MANAGERIAL OVERVIEW OF

GRAMEENPHONE LIMITED
COURSE: Organizational Management (MGT212)
SECTION: 22
TOPIC: Managerial Overview of Grameenphone Limited
COMPANY NAME: Grameenphone Limited
GROUP NUMBER: 04

SUBMITTED TO:
SYED IMAMUZZAMAN
Lecturer, Department Of Management, North South University

SUBMITTED BY:
NAME ID Signature

Tasnia Tarannum 1521162030

Sharmin Rahman Shoshi 1511401030

Md. Arsanal Shafin 1912206030

Farisa Tazree Ahmed 1912999630

Rafiaz Farhan Khan 1921294030

Zarin Zaman Shetuli 1921816630

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

11th December 2019

Syed Imamuzzaman
Lecturer, Department of Management,
North South University, Dhaka

Subject: Submission of Term Paper

Dear Sir, 
It is our utmost pleasure to submit the Term Paper on “Grameenphone” which was assigned to us
as a requirement of course fulfillment for the “Organizational Management” course. We would
like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to choose a company our self and for further
enhancing our knowledge on the principles and applications of Organizational Management. We
are truly honored to have you as our supervisor. We sincerely hope that we will be able to fulfill
your expectations and do justice in capturing the true essence of your teachings in this report. 

This paper has been exciting to work on as it has given us the opportunity to have a detailed
managerial overview on Grameenphone Limited and how it has been impacting the telecom
industry as a whole. We have completed this report with sincerity and hope that we have met
your expectations. 

Sincerely yours,

Tasnia Tarannum
Sharmin Rahman Shoshi
Md. Arsanal Shafin
Farisa Tazree Ahmed
Rafiaz Farhan Khan
Zarin Zaman Shetuli
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, we would like to thank our respected faculty member Syed Imamuzzaman, Lecturer,
Department of Management, North South University who from the very beginning has helped
and guided us immensely and gave us this opportunity to work together, gain experience and
develop ourselves through this project. He has let us choose this company, assisted us with all
types of necessities and provided us with enough information to build the report. Secondly, we
would like to thank all our group members for constantly giving the effort, time and support to
successfully finish this group project on time. We would like to express our deepest gratitude
towards the manager of Sales and Distribution Division of Grameenphone. We have collected
countless information from him regarding our report. We appreciate his cooperation and the
sacrifice of his valuable time.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 1
Introduction 2-4
 Background
 Mission Statement
 Mission
 Vision
 Objectives
 Purpose
 Value
Shareholders 4-5
Organizational Structure 6-7
 Organogram
 Management Team Structure
Organizational Design 7-9
 Departmentalization
 Sales and Distribution Division
 Chain of Command
 Span of Control
 Mixture of Centralization and Decentralization
 Formalization
Mechanistic Model 9
Work Environment 10
Culture 10-11
Motivating The Employees 11
Steps Toward Green 11-12
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 12
Management Issues 12-15
 Solutions
 More Issues
 Possible Solutions
Corporate Strategy 15-16
Boston Consulting Group's Matrix (BCG Matrix) 17
Competitive Strategy 17-18
 Differentiation Strategy
Competitive Analysis 18-19
 Porter’s Five Force Analysis
Other Strategies 19-20
 E-Business Strategy
  Customer Service Strategy
 Innovative Strategy
Situation Analysis Of Grameenphone 20-21
 Internal Situation Analysis
 Eternal Situation Analysis
Pestle Analysis 22-23
SWOT Analysis 23-25
Conclusion 25
Questionnaire 25
References
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Grameenphone Ltd. is the telecommunication operator that has been a pioneer of innovation,
excellent service and leadership while establishing itself as the telecom operator with the largest
network coverage for the past two decades. The idea of ‘Village Phone’ is currently the biggest
mobile phone operator in Bangladesh. Their mission is to help their customers being connected.
Grameenphone has a well designed organizational structure to perform with optimum efficiency.
They provide their skilled and dedicated employees with the best work environment and
facilities to keep them motivated in order to bring the most out of them, which is essential to
continuously provide their level of service. The best network along with various digital services
has given Grameenphone an outstanding portfolio.  Products and services that are focused on
customers are being introduced and pushed to cross the boundaries of mobile phone service.
Grameenphone was able to re-register 97% of their subscribers during the bio-metric verification
process, which in itself is a magnificent achievement. No company is free of issues, not even
Grameenphone; they have faced many legal, political, social problems throughout their journey.
But they have always come up with the best possible solutions with their incredible management
team which is also a matter of pride for them. As the market leader Grameenphone has to
continuously improve their technologies and services in order to maintain their competitive
advantage. They also follow the required strategies to run their business and also to improve
upon them.  They understand their situation and takes actions based on them. Grameenphone has
come a long way since their first introduction in 1997 to established them self as the leading
telecom operator in Bangladesh. It was not an easy task to accomplish but they have achieved it
with hard work, dedication and by gaining a customer’s base that is still growing. The
telecommunication industry is a very competitive industry indeed, but Grameenphone is the
leader in this industry and that is by a large margin.

