Letter of Transmittal

17th April 2017

To,
Tanya Ahmed
Lecturer, Department of Management
School of Business and Economics
North South University

Subject: Submission of term paper on Grameenphone Limited for Management 210 course.

Dear Madam,
This is our great pleasure to submit the term paper on Grameenphone Limited as a part of
our Management 210 course. This term paper has been prepared as per the requirements
provided in class.

We have put our best effort to make this report a successful one. It has been joyful &
enlightening experience for us to visit the organization, communicate with the employees &
then implement all of it on this report.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for your kind guidance & suggestions in
preparing the report. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to work on this project. We
sincerely hope that you will find this report useful and appropriate as per the requirements.
We have tried to make the report as broad as we possibly could but we would appreciate you
contacting us if you have any further queries.

Sincerely,
Nurul Alam Rafiuddin Ahmed
Abdullah Al Sakib
Rakib Mahtab Ali
Jarin Tasmin Preyata
Rima Akter Sharnaly
 Acknowledgement

This report is an accumulation of many peoples endeavor. But at the beginning I would like
to convey my sincere. appreciation to the Almighty Allah for giving us the strength & the
ability to finish the task within the planned time. Then I like to express my sincere gratitude
to everyone who contributed towards preparing & making this study successfully.

Secondly, with due respect, we would like to thank our honorable faculty Ms. Tanya Ahmed
for her patience, guidance and support in the preparation of this report and this course. It
feels great to have been given an opportunity by her to do a real-life work related to
management and managing. We will always be indebted to her for the valuable suggestion
and all the time that she has spent in guiding us through the course. Without her immense
support this project would not have been possible to complete at all, least of all, within given
time

We would like to express my sincere & immense gratitude to Mohammad Naimuzzaman,

General Manager, Leadership & People Development, Grameenphone Limited. We are
deeply indebted to his whole-hearted support to us during the term paper preparations. His
valuable suggestions & guideline helped us a lot to prepare the report in a well-organized
manner.

We would also like to thank the authority of Grameenphone Limited for giving us the
opportunity to visit their well. renowned multinational organization and supplying us
necessary information and published papers.

We are also grateful to the other officials at Grameenphone Ltd. who helped us while
preparing the report by giving their suggestions, assistance & supply of information, which
were valuable to us.
 Index

Letter of Transmittal .......................................................................................................................................1

Acknowledgement ..........................................................................................................................................2
Index ...............................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................5
Company Profile: ........................................................................................................................................5
Corporate Information:...............................................................................................................................7
Planning ..........................................................................................................................................................8

Vision: .........................................................................................................................................................8
Mission: .......................................................................................................................................................8
Values: ........................................................................................................................................................8
Objectives: ..................................................................................................................................................9
Plan .............................................................................................................................................................9

SWOT Analysis ..............................................................................................................................................10

SWOT Matrix .............................................................................................................................................11
Strength: ...................................................................................................................................................11
Weakness ..................................................................................................................................................12
Opportunities ............................................................................................................................................13
Threats ......................................................................................................................................................13

Organizing .....................................................................................................................................................14
Organizational Structure ...........................................................................................................................14
Organizational Design ...............................................................................................................................15
Distribution Coverage analysis..................................................................................................................15
Area of Operation .....................................................................................................................................16

Human Recourse and Administration .......................................................................................................17

Groups and Teams: ...................................................................................................................................17
Recruitment Philosophy............................................................................................................................18
Recruitment Process .................................................................................................................................19
 Training and Development: ......................................................................................................................19
Information Technology: ..........................................................................................................................20
Leading ..........................................................................................................................................................21

Motivating Employees ..............................................................................................................................21

Payment Schemes .....................................................................................................................................21
Bonus and incentives Schemes .................................................................................................................21
Management Issues ..................................................................................................................................22
Controlling ....................................................................................................................................................22
Companys Objective ................................................................................................................................22

Supply Chain Management .......................................................................................................................23

ISO: ............................................................................................................................................................24
Corporate Social Responsibility ....................................................................................................................25
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................28
Performance Results .................................................................................................................................28
Market Share Analysis ..............................................................................................................................29
Business Overview ....................................................................................................................................30
Recommendation .....................................................................................................................................30
Reference ......................................................................................................................................................31
Appendix .......................................................................................................................................................31
 Introduction
Grameenphone also known as GP was the pioneer company. to introduce GSM technology in
Bangladesh. It also introduced the first 24-hour Call center to support its subscribers. With the
slogan Stay Close and also stay green, stated goal of Grameenphone. is to provide affordable
telephony to the entire population of Bangladesh.

