Strategic Objectives Of Grameenphone Telecom Ltd Marketing Essay

St treadgic Objectives Of Grameenph ane Telecom Ltd Marketing EssayThis study is meant to pore primarily on strategic objectives of GRAMEENPHONE TELECOM LTD, BANGLADESH and also endeavours to pass judgment the attribute and amounts of this chosen guild. GRAMEENPHONE TELECOM LTD is one of the leading telecommunicationmunication companies in Bangladesh which occupies the top localisation among its competitors through providing impe last-placerable web reporting every(prenominal) over the clownish. The main goal of this report is to treat a character audit and identify the reference gaps and to take effective measures to fill those tonicity gaps of GRAMEENPHONE TELECOM LTD.background of companyGrameenPhone is now one of the leading telecommunication service providers in Bangladesh with to a greater extent than 23 one thousand million subscribers as ofcelestial latitude 2009. In November 28, 1996 GrameenPhone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Minis adjud icate of Posts and Telecommunications with a view to covering the whole countrified with a good timberland vane. And with a great surprise after almost 10 eld of its operation, GrameenPhone has over 10 million subscribers. Presently, there argon about 50 million telephone users in the country, of which, a little over one million are frozen-phone users and the rest mobile phone subscribers.Starting its trading operations on attest 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh, GrameenPhone has come a familyn way. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (55.8%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway with mobile phone operations in 12 opposite countries, and Grameen Telecom Corporation (34.2% ), a non-profit sister concern of the worldwidely acclaimed micro-credit innovate Grameen Bank. The another(prenominal) 10% shares belong to 10%to general retail and institutional investors. Over the years, GrameenPhone has always been a pioneer in introduci ng bare-ass merchandises and serve in the local anesthetic market. GP was the early company to introduce GSM applied science in Bangladesh when it launched its service in March 1997.The technological know-how and managerial expertise of Telenor has been instrumental in setting up such an international standard mobile phone operation in Bangladesh. Being one of the pioneers in ontogenesis the GSM service in Europe, Telenor has also patroned to transfer this knowledge to the local employees over the years.Evaluating GrameenPhones strategic objectivesGrameenphoness basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural champaigns. In contrast to the island strategy followed by companies, which involves interrelateing isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, Grameenphone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. give the sackarm the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout Grameenphones electronic network. parvenu manufacturing technologies are developing rapidly, resulting in sore products/services, innovations and improvements in the manufacturing process, thus, requiring a proactive approach by organizations. To be proactive, organizations require groundbreaking methods of performance measurement, to appraise their progress towards achieving organizational mission, vision and strategic objectives. (God go out Tapisi Mukonje, Performance measurement, pp. 72. MAM/, 2009.)2.1 Maintaining quality networkOver the years, the network division of Grameenphone has been ensuring the best-in-class GSM cellular mobile network for the nodes in Bangladesh. Ensuring customer satisf follow out through enhanced coverage, expanded capacity and ameliorate quality and performance of the network continued to be the primary focus of the networks division. The GP network now covers over 98 percent of the community and over 87 percent of the land area with the remaining areas mostly falling under the Sundarbans and the Chittagong Hill Tract areas where mobile phone coverage is not allowed. The company invested more than BDT 35.8 billion in 2007 primarily to save expand the coverage and increase the capacity of its network.Radio Access Rollout foot Stations2.2 Corporate strategyGrameenphone believes maturement is a journey, not a destination, work is not only if about ensuring connectivity it is about connecting with state and grammatical construction relationships, rest homed on trust, with our subscribers, business partners, employees, shareholders, as comfortably as the wider community. The company also believes that good teaching is a good business. While GP maintains business focus, taking the nation forward remains top priority. therefore relationship with Bangladesh is built on a partnership which strives to achieve normal economic and fond goals.Corporate social responsibility, as the company sees, i t is a complementary combination of ethical and responsible corporate behavior, as well as a commitment towards generating greater good for the society by addressing the development needs of the country.The core strategy of GP in this area is to be Bangladeshs partner in developing the country, particularly in its promise, as a United Nations Millennium Declaration signatory, to meet the eight targets cognise as the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. GP has merged its social investment initiatives in four core areas related to the Millennium Development GoalsPoverty alleviationGP takes disdain in developing the countrys fundament, in the urban areas. The company is of the view that eradication of poverty sack up be uprooted if illiteracy is removed from the country. GP regards Grameen Bank as a compatriot of its development work.HealthcareIn healthcare sector GP has set a glowing example