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INTRODUCTION
Grameenphone Limited is the largest telecommunication company in Bangladesh. They are the
largest in terms of network coverage, subscriber base and total revenue. They are also the leading
telecommunication operator in Bangladesh. They transformed into a public limited company on
June 25, 2007.Grameenphone Limited trades at both Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchange since
November 16, 2009. They have two major shareholders, Telenor Mobile Communications AS
who owns 55.80% of the organization and Grameen Telecom who owns 34.20%. The other
10.00% involves Institutions and People in general. Grameenphone operates in both urban and
rural areas all-around Bangladesh. They want to provide the best digital communication service
to improve lives, build societies and ensure a better future for everyone. Their tag line is ‘Go
Beyond’. They believe in providing the best service to their customers. Grameenphone is
competitive and to uphold their competitive advantages they are continuously increasing and
improving their services, implementing the latest technologies and hiring the most skilled and
dedicated employees.

BACKGROUND
Iqbal Quadir, the founders of Grameenphone was motivated to provide the best
telecommunication network across Bangladesh. He worked with Grameen Bank and Norwegian
telecom company, Telenor to start up the telecommunication company Grameenphone. ‘Village
phone’ is the idea behind the concept of Grameenphone. It means to provide telecommunication
services even in the rural areas of Bangladesh. This idea originated from the micro credit
business model of Grameen Bank. The idea of Grameenphone received ‘GSM in the
Community’ award by GSMA in 2000.
Grameenphone received its license to work as a telecommunication company on November
1996. They started operations on March 26, 1997. Grameenphone has been operating for the last
22 years. They are the first telecom company to launch pre-paid service in Bangladesh on
September 1999. They also launched the ‘Voice Mail Service (VMS)’ and ‘Short Mail Service
(SMS)’ in the same year
‘17’ was the prefix allocated to Grameenphone by the government of Bangladesh. This is how
one can recognize a Grameenphone number. The prefix ‘17’ is followed by an eight-digit
subscriber number and this has been the case for so many years. But now Grameenphone has
exhausted the ‘17’ number. They became the first operator to launch a second series ‘13’

MISSION STATEMENT
‘Grameenphone is here to inspire. We provide the power of digital communication, enabling
everyone to improve their lives, build societies and secure a better future for all. We exist to help
our customers get the full benefit of being connected.’

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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.’

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.’

OBJECTIVES
 Connect people and Empower societies.
 Transforming itself towards a more digitalized global telecommunications company
 Fulfill Strategic ambitions set towards 2020

PURPOSE
 Always Explore
Grameenphone believes learning helps to grow. They are not afraid of taking risks and
failure.
 Keep Promises 
Grameenphone believes that the foundation of relationship depends on a strong trust. They
are proud of their service.
 Create Together 
Grameenphone believes a team created from individual from different functional teams can
find more efficient solutions to bigger problems. They look from different outlooks, share
ideas and help each other succeed.  
 Be Respectful 
Grameenphone believes human being have an ability to understand what matters most to
someone else. They see everyone at the same level, listen and show that they care.

VALUE
Grameenphone focuses on connecting people by creating value for their customers, employees,
investors and for the society. This is how Grameenphone creates value

 Value for the Customers

Grameenphone has the largest coverage of 99.5% of the Bangladeshi population of which
95.2% is under 3G network coverage. They have digital services like GPmusic, Bioscope,
GP online shop, Tonic, FlexiPlan, MyGP App, Easynet. Grameenphone has provided 2 GP
lounges, 376,285 Recharge Outlets, 6,836 GP Express Store all around Bangladesh. In 2018

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 Grameenphone had 72.7 Million Subscribers with 37.1 Million of them using mobile data
service.

 Value for the Investors

The total shareholder return of Grameenphone in last 5 years is over 129%. Right now they
have over 31,000 Shareholders. According to their Annual Report of 2018, per share was
BDT 38, 280% dividends including interim dividend 2018. Grameenphone was awarded as
The Best Telecom Brand in Bangladesh by Bangladesh Brand Forum; Best presented Annual
Report 2017 by SAFA and ICAB; Best Corporate Governance Excellence Award 2017 by
ICSB.

 Value for the Employees

Grameenphone has a partnership with leaning platforms to provide their workers with E-
Learning Library, Coursera, Linux Academy, Telenor Campus, TmForum. They have
accommodated over 70 children in day care centre.  They have launched GPHRBOT to
provide them with answers to different queries on policies, benefits and HR services.
ONEGP is an application for HR and Admin services offering over 15 services.
Grameenphone employees have spent over 10,500 hours on classroom learning.

