Submitted To:

Nadia Ashraf (Naf) School of Business

Northsouth University

Submitted By:
Course: MGT 210 Semester: Fall 2012 Section: 6 Date of Submission: 14 December, 2012

Samira Khan Shafayat An Nazmi Reanta Neaz Ahmed Fahim

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1. Executive Summery

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2. Brief Introduction of Grameenphone 3. SWOT Analysis of Grameenphone

4. Competitive Edge of Grameenphone (Synergy & Porters Generic Strategy)

5. Strategic Objectives of Grameenphone

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6. HRM of Grameenphone 7. CSR Practices of Grameenphone

8. Introduction of Banglalink

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9. SWOT Analysis of Banglalink

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10. Competitive Edge of Banglalink (Synergy & Porters Generic Strategy)

11. Strategic Objectives of Banglalink 12. HRM of Banglalink 13. CSR of Banglalink 14. Conclusion 15. Bibliography

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Executive Summary

This report is done as a part of our study and helped us to understand the real life scenario of communication. This report also facilitated the understanding of the academic theories associated with the course of BBA. This report intends to explore the two companies of our telecommunication industry, Grameenphone and Banglalink. It is an exploratory report which gives you an overall idea about the competitive edge between Grameenphone and Banglalink, as well as their individual SWOT analysis of the current marketing situations and also their HRM and CSR Practices. This analysis helps the companies to attain its strategic objectives and develop competition in the market. To develop competitive capability, organizations keep innovating ways to obtain, retain and engage their most critical resources which is human i.e. their employees. Successful human resource management involves acquisition, retention and development of human resources. This result in overall employee satisfaction and increased productivity. Setting objectives demands a yardstick to measure the fulfillment of the objectives. If an objective lacks specificity or measurability, it is not very useful, simply because there is no way of determining whether it is helping the organization to move toward the organizations mission and vision. We therefore also discuss about the strategic objectives of both the parties to help to channel employees throughout the organization toward common goals.

Corporate Social Responsibility is another part of the marketing and managerial effort to build a good public image, which in turn increases sales and interest. So we also describe about the CSR activities of both the companies and its effect on the corporate practices.

Introduction of Grameenphone

Grameenphone is the leading telecom service operator in Bangladesh with having the largest subscriber base of more than 33 million (as of May 2012). The company is a joint venture enterprise between

Telenor: the largest telecom company of Norway (The company owns 55.8% share of Grameenphone)

Grameen Telecom Corporation: a non-profit concern of globally acclaimed micro-finance organization Grameen Bank (the company owns 34.2% share of Grameenphone)

Rest of the shares are held in public that comprises 10% of the overall share of Grameenphone. November 28th 1996 GrameenPhone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts

and Telecommunications, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. March 26th1997 GrameenPhone launched its service on the Independence Day of Bangladesh. November 5th2006 After almost 10 years of operation, GrameenPhone has over 10 million subscribers. September 20th2007 GrameenPhone announces 15 million subscribers. November 30th 2009 After almost 10 years of operation, Grameenphone has over 10 million subscribers.

Brief Background Story of Grameenphone, (Wikipedia, 2012) Year 1996 Events In November 1996, Grameenphone Ltd. received cellular license by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Bangladesh.

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Grameenphone launched its service on the Independence Day (26th March) of Bangladesh Grameenphone started its services in Chittagong, the second largest city and the port city of Bangladesh. Cell to cell coverage between Dhaka-Chittagong was established. Grameenphone was the first operator to introduce the pre-paid mobile phone service in Bangladesh in September 1999 Grameenphone started its operations in all six divisions of Bangladesh and started providing cellular network coverage across the country for the first time. Grameenphone's subscribes base has become more than one million. Grameenphone became the first operator in the country to reach the million subscribers. Grameenphone launched GPRS Roaming services for the first time in Bangladesh in July 2006. (Grameenphone, 2011)

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Grameenphone Ltd. announced the launch of a new, refreshed logo today. The largest mobile phone company in Bangladesh - that now serves more than 10 million customers will introduce a new, modern logo from 17th November. (Grameenphone, 2011)

