STRATEGIC AUDIT OF ROBI

Strategic Audit of Robi

Course Code: EM519

Course Title: Strategic Management
Date of Submission: 19 August 2019

------- Prepared by: -------

Hossain Al Alvi (3-17-37-014)
Eshrat Hossen Lovely (3-17-37-059)
Shamima Nasrin (3-17-37-068)
Abonti Acharyya (3-17-37-019)
Susmita Gupta Paik (3-17-37-015)

Prepared for:
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Thoufiqul Islam
Department of Management
Faculty of Business Studies (FBS)
University of Dhaka

FACULTY OF BUSINESS STUDIES (FBS)

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
 Letter of Transmittal

19.08.2019

Prof. Dr. Mohammad Thoufiqul Islam

Department of Management,
Faculty of Business Administration, University of Dhaka.

Subject: Term Paper Submission.

Dear Sir,

This is our immense pleasure submitting Term Paper based on the topic of ‘Strategic Audit of
Robi’. This paper is a course requirements of our MBA programme that correlated our academic
study with practical experiences. During our working period we have collected primary data and
secondary data and on the basis of data we have prepared this report. We tried our best to gather
relevant information for constructing a complete report as outlined. We would like to express our
profound gratitude for your kind and conscious mind for reading the report.

We beg your kind excuse for unintentional errors, if any, in preparing the report despite us best
effort. We hope that you would be kind enough to receive this report and oblige us thereby.

Sincerely yours,

……………………………….
Eshrat Hossen Lovely
On the behalf of Group
 Acknowledgement

All praise goes to Almighty Allah who has given us the opportunity to do this report. It is a great
pleasure for us to express our sincere appreciation to the Department of Management, University
of Dhaka for giving us the opportunity to do this report.

We want to mention the contribution of all those who have inspired, influenced and guided us to
complete this report successfully. First of all, we would like to express our heartiest gratitude to
our venerable course instructor Prof. Dr. Mohammad Thoufiqul Islam, Department of
Management, University of Dhaka for his kind and sincere guidance, constructive criticism and
personal supervision all through our work. We wish to acknowledge our gratitude to all our
classmate of Department of Management, for their suggestions and kind cooperation.
Contents
Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 6
Current Position of Robi ............................................................................................................................ 7
Current performance ................................................................................................................................. 8
Strategic Posture ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Strategic Managers ................................................................................................................................... 11
Board of Members .................................................................................................................................. 12
Top Management .................................................................................................................................... 14
External Environment Analysis of Robi ................................................................................................. 16
STEEP Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 17
Industry index ......................................................................................................................................... 18
External Factor Analysis Summary (EFAS) ........................................................................................... 20
Internal Environment Analysis of Robi .................................................................................................. 21
Corporate Structure ................................................................................................................................. 22
Corporate culture practices ..................................................................................................................... 23
Corporate Resources ............................................................................................................................... 24
Internal Factor Analysis Summary ......................................................................................................... 31
Analysis of Strategic Factors.................................................................................................................... 33
Situational Analysis (SWOT Analysis) .................................................................................................. 34
Review of current mission and objectives .............................................................................................. 35
Strategic Factor Analysis Summary ........................................................................................................ 37
Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Strategy .............................................................................. 39
Strategic Alternatives .............................................................................................................................. 40
Recommended Strategy .......................................................................................................................... 41
Implementation and Evaluation of Strategy .......................................................................................... 42
Change Matrix ........................................................................................................................................ 43
Implementation and Evaluation .............................................................................................................. 43
References .................................................................................................................................................. 44
 Executive Summary

Strategic management is basically the continuous planning, monitoring, analysis and assessment
of all that is necessary for an organization to meet its long term and short term goals and objectives.
Whether the organization is offering services or products, strategic management works as a core
directional guide that changes the business approaches according to the situation that enables the
organization to survive in competitive business environment. Strategic Audit is a cumulative
overview of the organization that reflects the current position of the organization analyzing both
internal and external environment of the organization that leads to strategic alternatives to bring
changes within the organization.
Robi Axiata Limited, a leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh has always
been in the forefront of when it came to innovation. Robi is the second largest mobile network
operator in Bangladesh with 46.88Mn subscribers as of end of December 2018. The company has
introduced many first of its kind digital services in the country and has been the pioneer for paving
the way in taking mobile financial services to the underserved communities in the rural and semi-
urban areas. It is the only mobile operator to have successfully conducted the trial run of 5G and
Voice over LTE technology on its 4.5G network.
The paper starts with the discussion of current position of Robi in the telecom sector that discussed
the financial position with organizational mission-objectives and basic business tactics. Then the
external environment analysis has been discussed using STEEP analysis and industry matrix that
leads to external factors analysis summary of Robi. Internal environment analysis discussed about
corporate structure-culture, corporate resources and an Internal Factors Analysis Summary. After
the environmental analysis, strategic factors like situational analysis current policy review has been
discussed. The paper has some strategic alternative recommendations considering different
strategic aspects and finally discussing about the implementation and evaluation process of
strategic alternatives of Robi.
Current Position of Robi
Current performance