 Value for the Society

Grameenphone has introduced a program GP Accelerator and have financially supported 26
startups with over BDT 2.98 million and BDT 14 million by non-finance. They have worked
for educational causes by arranging nationwide enrichment program and Alor Pathshala.
They also have taken steps for child online safety and contributed to the national exchequer.

SHAREHOLDERS
Grameenphone limited has two main shareholders, Telenor Mobile Communications AS (TMC)
and Grameen Telecom (GTC). Telenor is a Norwegian telecom company founded in 1855. They
have mobile operations with solid market position throughout the world. Telenor owns 55.80%
of Grameenphone share making them the largest shareholder. Grameen telecom is the second
biggest shareholder who owns 34.20% of Grameenphone. Grameen telecom administrates the
village phone program, by which Grameenphone provides its services to the fast growing rural
customers. Grameen telecom gives training of the operators and takes care of all service related
problems. The other 10% of Grameenphone’s shareholders are Institutions and General Public.

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5
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Grameenphone follows a 3‐layer management philosophy. These are Directors, Managers and
Officers. The CEO has the highest level of authority. Directors are the departmental heads who
are held responsible for the activities of their departments. The next level is Manager. These
stairs represent the hierarchy of Grameenphone. Officers are the next on the hierarchy. These
officers are responsible for managing the operational activities and the operating level
employees.

ORGANOGRAM
Audit Committee Board of Board of Directors

Financial Services

Head of Internal Audit Chief Executive Officer Strategy

Wholesale
Business
Stakeholder Relation Deputy CEO Company Secretary
Sourcing

OfficerChief Marketing OfficerChief Technology Officer Officer People

Chief Corporate Affairs Chief

Deputy CEO & Chief Financial OfficerChief Communication Officer

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MANAGEMENT TEAM STRUCTURE

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
 DEPARTMENTALIZATION

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 At Grameenphone 10 Senior Executives who are the head of different departments assists the
Managing Director in making strategic decisions. These departments are:

 Corporate Affairs Division

 Customer Service Division
 Network Division
 Information Technology Division
 Communication Division
 Internal Audit Division
 Internal Control Office Division
 Finance Division
 Human Resource Division
 Sales and Distribution Division

Sales & Distribution Division

Sales and distribution division can directly interact with the customers. This division is
subdivided into sales department and distribution department. The responsibility of sales
department is to sell the products and services offered by Grameenphone. Therefore they have to
work in close collaboration with other divisions for their success in selling. They are trained to
provide a good service and for maintaining a good relationship with the customers. The
responsibilities of the distribution department is to deliver products and to maintain a good
relationship with dealers, follow up existing subscribers and building relationship with new ones.

Sales and Distribution Division

Main Responsibilities of Sales and Distribution Division
Execute Retail Channel Strategy

 Select the best POS (Point of Sale) candidates for channels

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  Develop them according to strategy

Support Retail Channel Strategy

 Regular visits and consultancies

 Getting close to stay close
 Manage Product in-flow and out-flow

POS portfolio and stock optimization

 Report Field Information

 Monitor Progress of Grameenphone
 Observe competitors activities

 THE CHAIN OF COMMAND

Grameenphone Limited has a strong chain of command. Traditionally, in any organization
the Chair or CEO is at the highest level of management and the subordinates follow this
chain of command. The subordinates directly report to their immediate senior managers. As
the chain of command goes downward, the authority of making any decision gets diminished.
But, they do have some flexibility of taking decisions.

 THE SPAN OF CONTROL

As Grameenphone Limited makes up teams of 5-7 members, they follows a narrow span of
control where the managers supervise or manage not a huge number of employees under
them. They manage their employees in the most effective and efficient way.

 MIXTURE OF CENTRALIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION

Grameenphone takes decision in both centralized and decentralized methods. The strategic
decisions are taken by the top management; the functional managers have flexibility of
making choice of what works best for the company.

 FORMALIZATION
Grameenphone is a moderately formalized organization. They do have a well described job
description and some ethical rules and regulations. But, Grameenphone gives value to the
choice and decision of their employees.

MECHANISTIC MODEL
Grameenphone Limited follows its mechanistic model in managing the company. It is highly
specialized in dividing the jobs among their employees. Rigid departmentalization is followed

9
among the managers and subordinates. The employees follow the standard way of formalization.
The employees have little discretion in what they want to do.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
Grameenphone believes in the strength of productive employees for a successful business. For
keeping their employees productive, Grameenphone has given them the best work environment.
The company created an excellent working environment with all modern facilities, great interior,
cafeteria, small cafes like TABAQ, digital conference rooms, prayer hall, gymnasium, kitchens,
game zones, ATM booths, cobbler corners etc. Grameenphone also has one of the largest parking
spaces. The employees do not need to work on papers here, all the works are paperless and
digitalized. The Head Office, GP HOUSE is one of the most beautiful office architectural work
in Dhaka equipped with all the facilities mentioned above. The regional offices also have most of
the facilities.