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Grameenphone Ltd. surpassed the 20 million subscriber milestone (Grameenphone, 2011)

Swot Analysis Of GrameenPhone

STRENGTHS Good Ownership Structure: Grameenphone has the best ownership structure in the telecommunication industry in Bangladesh. Telenor is one of the largest companies which is operating in different countries around the world. Again, in Bangladesh, Grameen Bank is one of the largest NGO, which has the sound communication all over the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (55.8%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway with mobile phone operations in 12other countries, and Grameen Telecom Corporation (34.2% ), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank. The other 10% shares belong to general retail and institutional investors.

 Market Leader: Grameenphone is the first organization in Bangladesh, which has reached to the general people. Though Citycell had started their operation beforehand, but they were unable to reach the general people. So, the people are being used to with Grameenphone. This is a huge advantage of Grameenphone. Network Availability: Grameenphone has the widest network coverage and a large number of BTS station (Tower) all over Bangladesh. Brand Name of Grameen Image: Grameen Bank is well known all over the country because of its appreciable activities in financial sector for poor people in Bangladesh. Financial Soundness: Because of effective strategic planning, Grameenphone is able to earn a healthy amount of revenue, which gives them financial soundness. Skilled Human Resources: All the stuff, which are related to Grameenphone are skilled and effective in their own job responsibility. Effective Support Organization: Grameenphone has shared the idea from the employees of Bangladesh Railway and Grameen Bank, who are experienced and able to provide precious guidelines for the operation of Grameenphone.

WEAKNESSES High Call Rate: The call rate for different prepaid packages from Grameenphone is ranging from BDT 0.49 BDT 1.50 (for GP to GP) & BDT 0.79 - BDT 2 (GP to Other). Many Men Many Minds: Sometimes different ideas may create problem. Sometimes, it may create problem because employees are used to with previous strategy. Complicated Pricing Structure:

Grameen phone has lots of products. The pricing of these products and their billing policies are different which also difficult for a user to understand. Lack of Harmony among SBUs: Intercommunication among various departments is little bit weak. The reason behind this, there is no exchange program for employees to work among various Strategic Business Units (SBUs).

OPPORTUNITIES Economic Growth of Bangladesh: The economic growth of the country will increase the expansion of telecommunication industry. From 1995 to 2012, there is a huge change in telecommunication sector. Increasing Demand for Telecom Services: The market of telecommunication is expanding. So, this is easy for Grameenphone to achieve the major portion of expanded market because of its leading position. Declining Prices for Handsets: Few years ago the people from low income group could not afford mobile phone services due to the high price of handsets. Now the price of handsets has decreased and the low income people want to get connected through mobile phone. Flexibility of Mobile Phone: Communication through mobile phone is popular because, land phone connection between intercity is relatively costly. So, there is a chance to achieve more subscribers and more market share.

THREATS Upgraded Technology Used by Competitors: New mobile phone operators like Banglalink, Airtel are establishing their channels with latest technology, whereas Grameen Phone is using the stations which are five years old. So, this is one of the disadvantages for Grameenphone. Political Instability:

Political instability is another threat. With the change of Government, policies are also changed. So, this is difficult for any multinational organization to cope with new policies. Risky Position of Valuable Resources: The organization has a large number of BTS stations which are spread all over the country. Anyone can make damage to these BTSs and this is also difficult to arrange proper security for these stations. No Cooperation from Government Agency: BTTB does not want to provide better services to other operators, because, it wishes to remain competitive.

