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Introduction

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 INTRODUCTION
One of the most challenging tasks of a business may be organizing the people who
perform its work. A business may begin with one person doing all the necessary tasks. As
the business becomes successful and grows, however, there is generally more work, and
more people are needed to perform various tasks. Through this division of work,
individuals can become specialists at a specific job. Because there are several people
often in different locations working toward a common objective, there must be a plan
showing how the work will be organized so that it may be arranged systematically.

Plan:
A plan is typically any procedure used to achieve an objective. It is a set of intended
actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal.
A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a
plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within
which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most
important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not
guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure.

Types:
1-Formal
2-informal

Structured and formal plans:

It is used by multiple people and is more likely to occur in projects, diplomacy, careers,
economic development, military campaigns, combat, or in the conduct of other business.
In most cases, the absence of a well-laid plan can have adverse effects: For example, a
non-robust project plan can cost the organization time and money.

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Unstructured or Informal plans:

Informal or ad-hoc plans are created by individuals in all of their pursuits.

Purpose of Plan:

As no organizations is alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan

keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of
business. It serves the following three critical functions:

• Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their business's or project's

development and prospects.
• Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop
and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years.
• Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and
reviewed.

Planning:

Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating
and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities
required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of
intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a
plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments
with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them.

The term is also used to describe the formal procedures used in such an endeavor, such as
the creation of documents diagrams, or meetings to discuss the important issues to be
addressed, the objectives to be met, and the strategy to be followed. Beyond this,

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planning has a different meaning depending on the political or economic context in which
it is used.

Importance of the planning Process:

A plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden
opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning
process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and
how and when they can do it.

A well prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that
they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances,
and most importantly, markets and competition.

Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It
bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead.

Essentials of planning:

Planning is not done off hand. It is prepared after careful and extensive research. For a
comprehensive business plan, management has to

1. Clearly define the target / goal in writing.

• It should be set by a person having authority.

• The goal should be realistic.
• It should be specific.
• Acceptability
• Easily measurable

2. Identify all the main issues which need to be addressed.

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 3. Review past performance.
4. Decide budgetary requirement.
5. Focus on matters of strategic importance.
6. What are requirements and how will they be met?
7. What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure?
8. Identify shortcomings in the concept and gaps.
9. Strategies for implementation.
10. Review periodically

Organizational planning:
An organizational plan is basically a “to do” list for an organization. It lists out the plan
of work, programs, and organizational growth over a period of time as six months, a year,
or five years etc. Writing a plan can just mean getting a clear list of the types of work that
need to be done, the tasks involved, who is responsible for them, and when they’ll be
done.

Steps for Creating an Organizational Plan:

Decide Categories:

First, think about all the work that your organization does, and list out the general
categories, for example Fundraising, Community Outreach, Website and so on. Some big
categories might be split up; for example, dividing Fundraising into Foundation Grants
and Grassroots Fundraising.

Set Goals:

Second, make sure the goals for your work in each category are clear. Ask yourselves,
“Where do we want to be with this work in a year?”

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Set Tasks:

Next, discuss each goal and talk about all the tasks that need to be done to achieve that
goal. At this point, they don’t have to be in order.

Some will be more specific than others; the more specific the better, in general. One may
not know how to reach some goals, yet; it’s fine to have a task list. Create fundraising
plan and schedule. Carry out plan.

Plan a Schedule:

When all the tasks are listed, number them to show a general order; what comes first,
what should happen at the same time, what comes at last etc. Then draft a schedule for
the tasks either when they will be completed, or for ongoing tasks when they will begin.
The goal is to set a schedule that is challenging but realistic.

Choose Responsibilities:

Assign responsibilities by asking people to volunteer to be responsible for goals or tasks.

A person’s name next to a task doesn’t mean that they’ll do it, just that they take
responsibility for making sure it gets done. The goal here is to make sure everyone has
enough responsibility to challenge them, without so much work that they will burn out. If
nobody is willing to volunteer for a particular task, ask the group if it is really necessary
to do it. If the group decides that it is, try to break it down into smaller tasks that might be
easier to take on.

Support:

Brainstorm other individuals and organizations that can provide support, assistance or
advice in helping you carry out particular tasks or achieve general goals.

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Follow through:

Come up with a plan to check in, support and encourage people as they carry out their
tasks. This may mean choosing one person to regularly check on the status of different
tasks, or it may be part of reporting back at meetings.

Plan Evaluation:

Finally, set a time to revisit the whole plan as a group to evaluate how things are going
and revise assignments and schedules. This may be a few months or half a year in the
future.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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 LITERATURE REVIEW

Ralph, 1979

In 1974 Louisiana National Bank designed and implemented a Financial Planning

System. For the past five years, it has been the primary reporting, analysis, and decision
support tool for the Budget Committee and the primary source of financial reports for the
Board of Directors. Top management of the Bank believes that, as a direct result of the
use of this System, Louisiana National Bank: 1. reversed a decreasing profit trend by
increasing profits more than 92% in one year, 2. creatively managed the Bank's liquidity
during severe market pressures, 3. restructured the Bank's asset/liability management
policies to better align with newly perceived market and in- vestment potential, and 4.
sharply reduced the cost and management burden of reporting to regulators. In addition to
the quantifiable benefits cited above, use of the System resulted in several other
improvements, including
1. A reduction in the amount of time required to meet periodic management reporting
requirements,
2. Increased understanding of financial reports by the Board of Directors
3. Improved communications between Bank executives and regulatory examiners
4. A discipline and structure within which the Budget Committee could establish goals
and action plans.
The Financial Planning System supports financial decision making at both the tactical
and strategic levels. It is an integrated system which includes reporting and analysis of
historical data, long and short range forecasting, and modeling.
A decision was made to employ a consulting firm. The specific task was to help the Bank
develop a Financial Planning System (FPS) which would provide interrelated reporting
and forecasting. The resulting system: 1. extracts financial data from the general ledger
system at the end of each month and presents the data in summary format, 2. analyzes the

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data by emphasizing key operating ratios and a set of "bank segment" or line of business
analyses, and 3. forecasts the coming 12 months on a "constant horizon" basis.
The System is used in three general ways: at the beginning of each month to report the
previous month's activity, during the month to explore special issues or prepare strategic
plans, and in the fall of each year, to facilitate the budgeting process. FPS produces the
primary input to the Planning Committee meeting on the first Tuesday of each month.
The Committee is comprised of the Chairman and CEO, the President, the Chief
Financial Officer, and the Vice- Presidents who are in charge of each major market
segment of the Bank. Gil Urban, as the Vice President of Corporate Planning, uses FPS to
prepare the reports and graphs and serves as the resource for questions about the
information. The general purpose of this meeting is to review the previous month's
performance, examine the newly prepared 12 month forecast, and discuss anticipated
changes or pending issues.
A survey was conducted for this study. We can see that a computer-based planning
system has become an integral part of the top management decision making process at a
large commercial bank. We have documented a set of primary and secondary benefits
which derive from the use of the System. We have seen, in the views of its users, that the
system has become an indispensable part of the effective performance of their jobs.
Finally, we have attempted to generalize and abstract from this highly successful
experience, a set of key factors of that success. For this relatively common but crucial
task of financial planning, we have found that there are several subtle but significant
issues which seem to contribute heavily to success.