CULTURE

Innovative Culture
Grameenphone Limited has an innovative culture. They believe the best result comes out when
ideas are shared. Grameenphone lets their employees take risk and trusts them with it. They have
a certain level of freedom to adjust their work according to situations. Grameenphone has a very
strong culture. They have their own stories, rituals, material symbols and jargons. The colors
Blue and White are their symbolic identity. They had their own logo which was changed into the
logo of Telenor afterward. Previously their tag line was "কাছে থাকু ন" now it is "চলো বহুদূর". Some
of the traditional celebrations of Grameenphone are briefly discussed below

 GP Night
All the employees of Grameenphone from all around Bangladesh gather together and have a
grand dinner. A concert is also arranged by both internal and external artists.

 GP Birthday 
Grameenphone's Birthday is celebrated on the 26th of March at the Head Office. There is an
interdivisional competition of drama, music, dance who are judged by randomly selected
judges from the audience. 

 Grameenphone Premier League

Grameenphone arranges a cricket tournament where they have teams, team owners,
supporters from every division. 

 Indoors Games Tournament

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 This tournament is held at the Head Office and regions. It is a competitive game arrangement
among employees based on Table Tennis, Pool, Chess, and International Bridge.

 Family Day/ Parents Day 

A day long program arranged for the family members and parents of the employees. It is also
held at the Head Office and regional.

 Long Service Award

This program is organized annually for every employee who has served Grameenphone
Limited for 10 years. They get recognition in front of their family and everyone else at the
gala night. They receive special gifts and crests for their loyalty and dedication.

 Others Programs
Grameenphone also celebrates GPStage, GP Lounge/ Music, Pohela Falgun,
International Women's Day, Pohela Baishak, New Year, Green Click, Victory Day and Eid
Fair as traditions. Other Business Engagement Events are 4Q Awards, Blue Wave, Learning
Week etc.

MOTIVATING THE EMPLOYEES

Grameenphone ensures the optimized roles of every employee by providing them with proper
resources, training, organized work structure and information. They pay their employees well, as
money is one of the biggest motivations.  Grameenphone has one of the most beautiful office
ambiances in Dhaka which attracts a lot of people to work there. Grameenphone gives their
employee the safety in terms of health, future improvement etc. The employees are motivated as
Grameenphone gives them targets to fulfill every now and then and they are awarded with the
title of Best Employee of the year, Best employee of the department when they can meet their
targets. Grameenphone sponsors foreign trips for the best employee to appreciate their hard work
and to keep them motivated. They are provided with benefits like vacation leave, discount
vouchers, insurance benefits and other bonuses. Besides all these, Grameenphone employees are
sent on training and learning sessions to improve the performances of the employees who are
falling behind.

STEPS TOWARD GREEN

Grameenphone is committed to its long term sustainability and in safeguarding the environment.
To maintain its sustainability, Grameenphone has taken number of initiatives to reduce its carbon
footprints. They are using solar energy more to
lessen the environmental pollution. Some of their
green initiatives are

11
  Hybrid BTS
In 2018, Grameenphone has introduced hybrid sites. These provide a total saving of 280,000
liters of fuel. This amount of fuel can reduce an annual count of 378 tons of Carbon di-oxide 

 E-Waste Recycling
Grameenphone has recycling partners. They have recycled more than 467 tons of e-waste till
2018.

 Battery Reuse And Recycling

An internal key performance indicator of Grameenphone is a recycling and reuse of fully
used lead batteries. So far Grameenphone has reduced 24,000 old batteries.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)

As the leading telecommunication company in Bangladesh, Grameenphone has its own
Corporate Social Responsibilities and has earned awards for "Innovation in Corporate Social
Responsibility Practices". It goes from social obligation to responsiveness to responsibility.

 Social Obligation
Grameenphone grants a female employee her maternity leave. The female employees get the
leave as well as their fair wages.

 Social Responsiveness
Grameenphone is engaged in social actions in response to some popular social needs, like
paternal leave. The male employees are granted paternity leaves for 15 days. This leave can
be managed as per the needs. Also the maternity leave is of 9 months, whereas the law it is 6
months as per law.

 Social Responsibility
Grameenphone extends its Business beyond its legal and economic obligations. They have
worked to reduce inequalities, partnered to promote safer digital participation and has created
access to quality education. They have also supported the victims during tha cold wave of
January 2018 and during some other natural disasters. 

MANAGEMENT ISSUES
 Pin Block

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 When customers attempt with a wrong PIN code without actually looking into
the correct PIN code from the SIM card documents provided, the PIN gets blocked. There are
times Grameenphone didn't fix this immediately.

 Not Receiving Payment Confirmation

After payment, customers get a SMS that notify them about the confirmation of the payment.
Sometimes after clearing their payment, they don’t get any SMS. They have to call
MobiCash helpline for queries and MobiCash group attempt to settle this issue as soon as
possible.

 Pin Code Bug

Sometimes customers call and tell that they have given the correct PIN yet Pin didn't work.