Before Grameenphones inception, the phone was for a selected. urbanized few. The cell
phone was a luxury: a flouting accessory for the chosen elite. The mass could not contemplate.
mobile telephony as being part of their lives. 20 years ago when Grameenphone first
introduced mobile phone services in. Bangladesh, its goal was to put a mobile phone in the
hands of every person in the country and to enable access to modern technologies.
Grameenphone believes that connected societies are empowered societies. Across its 20
years journey, Grameenphone has made a significant impact on the socio-economic growth
of the people of Bangladesh. In a changing digital. landscape, Grameenphone is now focused
on strengthening. our mobile data leadership, paving the way to become the most preferred
partner in our customers digital journey.

Company Profile:
Grameenphone is the leading telecommunications. service provider in Bangladesh. With more
than 58.0 million subscribers (as of April 2016), Grameenphone is the largest cellular. operator
in the country. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen telecom
corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance
organization and community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor, the largest
telecommunications. company in Norway, owns 55.8% shares of Grameenphone, Grameen
Telecom owns 34 .2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held.

5
Starting its operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh,
Grameenphone has. come a long way. Grameenphone pioneered the then breakthrough
initiative of mobile to mobile telephony and became the first and only operator to cover
99.5% of the countrys. people with network. Grameenphone was also the first
telecommunication operator in Bangladesh to introduce the pre-paid service in September
1999. It established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced. value-added services such as
VMS, SMS, fax and data transmission services, international roaming service, WAP, SMS-
based push-pull services, EDGE, personal ring back tone and. many other products and
services. The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing access to
high-speed Internet and data services. from anywhere within the coverage area. There are
currently nearly 5.8 million EDGE/GPRS users in the Grameenphone network.

Today, Grameenphone is the leading. and largest telecommunications service provider in

Bangladesh with more than 58.0 million. subscribers as of October 2016.

By the year 2016, Grameenphone was proudly presented with multiple awards such as,

Best Presented Annual Report 2015

Best Brand Award 2016 (Bangladesh Brand Forum)
Recognition Award at the Mobile World Congress 2016
Most Female Friendly Organization Award 2016 (Yellow Inspiring Women Award
2016)

6
 Corporate Information:
Company Name: Grameenphone Ltd. Company Registration No. C-31531 (652)/96 Legal
Form A publicly listed company with limited liability. Incorporated as private limited company
on 10 October 1996 and subsequently converted to a public limited company on 25 June
2007. Listed on the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges on 11 November 2009.

Board of Directors Chairman: Christopher Adam Laska

Company Secretary: Hossain Sadat

Directors: M Shahjahan, Md. Ashraful Hassan, Tore Johnsen, Parveen Mahmud, Haakon
Bruaset Kjoel, Hans Martin Hoegh Henrichsen, Oivind Burdal.

Independent Directors: Rokia Afzal Rahman, Prof. (Dr.) Jamilur Reza Choudhury.

Audit Committee: Rokia Afzal Rahman (Chairperson), M Shahjahan, Tore Johnsen, Hossain
Sadat (Secretary).

Treasury Committee: M Shahjahan (Chairman), Pal Stette, Dilip Pal, Imdadul Haque
(Secretary).

Human Resources Committee: Hans Martin, Hoegh Henrichsen (Chairman), M Shahjahan,

Mohammed Shariful Islam, Hossain Sadat (Secretary).

Management Team: Petter Borre Furberg (Chief Executive Officer), Dilip Pal (Chief Financial
Officer), Medhat EL Husseiny (Chief Technology Officer), Mohammed Shariful Islam (Chief
Human Resources Officer), Yasir Azman (Chief Marketing Officer), Mahmud Hossain (Chief
Corporate Affairs Officer), Andreas Frandevi (Chief Strategy Officer), Nehal Ahmed (Head of
Communications), Naser Fazley Azam (Divisional Head, Customer Experience & Service), Kazi
Mahboob Hassan (Head of Transformation).

Health, Safety, Security & Environment Committee: Hans Martin, Hoegh Henrichsen
(Chairman), M Shahjahan, Mohammed Shariful Islam, Hasanur Rahman Rakib (Secretary).

Head of Internal Audit: Hasan Faisal.