Newton, 1984:

The traditional domain of Management Science/Operational Research (MS/OR) has been

the operational area. The discipline has been most successful with well-structured
problems. However, with advances in computing technology increasing the analytical

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capacity within firms, quantitative decision support is facilitated.2 While still somewhat
controversial, the application of MS/OR to strategic decision making has been
advocated.3 The evaluation of alternative strategies is a specific role for MS/OR in
Strategic Planning and has been suggested by Cyert, Miller and Feldman,4 and Wagner.5
The strategic application of some specific techniques has been considered: mathematical
programming,6 linear programming,7 and decision support systems.8 This literature
analysis was designed to explore the application of specific Management Science tools in
Strategic Planning and to identify their contribution to specific phases of the Strategic
Planning process. The nature of the application areas and the industries in which the tools
have been applied were determined; and trends over the past ten years were examined.
The purpose of this exploratory review of the interface of Management Science and
Strategic Planning is to identify, for MS/OR professionals, the potential application areas
for their tools, and to highlight for Strategic Planners the MS/OR tools which can support
their decision-making tasks.
While planning direction is generally not an area for application of MS tools, the gap
analysis suggests that there are two tools which can contribute to this strategic process
phase: the analytical hierarchy process and soft systems analysis.
All of the MS tools can support planning strategy phase of the strategic process,
specifically with the evaluation of alternative strategies. This is evident by the number of
categories with double and triple asterisks. Several tools can be used to generate
alternative strategies including corporate modelling, decision theory, expert systems,
heuristics, soft systems and spreadsheets.
This analysis indicates the potential for MS tools to be used to support strategic decision
making. The strategic classification shows where the MS tools were applied in this
literature sample, and the gap analysis indicates potential strategic application areas
beyond those found in this sample. While the number of papers for many of the MS tools
is small, the potential for the tool is still captured by a single application.
A survey was conducted for this whole study.

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Jackson, 2007

The Banking and Finance Sector accounts for more than 8 percent of the U.S. annual
gross domestic product and is the backbone for the world economy. As direct attacks and
public statements by terrorist organizations demonstrate, the sector is a high-value and
symbolic target. Additionally, large-scale power outages, recent natural disasters, and a
possible flu pandemic demonstrate the wide range of potential threats facing the sector.
With this understanding, financial regulators and private sector owners and operators
work collaboratively to maintain a high degree of resilience in the face of a myriad of
potential disasters, be they intentional or unintentional, manmade or natural. Working
through this public-private partnership, the Department of the Treasury, as the Sector-
Specific Agency (SSA) for the Banking and Finance Sector, has developed this Sector-
Specific Plan (SSP) in close collaboration with the Financial and Banking
Information Infrastructure Committee (FBIIC) and the Financial Services Sector
Coordinating Council for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security
(FSSCC). This SSP contains the Banking and Finance Sector’s strategy for working
collaboratively with public and private sector partners to identify, prioritize, and
coordinate the protection of critical infrastructure. This SSP also summarizes the
extensive activities.

The Banking and Finance SSP provides a description of the complex nature of the sector
and an overview of the sector’s provision of products and services, which are: (1) deposit,
consumer credit, and payment systems; (2) credit and liquidity products;
(3) investment products; and (4) risk-transfer products (including insurance).
Essential to this sector overview is a description of the Federal and State regulatory
authorities as well as self-regulatory organizations. The Banking and Finance Sector is
highly regulated with regulators providing oversight and, in some cases, guidance
to and examinations of the financial institutions within their statutory purview.

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To continue to improve the resilience and availability of financial services, the Banking
and Finance Sector will work through its public-private partnership to address the
evolving nature of threats and the risks posed by the sector’s dependency upon other
critical sectors.
To meet this shared vision, the Banking and Finance Sector has three primary goals. As
with all endeavors focused primarily on security, the goals form a triad of prevention,
detection, and correction of harm:
1. To maintain its strong position of resilience, risk management, and redundant systems
in the face of a myriad of intentional, unintentional, manmade, and natural threats;
2. To address and manage the risks posed by the dependency of the sector on the
Communications, Information Technology, Energy, and Transportation sectors; and
3. To work with the law enforcement community, the private sector, and our international
counterparts to increase the amount of available resources dedicated to tracking and
catching criminals responsible for crimes against the sector, including cyber attacks and
other electronic crimes. A survey was conducted for this study.

References:
1. Ralph, H. (1979).The Financial Planning System at Louisiana National Bank. MIS
Quarterly, Vol. 3, pp. 35-45.

2. Newton, J. K. (1984). The decision support role of operational research in corporate

planning. In Further Developments in Operational Research, pp. 1-11. Pergamon Press,
London.

2. Jackson, D. (2007). Banking and Finance Sector Specific Plan. Critical

Infrastructure and Key Resources. Retrieved January 15, 2010 from
http://www.pdf-search-engine.com

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METHODOLOGY

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 METHODOLOGY OF OUR STUDY
We conducted a survey of the organization’s main branch in Rawalpindi located at Mall
road.
Population and sample:
Population of our study were the employees of Alfalah bank who are involved in plan
and planning process during the sampling time frame. Sample of the study were 22
employees of managerial level particularly from HR department and functional
department. Samples were chosen at random. Each member of the population had an
equal and known chance of being selected.
Tools used for survey:
The tool used for our study was questionnaires
Time frame:
The research program started from 12th January, 2010 and ended on 22nd of January,
2010.
Assumptions:
• The sample represents the population.
• Questionnaires had validity and they were measuring the desired constructs.
• We assume that the respondents have answered the questionnaires truthfully.

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PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE
ORGANIZATION

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 BANK ALFALAH; COMPANY PROFILE

Introduction:

Bank Alfalah Limited is a private type bank of Pakistan that is owned by the Abu Dhabi
Group. In Pakistan, Bank Alfalah became functional in the year 1997. Initially it was
started working as a public limited company under the companies Ordinance 1984. In the
same year, in the month of November it started working as a bank. Bank Alfalah is a
commercial bank. Bank Alfalah has a partner ship with the Abu Dhabi Group that allows
the bank to invest advanced and effective technology in order to widen the range of its
services and products. Commercial banking and related services as defined in the
Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962. The Bank is currently operating through 195
branches in 74 cities, with the registered office at B.A.Building, I.I.Chundrigar, Karachi.
Over the years, its emphasis on growth has resulted in a strong entity capable of offering
high quality services to a wide spectrum of clients, in a highly challenging business
environment. Its strategy is to maximize the synergies of branch network through an
optimal allocation of financial resources in the face of dynamic challenges of present
financial environment Bank Alfalah Limited has continued its upward climb in pursuit of
excellence. Strengthened by the backing of the Abu Dhabi Group and driven by strategic
goals set out by its Board and management, Bank Alfalah Limited increasingly inspires
trust and confidence of all its clients. Within a short span of time the bank has carved a
significant niche for itself in the banking industry. These achievements have been
preceded by concerted effort to provide highest levels of service and value to our
customers.
The bank aims to further enhance performance standards through implementation of
innovations in both products as well as customer care, by discovering newer avenues of
client benefit. This customer-focused strategy has enabled Bank Alfalah Limited to
evolve as a single source financial service provider of corporate and retail banking

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services. Bank Alfalah reputation has been built on its tradition of high quality and the
expertise of its extremely motivated and qualified staff. With strategic mergers and
acquisition, Bank Alfalah has become a leading player in the global banking arena.