 Unavailability of Mobicash Agents

Customers have complains that as MobiCash is not very user friendly, at times they face
problems. Regarding their bills they need assistance of the agents. Sometimes, they cannot
find any agent handling MobiCash issues.

 Bill pay Error Correction

Suppose Customer paid the bill. However, system is demonstrating bill as ‘not paid’. At this
point agents call for the system data to be updated for the benefit of the customers.

 Balance Gap
This issue emerges when customer paid 700 taka as WASA Bill. However system is showing
that 720 taka has been paid. Here is a payment gap of 20 taka.

 Bill pay System Bug

When bills are paid, at that time customers are supposed to receive a bill pay number once.
Customers complained that they kept on receiving SMS related to the bill payment. They had
to call Grameenphone to tell them to stop sending it.

SOLUTIONS
 Grameenphone ordered the support department to work properly with the goal of the
system issues being solved more effectively. It may be fixed by checking the
performance of the operators and retailers and by taking remedial steps when their
performances are not up to the standard.

 Grameenphone chose experienced technical support and gave them proper training to

take care of the system issue effectively and in the most efficient way.

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  The partner banks were worried about the issue. Their restorative and right decision
helped them to tackle the issue.

 Grameenphone screened their month to month performance in which the issues were
raised. Payment up gradations were made week by week.

 Grameenphone took steps to improve their network services by decreasing the

technological obstacles.

 Grameenphone improved the internal communication between the advertising and

operation division, so that they were not overpromising. They tackled the issues and
brought the most extreme result with adequate outcomes.

MORE ISSUES
The Consumer Behavior of Rural Market
Different customers hold their own set of beliefs and principles that are significantly established
in their local societies. So what might work appropriately for one customer, may not work at all
for another. It might even not work for the individuals who are living in the same geographical
zone with distinct ethnic, religious and financial level. When planning a commercial, it is a must
for all advertisers to understand the mindset of the target market. Among the significant contrasts
between urban and rural customers, one basic distinction is, urban purchaser is eccentric; they
buy from their own will. On the other hand, rural people love to take other's opinion. Hence their
decision needs the approval of the society.

Further, the degree of proficiency is a major separation. While urban crowds can choose to buy a
package, the same may not occur in case of rural customers. The rural consumers can be
separated into three classifications. Initially, the informed, middle income, media-savvy
classification, with high yearnings and impressive obtaining power, who are from various
perspectives equivalent to the urban population. Second, the population of the rural youth who
have completed their higher secondary level degree of education, have some introduction with
the  urban way of living, since they have visited to the urban zones, have access to present day
conveniences, for example, TV, cell phone, engine cycle, etc. Third, the illiterate, poor and those
who have no introduction with broad communications. As, a result Grameenphone has to face a
lot of challenges when handling the rural customers. They have to keep all of these in mind.

The Tax Issue

The telecommunication industry in Bangladesh falls on the front line of discussion. One of the
significant threats to the business is the burden of Tax on SIM cards and the duty on handsets
used. After mobile has captured the urban inhabitants, the next step is a walk into the village

14
areas. The Telecom Operators feel that the SIM Tax is the central reason for them to stay in the
red. They think this is blocking them from gaining control over the rural buyers.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Cell phones that were the luxury commodity of the mid 1990s, presently has changed into a need
over the range of only multi decade. The rural poor, who are for the most part farmers or landless
workers, should be mobilized and co-facilitated to increase their wage and consumption levels.
Policies that guarantee the entrance of these poor to the recently shaped organization connections
should be started. Further, they must start to incorporate rural economy and open organization
arrangements in its plan. The nation has the probability to procure more penetration rate in this
industry in the following five years. A high pace of tax collection on the telecom business is
stripping the advancement without a doubt. Hence, Grameenphone Limited expects that the
subscriber base will arrive at near one hundred million from existing 72.6 million inside that time
frame just if the SIM tax is waived.

CORPORATE STRATEGY
Grameenphone invested in digitalization to bring minds and ideas together.  They believe in
growing but, growing responsibly. While continuously growing, Grameenphone is empowering
Bangladesh. Grameenphone has 4 Strategic Pillars.
 Growth
 Efficiency and Simplification
 Responsible Business
 Winning Team

Growth
Grameenphone follows Horizontal Integration
Strategy. They have increased their production
and services throughout Bangladesh.
Grameenphone now has 013 mobile numbers
scheme along with 017 schemes. They also have
focused on establishing new service points and
customer care points. Grameenphone currently is
focusing on developing their internet
connectivity and 4G networks. They have plans
of launching 5G services in Bangladesh on 2020.
Grameenphone have increased their focus on
delivering digital services to a larger group of their subscriber.

 Market Penetration

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 Grameenphone has been offering different packages and plans according to their
customer preferences. They now offer more price sensitive packages like, Shohoj,
Bondhu and Apon. They also came up with holiday offers and Eid bonus packs.
Grameenphone is always setting up new customer care centers around Bangaldesh.

