GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

MBA – MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MBA 704– ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR (MBA GROUP 4
ASSIGNMENT 1

NAME SURNAME REG NUMBER

ASHLEY JANA R191958Z

CEDRIC ZVINAVASHE R1711491H

ADMIRE MANUWA R194078X

CANAAN SUKA R191091R

HENKEL CHAMBOKO R10637T

LECTURER:

Question:

Albert Einstein defines insanity as, “…doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results.” Examine Einstein’s view in the context of
Zimbabwe’s companies that exhibit the three types of behaviours toward change
observed by Casey Stengel as ; “those who make things happen, those who watch
things happening and those who ask, 'What happened?' (HBR, 2016, Zimbago,
2013).
With today’s volatile and unpredictable economy, agile businesses need to constantly look for
innovative ways to cut costs and eliminate waste, to remain viable and improve the bottom line
(https://www.newsday.co.zw). In Zimbabwe, we have organizations that make things happen,
those who watch things happen and those who ask what happened. Charles Darwin purported that
it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives, it is the
one is most adaptable to change. This statement infers that in order for organizations to gain
competitive advantage and survive they have to be continuously looking for ways to better
themselves. Proactive behavior is about making things happen. It involves taking initiative to bring
about a different future, for oneself, for one’s team, or for the organization as a whole (Parker et
al., 2010).

In view of the telecommunications sector in Zimbabwe, we have three competing firms, which are
Econet, Telone and Telecel. Here we will be focusing on the telecommunications sector but we
may occasionally touch on other industries. In terms of the statement revealed in the question
Econet are those who make things happen, Netone are those that watch things happen and Telecel
are those who ask, ‘what happened’. Since its inception, on 10 July 1998, Econet has grown from
being the last to enter the telecommunications sector to being the market leader, this left Netone
trailing behind and Telecel still wondering ‘what happened.

Econet has managed to become the market leader in the telecommunications sector because it has
managed to adapt to the myriad of changes and to also to innovate were other see adversity in a
not so friendly economy. It has developed agile strategies and the capability to plan for the future
to stay relevant and ahead of the competition. One of the prevalent strategies Econet has employed
is diversication from their core business of providing telephony calls to customers. Econet has
termed its other business interests as Econet Services. In the Econet Services basket we have
EcoFarmer, for instance, which has over 695 000 farmers who use it. EcoSure currently has more
than 1.3 million customers and EcoHealth has 682 000 customers. As unique services, they have
a loyal customer base that need Econet lines to access them. By far the biggest services are
EcoCash with nearly 5 million and EcoSure with about 1.3 million customers. Econet has also
begun to bundle these services into its packages making it difficult for competitors to lure its best
customers (https://www.econet.co.zw/). The Econet Services came into existence because there has
been a sharp decline in the people making voice calls. Netone has diversified into OneMoney a
mobile money transfer, which had 152 415 active subscribers in 2014 and Telecel with 79 703
mobile money subscribers. With Telecel being the first to invest in the mobile money transfer and
Netone being the second why then, are they behind Econet, the reason for this is because they did
not see its potential and did not put in systems and processes that allowed it to grow. Econet
realized the mobile money transfer and went on a drive to market it with its employees working
round the clock to make sure agents were stationed everywhere were there were potential
customers.

They have kept this stronghold on market share also because they are faster to innovate. Econet
has managed to develop simpler systems and processes, and leaner ways of working aligned to the
business to increase efficiency and productivity. Econet has the largest market capitalization and it has
used this capitalization in research and development; improving their infrastructure. In a country where
they are preaching build and share boosters, Econet is building their own to improve their network
outreach. It also saw that people were now moving towards more data intensive applications rather than
calling thus developed their 3G network, making it the first to use this network in Zimbabwe. When
Netone and Telecel finally caught up Econet had moved to LTE technology making this companies
followers and Econet gathered more clients because of it.

Econet has been proactive in the training of its human capital because of this they received the global and
national awards for outstanding human capital development show this , the HR Technology Award, as well
as the HR Manager of the Year Award (2017) (https://www.thezimbabwemail.com). Econet had managed
to train close to 400 staff members and succeeded in instilling a culture of curious inquiry, problem
solving, personal self-mastery and disciplined goal-setting, which increased individual productivity, and
drove organizational performance (https://www.thezimbabwemail.com). Through creating a
learning organization, Econet has been able to implement change within its organization without
much challenge from the employees and the employees are able to be innovative as they are given
the skills to do so. So far, across all industries Econet leads in being a learning organization and
because of this the employees are making things happen and in doing so, helping their organization
to stay on top.
In an economy like Zimbabwe, developing the right culture, behaviors and capabilities is important to
remain agile and innovative. Schein, (1999: 15) outlines the manifestations of culture as “the way
we do things around here, the rite and rituals of our company, the company climate, the reward
system, our basic values”.

To become and stay agile, businesses must:

 Have robust talent management and succession plans to ensure they have a workforce
skilled to deliver the service for organizational survival.

 Grow resilient leaders using OD interventions including training as a driver for

organizational agility and sustainability.

 Have an engaged and agile workforce with a change-ready mindset, to cope with unknown
future challenges to boost business performance.

 Be customer-focused by putting customers at the heart of business, through training and

developing staff and systems to be more responsive to customers’ needs.
Schein, E.H. (2004) 2nd edition, Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-
Bass Publishers.

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2015/12/building-an-agile-business-in-a-changing-zimbabwe/

https://www.econet.co.zw/media-centre/general-news/econet-banks-future-innovation

https://www.thezimbabwemail.com/business/econet-wins-top-global-and-national-human-resources-
awards/