History:
Following the privatization in July 1997, Bank Alfalah Limited emerged as the new
identity of Habib Credit & Exchange Bank with a revived purpose and commitment on
February 25, 1998.Charged with the strength of Abu Dhabi consortium and under the
leadership of His Highness Sheikh Nayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan, the bank has already
made significant contribution in building and strengthening both the corporate and retail
banking in Pakistan.

Present Status:
Despite adverse economic conditions of country, the year 2000 was a milestone for the
bank, both in terms of growth and profitability. The bank’s pretax profit for the year grew
by 12.96% to Pak Rupees 20.48 billion, an increase of 29.50 %, with a balance sheet
footing of Pak Rupees 27.57 billion compared to previous year’s figure of Pak Rupees
21.02 billion.
After doing successful business in year 2000 to 2003, Bank Alfalah is now looking
forward positively towards the future and its management is confident to build on the
gains realized during 2003. Currently bank is emphasizing on expanding its operations to
meet client’s needs and for this purpose management has plans to add more branches to
existing network in the coming years. Bank has already started its working to go
internationally and its future target markets include UAE, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka.
Technological developments are opening up new vistas of solutions for distributing
traditional financial products. Concurrently, rapid change in customer preferences has
resulted in a major shift from manual to automated services. Information Technology

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today, is all pervading in the corporate world. Bank Alfalah made heavy investments
towards enhancing its capabilities in the area of automation and information technology.

Information Technology department of bank has successfully developed an advanced

computer program named BANK SMART.
Another success of bank is in the area of foreign trade. Bank has developed excellent
business and correspondent relations with renowned banks of the world whose support in
terms of lines of credit has enabled it to handle ever-growing trade volumes.
From above stated facts it is very clear that bank has made remarkable achievements
within a short period of time despite being in the nascent stage. With its key indicators of
progress already soaring to new heights, the bank is committed to put all its energies,
resources and time to bring higher value and satisfaction of its customers, employees and
shareholders.

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NETWORK IN PAKISTAN

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 MANAGEMENT
Management means the administration and the governing body that is concerning the
whole organization. All the decision and strategies are been proposed and evaluated the
management of the organization. At Bank Alfalah, the management is pretty strong and
there is lot centralization in the whole network of the bank. The management at Bank
Alfalah has been divided into 3 major parts. i.e., Board of Directors, the Top
management, the group of middle managers, supervisors and the employees.

Since its inception, as the new identity of H.C.E.B after the privatization in 1997, the
management of the bank has implemented strategies and policies to carve a distinct
position for the bank in the market place. Strengthened with the banking of the Abu

Dhabi Group and driven by the strategic goals set out by its board of management, the
Bank has invested in revolutionary technology to have an extensive range of products and
services. This facilitates their commitment to a culture of innovation and seeks out
synergies with clients and service providers to ensure uninterrupted services to its
customers. They perceive the requirements of their customers and match them with
quality products and service solutions. During the past five years, they have emerged as
one of the foremost financial institution in the region endeavoring to meet the needs of
tomorrow today

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 MANAGEMENT

Chief Executive Officer

Executive Incharge
Executive Incharge
Strategic Planning & Global International &Treasury Division
Marketing
Executive Incharge
Executive Incharge
IT Division
Human Resources Division

Executive Incharge Executive Incharge

Credit Division System & Operation Division.

Executive Incharge Executive Incharge

Establishment & Administratration Credit Monitoring Division

Executive Incharge
Executive Incharge
Business Development Division
Legal Affairs Division.
S.A.M./ Car Finance/ Leasing

Executive Incharge Executive Incharge

Audit & Inspection Division Finance Division

Executive Incharge
Executive Incharge
Corporate Banking,
Islamic Banking Division
SME Financing & Home Loans

Executive Incharge
Executive Incharge
New Products &
Cards Division
Service Quality Division

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 VISION

“To be the premier organizations operating locally and internationally that

provided the complete range of financial services to all segments under one roof”

Bank Alfalah is one of the leading financial institutes; Bank Alfalah operates in Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bahrain, and Bank Alfalah day by day increasing its
products for all the segments in Pakistan i.e. for Businessmen, Industrialists,
Agriculturists and for the Government bodies in the country. Bank Alfalah is trying to
reach each segment in Pakistan, and trying to provide its products at lowest charges and
with easiest way, under one roof.

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 MISSION

“To develop and deliver the most innovative products, manage customers
experience, deliver quality service that contributes to brand strength, establishes a
competitive advantage and enhances profitability, thus providing value to the
stakeholders of the bank

• To provide the new and more innovative products than the other banks to the
customers.
• To take and manage the ideas of the valuable customer for the Bank
• To deliver high quality and quick services to the customers, who are keep great
value for Bank Alfalah.
• Bank Alfalah tries to promote those activities which give the fruitful result to the
customers and the stakeholder of the bank.

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 CORE VALUES
Customer Relationship:
“Before we discover we must explore”
Knowing customer and their needs is the key for the success of a bank; Alfalah client
relationship managers are well equipped and well trained to provide most efficient and
personalized service to each and every customer. Alfalah products are as diverse as the
market segment. Alfalah has structured and syndicated financing arrangements, working
capital, replacement facilities, financing of international trade, consumer credit small
business loans unparalleled investment products for the individual saver.

“Every Drop Counts”:

This shows that Bank Alfalah does not only care its corporate customers but they also
treat the individual customer very well.

Dedicated Professionals:
“Unusual efforts on the part of the employees who are apparently ordinary workers is one
of the key indicates of the superior enterprise”
Staff is the most valuable asset of any organization. The human resource philosophy at
Alfalah bank focus on multi-talent hiring, professional grooming, requisite training and
meritocracy based reward system. Staff welfare has been a priority.
Employee productivity enhancement is organized through in-house and external training
programs. Bank continues to offer opportunity for people to develop their knowledge,
skills and personalities, thus ensuring greater self-fulfillment and progression in the
organization.
In short bank Alfalah team comprise of dedicated professionals equipped with a diverse
array of skills and vast experience. The management concentrates its energies on making
informed economic decisions, translating it into greater returns for their investors and

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customer. The prudent attitude has created a synergistic organizational structure leading
to improvements in profitability and a sustainable competitive advantage for the bank.

Training & Development:

Bank Alfalah is committed to the personal welfare and professional development of all
our team members.
Proper training of human resource is essential, not only for the more productive and
satisfied work force but for also homogenous corporate culture.
The bank continuous to follow its strategy of hiring batches of young and energetic
Management Trainees who are sent to its Training and Development Center for training
in all areas of banking. It’s Training and Development Center is a state of the art facility
with an impressive faculty.

Technological innovation:
“Modern science is not an option, it is an obligation”
Technology is rapidly changing the way it thinks acts and does business. It has played
pivotal role in enhancing customer expectation, particularly with respect to speed and
quality of service. Alfalah bank enjoys a strategic competitive advantage overall domestic
players by virtue of its leadership in technological innovation. Phone banking service and
Internet banking facility allows customer to enjoy routine banking services from
anywhere in the world. 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

Ethical values:
“Professionalism without integrity is like a book without pages”
Because the right may not always be obvious, employees are guided in our every action
by set of well-defined values, governing our decision.
Alfalah bank understands that its commitment to satisfy customer needs must be fulfilled
within in a professional and ethical framework.