Statutory Auditors: Rahman Rahman Huq, Chartered Accountants.

Registered Office: GPHouse Bashundhara, Baridhara Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh.

7
 Planning

Vision:
Empower Societies
We provide the power of digital. communication, enabling everyone to improve their lives,
build societies and secure a better future for all.

Mission:
We are here to help our customers
We exist to help our customers get the full benefit of being connected. Our success is
measured by how passionately. they promote us.

Values:
We are creative. We bring energy and imagination to our work. Everything we
produce should look fresh and modern
Everything we produce should be easy to understand and use. We should always
remember that we try to make customers lives easier
We acknowledge and respect local cultures. We want to be a part of local
communities wherever we operate. We want to help customers with their specific
needs in a way that suits the way of their life best.
Everything we do should work perfectly. If it doesnt, were there to put things right.
Were about delivery, not over-promising. Were about actions, not words

8
 Objectives:
Grameenphone Ltd. Is now focused on
strengthening their. mobile data
leadership, paving the way to become
the most preferred partner in our
customers digital journey.

Over the next couple of years leading

to 2020, we will work to leverage
growth opportunities as best as we can.
We believe the potential growth and
operating efficiencies will help us drive
future profitability for the Company.
Our investments in our high-speed data
network will continue as well as our
efforts to deliver new and even more
relevant digital services to our customers. We will continue to maintain our relentless focus
on ensuring efficiency in our investments and operating costs in order to maximize business
output as best as possible without affecting customer experience and business processes. In
2017, we will be entering the new phase of our journey, making bold moves and embracing
new business models towards strengthening our mobile data leadership, paving the way to
become the most preferred partner in our customers' digital life.

-Petter Borre Furberg, Chief Executive Officer

Plan

Grameenphone believes Bangladesh is poised at the point of an era of promise and

prosperity arising from the rejuvenation of multiple. sectors of the economy where
empowering technologies, if deployed inclusively, will be a key driver of development in the
emerging era. In line with that potential. development Grameenphone embraces the
opportunity to reinvent itself year on year setting new paradigms as the industry leader
while making a lasting contribution to the digital future of the country.

Moving ahead, Grameenphone is ready to operate in the fast-moving and ever-changing

industry, filled with challenges and opportunities. The Company will continue to push the

9
horizon of digital empowerment by. leveraging the emerging technologies. Faster network,
smarter devices and data-intensive applications will continue to drive mobile data usage and
revenue. To keep pace with the. change in customer behavior of the smart phone generation,
Grameenphone will continue to offer products. and services that bring value to them and
help create new digital societies. Delivering integrated digital services and experiences,
Grameenphone will be functioning as a. platform to broaden access to essential services such
as education, healthcare and financial services.

In 2017, competition among operators is expected to remain. intense as they race to capture
a leading 3G position. Grameenphones focus for the year. ahead will be to deliver on its
promises to enable growth and profitability from. its core services while transforming the
business, unlocking new capabilities and. opportunities to strengthen its play in the digital
space. Keeping a keen eye on performance, operational excellence and execution,
Grameenphone is confident of good. progress on its digital ambition and the creation of
value for its shareholders.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It can be
described as an organized planning method that assesses these four elements of a business. A
SWOT analysis can be carried out for a company, product, place, industry, or person. It involves
identifying the objective of the business venture and identifying the internal and external
factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. Wikipedia, SWOT
Analysis

Using a SWOT, a business can: -

Understand the business better.

Assess and take action against overcoming possible weaknesses

10
 Put off threats

Take advantage of opportunities

Build on and take advantage of strengths

Develop business goals and strategies for achieving them.

SWOT Matrix

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

11
 Market Leader: Grameenphone. is the first organization in Bangladesh, which has reached
to the general people. So, the people are being used to with Grameenphone. This is a
huge advantage of Grameenphone.

Brand Value: Grameenphone is well known all over the. country because of its strong
network which developed the strongest brand image in the country

Largest Geographical Coverage: Grameenphone has the widest. network coverage and a
large number of BTS station (Tower) all over Bangladesh. Thats why the company can
provide better connectivity in most of the area of the country.

Collaboration with Apple & Samsung: Grameenphone Ltd sells mobile. phones of different
strong brands such as Apple and Samsung with different packages. This helps them reach
the higher society customers.

Skilled Human Recourse: All the stuff, which are related to Grameenphone are skilled and
effective in their own job responsibility. The reason behind this is. the Human Resource
Department of Grameenphone. follows ethical strategy to recruit new employees.