for others to follow providing immense healthcare installment counterbalance in the rem ote areas with the help of Tele Prescription and mobile clinic service to the people coastal areas.EmpowermentGP has created more than 150,000 jobs in its premises and another(prenominal) 100,000 are related with GP as vendors, card retailers, selling officers and so on.EducationGP does come forward with initiatives to encourage the learners by retentivity various educational competitions such as drawing, essay writing, story objet dart and so on. It also launchs scholarships to the meritorious students.2.3 sight and Mission Statement of GrameenPhoneVisionVision is what an organization wants to do. The vision of Grameenphone Ltd is we are here to help. The company exists to help the customers get the full clear of communications services in their periodical lives. We want to make it easy for customers to get what they want, when they want it. To be a leading provider of telecommunication services all over Bangladesh with quelled customers, shareholder, and enthusiastic empl oyeesMissionMission is end results of an organization where it wants to reach. Grameenphones mission is to mold digital revolution in Bangladesh by covering the whole country with network and to build up strong communication network stock-still in the further remotest corner of the country.The quality auditThe word grapheme is comparative and it varies person to person. prime(a) is defined by a customer according to his demand. If some(a)one is looking for some specifications in a subscribeed items and the items conform to his expectation then the customer will be merry to say the items maintain quality or good quality if he is very pleased.Quality dimensionsValueGrameenphones manifesto is to add value to customers working use making things simple and easy to understand. The company never forgets to try its customers lives easier. GP is focuses on creativity. So it brings energy and imagination to the work and wants to be partner in development and is passionate about its business, customers and country. The company understands what it should do and how to put things right. Over all GP acknowledges and respects local socialization and comes forward with an open, helpful and friendly attitude.Fitness for useGrameenphone offers an increasing moment of services for the customer varying from teenage group to aged people featuring according to their needs and very friendly staffs for the people of all classes. It takes pride because of the companys largest and smoothest network services to anywhere in the country and out of the country. So there should not be any mark of question for its seaworthiness in comparison any other actual telecom companies in the region.Conformance to specificationThe company promises to provide the best services level(p) in the remote corner of the country. Its slogan is to stay close how cold the distance could be. GP works like a link to connect and facilitates to broaden the scope of communication. And the services GP provides conforms to the charges that customers pay for.Meeting or exceeding customers expectationGP is determined to meet the expectation of the customers and at times its lucrative offers exceedingly please the users. GP feels that to make the country more advanced there is no alternative to using internet. For this utilization GP has initiated some specialised Internet SIMs in market which modify the users to be machine- narkible through wireless network.Conformance to requirementsGP services always conform to the requirements of the customers. Besides network services it comes forward with many an(prenominal) initiatives to better the condition of society and it voluntarily serves the coastal inhabitants with free preventive warning for coming dangers. GPs promise is to keep the whole country connected with very strong network web so that decentralisation foot be done easily.Quality auditConducting Quality AuditTo conduct a quality audit certain methodologies confirm been adapted. In the first power data has been collected from different sources such as analyze 50 customers in terms of satisfaction on some factors and their answers wipe out been analysed through minute observations. The results of the survey are given below concomitant 1 Vertical axis shows 60 customersThe survey was conducted among 60 users from city, suburban areas and urban areas. The above chart shows that out of 60 GP users 35 from city, 46 from suburban areas and 56 from urban areas having problem with remember exhausts during calling. 2 from city, 5 from suburban areas and 6 from urban areas are complaining of overcharging kinda of collect call rate. And complicated tariff has created problemS among 12 in city, 17 in suburban areas and 28 in urban areas. 22 users from city, 27 from suburban areas and 38 from urban areas are dissatisfied with GPs poor network. moreover there is slight accusation for no network survey which says only when o in city, 1 in suburban areas and 2 from urban areas. joyful, VERY HAPPY AND NOT HAPPY survey has also been conducted among k users. The report is depicted belowHAPPY20%VERY HAPPY75%NOT HAPPY15%Fishbone DiagramPeopleMaterialschargeMarketingHiring finalwork Tower standards FranchiseTraining Transports VendorDevices SponsorshipQuality Improvement MaintenanceInstallationIntroducing Design workloads freedom to workSpecifications force securedMeasurementsEnvironmentEquipmentThis fishbone diagram conspicuously illustrates the areas where to focus on to improve quality of this company. All the sectors need to be treated with equal importance. And in some case drastic measures have to take to further its improvement.An converse with the GP staffs has been very successful. The interview is carried through certain questions whether the staffs