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 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The upper most part of the management is the Board of Directors or the Executives. The
Board of Directors are responsible for the first phase of the management process, i-e,
planning. So, all the decisions and the strategies are being proposed and implemented
under the instructions and the supervision of the board of directors or the executives.
Also the policies and the overall objectives of the Bank are being proposed at this level of
the organization.

List of Board of directors:

H. E. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mabarak Al-Nahayan - Chairman

Mr. Mohammad Saleem Akhtar - Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Abdullah Khalil Al-Mutawa - Director
Mr. Omar Z. Al-Askari - Director
Mr. Abdullah Naseer Hawaileel Al-Mansoori - Director
Mr. Nadeem Iqbal Sheikh - Director
Mr. Ikram Ul-Majeed Sehgal - Director

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 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

H.E. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan

Chairman

Mr. Abdulla Nasser

Mr. Abdull
Hawalileel Al-Mansoori
Khalil Al
Director
Mutawa
Director

Mr.Khalid Mana Saeed Mr. Ikram Ul-

Al Otaiba Majeed Sehgal
Director Director

Mr. Nadeem Iqbal Mr. Sirajuddin

Sheikh Aziz
Director Director & CEO

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 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
President (CEO)

Senior Executive Vice President

Executive Vice President

Senior Vice President

Vice President

Assistant Vice President

Officers Grade I, II, III

Clerical Staff Non-Clerical Staff

Cashier Typist Clerks Guards Peons

DEPARTMENTS

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• Bank Alfalah Limited has the following departments:
• Account Opening Department
• Trade Finance
• Credits
• Accounts Department
• Administration / Personnel
• Special Asset Management (SAM)
• MIS Department
• Marketing
• Cash & Deposits
• Foreign Currency Accounts

DEPARTMENT HIERARCHY

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 Bank Alfalah
Limited

Operation Credit CAD TSD Consumer

Department Marketing financing
Department Department

Car Financing
Account Online
Opening Transaction
Section Section
Home
Financing

Clearing IT &
Section Remittances
Section

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

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The bank’s primary objective is to provide a wide range of financial products and
services to individuals and various other entities in the country.They are continuously
formulating new products and services for the growing and diversified needs of their
ever-expanding client base.Bank Alfalah has launched Credit Cards, ATM Cards, and
plans to further expand its online facilities.

Major products:

Following are the major products of Bank Alfalah Limited, which are prime examples of
quality innovation, providing timely banking opportunities to their customers:

Deposits
 Saving Deposits
 Notice Deposits
 Royal Profit
 Royal Patriot
 Royal Group
 Term Deposit

Advances
 Funded
 Non-Funded

Alfalah Car Financing:

 Lowest Mark up

 Lower Insurance

 Quick Processing

 Lower Down Payment

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 Credit Cards
 Globally accepted

 Welcomed at locations displaying the VISA logo.

 accepted at nearly 30 million merchants

 870,000 ATMs in more than 150

Home Financing
 Financing Limit :up to Rs. 10,000,000/-

 Tenure :up to 20Years

 Equity Participation :30% Borrower / 70% Bank

On Line Banking
 To provide enhanced and value added
products

 Provides fully automated on-line telephone

banking facilities.

Automated Teller Machine (ATM):

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  24 hours self service

 Electronic cash dispensing facilities

 ATMs are linked through a state-of-the-art Satellite Based Communication

System which offers 24 hours real time service.

Islamic Banking
 A separate division

 operates as separate branch

 Alfalah Masharaka Homes

 Murabaha Finance

 Aflalah Car Ijarah

Corporate and Structured Financing

 Loaning against securities

 Letter of Credit

 Letter of Guarantee

 Demand Finance

 Cash Finance

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 COMPETITORS
Competitors should always be studied with great care, because competitors can greatly
influence an organization position. Bank Alfalah has a lot of competitors because in a
short span of 5 year it has achieved what not many banks had achieved. This leads to
competitions. Similarly Bank Alfalah should keep a tag on the competitors move or any
other new technology it is introducing, because to sustain in the micro environment, a
competitor has to be viewed with a lot of care.

List of competitors:
 National bank of pakistan

 Muslim commercial bank

 United bank limited

 Habib bank limited

35
 PLANNING
Planning is
• Defining organizations goals and objectives
• Establishing overall strategies for achieving those goals
• Developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and co-ordinate
organizational work.

Types of Planning:
Bank Al-Falah use both formal and informal types of planning

Informal planning:
In informal planning their planning is not written down, short term focus and specific to
an organizational unit.

Formal planning:
In informal planning, their planning is written down,specific,long term focus and
involves shared goals for the organization.

Goals and Objectives:

• Financial strength and profitability by making profitable advance

• Customer satisfaction by providing higher quality of services at an affordable
cost.
• Growth by expanding branch network and deposit base

36
Short term objectives:
• Profitibility
• Customer care
• Trust worthy relationship

Long term objectives:

• Profitability
• To optimize the use of resources
• Expansion
• Customer trust
• Customer satisfaction

Goals and Objectives of Bank Alfalah

Bank Alfalah also has certain goals and objectives which it is trying to achieve, through
its various strategies and operations. The goals and objectives are mentioned below:

1. To create a sound base, and through efficient systems achieve modern banking
through out Pakistan.

2. By the end of every accounting year there is an increase in deposits. As the

deposit rate of during 2006 was approx 52 Million and the same has been
increased in 2008 by 77 Million.

3. To create unit banking network in all the branches of Bank Alfalah, the end of the
year. This means that all the operations of the bank, i.e. deposits to advances,
imports, exports, L/C Opening, foreign currency and many more aspects under
one roof, so that the customer can be facilitate in one visit.

4. Islamic Banking is one of the goals of Bank Alfalah though it has been initiated in
the last fiscal year and it is very acceptable for general public. However, there is
lot of work to do for successful implementation of the Islamic Banking Plan. In

37
5. This regard the Bank is opening specific Islamic Banking Branch under the
supervision of its Islamic Banking Division.

6. Bank Alfalah provides stability and growth of a financial institution along with
the care and attention the customers receive from a neighborhood bank.
7. They ensure consistent quality service with the continuous rejuvenation of their
teams through training programs.
8. They are committed to put all their energies, resources and time to bring higher
value and satisfaction to their customers, employees and shareholders.
9. The introduction and development of innovative financial instruments will be
another major objective of Bank Alfalah Limited.
10. To please their customers by fulfilling the financial needs as best as possible, they
believe in placing the client at the center of business and all of the products and
services.
11. To get maximum share of the market
12. To price the products optimally
13. To expand more the network of branches in several other cities of Pakistan as well
as in the other countries of the world.
14. To reinforce a corporate culture that fosters learning, creativity and flexibility.
15. To invest further in banking innovations which include Islamic banking, SME,
Home Loans and other areas of product development to provide higher levels of
services and value to the clients.

38
 Process of planning

• Mission
• Strategies
• Plans
• Programs
• Policies
• Rules
• Budget

 MISSION:

Mission of Bank Al- Falah is to develop and deliver the most innovative products,
manage customer experience, deliver quality service that contributes to brand strength,
establish a comprehensive advantage and enhances profitability, in this way providing
value to the stakeholders of the bank.