Robi Axiata Limited is a joint venture of two leading telecom group, Malaysia’s Axiata Group
Barhad and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. Axiata holds the majority 91.59% share of Robi and NTT
DoCoMo have the rest 8.41%. It’s one of the most dynamic telecommunication operators in
Bangladesh, which has seen rapid growth in the past five year after it was rebranded from ‘Aktel’
to ‘Robi’. The company has hugely developed its services to meet the rising needs of customers,
ranging from voice and high speed Internet services to customized telecommunications services.
As a customer-focused information communications company, Robi believes in providing superior
service that leads to good business and good development in the society. They believe that quality
is continuous and never ending journey. Hence, every step Robi takes is continuously upgraded
and expands their network for better and more efficient services to subscribers.

Their services include 3.5G and 4.5G voice, CAMEL Phase II and III and 3.5G Data/GPRS/EDGE
service high-speed internet connectivity. Its GSM service is based on the robust network
infrastructure and cutting edge technology. The company has the widest International Roaming
coverage in Bangladesh connecting 600 operators across more than 200 countries. The customer
centric solution includes value added services (VAS), quality customer care, digital network
security and flexible tariffs, with an addition of mobile apps to make customer experience even
better.

Robi is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh with 46.88Mn subscribers as of
end of December 2018. Robi was the first operator to introduce GPRS and 3.5G services in the
country. It is the first company to launch 4.5G service in all the 64 districts of the country. In fact,
this landmark milestone was achieved on the first day of the commercial launch of the service by
Robi on 20 February 2018. Robi also proudly claims to have the widest international roaming
coverage with 398 operators across 182 countries with widest 4G roaming footprint in 29 countries
with 40 operators. Being deeply involved in the socio-economic development, Robi has created
the largest online school, Robi-10 Minute School, set up internet corners in seven divisional public
libraries, set up safe drinking water facilities in 10 major railway stations and partnered with
Access to Information (a2i) for setting up the contact center, 333, offering information on availing
government services.
Strategic Posture

Mission
To provide total customer satisfaction as the company strives to become the most preferred GSM
cellular service provider in Bangladesh. TMIB will achieve this through developing people,
products, and services of the highest quality and meeting the needs of its employees, shareholders
and the nation.
1) Total quality objective
2) Total commitment to the needs of our customers,
3) Following the highest ethics standards,
4) Continual improvement of all work processes,
5) Permanent improvement of all the employees’ knowledge and skills,

6) Securing quality of the service to match the quality of services offered by the world’s most
successful companies in the field

7) Preserving the Company’s leading position in the national market of mobile

telecommunications.

Vision
To be the most preferred GSM cellular service provider in Bangladesh. Robi draws on leading
edge technology to provide its service in Bangladesh, covering almost 100% of the population;
Robi is committed to provide best data and voice quality and will continue to ensure that its
customers are able to enjoy the best experience through leading edge technology and innovative
products and services.

Basic strategies and policies

Robi Axiata Ltd. started its commercial Operations as a GSM cellular phone operator with the
objective of offering state of the art and modern telecommunication services to the people of
Bangladesh at competitive prices.

The Company has a duel objective to receive an economic return on its investments and to
contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh through telecommunication. This is why
Robi, is aiming to place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic
benefit of the poor. It is on the way to bring a total revolution in the telecommunication field.

By attaining the success factors, Robi would like to be recognized as a reliable, honest and
committed company to its valued subscribers and stakeholders. As a customer focused information
Communication Company, Robi’s current goals in providing superior service that leads to good
business and good development in the society. They believe that quality is continuous and never
ending journey. Hence, every step Robi takes is continuously upgraded and expands their network
for better and more efficient services to subscribers.
Strategic Managers
Board of Members

Chairman
Dato’ Mohd Izzaddin Idris

Director Director
Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya Sarvjit S.Dhillon
 Independent Director Director
Thayaparan Sangarapillai Michael Kuehner