COMPETITIVE EDGE of GRAMEENPHONE

Synergy Market Synergy: By designing different prepaid packages for different target market GP used market synergy. Aapon, Bondhu, Spondon, Amontron, Shohoj, Nishchinto, smile & djuice connections are the prepaid packages offered by GP. Subscribers area allowed to migrate between these packages. By doing so GP has increased the total sales and usage of prepaid connection substantially, hence we can conclude that GP have established market synergy successfully. Cost Synergy: GP uses a form of cost synergy because all its products and services are served to the different customers through the same channel of network, customer care is provided to all subscribers through the same service desks. Porters Generic Competitive strategies

 differentiation strategy: GP uses differentiation strategy for its normal consumers. If can be said so because GP network is considered the best in the country with the maximum area coverage. GP spends more than any other mobile phone operator in advertising and promotion, which help the product to stand out from the crowd. Focused differentiation strategy: GP uses focused differentiation strategy for its star subscribers. Star subscribers receive special customer care treatment and special discount in restaurants and shopping outlets. There are many variable privileges and offers for platinum, Gold and silver star customers. Certain usage rate and network age criteria determine the privileges.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE of GRAMEENPHONE

Business Level Strategies: Using product features or services GP is distinguishing the firms offerings from its competitors. Some product features are Apon, Bondhu, Sohoj, Djuice, Xplore, Business Solution, Internet SIM, Public Phone, Village Phone etc. To increase market share by expanding the network, The Company was successfully listed in November 2009 which was the largest IPO in the history of the Bangladesh capital market. Functional Level Strategies Grameenphones focus is on efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness. Their main focus on After Sales Service thats why for the first time they introduce 24 Hours Helpline and many GPC with the motto, We are Here to Help Global Level Strategies:

Grameenphone (The Company of Telenor Group) is using multidomestic strategies because it expanded its telecom business under different countries with different name. Such as: o Grameenphone in Bangladesh, Uninor in India, Telenor in Pakistan, Norway, Hungary; DiGi in Malaysia, dtac in Thailand etc. Corporate Level Strategies: Grameenphone is vertically integrated, now they establish some plans for grab more rural customers by producing Handset Badhon Grameenphone C100, Grameenphone V100 at cheap price.

Human Resource Management of Grameenphone

R & EB (The Resourcing & employee branding) department coordinates and evaluates people planning process that eventually approved by board.

Recruitment & Selection Process:

The selection process has two steps firstly there is a written test. Candidates are tested basically on job related skills and their analytical ability along with some open ended questions relating to their psychological behavior. Training & Development: Usually the first three months act as the probationary period for the fresh recruit. In these training period of 3 months, the employee is tested indirectly and monitored and his/her caliber judged and hence the management takes the decision of where to place him. Compensation:

A job is classified according to the skills and experience required for satisfactory performance in the job, the degree of problem-solving involved and the magnitude of the impact of a decision to be taken as an incumbent in the job

Employee Safety & health: For employee safety and health the company gives medical Benefit for All Permanent Staff. In case of hospitalization of the staff, spouse or any dependent child, in any recognized hospital or clinic, the Company will reimburse 50% of the hospitalization charges. Employee Motivation:

Profit Sharing Performance Bonuses Reward Services Benefits

Corporate social responsibility of Grameenphone

Safe Motherhood and Infant Care Project

Grameenphone Safe Motherhood & Infant Care Project is thus designed to ensure free, yet quality, safe motherhood and infant care services to poor mothers and their infants throughout the country. It also aims to assist in necessary infrastructure development and extension of basic healthcare services, especially in the hard-to-reach and remote areas.

Education-

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In collaboration with Grameen Shikkha, an organization of the Grameen Bank family, Grameenphone provides scholarship to some 100 bright but underprivileged students at different academic levels through a scholarship fund annually. It also provides educational support to a number of special schools - Tauri Foundation, HANS, CDC, and SEID Trust with an objective to aid in the learning process of the gifted children in our society. Grameenphone is also a proud partner of the Enrichment Program of Bishsho Shahitto Kendro through which free books are distributed. Fight against HIV/AIDSOne of the eight Millennium Development Goals for Bangladesh is to halt the spread of HIV and AIDS by 2015. Hence, Grameenphone is committed to work closely with Bangladesh Government and concerned development agencies to achieve that target, with the aim to raise awareness and advocate for necessary policy reforms on HIV/AIDS through different communication channels. Environment GPs Climate project aims to reduce carbon emission, become environment friendly and create a momentum with the community and people. The ambition of the project is to reduce the overall companys carbon footprint by 30% within 2015. One of the major focus areas is to gain energy efficiency in Grameenphone Networks by implementing energy efficient base stations, DC ventilation system and alternative energy solutions. The target of the Company is to deploy solar power system in all the off-grid sites. Currently GP has 15 Green Base Stations and works are going on for deploying solar power system in another 140 sites.