 STRATEGIES:

Types of strategy:
There are three kinds of strategy

• Cost leadership strategy

• Differentiation strategy
• Focused strategy

39
Bank Al-Falah is following the focused strategy. They are focusing on customers by
Advancing and depositing.

Strategies of Bank Al-Falah are giving loans and accepting deposits.

Bank Alfalah has formulated certain sets of strategies to enable it to achieve its goals and
objectives. These strategies are mentioned below:

1. Automated Teller Machines:

In order to achieve its goals of creating a sound base and presence of efficient modern
banking system, Bank Alfalah has started operation of Automated Teller Machines in all
the major areas like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan.

2. Innovative products:
Bank Alfalah is committed to building long-lasting relationships through an assertion to
service excellence and providing innovative products to meet the changing needs of our
valued customers, although still in its infancy, compared to the exalted banking
standards.

3. Banking relationship:
The main focus is building relationships and being known by the way they do business.
Management recognizes that a banking relationship requires compatibility,
communication, and cooperation and that each customer deserves nothing less than full
attention and available resources to meet their financial objectives.

4. Superior personalized service:

Core value and corporate culture is based on the belief that superior personalized service
is the most important product. Bank is in the process of getting to know customers by
name and understand their business and personal financial needs. This one-on-one,
personalized service quality has served as Bank Alfalah's unique signature since
inception and continues to separate it from other financial institutions.

40
5. Feasible economic decision:
The Bank Alfalah team comprises of some of the most highly skilled and professional
financial experts in banking industry. Managers, lenders and trust advisors offer the
unique perspective of knowing and understanding in the local economy. The
Management focuses its attention on making informed and feasible economic decisions,
bringing better returns and more profitability for investors and customers.

6. Target marketing:
Keeping in view the unrest among the Islamic Community on the Interest Bearing
Banking the Alfalah is in the process of target marketing and gives its full attention to
this segment of a large population over the world.

7. Credit rating:
To acquire the reputation and status of bank which operates on international standard,
Alfalah Bank was to get the credit rating of Pakistan Credit Rating Agency, which gave it
the AA- and A1+ in the long term and short term respectively.

 PLANS:
Plans of Bank Al-Falah are short term and long term Advances and Deposits.

 PROGRAMMES:
Programs of Bank Al-Falah are up to one year or more than one year advances, fixed
account, current account etc, debit card, credit card etc

1. Advances:
The basic function of a bank is to receive deposits (at low rate of return) and to lend
money (at a high rate of return). So, the lending operations of a bank constitute a vital

41
part of its business. This department is the source of income and earnings for the bank.
Bank’s funds comprises mainly of money borrowed from numerous customers on various

accounts such as saving accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits etc whereas the major
part of total income of a bank is generated through the utilization of these funds.
The credit department is further divided into two departments, which are as follows:

 Credit Marketing
 Credit Administration

The advancing of credit involves a great risk for the bank. Therefore, to cover risk, the
bank keeps different tangible and non-tangible securities, before sanctioning the credit
facility to a customer. The bankers prefer those securities that carry less risk of
depreciation due to market fluctuations and are easily saleable, even under changing
market conditions.

The securities used in advances are as follows:

 Pledge
 Mortgage
 Hypothecation
 Charge
 Lien on Documents
 Guarantees

2. Current account:
Current Accounts are non interest bearing accounts that have a minimum account
opening requirement of Rs 10,000. No zakat is deducted on the accounts balance.
Furthermore all current account holders receive a Hilal debit card and there are no
restriction on the number of withdraws or deposits made to and from the account.

42
 3. Debit card:

Bank Al-Falah Limited presents Al-Falah HilalCard, the first Visa Electron International
Debit Card which gives an unlimited access to current / savings account with a simple
swipe, at millions of retail shops and ATMs, worldwide. The Al-Falah Hilal Card comes
with a host of conveniences and benefits combined with the wide reach of Visa Network
enabling it to be accepted at more than 840,000 ATMs and 13 million retail outlets
around the world, making it the most acceptable Debit Card available in Pakistan.

4. Credit card:
Bank Al-Falah Visa Card is everywhere and globally accepted and welcomed at locations
displaying the VISA logo. It is accepted at nearly 30 million merchants and 870,000
ATMs in more than 150 countries around the globe and over 10,000 establishments in
Pakistan. Al-Falah VISA pays for shopping, travel, entertainment, meals and much more.
There are 3 major types of Al-Falah credit cards.

43
5. Kifayat Account:
Kifayat account is another saving account product that can be opened with a minimum
balance requirement of Rs 10,000, with a maximum limit of Rs 1 million. Profit is
calculated on a monthly basis, while it is credited on quarterly basis. Bank Al-Falah pays
7% pa interest on Kifayat Account.

6. Al -Falah Education:
Al-Falah education is a one year TDR that can be purchased by people having school
going children’s. A person can purchase a unit for Rs 100.000, with a maximum of 3
years. This TDR pays 7%, paid at maturity and gives an additional advantage of giving
monthly school fee of the children’s if the breadwinner of the family dies.

7. Mahana Amdan Account:

Mahana Amdan account is Term Deposit Receipt (TDR) for three years that can be
opened with a minimum balance requirement of Rs 100,000, with a maximum limit of Rs
15 million. Profits are paid at 10% pa, credited on a monthly basis. Other features of this
account include free personal accident insurance and automatic renewal for another 3
years, after the expiry of original period.

 POLICIES:

Policies of Bank Al-Falah are profitability, by making profitable advances and customer
satisfaction by providing best services at an affordable cost.
At Bank Alfalah, policies as mentioned earlier, are been formulated at the Executive level
of the organization. Policies for any organization constitute a major part in the overall
long term functioning of the bank. In short we can say that policies and the objectives are
the lifeblood of the organization in long run. Though policy formulation is in the
prescribed hands yet the policies formulated by the top level have been very successful as

44
indicated by the success pattern of the bank so far. Then these policies are transformed
into the hands of the top-level management. The top management is been suggested to
make the policies implemented keeping in view the long-term objectives of the
organization. Also the views from the middle managers and employees are encouraged as
well for the purpose of removing flaws form the system. For these very purpose meetings

are held almost weekly at the branches level and also in case of any contingent dispute
resolving the meeting scan be called at any time during the branch timings.

TYPES OF POLICIES:

Since the inception of Bank Alfalah Limited in 1997, by the grace of almighty, the bank
has moved rapidly in expanding its branch network and deposit base, along with making
profitable advances and increasing its range of products and services. It has made a
break-through in providing premier services at an affordable cost to our customers.
Managerial policies followed by the bank have a direct contribution in its success. The
Board and Management of the Bank have implemented strategies and policies to carve a
distinct position for the Bank in the market place. In a bid to satisfy Bank Alfalah’s
shareholders and valued clients, the management initiated the process of realization of the
Bank's vision by consolidating its financial position and creating a large and diversified
business base. Bank Alfalah has made notable progress in business volume, efficiency,
and profitability following its increased involvement in trade finance, commercial
lending, and foreign exchange and money market operation.
Major policies hat have been made and implemented at Bank Alfalah are:

Banking Policy:
Alfalah’s policy regarding consumer-banking policies includes the development through
the electronic consumer banking operations. Likewise, Bank Alfalah has created a niche
for itself in the marketplace. It is planning to introduce new consumer products like credit
cards, e-banking etc.