Director Director
Nakul Sehgal Vivek Sood

Managing Director & CEO Advisor to the board

Mahtab Uddin Ahmed Mahbub Jamil
Top Management

Managing Director & CEO

Mahtab Uddin Ahmed

Chief Commercial Officer Chief Financial Officer

Pradeep Shrivastava Roni Tohme

 Chief Technology Officer Chief Digital Services Officer

Medhat El Husseiny Shihab Ahmad

Chief Strategy Officer Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer

Ruhul Amin Mohammed Shahedul Alam

Chief Human Resources Officer Chief Enterprise Business Officer

Md. Faisal Imtiaz Khan Md. Adil Hossain

External Environment Analysis of Robi
STEEP Analysis

For every type of organization, it is essential to evaluate the external factors that can influence the
organization. In a competitive industry like telecom, Robi can get an advantage of business
development by evaluating their external environment.
Social

In this era of internet and social media, people are getting attracted by number of social media sites
that increases the overall internet usage throughout the country. Though telecom sector has their
core product which is talk-time but internet is taking that place as people can communicate with
each other through internet besides the other features of internet. According to the govt. report,
more than 9 crore active internet users has been recorded in 2018. Not even within the boundary,
people communicate with people living away from the country using the internet facility.
Technological

Technological advancement in telecom sector is a common phenomenon which affects the

business operation of companies operating in the industry. In Bangladesh, 4G technology has been
emerged in 2018 but has not been possible to provide coverage of the whole country. Lack of
infrastructural advancement is the core reason behind such condition. But a huge change might
occur as the commercial operation of Bangabandhu Satellite 1 has started in May, 2019 in limited
sector. Such advancement can open the gate of opportunities for telecom industry as well.
Economic

Economic condition of Bangladesh is steadily raising associated with per capita income and GDP
growth. Even, investment in technological sector is also increasing over time. Hence, it is easy to
mention that economic condition of the country is satisfactory. Increased standard of lifestyle,
increased income source has lead people to more expenditure on internet that has a significant
influence on the business operation of telecom companies.
Environmental

Environmental regulations are quite limited in Bangladesh regarding the radiation exposure by the
network towers but companies are working hard to maintain the minimum rate that can be
absorbable by the people. There is no significant impact of seasons in telecom sector.
Political

BRTI is regulator of all telecom companies operating in Bangladesh. Tax rate and new polices
come frequently from the regulator and Bangladesh government that keeps a huge impact on the
companies. Strict guideline for business operation, initial capital, infrastructure guidelines are the
common legal aspects that companies need to follow for smooth operation of their business.
The political environment is full of risks for the telecom sector. The traditional political risks for
telecom are the ones related to regulations, network licensing, national radio spectrums and in case
of certain nations trade barriers. Generally, these issues have affected the network operators and
the effect has been felt less by equipment and service providers. However, one factor that worked
in the favor of the telecom industry was privatization and deregulation. For some time, the telecom
industry enjoyed relative freedom based upon its importance in the process of globalization.
However, a number of threats have emerged in last some years that could mean that political risks
are on the rise again. Increased focus is on the growing markets like China and India. However,
the level of government control in these markets is high.

Political risks rooted in national security and human rights issues are another major source of
political pressure for the telecom sector. Governments across the world have launched measures
to monitor and control communications motivated by political and security reasons.

Industry index

Within every industry, there are some certain variables or key success factors that a company’s
management must understand and utilize in order to be successful. Key success factors are those
variables which can significantly affect the overall competitive positions of companies within any
particular industry. These factors vary from industry to industry and also can determine company’s
ability to succeed in that industry in some extent. Hence, companies often come up with strategic
decisions based on these success factors and try to compare their market position by these factors.

Industry Matrix
Robi
Robi (Rating
Key Success Factors Weight (Weighted
out of 5)
Score)
Network Availability 0.2 4.5 0.9
Skill level of workforce 0.1 4 0.4
Licensing 0.1 5 0.5
Political Stability 0.05 4 0.2
Demographic Differentiation (Age) 0.1 4 0.4
Organizational Culture 0.1 5 0.5
GDP trend 0.05 5 0.25
Compliance (Tax, political) 0.1 3 0.3
Marketing strategy 0.1 4.5 0.45
IT infrastructure 0.1 5 0.5

Total 4.4
Brief Explanation for the Ratings
In network availability, Robi has been given 4.5 as they are still working on providing 4G network
coverage in cities around the country.

They have quite satisfactory workforce for the business operation but needs some improvements
especially in customer care section and hence got 4 in a rating.

Robi has acquired all possible Licenses for the business operation in this country; hence got 5 in
the ranking. In recent times, got merger license from BTRC to get merged with Airtel and 4.5G
network coverage License.