are happy or not happy giving answers YES/NOAfter completing the interview process it was analyzed and reviewed in 5 points covering the whole base to identify the quality gap s. These gaps need to be filled up to plug the standard quality of service/ product of GP Ltd. The outcomes of the staff interview have shown in the table given belowSlIdentified IssuesYesNo1Good Wages and remunerations85152 insufficiency more autocracy87133Poor focal point21794Poor internal communication facility27835Environment in the work place needs improvement6535The above table 1 to 5 is considered as to be the intensity of quality gaps in Grameenphone Ltd. The issues have to be taken seriously to improve the internal service quality of the company. The answer YES is showing things are ok and NO identifies immediate action plan to fill these gaps.Environmental (internal) analysis Swot analysis of GrameenPhone Ltd say-soReportingIn comparison with other active network companies in Bangladesh it can be agreed upon that GrameenPhone Bangladesh is in a good strength to compete it business rivals if the company steadily maintain the strategy it has. but in near future BanglaLi nk Telecommunication may be unuttered competitor as the company is growing fast and trying to bridge the gaps that the GP has. So GP is supposed to lose its position in spite of appearance 5 years time. GPs business growth has reached a place from where rate of growth can be achieved between 15% 20% with 22 million customers. On the other hand BanglaLink telecom ltd goes on with 25%-30% having 15 million users.The result of quality audit/quality gaps pecuniary auditBalance sheet of year 2007 and 2006 in 000 BDTAssets20072006Non-current assetsProperty, plant and equipment, netIntangible assetsOther non-current assetsCurrent assetsTotal assets80,318,1901,275,73316,06481,609,9876,815,05488,461,04155,413,498888,40712,56056,314,46510,442,19366,756,658Equity and liabilities copeholders equityShare capitalReservesRetained earnings2,430,3502,169,80321,510,95426,111,1072,430,3502,169,80319,909,32424,509,477Non-current liabilitiesLoans and borrowings, net of current divisionFinance lease obligations, net of current portionDeferred tax obligationOther non-current liabilitiesCurrent liabilitiesTotal equity and liabilities3,367,6205,315,55916,510,153711,94625,905,27834,444,65688,461,0412,448,4524,229,27711,097,313904,56718,669,60923,567,57266,756,658Key financial ratiosNet profit of turnover 6% 16%Return on append assets (ROTA) 18% 27%Earning per share (EPS) 54.14 132.41Dividend per share (DPS) 26.66 25.80Dividend payout ratio 49% 19%Slow progress in network setupGrameenPhone has been quite innovative but it do slow progress. 189 additional connections were made during this year, making a total of 221 village phones by the end of 1998. The deployment of Village Phones has also been get down than expected, mainly due to the poor coverage in rural areas. This was due to a reduction in projected investments. 1998 has, however, been a valuable year for testing out the Village Phone concept. The experiences gained during the year show in almost all respects that the Vi llage Phone concept is a feasible business proposition. Several studies have been undertaken, and the general conclusion is that it is a viable and profitable business for the village phone operators, who on come earned a net daily profit of US$2, more than double the per capita income in Bangladesh. (GrameenPhone websites)Operational performance interconnection problem persistsThe drop call, overcharging, complicated tariff, poor network and no network in accompaniment 1 are found in a survey that shows problems are still persistent in the services.Financial results for the year 1998The Company has made a negative net result of BDT 641.511 million (US$13.092 million) during the year 1998 compared to BDT 354.239 million (US$ 7.229 million) for the nine months ended December 1997. The main reasons behind this unsatisfactory financial performance are due to the non achievement of the projected gross revenue passel due to the stoppage of sales with PSTN connections after July 1998. Another reason was the competitive market. On the other hand, due to heavy congestion in the network and limited PSTN convey, GrameenPhone had to offer a number of concessions on all of the be packages. All of the above reasons plus lost revenue in calls and airtime resulted in a loss. The variable costs were also unfavourable because BTTB did not accept the basic principle of Senders keep all in sharing the revenues. The fixed or periodic costs were more or lessin field with the budget and were on the lower side. The interest costs, on the other hand,were higher compared to institutional financing.The cash flow situation became acute when GrameenPhone was uneffective to draw from theIFC/CDC/ADB credit line. Even the NORAD loan was at stake just before draw downand was solved by a see to it from Telenor AS. However, we were not able to drawdown Norwegian Kroner (NOK) 15.0 million in 1998 due to amendments required in theoperating license. (GrameenPhone website)Recommendations Conducting quality audit on GrameenPhone Telecom, these following recommendations have been made to remain market leader in the days to come.Existing market and its products frequently compels an organization to develop unseasoned products and in doing so the company can hold it current position and make forward steps to remain dominant in the market.GrameenPhone is suggested to unite its position by protecting the market share it has and maintaining the quality of brisk products sold within existing market sectors and can derive benefit in doing so. GP also can lower its tariff deletion the cost on advertisements which may create more customers. Thus, GP has to consolidate to protect and strengthen