 Product Development
Though the main Business of Grameenphone is providing Mobile Network Connection,
they have looked into product development as well. Grameenphone has recently launched
co-branded handsets with Maximus. Their introductions of GP Modem, 4G Router are
forms of product development. Other products are their fitness wrist band Day Day Band
and SEEMO smart security; they now sell tabs and mobile phones through their online
website. 

 Service Development
Grameenphone has also focused on development of services. They now offer services
like Mobile Network Portability, Transfer of SIM Ownership and SIM Replacement.
Other Digital Service includes MyGP, FlexiPlan, GP Online Shop, and E-Retail. They
have introduced Entertainment Applications like Bioscope, GP Music, EasyNet, Opera
Gamebox and Mobile banking service GPAY. Grameenphone has developed digital
services for Agricultural help as well. GP Krishisheba, Smart Farm are the examples.
Tonic is a Health Service related Application.

Efficiency and Simplification

Grameenphone focuses on using their resources in the most efficient way. They focus on
simplification by enhancing their digital services and by giving a better customer service.
Grameenphone pursues process simplification and optimized their network and IT assets to
create value for their shareholders.

Responsible Business
Grameenphone wants to continue their contribution towards social development of Bangladesh
by reducing inequalities. They have partnered to Promote Safer Digital Participation and Create
Access to Quality Education. Grameenphone has supported a Book Reading Program and
numerous distressed people by working with large number of children and parents. They are also
contributing to the economy and environmental sectors. Their green initiative includes E-waste
Recycling, Battery Reuse & Recycling and Hybrid BTS. 

Winning Team
Grameenphone believes their employees are their key towards success. They have provided them
with a dynamic workplace which encourages them to learn and grow as a team member as well
as an individual every day. For this an innovative culture has grown inside Grameenphone.
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BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP'S MATRIX (BCG MATRIX)
BCG Matrix measures the Market Growth and relative market share of a business. According to
this tool, Grameenphone was in the Stars and slowly moving toward the Cash Cow. 

According to the annual report 2018 published by Grameenphone from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal

year 2018, the annual revenues of Grameenphone has increased. Their number of subscribers in
2013 was 4,71,10,000 and it kept on growing annually and reached to 7,27,32,000 in 2017 and
according to BTRC it is now 7,60,67,000 on the end of October 2019. The profit after tax has
grown from BDT 14.702 million to BDT 35.160 million in 5 years. Though there is an increase
in revenue, the market share has increased from 2013 to 2014 and decreased from 2014 to 2015
then again increased in 2016 up-to 46.1%. It again fell in 2017 and rose in 2018 up to 46.3%. So,
we can understand the market share of Grameenphone is not really growing. The market growth
is higher than the growth in market share.

COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
Grameenphone's competitive advantages give them an edge. Their main competitive advantages
are their Network Coverage and their Service. They have chosen the most appropriate

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competitive strategy that matches their competitive strength. Grameenphone follows
differentiation strategy.

 Differentiation Strategy
Grameenphone offers their customer unique product and services. The customers widely
value these offerings. Grameenphone came up with unique products and services like
different entertainment applications. They have digital services like GPmusic, Bioscope, GP
online shop, Tonic, FlexiPlan, MyGP App, Easynet, smart security device, agricultural
solution, fitness band, modem, router, startup programs, GP Star. Grameenphone also hold
the pride of having the largest coverage of 99.5% of the Bangladeshi population, of which
95.2% is under 3G network coverage. They try to hold a place on their customers' heart by
providing them with something out of the box.

COMPETIVE ANALYSIS

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

 Threat of New Entrants
Grameenphone Limited has established itself as the leading telecommunication company
in the country. As starting a business in the telecommunication industry requires a large
capital, legal licenses and certification from the government, it is not an easy task for the
new telecom entrepreneurs to build a new telecom company from scratch. Besides, the
existing companies have already built trust and customer loyalty. That is why it is not an
easy market to penetrate. So, threat of new entrants is fairly low for Grameenphone.

 Threat of Substitutes
Every business is constantly under the threat of its substitutes. Customers tend to move
on towards the company that serves their best interests. As Grameenphone provides with
the best network and customer service, they charge more compared to their competitors.
The customers of a country like Bangladesh lean towards saving money rather than a
better service. Hence, the threat of substitutes is high for Grameenphone.

 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Grameenphone Limited has built a good relationship with their suppliers. They buy
bandwidth from the government, SIM cards from Singapore. They also have some
providers for their transports, interior works and office lunch. The private suppliers bid
and take the contract for supplies. The industry has a large number of suppliers, for this
reason Grameenphone has the flexibility to choose among them. Therefore, the
bargaining power of their suppliers is reasonably low.