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Introduction of Banglalink
Banglalink is the second largest telecom operator in Bangladesh with a subscriber base of more than 20 million in Bangladesh (as of May 2012). Currently the company is wholly owned subsidiary of Egyptian telecom company Orascom which had almost 93 million subscriber base across the world. This section of the study will highlight the background story and advancement of Banglalink by presenting the key business events related to the company's operations & advancements in a chronological order. Year 1989 Sheba Telecom (PVT) Ltd acquired the license to operate the company's telecommunication services around 199 upazillas of the country being the second Telecommunication company of Bangladesh after Citycell. Year 1995 The Company commenced its commercial operation in Bangladesh in September 1995. Year 1996 In November 1996, it was further permitted by the Government of Bangladesh to operate a nationwide GSM (GroupeSpcial Mobile) cellular mobile system extend the business to cellular mobile & radio telephone services. The license granted to the company covers a period of 15 (fifteen) years, effective from 11 November, 1996. Year 1997 The company launched the operation of the GSM service being a Bangladesh-Malaysia joint venture. Year 2004

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An Egyptian telecom giant Orascom Telecom made a secret deal for purchasing the Malaysian stakes in Sheba Telecom as the mobile phone operator was failing to tap the business potentials in Bangladesh mainly due to a chronic feud between its Malaysian and Bangladeshi partners. Year 2005 Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited is 99.999% owned by Orascom Telecom Ventures Limited (OTV), which is a fully owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., Egypt (OTH). After a complete overhaul and the deployment of a new GSM network, the company relaunched telecommunication services in February 2005 under the brand name Banglalink. (Banglalink, 2011) Year 2007 On June 2007, the company changed its name from Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited to Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited. The name change was approved by Bangladesh

Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

SWOT Analysis of Banglalink

Strengths Low cost provider The most remarkable success of Banglalink is the slump in tariff structure. It is the lowest cost provider in Bangladesh telecommunication market. Banglalinks all connections are ISD & EISD: Its a big strength of Banglalink. Its the only SIM which has such a versatility of connections having ISD, Economy ISD service along with both incoming and outgoing connectivity with any of the land phones. Banglalink is the only indigenous company using GSM service

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Banglalink is the only local organization which is providing GSM technology in this country. The other local organization named pacific telecom is providing CDMA technology which is more expensive. So Banglalink can take this advantage over its competitors. From the very beginning it is providing free TNT incoming Banglalink is the only provider which is providing T&T incoming free from the very beginning. Whether other operators providers providing such kind of facility just now. It has also provided incoming facility up to lifetime Banglalink have a strong strength over its competitors in-case of incoming facility. Banglalink present incoming duration is up to lifetime. Moreover its contribution to our economy can be notable: As a multinational company Banglalink have a strong contribution in our national economy. Its one of the high profit generating in Bangladesh.

WEAKNESS WEAK FINANCIAL STRUCTURE All the investment activities for the company is funded only by Banglalink's parent subsidiary Orascom Telecom. This coveys higher capital risk on Orascom but result slower growth potential for Banglalink. WEAKER NETWORK COVERAGE The company currently has network coverage of around 90% of the country. The company is failing to ensure growth in coverage in compare to the growth of company's customer number. Lower number of human resource: The number of employee of Banglalink is too much lower regarding its requirement. As a result the service quality and customer satisfaction go down. Weak management system:

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Poor coordination among different functional department of Banglalink as result service efficiency goes down. OPPORTUNITY ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF CAPITAL RAISING The company has the opportunity of external funding from various sources. The company's management is seeking for merger or acquisition opportunity from the industry. M-BANKING Banglalink made an agreement with Dutch Bangla Bank Limited to develop a Mobile Banking Platform that will create a convenient & secure channel for transaction NEW TECHNOLOGY Banglalink has already introduced 3G internet modem in the market. The current internet service from Banglalink is yet to be promising. Banglalink being the second largest of the telecom sector can exploit this opportunity and easily utilize it for switching customers from the company's competitors. APPEALING NICHE - REACHING THE UNMET NEEDS WITH WIDER NETWORK COVERAGE The current network coverage for Banglalink is 90% of the country where Grameenphone has around 98% of the country's network coverage. This implies that, there are 8% of the total network where Banglalink could share customers with Grameenphone and 2% of the total country's unmet need which Banglalink could explore and generate new revenue sources.

THREAT PRICE WAR All the six companies are competing to get the market through low pricing. As a result of this Average Revenue Per User is frequently decreasing and resulting loss. Under this

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circumstances, 'price war' seems to be the biggest threat for Banglalink that can damage the future of the company. COMPETITOR Banglalink has several direct competitors like - Grameenphone, Robi, Citycell, Airtel, and Teletalk (BTCL. All these competitors are coming up with various strategies to share similar target customers with Banglalink and cause lower profitability for the company. REGULATIONS The regulative flaws are affecting the growth potential of the telecom industry which are equally faced by all the six operators of the country. UNFAVORABLE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Issues like - power shortage and energy shortfalls, price hikes, high inflation and natural catastrophes are the major unfavorable ingredients of the business environment of Bangladesh.

Competitive Edge of Banglalink

Synergy Market Synergy Banglalink had designed different packages to meet different needs of the customers, they are extending their products to new market, thereby increasing sales of both new and existing packages. So, market synergy is being used. Cost Synergy Cost synergy occurs when cost is saved from combinations of common base operations, resources, and facilities. Cost synergy is also being used because Banglalink uses the same network, infrastructural, workforce, to serve all its customers. Porters Generic strategies

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 Differentiation Srategy: The company is offering cheaper call rate both in prepaid & postpaid packages. Customers are getting attracted with the 'low price'-attribute of the service. Also Customers are served with differentiated service offerings that ensure greater attraction and it ensures greater usability of services. Cost Leadership Strategy Banglalink is company is offering cheaper call rate both in prepaid & postpaid packages. Customers are getting attracted with the 'low price'-attribute of the service. Banglalink therefore is using cost leadership strategy to penetrate a broad segment of the market.

Strategic objectives of Banlalink

Financial Fund Raising through Capital Raising from Shareholder's Investment: Banglalink has the 2nd largest subscriber base with strong media attention. This strength enables the company to raise fund through share capital investment. Since the company has an image on its customers it will be easier to convince the investors and take advantage of the opportunity for getting incorporated or joining in a strategic alliance. Market Development through Targeting New Customer Segment: The company's agro-information based service - 'Krishi Bazar' has the strength to bring Banglalink to the rural people which allows to take the advantage of generating a huge number of rural customers with unmet needs.

Product Development through Greater Practice on Mobile Banking:

Mobile Remittance is another innovative valued added service that has the potential to meet various transaction needs of the people of Bangladesh.

Network Expansion through New Infrastructure Sharing

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Banglalink is yet to achieve the largest network coverage of the country. The company can minimize this weakness of low network connectivity through infrastructure sharing with the competitors.

Human Resource Management of Banglalink

. As Banglalink is a concern of Orascom Telecom so its HR Planning is given great importance. Job Design and Analysis Job design is really important issue for any organizations HR practices. It refers to organizing tasks, duties, and responsibilities into a productive unit of work. Job design is receiving greater attention for three major reasons: Job design can influence performance in certain jobs. Job design can affect job satisfaction. Job design can affect both physical and mental health

Recruitment and Selection The recruitment process of Banglalink is highly competitive and consists of many layers. They are as follows: Requisition Sources of recruitment Advertisement Issuances of Interview Card Written test Audio Visual Test Extempore Performance Interview-1

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Leadership Test Final interview Placement

Training and Employee Development Training is the learning experience in that it seeks a relatively permanent change in an individual that all improve the ability to perform on the job. We typically say training can involve changing of skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors. Performance management Performance management is the systematic process by which an organization

involvesits employees, as individuals and members of a group, in improving organizational effectiveness. Reward and Compensation The reward system of an organization includes anything that an employee may value and desire. Organization use reward to motivate employee. Employee Relation Employee relation is more important issue for an organization. If employee relationship is good with their employer then that organization can run their business successfully.