High Ethical Standards: To ensure quality of service, Grameenphone. is strict tofollow its
ethical standard.

Sound Revenue: Because of effective strategic planning, Grameenphone is ableto earn a

healthy amount of revenue, which gives them financial soundness.

Weakness
Cultural Gap: In Grameenphone management, employees from different countries are
existed. Suppose, CEO is a Norwegian, Chief Technical Officer is Indian and many more
employees. come from different countries. Thats why sometimes there may be lack of
understanding due to cultural gap.

Many Man Many Minds: Sometimes different ideas may create problem. In Grameenphone,
this is highly encouraged. to apply new strategy for better performance. Sometimes, it may
create problem because employees. are used to with previous strategy.

12
Lack of Harmony among SBUs: Intercommunication among various departments. is little bit
weak. The reason behind this, there is no exchange program for employees to. work among
various Strategic Business Units (SBUs).

Opportunities
Economic Growth of Bangladesh: The economic growth of the country will increase. the
expansion of telecommunication industry. From 1995 to 2017, there is a huge change in
telecommunication sector.

Declining Prices for Handsets: Few years ago, the people from low income group could not
afford mobile phone services due to the high. price of handsets. Now the price of handsets
has decreased and the low-income people want. to get connected through mobile phone.

Increasing Demand for Telecom Services: The market of telecommunication is expanding. So,
this is easy for Grameenphone to achieve the. major portion of expanded market because of
its leading position.

New International Gateway: As BTTB has established new gateway to connect internationally,
this is easy for mobile phone operators to. provide services of ISD call and international
roaming.

Flexibility of Mobile Phone: Communication through mobile phone is popular; because, land
phone connection between intercity is relatively. costly. Mobile phone is also easier to carry
and because of its lower cost and easy portability, people are getting more dependent on
mobile phone than land phone. So, there is a. chance to achieve more subscribers and more
market share.

Threats
Rigid Government Regulations: Government is becoming. restricted for taking away currency
from the country. So, foreign companies are threatened because. they may have risk to back
their investment to the country. The government also put restriction for work permit of
foreign employees.

Political Instability: Political instability is another threat. With the change of. Government,
policies are also changed. So, this is difficult for any multinational organization to cope with
new policies.

13
Devaluation of Taka: As the investment occurs. in foreign currency, thats why the devaluation
of Taka decreases profit from financial point of view.

No Cooperation from Government Agency: BTTB does not want to provide. better services to
other operators, because, it wishes to remain competitive.

Organizing

Organizational Structure

The organizational structure as of 28 February 2017 of Grameenphone Ltd. is given

below,

*He also acts as Director and Head of Regulatory Affairs of the Company reporting to
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

14
 Organizational Design

Grameenphone can be described as an organization that employs the matrix structure

throughout the business. There are three simple principles that Grameenphone employs
consistently across the organization.

Firstly, they make sure to set clear organizational goals, followed by a clear and stated
alignment to those goals by the functions within the matrix. This ensures that the
organization is focused on delivering the right things.

Secondly, team empowerment is a must to allow decision-making at the right levels to enable
slick and efficient delivery to the stated goals. Finally, established networks must be created
to enable matrix leaders to engage with the right people at the right times; this is what gets
the job done.

Matrix working is deployed extensively across Grameenphone. and is regarded as having a

very positive impact on project teams. Rather than teams being beholden to multiple layers
of decision-making, Grameenphone puts trusted and accountable leaders in charge of small
teams. Grameenphone provides them budget and influence over who sits on their teams,
and empowers them to make the decisions. necessary to progress an asset through the
development lifecycle. Only at major investment decision and value inflection points do these
teams need to seek committee approvals. The matrix environment allows. them the flexibility
and the autonomy to deliver results. Ultimately, it allows the company to give their best to
improve the quality of peoples lives.

Distribution Coverage analysis

Building the capacity of the suppliers in terms. of sustainability is one of the priorities of
Grameenphone. In 2016, Grameenphone conducted a total 3,284 man-hours of training and
awareness for building the capacity of its. suppliers and partners including coaching, on-job
hands-on training, video learning and one to-one consultation.