In Age differentiation in their service offering, Robi stands in quite satisfactory stages but not in
the top position and hence 4 has been given in the rating.
Robi is in the top position in terms of corporate culture practice, has been awarded as the 5th Best
Employer of the Year at the 22nd World HRD Congress, 2014 for their talent management, HR
strategy and corporate culture practices. Hence, got 5 in the rating.

Robi is operating in Bangladesh where the GDP growth rate has been recorded 7.86% in the 2017-
18 fiscal year and expecting 8.13% growth rate in 2018-19 fiscal year. Hence, got 5 in the rating.

In compliance with national laws and taxes, Robi is not in good position as in 2018, NBR and
telecom regulator claimed that Robi need to pay 867.24 crore for value-added tax, and set royalty;
license fees; license renewal fees and spectrum assignment fees; and revenue sharing. Though
Robi has challenged against the claim and further investigation is still going. Hence, got 3 in the
ranking.

In marketing strategy, Robi always shows their capability and innovation in their different market
campaigns and service offering. As a result, got 51,599 customers which is the maximum number
who switched to Robi by way of the mobile number portability (MNP). But comparing with their
strategies, their market share is not increasing that much and thus got 4.5 rating.

Robi is completely up to date in terms of IT infrastructure. They are the first mobile operator to
offer GPRS and 3.5G network to the customers. Even they are ready to give 5G which is expected
to come in Bangladesh in 2023. Hence, got 5 in the rating.
External Factor Analysis Summary (EFAS)

External Factors Weight Rating Weighted Comments

Score

Opportunities
Increasing use of 0.25 5 1.25 Internet usage and social media
digital connectivity activities has been increased in
among people recent years in an alarming rate.
Bangladesh has been identified as
the fifth top internet using country
in 2017 recorded 80 million internet
users in 2017.
Huge scope for product 0.15 4.5 0.675 Increased rate of internet usage
diversity reflects more opportunity to grab
market by offering diversified
product portfolio of both talk-time
and internet packages.
Raising trend of GDP 0.1 4 0.4 GDP and per capita income of
and increase in Bangladesh is in increasing rate and
customer’s earning hence, company can offer different
capacity type of products to the people to get
better market share.

Threats
Government 0.25 2 0.5 Strict guideline for business
regulations operation, initial capital,
infrastructure guideline, increased
corporate tax for telecom sector.
Existence of strong 0.1 2 0.2 Grameen Phone is currently holding
competitor 55.8% market share in telecom
industry of Bangladesh whereas
Robi is holding less than half.
Swift Switching 0.15 1.25 0.1875 There are 5 telecom operators
tendency of customers currently doing business in the
industry and customers are often
seen switching their mobile SIM
because of service quality and
product offering.

Total Score 1 3.2125

Internal Environment Analysis of Robi
Corporate Structure

Managing Director & CEO

Mahtab Uddin Ahmed

CCO CSO CDSO CFO

Ruhul Amin Shihab Roni Tohme
Ahmad

Executive Country Vice

Vice Heads Presidents
Presidents

Managers General Assistant

Managers Managers

Specialists Senior
Officers

Junior Senior Junior

Officer Assistants Assistant
s
Corporate culture practices

Core values
Robi works with a firm commitment of Exceptional Performance and Uncompromising Integrity
(UI-EP) to ensure creation of value, putting the Customer at the Center.

Principles of work practices

Keeping pace with the evolving digital landscape of the country, Robi aims to establish themselves
as leader in providing customer centric data and digital services with four Guiding
Principles acting as a beacon of light to pave the path. The Guiding Principles are:
Be Agile
 Encourage questions to gain clarity
 Value and share information and analytics to gain perspective
 Seek trends to spot opportunities and solutions
 Learn from Failures for future success
Inspire to Innovate
 Focus on customers to understand their problems and unearth their desires
 Innovate to ensure customer satisfaction
 Constantly improvise on processes to ensure speed to catering to customers
 Create an authentic sense of purpose among people
Collaborate to Deliver
 Build Trust and Transparency around communication
 Cultivate Diversity and Inclusion
 Collaborate and engage with all stakeholders to achieve
Do Digital
 Pursue employee ideas to develop entrepreneurial mindset
 Learn from failures and identify learnings for future success
 Demand consistent quality
Corporate Resources

Marketing
As digital marketing is dependent on technology which is ever-evolving and fast-changing, the
same features should be expected from digital marketing developments and strategies. This portion
is an attempt to qualify or segregate the notable highlights existing and being used as of press time.
Segmentation

More focus has been placed on segmentation within digital marketing, in order to target specific
markets in both business to business and business to consumer sectors.
Influencer Marketing