Corporate Social Responsibility Of Banglink

Coxs bazaar sea beach cleaning project and international coastal cleanup day Since 2005, Banglalink has been cleaning worlds longest sea beach, Coxs bazaar. Banglalink has been truly making a difference in preventing environmental pollution at Coxs bazar beach and preserving the environment. Donating blankets at orphanages

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Since 2009, to help underprivileged children, Banglalink has taken this special initiative to distribute blankets among the orphan children of many orphanages around the country- which are in great need for it during winter season. Special arrangements for hajj pilgrims at the hajj camp Since 2009, Banglalink has provided its services to Hajj pilgrims. Banglalink provides pure drinking water to Hajj Camp. Besides it has added some extra facilities such as necessary medicines, free phone calls and buses for shuttle services. Water & date distribution and iftar at orphanage during Ramadan Since 2009, Banglalink distributed free water and dates for the fasting people who got stranded at major traffic points of selected metro cities around iftar time during Ramadan ICT support for underprivileged children: computer lab set up To remove the curse of illiteracy from society and to enlighten the students who will become the hope of tomorrow, Banglalink has successfully set up computer labs in 270 underprivileged schools at different parts of the country in 2011

Conclution
Many people find telecommunication industry as the most lucrative industry of the world. In fact, telecommunication sector is one of the emerging sectors in Bangladesh. Among the 162.22 million people of Bangladesh around 46% of the people are using mobile phone. "Although nearly half of the country's population is still below the poverty line, the country has been one of the world's fastest growing cellular markets". (Paul, 2009) This definitely clarifies that cell phone has become an integral part of Bangladeshi people which brings immense opportunities to the country's telecom service providers. Banglalink is standing far away from Grameenphone in terms of subscriber base. The key reasons behind this are - Grameenphone's greater focus on quality, the network coverage, strong equity structure and superior resource allocation. These unique competencies of Grameenphone have established a stronger brand image for the company while Banglalink is yet to achieve these crucial qualities and difficult to achieve them instantly.

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The Industry Analysis section of this study shows that, both companies are yet to exploit the potentials that include banking service solution, order-purchase platform, remittance services & many more and Banglalink made the first effort with the award winning services like - Mbanking, M-remittance and Krishi Bazar. These services requires improvement. Moreover, popularizing and educating - are the mandatory necessities. Once the people start to accept the services, the brand preference for Banglalink over its competitors is inevitable.

Bibliography Reference list

Wikipedia 2012, Grameenphone, 6/12/2012, <en. Wikipedia.org/wiki/grameenphone> Grameenphone 2012, investor-relations, 12/12/2012, < Investor-relations.grameenphone.com> Grameenphone 2012, Grameenphone, Grameenphone Official website, Dhaka, 06/12/2012, < www.grameenphone.com> Banglalink 2012, Banglalink, Banglalink Official website, Dhaka, 06/12/2012, < www.Banglalinkgsm.com> Crab 2012, crab credit rating agency of Bangladesh Ltd. Crab Official website, 06/12/2012, < www.crab.com.bd> GrameenPhone 2012 GrameenPhone - Corporate Responsibility, GrameenPhone Official Site, 12.12.12 < http://www.grameenphone.com/about-us/corporate-

information/corporate-responsibility> Crab 2012, crab credit rating agency of Bangladesh Ltd. Rating information website, 06.12.12 < www.crabrating.com> Kreitner, R. 2007, Management, 11th edition, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, New York.

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