15
Grameenphone also organized a program called, Annual Supplier Development Program
2016 where around 300 suppliers and partners. of Grameenphone participated for a half
day-long audio-visual sustainability. awareness program focusing on practical instances of
health and safety, anti-corruption, sustainability requirements. as well as green telecom,
women empowerment and diversity, etc. Grameenphone is now emphasizing on industry
and cross-industry collaborations. to synergies efforts in capacity building.

Area of Operation

Grameenphone has the leading network with the. widest coverage in the country. The
Grameenphone network now covers over 99.5% of the population 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. Presently Grameenphone has
covered 462 upazillas of 64 districts.

Covers
99.5%
of the Bangladeshi
population

16
The company has so far invested more than BDT 299 billion to build the network
infrastructure since its inception in 1997 and BDT 21.1 billion in 2016 to rollout 3G sites,
improve 2G coverage, and enhance capacity. Grameenphone has built the largest cellular
network in the country. The entire Grameenphone network is EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing
its customers to access high-speed Internet from anywhere within the coverage area.

Human Recourse and Administration

The policies established by a business in the Human Resource department heavily influence
the workforce and hence, serve as an important internal factor for all businesses.
Grameenphone has always been putting genuine efforts in designing training schemes and
grooming the employees for higher level management through strict and at the same time,
motivational policies both financially and non-financially.

This, as a result, has enabled them to establish immense trust from employees and hence
develop a loyal workforce who give their 100% in any business activity they are associated
with. The company places great emphasis and commitment in developing the human
resources as the management body believes that only the best people with professional
competencies can contribute successfully to achieve the organizations goals.

Groups and Teams:

In Grameenphone various groups and teams are formed inside every individual departments.
Most of the groups are formed formally, which means the groups are made by the higher-level
managers of different departments to work on a specific goal. When Grameenphone takes up
a project and to execute it they need help from various departments of their organization they
form a group. Where specialist employees of different departments come to work together to
get the work done. For the projects like launching 3g network, where they needed IT
department, Marketing department, HR department, etc. they formed a group. A group leader
or a Manager was assigned who controlled and dominated the group. All the employees inside

17
that group had to report to the group leader as well as the Manager of their department, thus
they had to face a dual chain of command.

Grameenphone forms various teams inside every department to divide their work. To
accomplish the ultimate goal of Grameenphone first they have to achieve the goal of every
individual department. Achieving goals of a department is not easy. They have to perform many
difficult tasks and to nailing this task the department forms various teams and every team is
assigned with only one specific task. Suppose in marketing department they divide their tasks
of market research, customer care, promotion, advertisement etc. are assigned to different
teams. The teams are monitored by a team leader. For various tasks, cross functional teams
are also formed. Where employees of different departments form a team to reach a shared
goal.

Recruitment Philosophy

At Grameenphone, they recruit appropriate candidates by matching the company's human

resource requirements with the qualifications of the candidates. They believe that the
Company can only remain competitive and maintain an incline in growth if only they select the
appropriate candidates. They use different philosophy to hire employees of different
departments. Some of the qualities they appreciate in every employee of every department
are that they are committed to the organization, someone who has the high urge to learn, can
be a solution provider no matter what their task is and someone whose energy will reflect in
his work and has the ability to communicate with other very easily and can integrate their
works. For specific departments, they look for specific qualities.

18
 Recruitment Process

Grameenphone has different recruitment processes for different level of employees and the
human resource department is fully in charge of this process. The hiring process of Executive
is quite different than hiring a General Manager. To recruit employees when there is a vacant
post they first launch a job circular, which can be done both internally and externally. Most of
the circulars are done internally, where only the current employees know that there is a vacant
post and they recommend their known persons. They are applicants drop their and appropriate
ones are called to give an exam. The selected participants are then called for the first phrase
of Viva. This viva helps to screen out some of the inappropriate candidates then selected
candidates have to go through another phrase of viva following by a medical test. For
participants applying for any post above Executive they have to go through a presentation
stage.

Training and Development:

In Grameenphone they have two types of program to train their employees, one is job specific
training another is General Management Program. Job specific training is given to employees
who just joined Grameenphone within their separate departments. According to the needs of
different department the training is given to give knowledge about their tasks. This training is
mandatory for all the new employees and this training may last for two weeks. The General
Management program is the higher-level training and it is for only the existing employees. In
this training, the current employees are given more advance training about managing
employees below them. As when they are promoted they have employees working under
them. This is for those employees who need to have more knowledge about managing
employees rather than knowledge about simple markets condition.