45
 Lending Policy:
Bank Alfalah pursues a conservative yet dynamic credit policy. This strategy has enabled
the bank to have a high quality risk portfolio. Bank prefers to finance exporters because
of less risk involved. Bank Alfalah manages the credit risk, liquidity risk, market risk and

other operational risks very efficiently. For this very purpose Bank Alfalah has got an
effective credit line proposals system to be sanctioned to the clients on demand.

Selection of Clients:
Management is very selective of clients. All of the references are carefully checked to
learn about a potential client before establishing a relationship. References are excellent
sources of new accounts as they give an opportunity to learn about a potential client
before establishing a relationship. This policy helps in protecting the integrity of the
bank. It ensures good relationship with the clients.

Services and Product Polices:

Bank Alfalah provides a vast variety of services to its clients. Some of those policies are
discussed below:

i. Credit Facility
In this service the loans are provided to the customers by the bank to meet revenue
shortfalls.

ii. Stop Payment Instructions

It is one of the most important services provided by the bank to its clients. In case the
account holder has lost his/her cheque he can issue the stop payment instructions to
the bank. The bank till further instructions will not honor the cheque.

iii. Deposits

46
 The bank offers different types of Deposits to its account holders.
 Alfalah Musharakah Saving Account
 Current Account
 Musharakah Time Deposits On PLS Basis

iv. Drafts, Telephonic Transfers, Pay Orders

These are the facilities that the bank offers its customers and, at times, to the people
who do not maintain an account with the bank, that is, ordinary people
For offering these services the bank charges commission besides the government
taxes and duties.

Trade Department Policy:

Bank Alfalah’s focus is on “Foreign Trade” as its primary market of business. It
maintains high emphasis on enlarging its Correspondent Banking network besides aiming
to enhance the scope and level of cooperation with existing correspondents. The Trade
finance department has efficiently done management of the changing trade policies by the
central bank over there.

Marketing Policy:
Bank Alfalah inverts heavily for the marketing policies and orientation, for the publicity
of its new products/services. It uses television advertisements, newspaper as well as
various promotional schemes to attract customers. The Bank sponsors a number of
sporting and community development initiatives to play its part as a responsible corporate
citizen

Promotion and Incentives:

Bank hires officers in range 1. Then depending upon their job performance they are
promoted to next range. More facilities and increments are given along with promotion.
The bank gives a car facility to the officers of range 5. Bank’s policy is to give cash

47
rewards and salary increments for increasing the employees’ satisfaction. Also with the
expansion of the branch network growth in the current era, more and more opportunities
have been provoked not only for the young generation but also for the employees of the
bank.

Accounting Policies:
Bank Alfalah has adopted almost the same accounting procedures that other financial
institutions are adopting at this time. These accounting procedures or Accounting policies
are made according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the GAAP. The
process flow and the usage of the policies in the day wise routine are mandatory for all
the employees working in the specified departments at the branch.

Recruitment Policy:
Hiring is mainly of two types i.e. direct hiring and promotion from lower levels. Bank’s
policy is to hire suitable candidates. By suitable candidates bank refers to candidates
having proper educational qualification, experience and background. It is the policy of
the bank that “President” of the bank will be the representative of major
stakeholders/owners. Board of Directors is representative of sponsors. Bank is reluctant
in making direct appointment of senior executives. EVPs are promoted from lower levels.
Every year Bank Alfalah opens its doors for about 30 fresh post-graduates to join the
prestigious ranks of Management Trainee officers with the Bank. The MTO scheme is a
highly competitive and sought after induction scheme, in which short-listed applicants
appear in a written test followed by a panel interview. Successful candidates then receive
comprehensive training in essential areas of branch banking at the Bank’s state-of-the-art
training facility at Lahore and Karachi, prior to their posting at various branch locations.
Preferred educational background for entry into the MTO scheme includes an MBA
degree, MA Economics or M.Com from reputable Pakistani or foreign institutions with
GPA of 3 plus, or equivalent. Strong personal character, as well as communication and
interpersonal skills are essential pre-requisites to succeed as an MTO.

48
Training and Development Policy:
Bank Alfalah’s policy is to take special interest in recruitment and training. This training
is been given in two instances, i-e, the Off-job training and the On-job Training. To

impart technical skills to its staff “Training and Development Center” offers programs in
several skill areas. Its employees attend seminars and courses offered by “Institute of
Bankers”. Alfalah also offers various computer-training courses to its employees. It is
obligatory for each staff member of the bank to attend a minimum number of training
courses during the course of a year. Wherever the Training Department is unable to
provide focused training for certain groups of staff, reputable external training providers
are invited to fill the gap

Quality assurance services:

Service excellence is one of the priorities of Bank Alfalah. A separate quality assurance
department is to be established as well very soon for the removal of little flaws that are
still prevailing at some of the branches regarding facilities for the consumers. The focus
of the bank is to develop new areas of activities along with traditional banking activities
of resource mobilization and credit disbursement.

Growth Policy:
Bank Alfalah emphasizes on growth along with providing best quality customer service.
Bank’s policy is to maximize the synergies of branch network through optimal allocation
of financial, human and other resources to compete in the marketplace.

Liquidity Policy:
Bank Alfalah maintains positive and healthy liquidity. Bank’s policy is to keep surplus
liquidity in fixed income securities issued by the Federal Government of Pakistan. If
necessary it can be easily converted into cash.

49
Investments Policies:
Bank Alfalah investment policies are based on federal and provincial securities,
debentures, and participation term certificates treasury bills and blue chip share of joint
stock companies.

Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is the major important factor to be considered while evaluating any
organization. To evaluate an organization’s strength and repute in the industry, job
satisfaction is the key factor as well like that of growth and development in the monetary
terms.During my internship program, I observed being in touch with most of the
employees over there, that all the employees are working with devotion that is the basis
for job satisfaction. In addition all the employees are satisfied with the working
ambiance, with the salaries and with the increments and promotions. Only thing to be
mentioned out over here is the workload and the employee timings for their job. Some of
the employees are over burdened with the work. But that does not impact the overall job
satisfaction of the organization. Bank takes much care of its employees because they are
precious assets of it. Bank celebrates birthdays of all employees, arrange trips and give
them opportunity for recreation and enjoyment. Bank hires officers in range 1. Then
depending upon their job performance they are promoted to next range. More facilities
and increments are given along with promotion. The bank gives a car facility to the
officers of range 5. Bank’s policy is to give cash rewards and salary increments for
increasing the employees’ satisfaction. Also with the expansion of the branch network
growth in the current era, more and more opportunities have been provoked not only for
the young generation but also for the employees of the bank. At Bank Alfalah the
employees are very much satisfied with the job and the overall working conditions of the
bank, so in due response, the bank is enjoying high efficiency in managing the time
delays in reporting and working operations.

50
 RULES:
Their rules are defined by upper level of management according to situation

BUDGET:
Bank Al-Falah always met its budget

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS:

 Internal factors:

1. HRM:

HRM is playing both positive and negative role in the performance of organization.
Positively, HRM is performing its functions and managing the human resource properly.

On the negative side, sometimes HRM adopts the policy of favoritism due to political
pressure in managing human resource.

2. Structure and infrastructure:

Bank Al-Falah has sound structure and infrastructure

3. Organizational policies:

51
Their policies are aligned with their goals and objectives

4. Nature of organization:
Financial institution

 External factors:

1. Technological factors:
Technologically, Bank Al-Falah is weak and this element is threatening to Bank Al-
Falah. Online banking (advances, deposits, transactions etc) is not working properly.