Important nodes are identified within related communities, known as influencers. This is becoming
an important concept in digital targeting. It is possible to reach influencers via paid advertising,
such as Facebook Advertising or Google Ad words campaigns, or through sophisticated SCRM
(social customer relationship management) software, such as SAP C4C, Microsoft Dynamics,
Sage CRM and Sales force CRM. Many universities now focus, at Masters Level, on engagement
strategies for influencers. To summarize, Pull digital marketing is characterized by consumers
actively seeking marketing content while Push digital marketing occurs when marketers send
messages without that content being actively sought by the recipients.
Online Behavioral Advertising

Online Behavioral Advertising refers to the practice of collecting information about a user‘s online
activity over time, on a particular device and across different, unrelated websites, in order to deliver
advertisements tailored to that user‘s interests and preferences
Collaborative Environment
A collaborative environment can be set up between the organization, the technology service
provider, and the digital agencies to optimize effort, resource sharing, reusability and
communications. Additionally, organizations are inviting their customers to help them better
understand how to service them. This source of data is called User Generated Content. Much of
this is acquired via company websites where the organization invites people to share ideas that are
then evaluated by other users of the site. The most popular ideas are evaluated and implemented
in some form. Using this method of acquiring data and developing new products can foster the
organizations relationship with their customer as well as spawn ideas that would otherwise be
overlooked. An important consideration today while deciding on strategy is that the digital tools
have democratized the promotional landscape.
Remarketing

Remarketing plays a major role in digital marketing. This tactic allows marketers to publish
targeted ads in front of an interest category or a defined audience, generally called searchers in
web speak, they have either searched for particular products or services or visited a website for
some purpose.
Game advertising
Game ads are advertisements that exist within computer or video games. One of the most common
examples of in-game advertising is billboards appearing in sport games. In-game ads also might
appear as brand-name products like guns, cars, or clothing that exist as gaming status symbols.

Human Resources
ID Card & Business Card

After joining, Human Resources Division would issue ID Card & Business Card to each employee
for ensuring security and proper identity. Only non-executives are not entitled to get business card.
Salary & Benefits

Monthly salary will be transferred to employee individual salary account on 25th of each month
with other allowances less deductions such as income tax, contributory provident fund etc. Each
employee will receive a monthly pay statement detailing gross pay & deduction.
Allowances

Allowances are paid with monthly take-home salary; namely house rent, medical, conveyance &
utility.
Festival Bonus

Usually awards two bonuses in a year on occasion of EID/Christmas/, as Festival Bonus. The
amount of bonus is normally equal to basic salary.
Other Variable Bonus

Robi is offering other variable bonuses like; performance bonus (related with individual
performance) & company performance bonus (special bonus for company performance/success)
to the employees.
Career Development

Through appraising their performances & providing with knowledge & skills through proper
training and Development programs.
Induction

After joining, new employee is subject to attend an induction program. This program provides new
employee with basic background information about employer, information about company rules
and practices, organization’s products and services. This new employee socialization program
shall be conducted by HR Division.
Performance Appraisal
To achieve the overall organization goal, each employee is assigned with his individual goals. A
periodic (normally in the month of December) appraisal is conducted with the view to monitoring
the employee performances and to find out the training need and developments of each employee.
Good performers are awarded accordingly for their contribution to Robi.
Promotion

A systematic promotion policy is followed in terms of promoting the deserving employees in line
with the succession plan. Promotion is given to an employee when there is vacancy in the higher
position and the employee has the required skills, experience to undertake the job. Up gradation is
also awarded on the basis of performances and capability of the individuals.
Motivation

As motivation is a prime factor to job satisfaction, Management is willing to take initiative by

offering following schemes:

1. Performance Bonus: Performance bonus may be given to the good performers with
accordance with the company rules and management discretion as a recognition of
ones performance through-out the year.
2. Reward & Recognition: Reward & Recognition policy is introduced to award the
outstanding performers of Robi for best employee of the year, best employee of the
division, outstanding performers, best team performers & best support staff.
3. Safety & Security: For confronting contingency or any possible accident in the
work places, all ROBI offices contains fire extinguishers and first aid box and
ROBI is in the brink of establishing a comprehensive safety and security policy for
safeguard of our lives and properties as well
Research & Development
Robi Axiata Limited is one of the leading telecommunication company in Bangladesh. It has 15+
departments, which conclude several teams to operate its function on a regular basis. In this 21st
century, everything is getting web-based which is also supported by the central government of
Bangladesh. The Internet has now taken its place over voice calls. The demand for internet has
increased vastly in the last few years. To be competitive and serve the best quality to its user Robi
is coming up with so many attractive internet products day by day. Usually to develop a product
Executive members assign product managers in their respective team. Developing a product
requires to follow certain steps, like idea generation, idea screening, concept developing, business
strategy development, product development, test marketing, commercialization & finally the
Introduction of the final product to its customer. At the first stage, it starts with a raw idea which
usually came from internal sources, market research, and competition as well. The raw idea gets a
new dimension on the screening process in terms of customers need; company’s affordability,
current trends and most importantly expected ROI from that product idea. If that product idea
passes the screening step, then the development of the concept and business strategy are processed
simultaneously to get approval from different departments like regularity department, Customer
experience department, finance department, etc. These steps determine the competition against the
new product, pricing, cost of the company, breakeven point, APPD, etc. After determining these
important factors of the product it’s time to develop the product by the IT department as their
products are mostly based on programming, after that the product needs to tested by the product
manager along with customer experience department before the launch and even after the launch
of the product as well. Products get introduced to the market and later on the commercialization
of new product are also processed through ATL, BTL, & TTL.