19
 Information Technology:

In 2011 Grameenphone went paperless, which means none of their business transactions,
documents are not recorded on papers. Since then Grameenphone is fully dependent on
information technology for all of their business activities as well as because they are in business
as a telecommunication company.

Grameenphone uses technology to record all their data about various business

transactions, activities of various department and integrate them in various databases.

For HR department, all the information of all the employees are recorded on database

using IT. The transactions of the salaries are also done using the information

technology. Also, the recruitment process is also done using the information

technology.

Grameenphone uses the customer management system to manage, motivate and

satisfy their customers. The touch point to collect data about the customers are

integrated with database using the information technology.

In 2016 Bangladesh government imposed law that all the subscribers of mobile phone

operators have to register their sim card using their finger print. Grameen Phone like

other companies used IT to complete the biometric registration of all their subscribers

successfully.

Grameenphone use Information Technology to integrate between tasks of various

departments of the organization to reach the ultimate goal.

Grameenphone evaluates its employees on a quarterly basis using their TDP process

and the evaluation is done using the information technology

Grameenphone uses business intelligence system of IT to identify, extract and analyze

data from various database in a short time.

20
 Leading

Motivating Employees

As a leading telecommunication company Grameenphone seems to be more careful about

employee motivation. First thing that motivates any Grameenphone Employee to show up at
work regularly is the prestigious brand image itself and the top notch workplace. Another
thing that also motivates the employee is the different skill learning programs that are
organized on a regular basis. The top managers have also set some to principles to motivate
the employees. Grameenphone is the only organization in Bangladesh that gives medical
allowances to all the family members of an employee including his/her parents and they pay
up to 80 percent of the total medical cost no matter which hospital it is. Grameenphone also
gives all the employees 3000 BDT worth phone bills every month which includes phone call,
internet expenses. Rewards are also allocated for the employees for their outstanding
performance. Grameenphone also gives a percentage of their profit to the employees.

Payment Schemes

In Bangladesh Grameenphone is considered the best company to work for any person
because for the salary, compensation and benefits. Medical allowances, rent allowances,
conveyance, city allowances, education expenses of children etc. are added to an employees
basic salary to make up the whole salary. Grameenphone transfers the salaries of the
employees to their bank account. The employees have to open their account on either HSBC
or Standard Chartered Bank.

Bonus and incentives Schemes

Grameenphone uses different types of bonus and incentive schemes to motivate their
employees. Some of these are given below.

21
 Grameenphone introduced an evaluation process known as TDP to evaluate its
employees on a quarterly basis. The employees who pass the evaluation test get a 5%
- 15% increment on the total salary form the following year.
From 2010 Grameenphone started to allocate 5 % of their total profit for the
employees and this bonus is provided in a yearly basis.
Grameenphone gives two types of festive bonuses bonus on basic salary and glossary.
During two Eids Grameenphone gives 100 percent bonus on basic salary to all the
employees.
Grameenphone employees can easily get car loans, house loans at lesser interest rate
from the bank branches that are situated in their corporate main office.

Management Issues

Cultural Gap: In Grameenphone management, employees from different countries are

existed. Suppose, CEO is a Norwegian, Chief Technical Officer is Indian and many
more employees come from different countries. Thats why sometimes there may be
lack of understanding due to cultural gap.
Many Man Many Minds: Sometimes different ideas may create problem. In
Grameenphone, this is highly encouraged to apply new strategy for better
performance. Sometimes, it may create problem because employees are used to with
previous strategy.
Lack of Harmony among SBUs: Intercommunication among various departments is
little bit weak. The reason behind this, there is no exchange program for employees to
work among various Strategic Business Units (SBUs).

Controlling

Companys Objective

The main aim of the company Grameenphone is to make profit through delivering reliable,
widespread convenient and cost efficient communication services to the people in
Bangladesh irrespective of where they live. Basing on this prominent goal, Grameenphone
has devised a number of objectives for its various departments as stated below:-

22
Financial Objectives:

The main objective of the finance department is to bring about an increase in retained
earnings. In 2016 Grameenphone made a net profit after tax of 22.5 billion taka from their 58
million subscribers. With an increasing rate of 2.2% new users and additional 8.8 million data
users they plan to increase their after tax net profit by 10% in 2017.

Marketing and sales Objectives:

The main priority or the objective of Grameenphones marketing department is to increase

their market share of mobile operating market from 43% percent to 50% by the year 2025.
For this they are planning to launch the 4rth generation wireless telecommunication network
also known as 4g network for the first time in Bangladesh by 2018. In 2016 they have spent
21.8 billion taka to enable 3g network in the remaining 112 sites to make sure all their 1200
sites are 3g network covered.

