Resource Management II: Human Resource Management and Development, the Consumer, Consumer Protection and Standard Marks, Entrepreneurship, and Sampling

Under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, a consumer is any person who buys goods or hires or avails of services for a consideration, including through online, teleshopping, direct selling and multi-level marketing, but not a person who obtains goods for resale or for a commercial purpose. The Act lists six consumer rights: to be protected against the marketing of goods, products and services hazardous to life and property; to be informed about quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price; to be assured access to a variety at competitive prices; to be heard; to seek redressal against unfair or restrictive trade practices; and to consumer awareness. Consumers International adds rights to the satisfaction of basic needs and to a healthy environment. World Consumer Rights Day is observed on 15 March and National Consumer Day on 24 December, the date the first Consumer Protection Act received assent in 1986.

• Responsibilities: to be aware of rights and of the product, to insist on a bill, to read labels and look for standard marks, to use products as directed, to complain about genuine grievances, and to consume ethically and sustainably.
• Buying behaviour moves through need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase evaluation, where doubt about a costly choice (cognitive dissonance) may arise. It is shaped by cultural, social (family, reference groups), personal (age, occupation, income, lifestyle) and psychological (motivation, perception, learning, attitudes) factors.
• Consumer problems include adulteration, short weight and measure, charging above the maximum retail price, spurious and counterfeit goods, misleading advertisements, unsafe products, poor after-sales service, and online deception; the Central Consumer Protection Authority's guidelines of 2023 name thirteen "dark patterns" such as false urgency, basket sneaking, drip pricing and subscription traps.
• Consumer education and empowerment work through school curricula, the "Jago Grahak Jago" campaign, consumer clubs, the National Consumer Helpline (1915) and consumer magazines.

The Consumer Protection Act 2019, in force from 20 July 2020, repealed the Act of 1986. It set up the Central Consumer Protection Authority to act against unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements (with penalties of up to 10 lakh rupees for a manufacturer or endorser, and up to 50 lakh rupees for a repeat offence), order recalls and bring class actions; it created a chapter on product liability; it provides for mediation; and it allows complaints to be filed electronically, from where the complainant lives. Complaints go to a three-tier structure of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions whose pecuniary limits, since the rules of 2021, are up to 50 lakh rupees for the District Commission, above 50 lakh and up to 2 crore rupees for the State Commission, and above 2 crore rupees for the National Commission; a complaint must normally be filed within two years of the cause of action.

• Consumer organisations test products, publish findings, educate and litigate: examples include the Consumer Guidance Society of India (Mumbai), the Consumer Education and Research Centre (Ahmedabad) and, internationally, Consumers International.
• Consumer cooperatives buy in bulk and sell to members at fair prices, following the International Cooperative Alliance's seven principles: voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, education and training, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for community.
• Alternative redressal avoids courts: mediation under the 2019 Act, Lok Adalats, ombudsman schemes for banking and insurance, and company grievance cells.
• The Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016 made BIS the national standards body, allowed the government to make certification compulsory for products of public interest, and brought hallmarking of precious metals under it; hallmarking of gold jewellery became mandatory in phases from June 2021.
• Other consumer legislation includes the Legal Metrology Act 2009 with its Packaged Commodities Rules 2011 (net quantity, MRP inclusive of taxes, date of manufacture, name and address and consumer care details on every package), the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, the Essential Commodities Act 1955, the Competition Act 2002 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020.

An entrepreneur perceives an opportunity, bears risk and organises resources to create an enterprise. Cantillon stressed risk-bearing, Schumpeter innovation (new products, methods, markets, sources of supply and organisation) and McClelland the need for achievement. The process runs from idea generation and opportunity identification through feasibility study and a business plan, resource mobilisation and launch, to managing growth. Barriers include lack of finance and collateral, social and family constraints (heavier for women), lack of technical and managerial skills, market access, and regulatory procedures. Motivation comes from push factors (unemployment, dissatisfaction) and pull factors (independence, recognition, opportunity). Home Science graduates set up food processing and catering units, boutiques, day-care centres, interior design and event services, and training and counselling services.

Setting up an enterprise involves a market survey, choice of product and location, a project report, registration (Udyam Registration for micro, small and medium enterprises since July 2020, under composite criteria of investment and turnover whose thresholds were revised upward from April 2025), finance, licences (an FSSAI licence or registration for any food business), premises, machinery, staff and marketing. Finance is available through schemes such as the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme, MUDRA loans (Shishu up to 50,000 rupees, Kishore up to 5 lakh, Tarun up to 10 lakh, with Tarun Plus up to 20 lakh added in 2024) and Stand-Up India, which supports women and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs with loans from 10 lakh to 1 crore rupees. Appraisal tests market, technical, financial, economic and managerial feasibility. Two financial tools are basic: the break-even point in units is fixed cost / (selling price per unit − variable cost per unit), and the payback period is the initial investment divided by the annual net cash inflow.

A population (universe) is the whole set of units the study is about; a sample is the part actually studied; the sampling frame is the list from which the sample is drawn; a parameter describes the population and a statistic the sample. The sampling procedure is to define the population, obtain or build a frame, choose the technique, decide the sample size and draw the sample. Sampling error is the chance difference between a statistic and its parameter and shrinks as the sample grows; non-sampling errors (a poor frame, non-response, interviewer bias, wrong recording) do not. This slice builds on the designs of chapter 5, where random sampling was distinguished from random assignment.

Worked: to draw 100 households systematically from a list of 2,000, the interval is k = 2,000 / 100 = 20, so after a random start between 1 and 20 every 20th household is taken. In proportionate stratified sampling, a stratum of 600 in a population of 2,000 contributes 600 / 2,000 × 100 = 30 households to a sample of 100. For estimating a proportion, Cochran's formula n = z²pq / e² with z = 1.96, p = q = 0.5 and a margin of error of 0.05 gives 1.96² × 0.25 / 0.0025 = 384.16, which is rounded up to 385.