Finance
Finance is the heart of any business functions because they are responsible for budgeting. Finance
division of Robi Axiata Limited is accountable for financing into different proposals, business
partnering, as well as new product development. Finance controls financial accounting, creating
salary sheets for employees, maintaining compliances and so on. Finance Division of Robi Axiata
Limited is accountable for financing into various proposals, business partnering, new product
development, financial accounting, preparation of salary sheets for employees, maintaining
compliances and so on. Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting and Management Reporting,
Financial Compliance & Insurance Process Improvement, Supply Chain Management, Integrated
Planning, Business Partnering, Media Buying, comprises the main departments of the Finance
Division. Various sub-departments exist under these departments. I have been assigned in the
Financial Compliance and Process Improvement (FCPI) department under the Finance Division.
Robi ended 2018 on a positive note despite incurring huge losses in the last quarter, logging in Tk
214.7 crore in net profits on the back of the sales of its stake in a tower company. With this, the
second-largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh bounced back to profitability after two
straight years of losses caused by its merger with Airtel. After the merger with Airtel in November
2016, the operator lost Tk 389.2 crore in the same year and Tk 284.3 crore in 2017.The last time
Robi made a net profit was in 2015 when it took home Tk 400.4 crore. Robi sold 20 percent of its
shares in dotcom Bangladesh for about $120 million, the payment for which was received in
September. The one-off payment has brought Robi to profitability, not the core business, a senior
executive of the company said. It lost Tk 96 crore in the fourth quarter of 2018. Last year, Robi's
customer base widened by 40 lakh to 4.69 crore but it failed to boost revenue: revenue fell by Tk
36.5 crore to Tk 6,798.2 crore in 2018 from Tk 6,834.7 crore a year ago. The operator's data usage
is growing rapidly and 60.4 percent or 2.83 crore of its customers now use mobile data. The
operator's data revenue also grew.

Commenting on the financial performance, Robi's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Mahtab Uddin Ahmed said: “It is very clear that our aggressive investment in 4G is paying
dividend in terms of robust growth of data revenue.” However, excessive price competition in the
data service is not helping compensate for the declining revenue from the voice service, largely
because of increased use of over-the-top mobile applications.
The Board of Directors of Axiata Group Berhad announced the following results of the Group for
the financial year ended 31 December 2018.
IT
It is the division which provides IT support to all the divisions & departments of Robi. Main tasks
of this division is maintenance of regional IT operation along with establishing BTS, central
network monitoring, technology compliance, supporting employees by providing necessary
hardware & software, support contact center etc. Controlling Robi website as well as intra-division
& departmental websites is also an important task of technology.

Internal Factor Analysis Summary

Internal Strategic Factors Weight Rating Weighted Comments

Score

Strengths
Experienced management
team
Strong Brand Image in
customers mind
Quality Product Offering
Attractive product design
0.1 5 0.5 Higher management
especially departmental
heads have more than 7
years experience in
telecom industry in both in
Bangladesh and other
countries.
0.15 4 0.6 According to the half
yearly report of 2018, robi
has 29.6% of market share
which is the second
highest rate in Bangladesh.
0.05 3.8 0.19 Offering both call and
internet packages for both
individual and corporate
sector
0.15 4.5 0.675 Robi was the second
telecom company which
came up with bundle
packages for their
customers

Weaknesses
Network problem 0.1 3 0.3 There are several reports
from the customers about
the slow network and
availability specially after
the merger with Airtel
 Insufficient network 0.1 2.2 0.22 Though the coverage
coverage in rural places reaches 64 districts of
Bangladesh but still
working to ensure
continuous 4G coverage in
rural places specially in
border areas like Cox’s
Bazar, Shatkhira, Vola
Etc.
Continuous business loss 0.2 1 0.2 390cr Loss in the end of
2016, 280cr in 2017 and
444 million loss for
investing in network up
gradation in August, 2018
Insufficient customer care 0.15 2 0.3 110 customer care centers
centers were available according
to the report of 2017
which is not sufficient