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  Bargaining Power of Customers
The users of Grameenphone cannot directly bargain with them, but there are a few
indirect ways to do so. They can complain to their local retailers, customer care centers
and Facebook fan page. Grameenphone Limited provides a toll free Customer Service for
complaint by calling 158 and an email address insta.service@grameenphone.com.
Grameenphone can take notes about their customers’ complaints about price, service and
can take actions accordingly.

 Competitive Rivalry within an Industry

Grameenphone Limited is currently the market leader of the telecommunication industry
in Bangladesh. It has 76.067 millions of subscribers at the end of October, 2019
according to BTRC. Robi Axiata Limited is their closest competitor with 48.349 millions
of subscribers followed by Banglalink Digital Communications Limited and Teletalk
Bangladesh Limited. These operators compete with Grameenphone’s competitive
advantage, their network, with their low pricing for call rates and internet services.

OTHER STRATEGIES
 E-Business Strategy
Grameenphone follows E-Business strategy along with all other strategies. They have
launched an online shopping website Shoparu, https://shoparu.com/  where customers
can shop from anywhere in Bangladesh. Grameenphone also sells some products and
devices in their own online website. They offer mobile phones and tablets at cheaper
price on some special holidays.

 Customer Service Strategy

Grameenphone's focus on Customer service and customer satisfaction has helped them to
build a loyal customer base. The employees and retailers go through training to fulfill
customer needs. On these training they get to learn about customer satisfaction and its
importance. They learn how to keep their buyers happy and content with what they have
to offer as a brand. Grameenphone has options open for taking feedback from their
customers. They encourage their employees to bring in new customer by providing them
with excellent service and make sure they follow up with the older customers. This helps
Grameenphone to keep their customer turnover low.
From the result of a Survey we have done in Dhaka, 84.3% people responded positively
to the question ‘Are you satisfied with Grameenphone’s Customer Service?’ 15.7% were
not satisfied with the service.

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  Innovative Strategy
Grameenphone has an innovation culture. They have always encouraged idea generation
thus, they can come up with new services and products every year. Grameenphone has
offered unique services and products to their customer since they started operating. They
follow innovative strategy and look for new ideas and decide where should there next
innovation effort be on and work accordingly. They have done both product and process
development.

SITUATION ANALYSIS OF GRAMEENPHONE

Internal Situation Analysis
Grameenphone’s Job Cut Movement
At November, 2018 so many permanent workers had lost their job as Grameenphone Limited
had to move towards a third party to manage its network. They had implemented a new project
named CDC (common delivery center) just like its parent company Telenor did. Telenor
implemented the same project to its ventures in Malaysia and Myanmar. As a result, huge
numbers of employees lost their jobs. So it was a great fear among the Grameenphone employees
that if CDC project had implemented in Bangladesh only a few employees will be required for
the project and more than 600 people will lose their jobs. Under CDC project Grameenphone
Limited was supposed to transfer around 600 employees to another vendor company for only one
year contract period. After finishing the contract all the employees will lead to joblessness as the
vendor company will not renew the contract anymore.
But Grameenphone said that to remain sustainable in a competitive market they need to adopt
new operating models by using new technologies to satisfy customer demand. So for this they
had to restructure the organization operating function by conducting layoff. They had to choose
the most suitable person for the limited deserving post among existing employees. As a
responsible employer they had to take so many steps that were beyond their basic legal
requirements. They supported the employees who had to leave their job by offering 12 to 20
gross salaries depending on how many years they had worked for Grameenphone Limited. Also
other special facilities were provided to them who could not match the requirement of gratuity
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and provident fund. In addition, Grameenphone also have helped them by not repaying their dues
regarding mobile phone, laptop, and loan for education. So for the CDC project they had to
minimize employees as they had limited post.
This decision of Grameenphone was not accepted by the employees who were working for a
longer period of time. So employees protested in front of Grameenphone office as they could not
accept this unethical decision and also asked for help for Government intervention over this
unethical act of Grameenphone Limited. The employees understood that, whatever
Grameenphone was doing was ensuring the higher profitability but it was also highly unethical.
Employees protested to show their objections to the unethical behaviors. But at last
Grameenphone did not change the decision. They had to implement the project for company’s
welfare and for this they had to conduct layoff which leads to loss of job of around 300
employees. To maximize profit Grameenphone had to reduce workforce.

External Situation Analysis

Conflict with BTRC for Unpaid Dues
Grameenphone Limited recently had a conflict with BTRC regarding payment of telecom
regulators dues. BTRC claimed that they have found through audit that Grameenphone had about
12,579.95 crores in dues. BTRC gave a notice to Grameenphone to pay the dues within 30 days
otherwise they will cancel the license of Grameenphone Limited. Then Grameenphone files two
cases with Dhaka court by seeking permanent resolution that BTRC audit claimed.
Grameenphone said that they always have been paid dues to government with proper
justifications. Then finance minister along with telecommunication minister, chairmen of
national board of revenue intervened in this issue to solve this problem within 3 weeks through
discussion and will maintain a good relationship with the telecommunication industry. Supreme
Court directed Grameenphone Limited to pay 2000 core within 3 months. Grameenphone agreed
to pay BTRC a sum of 2000 crores against the claim of 12580 crores.

