TELENOR PAKISTAN: IMPACT OF

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON BRAND

PERFORMANCE

By:
Muhammad Mohiuddin Baig
 PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 Brief Overview

 Literature Review

 Research Methodology

 Findings & Analysis

 Results & Conclusion

 BRIEF OVERVIEW
 Objective: To analyze the impact of organizational culture on
brand performance

 Using a grounded theory standpoint, a survey for a sample

size of 100 has been conducted to gather data on brand
perception and performance

 Three research papers considered

 Base Paper: The Impact of Organizational Culture on

Brand Performance
DESIGN OF STUDY
LITERATURE REVIEW
 ARTICLES SELECTED
 Base article chosen: “Interactions between Organizational
Cultures and Corporate Brands” by Leslie de Chernatony and
Susan Cottam.

 The other two articles include:

◦ A Step by Step Process to Build Valued Brands by Peter Boatwright

and Jonathan Cagan

◦ The Impact of Culture on Brand Perceptions: A Six Nation Study by

Thomas Foscht and Cesar Maloles
 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
 Definitions of Culture:

“A company’s overall philosophy, a set of values and beliefs

that shape the way people think and behave”
Hankinson and Hankinson (1999)

“The pattern of shared values and beliefs that help

individuals understand organizational functioning and
thus provide them norms for behavior in the organization”
Deshpande´ and Webster (1989)
 CONT’D…
 Develop an understanding of the interaction between
organizational cultures and corporate branding which
contributes to brand performance.

 Corporate culture was a factor in organizational success;

specifically, strong, strategically appropriate and adaptive
cultures were positively associated with long-term economic
performance. (Kotter and Heskett ,1992)

 Link between relatively open, externally oriented

organizational cultures and better performance (Deshpande´ and Farley,
2004)
 CONT’D…
 Behavior of employees which give the brand substance
and influences perceptions
(Alloza et al., 2004; Bitner et al., 1990; McDonald et al., 2001; Gabbot and Hogg, 1994)

 Without an appropriate and supportive organizational

culture, there is little chance of employees living the
brand
(Schultz, 2003)
 CONT’D…
 “There is little doubt that organizational culture affects
performance; in the long run, it may be the one
decisive influence for the survival or fall of the
organization” (Hofstede, 1998 )

 Culture has also been found to influence employee

retention rates (Sheridan, 1992)
CULTURAL PITFALLS TO AVOID WHEN
SEEKING BRAND SUCCESS
Inconsistency
Inconsistency
between
between
organizational
organizational
culture
culture and
and brand
brand
values
values

Internal
Internal value
value
Unsuccessful
Unsuccessful or
or consistency
consistency
poor
poor thought
thought out
out between
between
cultural
cultural change
change organizational
organizational
intiatives
intiatives
Cultural subcultures
subcultures
Cultural
pitfalls
pitfalls to
to
avoid
avoid while
while
seeking
seeking brand
brand
success
success

Focus
Focus on
on
quantified,
quantified, Overly
Overly 'tough'
'tough'
financially
financially organizational
organizational
centered
centered culture
culture
performance
performance
targets
targets
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO CHANGE
IN SOCIETAL VALUES TO ACHIEVE BRAND SUCCESS

Societal values
change over
time

Organizational
Organizational culture adapts
culture is no longer
synchronized with naturally to
societal societal value
societal values
values
change

Cultural change
Culture
efforts initiated
stagnates and
within
brand suffers
organization

Factors
impeding and
facilitating
culture change

Culture change
Culture change
unsuccessful or successful
short-lived

Organizational
Organizational
culture
culture is
is
synchronized
synchronized with
with
societal values and
brand
brand thrives
thrives
EXCERPTS FROM THE OTHER ARTICLES
 A company should stay focused on managing talent
pool as closely as managing brands

 The dimension 'Rewards based on merit vs. politics'

was listed as the single most important issue that drove
a company's success, as well as the biggest opportunity
gap
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 GROUNDED THEORY
 Qualitative research which is inductive

 From the data, emerging patterns are identified and a

theoretical framework is developed, rather than testing
hypotheses formed from existing theory

 Once data is collected, incidents within the data are

compared and categories/themes are formed
 SAMPLING DESIGN
Target Population

◦ Current users of Telenor from NBS

Sample Element

◦ Age: 18-25 years

Sample Size

◦ 100 current users of Telenor from NUST Business School

Rationale

◦ Greater speed of data collection due to time constraint.