Total Score 1 2.985

Analysis of Strategic Factors
Situational Analysis (SWOT Analysis)

Strengths

 Strong Capital base

 Experienced management team
 Diversified funding sources
 Outstanding market share
 Diversified business exposure

Opportunities

 Business expansion opportunities

 Fund raising through new financial products
 Capital market operation
 Scope of product diversification

Weaknesses

 Not enough credentials for prevention of external issues

 Developing advertising strategy with less output
 Competitors are bigger threats
 Lack of service production unit
 Lack of customer support operations

Threats

 New entrants in to the market.

 Inadequate input for successful budgeting and strategic business plan
 Opportunities and risks are higher found through reviews of industry trends, regulatory
changes, and major deals, projects and investments
 Competitors and peers through company rankings posses’ greater business offer products
and services.
Review of current mission and objectives

The main objectives of Robi Axiata are:

 Commitment towards the need of the customers;

 Maintain high form of ethical standards;
 Improve all work process;
 Improvement of employee knowledge and skill;
 Securing the quality of the services to match that of competitors;
 Maintain the brand image and position of the company.

Purpose
The purpose statement is their ambition for future, to set a common direction for new brand, a
framework for all their strategic planning.

Robi‟s purpose is also to empower their customers. They claim that, “We are there for you, where
you want and in the way you want, in order to help you develop, grow and make the most of your
lives through our services.”

Principles
Principle statements define how people want to behave with each other in the organization. The
statements are about how the organization will value customers, Vendors, and the internal
community. Robi also believes that no matter what they do to realize their purpose, they hold
themselves accountable to the following Guiding Principles that the way for them. They are as
follows:

 Being respectful towards everyone.

 Being trustworthy by action. Being passionate and creative in all we do.
 Keeping things simple in the way we do things.
 Being ethical and transparent.
 Demonstrating individual and collective ownership.
 Practicing an open culture in communication and internal
 Emotional: Passionate, Creative, Respectful, and Open
 Functional: Simple, Ethical, Transparent, and Ownership

Long term Vision:

Robi strongly believes that subscribers are their most valuable asset. They have a strong Customer
Service Center. Being always with their customers the Robi “Help Line’ is there. Robi has
successfully migrated to a new switch with higher capacities in terms of accommodating higher
customer base and as well as to let them use all the basic supplementary services under GSM
technology. Robi Axiata Limited expertise and experience are acknowledged throughout the
industry. Demand is growing all the time, not simply for the services it already provides, but for
greater and more diversified services and even higher quality performance. Its pace is fast, rewards
are high and work is of constant challenge.

They introduced the both-way national roaming all through their network coverage. The Prepaid
services with enhanced features have been commercially commenced successfully and now they
are taking some projects to accumulate more advanced technological features in their network. In
terms of Network Quality, the company will ensure not only the equipment are of world class
standard but more importantly its size or capacity is catered to the right dimensioning of customer
base, in order not to face the problems of drop calls or congestion. All these are done through
proper planning, control and schedule maintenance program. They maintain the benchmark for
providing the quality services. They monitor these through generating regular reports and on site
survey. If there are any weak signals or a call drops, the skilled engineers are providing services
round the clock to resolve the problem instantly.

This is the most important key resource factor in Robi Axiata Limited. Robi has efficient human
resource. Moreover, its decisions are based on facts from market research and coverage survey.
Moreover, the above objectives can only be achieved through the right people. Robi has put its
keen eyes in developing its employees through proper training, as they believe that the most
important asset for Robi Axiata Limited. So they are ensuring quality services by quality people.
Robi has the plan to give opportunity to every household in using cellular service in the country at
the competitive price providing unparalleled quality service and customer care.
Strategic Factor Analysis Summary