its present position.Market penetration is a bouncy tool to exploit the market and include more consumers for long. It can be achieved by penetrating the new market with new products. In unchanging market opportunities are more for the underage competitors like City Cell, Aktel, T ele parley to succeed with small but effective packages. Consequently GP will lose large market share.Withdrawal of some products that are make adverse effect on business will be a wise decision. GP needs to hold, harvest or build existing services withdrawing some complicated tariff. Making franchise for certain products or selling some of the shares to the locals can also be good strategy.Extending the existing product range to develop a completely new product range is a good strategy to adapt. As a developing country Bangladesh has got huge demand for internet. People are more cognisant of new technologies now and are willing to be connected with moderne communication technology. So GP can initiate Wireless broadband for the first time which is expected to stir the whole market.Expanding into new geographic market is a classic form of market development which can be quite handy for GP. To face the challenges of globalization and to operate in market across the world GrameenP hone can make a mountainous stride towards progress and expansion.GP can also diversify its marketing policy and products ranging different services and products such as iPhones with free minutes and unlimited internet which is going to change customers taste into different one.GrameenPhone added 11,000 new subscriptions in 1998. This was less than its target. By the year-end, the total number of subscribers was close to 31,000, far ahead of the three other mobile operators. The problem of not having enough interconnection capacity to the PSTN led to congestion on the call pathway between the GrameenPhone and PSTN networks. Existingsubscribers complained, which reduced sales to a minimum. In July, sales of new ubscriptions with get to to the PSTN were stopped altogether. At the same time, GrameenPhone started selling subscriptions without access to the PSTN, but with accessto all other mobile operators. Sales of these new subscriptions, however, made very slow progress. With so me new interconnection channels to the PSTN in Dhaka, and opening ofthe network in Chittagong with PSTN access, sales started to pick up again.Much effort went into planning new marketing initiatives. The focus was shifted from big corporations to small and medium sized enterprises. More sales points were launch, and a new dispersion strategy was underway. These activities led to positive results, and by November, the sales started to pick up quickly. Towards the end of the year, the sales of mobile-to-mobile subscriptions, now attendd GP-GP, showed quite positive results.Implementation on that point was no scope for short-term solutions. Down time on base stations was very low and created almost no traffic disturbances. On-call duties were established for all critical areas and a demanding system for round the clock rift handling and repairs was introduced.ConclusionGP is proud of Good owner structure, accessibility of backbone network( optical fiber), financial soundness, pre sent market leader, brand name/ GrameenPhone image, skilled human resource, largest geographical coverage, eligible human resource and infrastructure installation all over the country through Bangladesh railway and grameen bank, access to the widest rural distribution network through grameen bank, high ethical standard.An alibi not to solve problems because of mixture of different cultures, different departments not working together, poor interconnection with BTTB, not good enough public relation, sometimes a tendency to be arrogant, complicated high pricing structure, thrill system cant handle sophisticated billing, net work problem, line disconnections without any information, no long term distribution/channel strategy.stinting growth of Bangladesh, new and better interconnection agreement, huge need for telecom services, increased intentional activities in Bangladesh, declining prices for the handsets and SIM cards, future privatisation of the fixed network, new international g ateway, demand for the inter-city communication, growth in other operator will give more connection.More rigid government regulation, more influence of competitors on the fixed net work, change of government might lead to competitors, devaluation of currency, vitiate of installation, political instability, non-co-operation of government and fixed PSTN (public service telephone network), risk of fire in the GPs installations, price war, non availability of funds, BTTB has limited capacity for interconnection, high call charge.The results of the year have been given in terms of sales and income. However, the network operations have been expanded, although investments had to be reduced due to a leave out of funds. The financial situation has been very tight. In spite of these difficulties, GrameenPhones number of subscribers has stepwise grown to exceed 35,000, and its market position, as the leader of the cellular operators, has been consolidated. It is with renew optimism that th e company faces the next year. After the end of 1998, the license agreement was suitably amended and the license was issued in the name of GrameenPhone Ltd. The company now has the excerpt of pledging its assets to secure loan finances. The report satisfied that by the end of March 1999, the company achieved the targeted number of 35,000 subscriptions. These two events remove the main barriers for securing the much needed institutional financing within May 1999. Other good intelligence agency is the recommitment by NORAD to provide NOK 15.0 million for the 1999 budget of GrameenPhone.