Human resource Objectives:

The main objective of Human resource department of Grameenphone is to hire about 100
skilled employees of different sectors as they are planning an expansion on their network by
introducing 4g. The also wishes to develop the skills of their current employees through
different programs.

Supply Chain Management

Grameenphone strives for high standards of. sustainability and continuous improvement in
its operations throughout the supply chain. Grameenphones Supplier Conduct Principles
(SCP) are based on internationally. recognized standards, including requirements on human

23
rights, health and safety, labor rights, environment and anti-corruption. Endorsement of
Supplier Conduct Principles (SCP) is mandatory for all. the suppliers and partners of
Grameenphone. entering in contractual relationship

Grameenphone carries out inspections in order to. monitor compliance to the requirements
on responsible business conduct. In 2016, Grameenphone. carried out 934 supplier
inspections (ranging from simple site visits to more. comprehensive inspections or audits)
across the value chain. 70 percent of the inspections were carried out unannounced. 896
major non-conformities were identified during the. inspections. All major non-conformities
are followed up with mitigation plans and processes. on closing of the non-conformities. Risk
re-assessment and plans for preventing similar incidents are already underway

ISO:

Grameenphone has received the prestigious ISO 14001:2004 certification in the November
of 2016, being the first ever mobile operator company of Bangladesh to achieve this honor.

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To be ISO 14001:2004 certified Grameenphone has fully recycled 383 tons of e-waste and
reused 8500 refurbished batteries in 2016. Another big recognition Grameenphone achieved
was winning the GSMA Green Mobile Award in the GSMA congress award 2014.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Grameenphone, an organization that came to existence to deliver the full benefit of being
connected and provide power of digital communication to enable improvement to
everyones life, society and establish a secured better future. They live by a statement
"Development is a journey, not a destination." Our work is not just about ensuring
connectivity; it is about connecting with people and building relationships, based on trust,
with our subscribers, business partners, employees, shareholders, as Theyll as the wider
community. They have always believed that good development is good business. While
maintaining their business focus, taking the nation forward remains is their top priority. Like
any other organization they have promised to do some social welfare activities and they are
the one who are able to execute this promises by investing heavy on five core areas poverty
alleviation, health, education, employment and recently added environment. Some of their
CSR activities are stated below:

Village Phone ( Every Freedom Counts):

Grameenphone started their first CSR activity Village Phone on the first day of their
business on 26th march 1997. Where a female member of Grameen Bank was provided with a

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loan to buy a GP subscribed handset to start mobile phone service business among her fellow
villagers.

Community Information Centers:

On February 2006, Grameenphone started a social responsibility project named Community

Information Centers, where rural people would come to access the wonders of modern
information technology such as internet, voice communication, video conference etc. It
helped to bridge the digital divide between the unprivileged rural people and others.

CellBazzar:

An initiative of Grameenphone which worked as an electronic market where Grameen phone

users could sell or exchange their goods through their mobile phones. It helped uninformed
rural people to have little bargaining power and entrepreneurs to grow their business from
their home. Millions of subscribers were benefited from this project and it was awarded
Asian Telecom Innovation of the Year in the Telecom Asia Awards 2008

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Free Eye Camps:

(Every sight matters)

In July 2007 Grameen Phone partnered with Sightsavers International Inc. to eradicate
blindness from Bangladesh. Blindness is a serious concern for Bangladesh, as it has the
highest number of blindness in terms of the population. Grameen Phone with the help of
their partner has able to provide free eye care support to 18732 patients and perform 2,206
cataract surgeries in 12 eye camp in different part of the country.

Funding in Education:

Grameen Shikkha an organization of Grameen Bank family came to existence to provide free
primary education to rural unprivileged children. Every year 100 bright students are provided
with scholarship fund at different level of education and 60% of this scholarship is managed

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under GPs fund. Grameenphone along with Bissho Shahitto Kendro opened up a free
electronic library Alor Pathshala to enlighten the youth.

Special Olympics Team:

In 2007, Grameenphone solely sponsored and trained Bangladesh Special Olympic team for
the Special Olympics game in Beijing, China.