Strategic Factors Weight Rating Weighted Durati Comments

Score on
S I L
h n o
o t n
r e g
t r
m
e
d
i
a
t
e
S1 Experienced 0.1 5 0.5 X Higher management
management team. especially departmental
heads have more than 7
years’ experience in telecom
industry in both in
Bangladesh and other
countries.
S2 Attractive 0.12 4.5 0.54 X X Robi was the second telecom
product design. company which came up
with bundle packages for
their customers.
W1 Network 0.1 3 0.3 X There are several reports
problem from the customers about the
slow network and availability
especially after the merger
with Airtel.
W2 Unsufficient 0.1 2.2 0.22 X Though the coverage reaches
network coverage 64 districts of Bangladesh
in rural places but still working to ensure
continuous 4G coverage in
rural places specially in
border areas like Coxbazar,
Shatkhira, Vola Etc.
O1 Increasing use 0.18 5 0.9 X X Internet usage and social
of digital media activities has been
connectivity increased in recent years in
among people an alarming rate. Bangladesh
has been identified as the
fifth top internet using
country in 2017 recorded 80
million internet users in
2017.
O2 Huge scope 0.12 4.5 0.54 X Increased rate of internet
for product usage reflects more
diversity opportunity to grab market
by offering diversified
product portfolio of both
talk-time and internet
packages.
T1 Government 0.13 2 0.26 X Strict guideline for business
regulations operation, initial capital,
infrastructure guideline,
increased corporate tax for
telecom sector.
T2 Swift 0.15 2 0.3 X X There are 5 telecom
Switching operators currently doing
tendency of business in the industry and
customers customers are often seen
switching their mobile SIM
because of service quality
and product offering.

Total Scores 1 3.56

Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Strategy
Strategic Alternatives

According to directional strategy there are three strategic options. They are growth strategy, pause
strategy and retrenchment strategy. In different points of the business ROBI Axiata might have
considered these alternatives to pass by the problems or beat down competition.

Growth Strategy

After observing and analyzing the data it is found that ROBI Axiata has taken up growth strategy
as their current strategic alternative.

 In order to expand their market share ROBI merged with Airtel in 2016.
 Robi has initiated Woman empowerment program in association with CARE Bangladesh.
 For ensuring improved and better quality of network service which depends on the
increasing number of BTS in the surrounding areas, the investment decision in BTS gets
the highest priority in the case of expanding decision made by the company. Robi Axiata
Limited also makes this decision in such way that can make sure its growth in terms of
revenue pattern and number of customer as well.
 Robi is investing aggressively in dual band strategy which is expanding the 4.5G network
which is helping to make significant progress in parts of the market where it had been
struggling traditionally.
 As they have been the only operator to have successfully trialed Volte and 5G services,
Robi is well on its way to become the next-generation digital champion.

Pause strategy

Recently Robi has tried out Profit strategy which is an orientation of Pause strategy. When Robi
Axiata faced some loses, it did not take up anything new, and instead it decided to sell some shares
which actually came out profitable enough. This strategy has saved them from incurring huge
losses and stay in the market too.

Retrenchment strategy

Before Robi was merged with Airtel, It might have considered Turnaround or Sell out strategy to
keep its head up in the market. As it might save the jobs of the employees or the shareholders
might get their share, any retrenchment strategy might seem work for the company.
Recommended Strategy

Robi Axiata is already following growth strategy. It is mainly focusing on Horizontal growth by
associating with different industries. Besides the taken steps, ROBI might try some more.

 It should concentrate on succession planning with the idea of continuous growth so that the
next generation can easily take the company forward.
 Robi should maintain a steady flow of sponsoring events at popular and well-known
institutions which will provide ROBI
 Robi should organize such programs where they can involve their current workforce from
department apart from HR and marketing only. This motivates employees to put more
effort which will add to productivity.
 It should carry out surveys from time to time to understand their perception and the demand
of the market and adopt necessary strategies.
 The promotional activities need to be a little bit modern to grab the attention of the new
customers as well as retain the old customers.
 It needs to give more importance on the network coverage in the rural areas.
Implementation and Evaluation of Strategy
Change Matrix
* Implimentary
~ Complimentary
No Change

Modern Promotional Activities

Infrustructural Development
Involvement of employees

with Market analysis

Succession Planning
Target Practices
Existing Practices
Yearly training facility prior to requisisiton from departments *
Career development and promotion of employees mostly based on Seniority *
Following succession planning module established in 2015 *
Conventional promotional practices relying on TV ad and messaging ~
Yearly financial budgeting for infrustrucural development ~
Less budget for R&D *
Conventional market analysis method which is not much updated *
Imporatance +2 2 1 1

Implementation and Evaluation

Action Plan Priority Who will Who will How often
(1-5) Implement Review Review
New product idea development with the 2 Department Chief Half-yearly
idea generated by all employees of Enterprise
Marketing Business
Officer
Establishing new succession planning 2 VP of Chief Yearly
module considering both seniority and Human Human
talent Resource Resources
Management Officer
More scoop creation for R&D and market 5 GM of Chief Monthly
research Business Strategy
Analyst Unit Officer
Deploying more specialized employees for 4 VP of Chief Quarterly
promotional activities Marketing Commercial
Department Officer
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