2. Political factors:
Politically, people are influencing on the performance of Bank Al-Falah .Particularly,
agricultural people get benefits due to relation to politicians. Such people are getting
advances and jobs on favoritism.

3. Physical factors:
Physical structure of Bank Al-Falah is very sound.

4. Demographic factors:
Population of Pakistan is a big number, which is supportive for Pakistan.

5.Economic factors:
Population of Pakistan is rich which is beneficial for the bank
.
6. Legal and ethical factors:
Bank has legal entity and is taking care of ethics which is giving it advantage in attaining
customer attention.

52
7. Social and cultural factors:

Social and cultural factors are affecting the bank. Majority of the population is
uneducated and unaware of the benefits of banking sectors. They have low saving and
want to keep money with them.

Boston Consulting Group matrix:

Stars:
• Car financing
• Home financing
• Online banking

Cash cows:
• Deposits
• Investments

53
 • Credit cards

Question marks:
• Islamic banking
• Debit cards
• ATM

Dogs:
• Rupee traveler cheques

SWOT Analysis
SWOT is stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis is a
careful evaluation of an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as its
environmental opportunities and threats. In SWOT analysis the best strategies accomplish
an organization’s mission by exploiting an organization’s opportunities and strengths
while neutralizing its threats and avoiding its weakness. During my internship I also
observe these factors of bank and made a conclusion which is as follows:

Strengths:
Main strengths of bank are describe follows due to which bank is becoming successful
day by day and now is on the fifth largest and successful bank in Pakistan in the bank’s
ranking after NBP, MCB, UBL and HBL.

 Being the private organization its main aim is not to earn profit but also to satisfy
its customers and slogan is also the representative of this purpose as Bank Alfalah
“The Caring Bank”.
 Bank has AA (Double A) and A1+ (A one plus) Credit Rating for long term and
short term loans respectively.

54
  Main source of profit for any financial institution is public saving which only
comes from public confidence and BAL is getting this confidence which is one of
the main strengths of bank
 Bank Alfalah is also getting fame in the market due to its name “ALFALAH”
which is leaving the Islamic and favorable impact on the minds of public.
 BAL is providing the facility of Money Gram to its entire people who are its
customer or not and through this service it has got the leadership in Money Gram
because any other bank is not offering this service.

 With in very short period it has got a superb accomplishment which shows the
competency of top management.
 Personnel of Alfalah are well trained and highly skilled.
 Bank Alfalah has a wide network of branches at the ideal locations, catering the
financial needs of its clients.
 The management of the bank is very much concerned with the development and
improvement of the working environment. The bank has state of the art and
purpose built branches where all the modern technologies are provided to get the
efficiency of the workforce and the customer satisfaction.

Weaknesses:
Beside all these strengths I also noted some weaknesses in the operations of bank Alfalah
which are described below:

 BAL is that it is not offering the loan facility to newly established businesses
because it’s the BAL policy that it will loan only to that people who are running
their businesses from 3 years.
 BAL’s lending procedure is quite complicated that some people hesitate to come
as they are requiring a huge file of documents.
 Bank Alfalah is not offering any credit facility for students.
 BAL is not offering the online facility to account holders having photo account.

55
  Bank Alfalah is charging online charges for transfer of money but some other
banks not charge online transfer charges.
 Majority of the workforce consists of young professional, they lack in their
experience. And sometimes lack of experience becomes a hurdle while serving to
the customers. It is the point where they feel difficulty while competing with the
other banks.
 It was observed that at present the motivation level of the employees is not very
much.

 The increased workload has resulted in the reduced efficiency of the employees.
Because now the time required for completing the tasks for a single customer has
been increased. As a result the environment of the branch has become very messy.

Opportunities:
It is mandatory to try to make progress with consistency as well as to adopt changes with
needs of time, in order to cope up with both conditions.

 Bank Alfalah is spreading its network outside the boundaries of Pakistan and it
has more opportunities to extend this network as State Bank of Pakistan has
prescribed new policies in the prudential regulations.
 In addition to excellent routine banking, it has earned a good name by offering
special products like car, home and credit cards facility. So the penetration of
these products could enhance market shares.
 There is a very good growth trend in the Islamic banking in the country and in the
world as well. BAL has the advantage of having Islamic Banking network and the
growth in this particular field can be very fruitful for the bank, bank has an
opportunity to introduce new products and services in Islamic banking.

56
Threats:
Threats are the negative trends in external environmental factors. As on one side
environment provides opportunities to one organization, on the other hand it also has to
face some threats. Bank Alfalah also has to face this situation.

 Other foreign financial institutions like City Bank, HSBC etc also having strong
banking policies and there’s a chance that people might move toward these
financial institutions to secure their investments, transactions and related services.
 For last seven year there is political stability in Pakistan but now again a new
layer of political instability arises which effects almost all industries including
Banks.

 Due to economic instability like currency depreciation and inflation, the bank is
constantly facing a threat e.g. in case of inflation the people have low disposal
income which means lower deposits in banks.

57
ANALYSIS OF OUR STUDY

58
 TRAINING OF EMPLOYEES IN STRATEGIC PLANNING
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 2% 60% 20% 18%

INVOLVEMENT OF EMPLOYEES IN STRATEGIC PLANNING

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 10% 70% 15%

PRESEMCE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING GROUPS IN ALFALAH

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 3% 70% 15% 12%

EXISTANCE FO FOUNDATION OF TRUST AMONG STAKEHOLDERS

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 65% 17% 13%

KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO INCORPORATE CULTURAL COMPETENCE

IN PLANNING PROCESS
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 2% 8% 75% 15%

PRESENCE OF ACTIVE AND COMMITTED LEADERSHIP FOR THE

PLANNING PROCESS
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 2% 8% 70% 20%

59
 FEEDBACK FROM CLIENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 2% 8% 75% 75%

KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO INCORPORATE CLIENT AND

STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK INTO PLANNING PROCESS
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 10% 65% 20%

USE OF STRUCTURED METHOD TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT

ALFALAH
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 2% 7% 80% 11%

KNOWLEDGE OF ASSESSMENT MODELS THAT PROVIDE A

STRUCTURED
APPROACH TO GATHER INFORMATION
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 4% 5% 75% 16%

KNOWLEDGE OF DATA COLLECTION TOOLS THAT CAN BE USED IN

PLANNING
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 10% 65% 20%

CONDUCTION OF FORMAL NEED ASSESSMENT

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 2% 5% 83% 10%

60
 CONDUCTION OF FORMAL EVALUATION OF SERVICES
RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 4% 8% 78% 10%

VALUES, VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS DEVELOPED

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 13% 65% 17%

GOALS DEFINED ARE CLEAR

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 10% 70% 15%

SPECIFIC, MEASUREABLE OBJECTIVES DEVELOPED

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 4% 6% 80% 10%

STATED GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ARE PRIORITIZED?