Conclusion

Performance Results

Across its 20 years journey, Grameenphone has made a significant impact on the socio-
economic growth of the people of Bangladesh. At the end of the year 2016, Grameenphone
has 58 million subscribers, 24.5 million internet users and 357744 point of sales.

Grameenphone has 5882 km of fiber network nationwide and is providing 99.5% of the
Bangladeshi population with network. 90.2% of the population is getting 3G network and it is
the widest 3G network coverage in Bangladesh. Grameenphone has invested BDT 299b since
its inception and BDT 21.1 in 2016 to rollout 3G sites, improve 2G coverage, and enhance
capacity. Recently Grameenphone has reached ISO 14001 standers and now is a ISO 14001
certified company.

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The performance of managers and employees in the organization is very formalized and
decision making power is centralized. The employees work with enthusiasm and passion with
due respect to higher authorities. They are awarded with different kind of incentives based
on their performance.

Profit after tax for 2016 stood at BDT 22.5 billion (2015: BDT 19.7 billion). NPAT increased by
BDT 2.8 billion due to higher EBITDA, partly offset by increase in depreciation and
amortization, work force reduction cost, loss and impairment of investment in Accenture
Communications Infrastructure Solutions Limited (ACISL), formally known as Grameenphone
IT, and higher tax. Net profit margin for 2016 stood at 19.6% (2015: 18.8%).

Market Share Analysis

There are six mobile telephone operators in Bangladesh at the moment. Among them one is
Government owned telephone operator: Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB)
and the other five are privately owned companies namely Grameenphone Ltd., Axiata
(Bangladesh) Limited, Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd., Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd.
(PBTL) and Airtel Bangladesh Ltd.

The current mobile phone subscriber market is dominated by Grameenphone Ltd. They proudly hold on
to 42% of the market share. The rest 58% is distributed as per, Banglalink 25%, Robi 22%, Airtel 7%,
Teletalk 3% and Citycell 1%. Grameenphone has 58 million active subscribers that makes 42% of the
mobile operator consumer market.

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 Business Overview

As a continuation of the growth trend, 2016 was a year of excellence proving to be a solid
year for Grameenphone with strong growth momentum in place. Consolidation in
performance was achieved through double digit growth in the key financial metrics. The
Company reported record revenue of BDT 114.9 billion for the year 2016, up by 9.6% YoY,
supported by strong growth across the product portfolio. Simplified customer-centric
products and continued investment on 3G coverage expansion has accelerated this growth.

Grameenphone closed the year with stronger subscriber base of 58 million, a 2.2% growth
from year 2015. Notably, SIM market share improved to 46.1% at the end of October 2016.
Throughout the year, data continued to grow with healthy user addition and increasing data
volume consumption. The Company acquired 8.8 million internet users, taking the year end
base to 24.54 million in 2016.

Competitive offerings with a wide spectrum of quality digital services has further enriched
Grameenphones Digital Lifestyle portfolio. The first wave of digital services featuring health,
education, agriculture and entertainment solutions picked up the pace towards digitalizing
the nation. WowBox, the number one lifestyle application of the country, reached more than
6 million users making it the most downloaded digital application in the country. Customer
focused products and services were launched and expanded on, pushing the boundaries of
communication and commerce in Bangladesh throughout the year.

Recommendation

Grameenphone Ltd. keeps modifying their talk time packages with several offers on daily
basis. However, till date, the acceptance of GP among the youth is lesser than the other
competitors because of the pricing of GPs product. Where one can afford unlimited internet
with high speed via other operators connection, GP is still providing expensive net packages.
Although GP is trying their best to get engaged with the customers through various social
media platforms and their service motto is CUSTOMER FIRST, it has been observed that
the growing subscription number has lesser youth in it. Although cost-effective pricing
strategy is the best tool, if GP can deliver superior value by exceeding the customer
expectations on product attributes and continues such customer engagement in the
upcoming days, it sure will be able to hold its number one position in the telecom industry.

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 Reference

Interview- Mohammad Naimuzzaman, General Manager, Leadership and People

Development, Grameenphone Ltd.
https://www.grameenphone.com/
Annual report of Grameenphone Ltd. 2016
Annual report of Grameenphone Ltd. 2015
Annual report of Grameenphone Ltd. 2014
https://www.wikipedia.org/
Small business, Article What Are Internal & External Environmental Factors That
Affect Business? by Neil Kokemuller,studio
Management 11th edition, Stephen-P-Robbins & Mary Coulter

Appendix

Photo of our visit to Grameenphone Ltd.

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