvale (1996) details seven stages of conducting In-depth interviews. They include thematizing, designing, interviewing, transcribing, analyzing, verifying, and reporting. Each step will be briefly examined below with strategies for implementation. 1. Thematizing

This is the first stage of the process whereby you clarify the purpose of the interviews and determine what you want to find out 2. Designing After you determine what you want to know, you must design a way to find it out. A key part of this process is designing an interview guide. An interview guide is a list of questions and probing follow-ups that guide you through the interview 3. Interviewing Some of the important attributes or strategies that are required are as follows: •

Active listening. Listen and rephrase what was said to insure that you completely understand the meaning the respondent intends

•

Patience. Do not rush the respondent and allow him/her to speak freely while guiding the conversation to cover important issues

•

Flexibility. Be open to slight deviations from the topic, which may require rearranging/reordering the questions .If the respondent deviates too far from the topic, then carefully return him or her to the topic at hand

•

Audio recording. When possible, audiotape the interview for later reference and increased accuracy. Always ask permission of the interviewee before audio recording. Some researchers even videotape interviews in order to capture both the verbal responses and nonverbal cues

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4. Transcribing Transcribing involves creating a written text of the interviews. This step involves bringing together all of your information-gathering approaches into one written form 5. Analyzing This important step involves determining the meaning in the information gathered in relation to the purpose of the study 6. Verifying Verifying involves checking the credibility and validity of the information gathered 7. Reporting The final step of the process is to share what you have learned from the in-depth interviews with other internal and external stakeholders. Some reporting could be in the form of a formal written report or an oral report in the form of a presentation During the course the group followed almost the entire process first the interviewee was clearly explained the purpose of the interview and the context in which we were conducting the activity. Then before the interview an interview guide was prepared and it was referred from time to time during the course of interview. During the interview group took care of all the major attributes i.e. Active listening, Patience, Flexibility and the entire interview was audio recorded. Before submission of the final report the group analysed the entire interview proceedings together and discussed the happenings of the interview and did a critical analysis of what more information the group should have solicited and hence went for a second interview with the interviewee

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RESEARCHER’S PROFILE Professor Chowdari Prasad is a resident faculty at Alliance Business School, Bangalore, Karnataka. He is a first division Graduate and Post Graduate in Commerce from Osmania University, Hyderabad. He is a Certificated Associate of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance (CAIIB) and holds other qualifications viz., Certificate in Industrial Finance (IIBF), Diplomas in Training & Development (ISTD), Merchant Banking, Industrial Relations, Computer Programming, etc. Prof Prasad has about 25 years of work experience in Banking (Andhra Bank, SBI and Vysya Bank Leasing Ltd) in various capacities in Senior Management in Operations and Administration. Besides, he was Vice President in a 100% EOU in Hyderabad for three years. Prior to joining Alliance Business School, he was with T.A. PAI Management Institute, Manipal for over seven years as Associate Professor. He has presented / published many papers in Banking and Financial Services at various International Conferences, Seminars and in several national journals, magazines, etc. SOURCE : www.absindia.org

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INTERVIEW Prof Chowdari Prasad has been related with the field of Banking from last 4 decades. He has witnessed and experienced the reforms and revolution that the Indian Banking Industry has gone through in last few decades. He has worked with various banks and other financial institutions like Andhra Bank, State Bank of India, Vysya Bank and a manufacturing EOU in Hyderabad etc. During his career, he has travelled all over the country and has worked in different locations. He worked with Andhra bank in Hyderabad. Then he served SBI for 21 years across rural, urban and metro locations in the policy making body function. In 1993 during the time of reforms he entered into a completely diverse field and joined a manufacturing export oriented company in Hyderabad where he saw the other side of banking as a customer of the bank. After 3 years in that company, he was back to banking with Vysya Bank in the leasing subsidiary as ‘Vice President’. Professor Chowdari Prasad has a strong flair for training and imparting knowledge to new generation, thus this flair made him to complete a Diploma in Training from ISTD. He was imparting guest lectures and training to various students in several colleges in Hyderabad. His first full time academic experience started when he left the corporate world to join

T.A

Pai Management Institute, Manipal. This was beginning of a new era in his life. He takes an immense interest in sharing his knowledge and experience with MBA students and strongly believes that an MBA study is a strong mix of theoretical and practical application of concepts and principles. He believes in constant upgradation of his own knowledge so that he can teach students in relation to the present and live scenario. At TAPMI, the formal structure motivated the teachers to have a holistic approach by taking part in Research, Training, Consulting and Administration apart from teaching and hence all this motivated him to use his vast knowledge and experience and enter into the field of research. Professor Chowdari Prasad’s prime area of interest is management of Non Performing Assets in Indian Banks. He has consistently contributed to the knowledge in this area through his research. Till date he has completed 18 research papers/articles covering diverse aspects of the banking and financial industry. Some of the research he has done is as follows:

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•

Private Equity Funding in India – Issues and Challenges

•

Can Public Sector Banks Compete with Foreign/ Private Banks?