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 5% 3% 77% 15%

ACTION PLAN DEVELOPED

RESPONSES NOT AT ALL SOMEWHAT YES DEFINITELY
PERCENTAGE 6% 9% 70% 15%

Elaboration of analysis:
We have visited ALFALAH Bank at mall road Rawalpindi. Tool that we have
used for our study is questionnaire. We have collected our information from the
employees and manager of HR department of Alfalah Bank. We were unable to
get complete information about planning tools used in Alfalah Bank because such
information is kept confidential in all organizations. But we have tried our best to

61
collect all information about planning tools used in Alfalah Bank. After collecting
whole information we have analyzed that

60% of the employees believe that they get training in strategic planning. While
70% of the employees say that they are involved by the top management in
strategic planning. 70% employees believe that they have a strategic planning
group in Alfalah Bank. 65% employees and managers of HR department say that
there exists foundation of trust among stakeholders. 75% of the employees and
managers know how to incorporate cultural competence in planning process. 70%
of the employees believe that they have an active and committed leadership for
the planning process. 75% of the HR department’s staff says that they get
feedback from clients and stakeholders. 65% of the staff has responded that they
know how to incorporate client and stakeholder feedback into planning process.
80% of the staff says that they have used a structured method to gather
information about Afalah. 75% of the staff is familiar with the assessment models
that provide a structured approach to gather information. 65% staff has responded
that they know how to collect and use data that is helpful in planning process.
83% managers believe that they conduct formal need assessment and 78% of
them believe that they have conducted a formal evaluation of the services that
they have provided. 65% of the staff says that Alfalah has developed values,
vision and mission statements. 70% of the staff believes that their goals are
clearly defined. 80% of the staff says that Alfalah has specific and measurable
objectives. 77% staff believes that Alfalah prioritize their stated goals and
objectives. 70% of the employees and managers have responded that Alfalah has
an action plan that supports its objectives.

62
LIMITATIONS

63
 LIMITATIONS
• There was time constraint as time limit given to us to complete this report was not
sufficient enough.
• There was no or very less literature available about plan and planning tools not
only in the banking sector but also in any other industry as these type of
information is kept confidential in all organizations.
• We were not able to visit the head office of Al-Falah bank which is located in
Karachi and main planning and decision making is done there.
• The detailed study of the topic required more financial costs as by visiting all the
branches and main offices of the Al-Falah bank
• .The managerial staff was not much aware of the plan and planning part of the
strategic management especially the planning tools used by the organization

64
RECOMMENDATIONS

65
 RECOMMENDATIONS
Marketing planning:
Bank Alfalah is not very prompt in its marketing like its competitors. Most of the people
in Pakistan know nothing about the bank or its products so the bank should spend and
concentrate more on its marketing through various communication channels.
Distribution of work:
In Bank Alfalah, there is misdistribution of work; some people are over burdened with
the work. So I suggest that there should be fair distribution of work in all the
departments.
Participative management policy:
Participative management concept should be adopted, where ideas from the employees
should also be taken, not only for developing products but also on service, efficiency,
employee morale etc. in order to improve them.

Split Units planning:

Bank Alfalah is a very well established bank, but the number of air conditioners they
have in the whole bank is very less. Bank should increase the number of its Split units,
because summer stays longer in Lahore.
Training program policy:
BAL should introduce more training programs for their employees. It will help less
educated and less experienced staff to grow and be a valuable part of the bank.

66
CONCLUSION

67
 CONCLUSION
At present there is no such organization in the world that is free from problem and
challenges. Every concern has to strive and struggle a lot to be more profitable and to get
more competitive edge. The management of bank al- falah is taking strategic steps to
enable the bank to emerge as a strong and progressive institution. It is continuing to
make efforts to refine its products and operations to make them more compatible. New
deposit schemes have been introduced and an action plan to maintain revenue growth in
future. As the business and economic conditions remain uncertain, bank Al-falah
continues to develop the new products like it has been doing in past.
Alfalah is a financially sound bank. Its profits are increasingly year by year. Its staff is
very good and sincere with the bank. Bank Alfalah under the leadership of Sheik
Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan has made significant progress in building and
strengthening both the corporate and retail banking sectors in Pakistan. The bank attained
number 2 positions in terms of its balance sheet size amongst the private banks. Bank
Alfalah views specialization and service excellence as the cornerstone of its strategy. The
people at bank realize that innovation, creativity, reliability, customized, services and
their execution are they key ingredients for their future growth. Revenues from these
activities have started yielding dividends and they expect significant growth. They are
aware that they have stepped into the 21st century and they must meet its challenges by
acquiring the highest level of the technology. They will thus be accelerating their
technological advance to enable them to distribute their products and services through
most efficient and high tech means. They say that they will continue to invest in the
modern tools and substantial allocation to resources will be made to achieve this
objective during the current year. Phone Banking and credit card have been introduced in
many cities.

68
References

69
1. www.wikipedia.com
2. www.bankalfalah.pk
3. Personal visit of main branch Alfalah bank on Mall road
rawalpindi

70
Appendix

71
 QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir/Madam

I would like to invite your participation in a research effort to find some information
about plan and planning tools used by Al-Falah bank limited. The collection of this
information is needed for the research study being conducted. Please complete this
questionnaire and return it as soon as possible. Your responses will be kept confidential.
Your input is very valuable in determining the outcome of the study. Your time and
assistance are sincerely appreciated.
All information shall be confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.

Using the scale below, please circle the number that best corresponds to your
answer.
1. No, not at all
2. Somewhat
3. Yes,
4. Definitely

1. Have you ever received training in strategic planning?

1 2 3 4

2. Have you ever been involved in strategic planning?

1 2 3 4

3. Do you currently have a strategic planning group?

1 2 3 4

4. Can you identify the key stakeholders that need to be included in the planning group?

1 2 3 4

5. Can you identify the individual interests of each key Stakeholder?

1 2 3 4

6. Do you have buy-in from the stakeholders?

1 2 3 4

72
7. Is there a foundation of trust among stakeholders?

1 2 3 4

8. Do you know how to incorporate cultural competence in your planning process?

1 2 3 4

9. Do you have active, committed leadership for the planning process?

1 2 3 4

10. Can you identify who your clients are (i.e., all the groups of people who receive or
use the resources and services provided by your organization)?

1 2 3 4

11. Have you ever obtained feedback from clients and stakeholders?

1 2 3 4

12. Do you know how to incorporate client and stakeholder feedback into planning
process?

1 2 3 4

Add up the scores for Questions 1 – 12, and record it in the space provided.
Subtotal A:

13. Have you ever used a structured method to gather information about your
organization?

1 2 3 4

14. Are you familiar with any assessment models that provide a structured approach to
gathering information?

1 2 3 4

15. Are you familiar with data collection tools that you can use in planning?

1 2 3 4

73
16. Do you know how to collect and use data to help you in planning process?

1 2 3 4

17. Have you ever conducted a formal need assessment?

1 2 3 4

18. Have you ever conducted a formal evaluation of the services your organization
provides?

1 2 3 4

Add up the scores for Questions 13 - 18, and record it in the space provided.
Subtotal B:

19. Has your organization developed a values statement?

1 2 3 4

20. Has your organization developed a vision statement?

1 2 3 4

21. Has your organization developed a mission statement?

1 2 3 4

22. Has your organization developed clear goals?

1 2 3 4

23. Has your organization developed specific, measurable objectives?

1 2 3 4

24. Has your organization prioritized the stated goals and objectives?

1 2 3 4

25. Has your organization developed an action plan?

1 2 3 4

74
26. Does your action plan define clear and achievable actions that support your
objectives?

1 2 3 4

Add up the scores for Questions 19 - 26, and record it in the space provided.
Subtotal D:

75