◦ The sample size is assumed to be representative of the greater population and their opinions
while rendering a perfect fit with the scope of the project.
 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
 Judgemental sampling was used since a criterion has
been defined according to which only current users of
Telenor are considered in the study
 RESEARCH METHOD USED
 Primary Method: Surveys
◦ Self-administered Surveys
◦ 8 Questions

 Secondary Data Analysis: Previous work done on

this area of research (World Wide Web)
FINDINGS & ANALYSIS
CULTURE AT TELENOR PAKISTAN
SOURCES OF CULTURE AT TELENOR PAKISTAN

Organization
Organization
al
al Structure
Structure
People
People (and
(and
Values
Values HR practices)
HR practices)

Sources
Organization
Organization
Vision
Vision of al
al Ethics
Ethics
Culture
• We acknowledge and respect local cultures. We do not impose one formula worldwide. BE
RESPECTFUL
We want to be a part of local communities wherever we operate. We believe loyalty
has to be earned.
• We are creative. We strive to bring energy to the things we do. Everything we produce BE INSPIRING
should look good, modern and fresh. We are passionate about our business and
customers.
KEEP
• Everything we set out to do should work, or if it doesn't, we're here to help. We're PROMISES
about delivery, not over promising, actions not words.
• We're practical. We don't complicate things. Everything we produce should be easy to MAKE IT EASY
understand and use. Because we never forget we're trying to make customers' lives
easier.
VALUES
 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

 Organic Structure

 Open Culture

 7 layers in the hierarchy

 Open communication at all levels

 ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS

In most of advertisements they project themselves as the care taker of

the values of Pakistani people, so they claim to cherish the core cultural
norms and values of the Pakistani people.

Do you think Telenor has designed packages and promotional campaigns

aligned with the culture?
29%

Yes
No

71%
GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Service Quality
Simplicity and Efficiency
and Convenience
trust through through
Performance through the
pricing alignment of
through a distribution
structure and structure and
superior setup
transparency strategy
network design
 COMPANY RATING (AVERAGE OF
OBSERVATIONS)
Survey Response

Company Rating
Mobilink 3.27
Ufone 2.41
Warid 3.2
Zong 4.3
 BRAND PERFORMANCE
 Highest ARPU (Average Revenue per Consumer)

 In the year 2006 to 2007, Telenor Pakistan was able to

increase its subscriber base by 200%

 It has created the second largest mobile network and

the largest and most advanced data network in the local
market
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Reasons for using Telenor

18%
8%

Quality of Service
28%
Low Price
Valued Added Services
Variety of Packages
Other
24%

22%
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Customer Satisfaction with the quality of service

33%

Yes
No

67%
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Rate the customer service of Telenor

12%
34%

Poor
Average
Excellent

54%
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Rate the promotional activities of Telenor

18%
30%

Poor
Average
Excellent

52%
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Will you switch if Telenor was involved in an unethical practice?

48%
Yes
52%
No
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Will you switch if Telenor was involved in a controversy?

36%

Yes
No

64%
 SURVEY RESPONSE

Will you still prefer Telenor if another telecom company introduces an attractive
package/service?

42%

Yes
No

58%
 AWARDS
 The Pakistan Society of Human Resource Management’s
Preferred Graduate Employer
 
 Award for Most Preferred Telecommunications Company
2007 among MBA students

 SAARC Communication Industry Conference 2007’s Most

Innovative Mobile Operator Award and Mobile Operator
with the Most Consumer Pull Award
 
 Telenor Global Brand Award for the year 2007
 CONT’D…
 All Pakistan Dawn Aurora Advertising Awards in three
of five nominated categories in March 2007

 The National Forum for Environment & Health’s

Annual Environment Excellence Awards 2008

 The Helpline Trust’s 2nd Corporate Social

Responsibility Award 2008
RESULTS & CONCLUSION
 CONCLUSION
 Telenor entered the market when it was very
competitive

 Through its culture and HR practices it was able to gain

a competitive advantage over the others

 Telenor has quickly assumed the number two position

behind the largest organization Mobilink, who has been
operating for 13 years
 CONT’D…
 The market is primarily dominated by the prepaid
services

 The market is characterized by price sensitivity and

there is a need to provide coverage to remote and
northern areas
“The performance of the brand needs to be backed by a strong
culture to achieve its objectives.”
Q&A