( 2007 )

–A Statistical Analysis

( 2003 )

•

Private Sector Banks in India – A SWOT Analysis

( 2004 )

•

Sustainability of Foreign Banks in India- A Statistical Analysis

( 2005 )

•

Banker’s Dilemma- To Lend or Not to Lend

( 2006 )

His recent research has been on Private Equity Funding in India – Issues and Challenges which he has carried out jointly with Dr K.S Srinivasa Rao. This research has been published in the “Proceedings of Fifth AIMS International Conference, Hyderabad 2007”. During the research they have tried to throw light on questions like: •

What is Private Equity?

•

How is it Contrast from Public Equity?

•

Who is funding it?

Generally he goes for secondary data mainly because of the constraint of time. However, when the research is being done specifically for a Corporate organization as in the case of research done by him for Corporation Bank where in he was asked by the Chairman of the bank to offer consulting on one problem the bank was facing- “why the priority sector lending of the bank is at lowest in the Indian banking record although their overall performance is good”. He collected primary data and went to the grass roots to find out the information across the country. As per him, a researcher is a curious person who does not accept general statement and has a probing mind, who tries to dig deep into the topic and come out with findings which are beneficial for the society and the business organizations.

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During the course of interview one research of his aroused great interest to our group“Can Public Sector Banks Compete with Foreign/ Private Banks?” which breaks the common notion of people that “all public sector banks are lazy and are unproductive.” The CAMEL approach used in the process, which means as follows C

-

Capital Adequacy

A

-

Asset Quality

M

-

Management

E

-

Efficiency

L

-

Liquidity

S

-

Systems

Using this approach and by forming a closed model and an open model they did an analysis and reached at a conclusion: •

Indian PSBs have been operating in different economic and political conditions for several decades

•

Due to the development policies of Government of India, profit making was not given the main priority

•

PSBs should introduce the practice of corporate governance and make full advantage of Information Technology to deliver expected levels of service

The entire research was completed in a period of around 4 months and mainly secondary data was collected from Business World Magazine and other sources like RBI website etc. This research breaks the general notion of a lay man that public sector banks have huge nonperforming assets. However, it shows that these banks just need few things to follow as mentioned above which would make them as competitive as private and foreign banks. This research gives us learning that what is always visible is not always true. It also makes us aware that we have to question about what is happening to identify a problem around us and

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a find a solution. Research is one of the most important tools and different method that can be used to find answers for disguised problems.

LIMITATIONS: During the course of his research there were few limitations also that he faced. The major limitation was of Time as he was also a full time faculty at TAPMI and had a responsible administrative role. He overcame all the problems as there was a burning desire from inside. Cost was another factor which posed difficulty but this was solved primarily as the data was secondary in nature and was collected from various Journals, Magazines, etc. Also there was a great support from the institution and fellow researcher Dr K.S. Srinivasa Rao which made the research possible and being presented at “The International Conference 2003 on Business & Finance: ICFAI and Philadelphia University, USA: Hyderabad, India: December 2003 and was later published in “The ICFAI Journal of Bank Management, Vol III, Number 1, February 2004.

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CONCLUSION The in- depth interview conducted with Professor Chowdari Prasad gave us an insight and understanding of the practical aspect of Research Methodology and the process adopted by a researcher to execute a research. It also made us aware about the life of a researcher, the kind of problems that comes in the way and how a researcher solves it. The main finding which motivated all the members is that a researcher has to have a passion for his/her work, they need to be intrinsically motivated because research in itself is a time consuming and complex activity which involves great effort on the part of a researcher. In all the journey of Professor Chowdari Prasad’s life was a great learning experience and motivation for the entire group.

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REFERENCES •

Alliance Business School, Bangalore- Website www.absindia.org

•

ICFAI Journal of Bank Management Vol. III, Number 1, February 2004

•

Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques by C.R.Kothari -II Revised Edition: 2004

•

University of Florida website http://www.ufl.edu

•

University of Pennsylvania Journal vol .VI, Number 4, January 2002

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