Grameenphone 4G services:
Grameenphone at first launched their 4G services at Dhaka and Chittagong in 19 th February,
2018. Also at that time they were planning to cover all district headquarters within next 6
months. Later within a week they were capable of launched 4G at Rajshahi district. They were
planning to expand their network in other districts as well but they were facing challenges to do
that. It was getting difficult to develop this sector for technical issues and high cost structure but
still they are working on it. In addition, customers are not willing to pay high cost rate. To get an
advanced technology and an extra services customer need to pay extra but most of the customers
are not willing to do this. Because of facing these issues Grameenphone is still working on their
4G network service to expand it around the county and to fulfill customer satisfaction.

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PESTLE ANALYSIS
Grameenphone Limited is the biggest mobile communication operator in Bangladesh. It is an
expansion of Telenor Mobile correspondence in Bangladesh. Grameenphone is accessible to
customers in both rural and urban territories. Leading a PESTLE analysis, we will discover how
these distinctive outer powers can influence Grameenphone in Bangladesh.

Political Factors
Grameenphone’s business is immensely affected by the governmental operations. Example can
be the political issues during the 2015 and how it affected all the businesses being operated in
Bangladesh. Grameenphone Limited faced a reduction in sales at that time. Apart from that,
Grameenphone also has to follow the policies regarding Taxes. Also, they have to follow the
rules and regulations initiated by the government. These things altogether have negative impact
on their businesses.

Economic Factors
The political crisis in Bangladesh leads to a weaker economic condition. This weak and
constantly fluctuating economy leads to reduced sales and revenues for Grameenphone Limited.
As, when people do not have buying power, Grameenphone’s demand reduces. Moreover,
inflation creates barriers for Grameenphone to operate flexibly.

Social Factors
Grameenphone’s target market consists of a lot of diversity, as it consists of both the rural and
urban population. Also, their service is consisted of diverse types of services. To be more
precise, Grameenphone is unable to expand their internet services in the rural areas of
Bangladesh. One reason behind this factor is that the people over there are not aware and
educated enough to enjoy such services. In those areas, Grameenphone has higher revenue in
terms of voice data but not internet usage. However, in the urban areas Grameenphone earns
greater revenue from internet services, due to its higher demand in urban areas.

Technological Factors
The mobile services are based on the technological concepts. It is extremely important for
Grameenphone to operate using the latest of technologies. As, technological trends are constantly
changing worldwide due to social media and other media platforms, investing in technology
increases the profit margin of Grameenphone. It also provides a competitive advantage to them.

Environmental Factors
All the industries currently running their operations in Bangladesh has to keep in mind about not
harming the environment. Grameenphone is also not any different; they also maintain the rules
and regulations about not harming the environment. They do this by ensuring their services in

22
specific zones. They ensure that they do not cut any trees or utilize anything that might harm the
environment. All these things together help to ensure a positive company reputation and helps in
maintaining good customer base, which helps to add value to the business in return.

Legal Factors
Bangladesh government has their own set of regulations and rules to operate business.
Grameenphone Limited is bound to follow these rules. For instance, they have to include
monetary, employment, copyright, and trade policies and other territory regulations. Following
these regulations and rules ensures smooth operations for the company. It ensures no
governmental interventions.

SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
Grameenphone Limited has continuously
been the leading telecommunication
company in Bangladesh. They have been
holding onto this position by providing the
best network and outstanding distribution
channel. When Grameenphone launches a
new service, it reaches even to the rural area
overnight. They have a well structured
management and loyal proficient employees
to top it off. The pie chart shows the result of our survey on Quality of Grameenphone’s
Network.

 Market Leader  Skilled Human Resource

 Brand Value  Low Employee Turnover
 Fastest Distribution Channel  Great Management Structure
 Largest Network Coverage  Excellent Customer Service
 Largest International Roaming Service

Weaknesses
Grameenphone Limited provides their customers with premium service. This premium quality of
service adds up with their cost which results in their high call rates and pricey internet service.
Customers are not willing to pay this extra price, so they are switching to other operators
providing standard service for a lower price. Grameenphone has a multicultural work
environment. So, the employees have different attitudes toward hierarchy and authority.

 Multicultural Work Environment

 High Price
 Increasing Customer Turnover

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  Departments Working Separately

The pie chart shows the result of our survey on Grameenphone’s Call Rate Expense.

Opportunities
Grameenphone Limited has a huge opportunity to grow due to the economic growth of
Bangladesh. It is a country with 39.73% of young population and is going through a rapid
digitalization which provides a scope of growth for Grameenphone. Also, with the expansion of
roaming coverage, Grameenphone has the chance of increasing its cross border communication.

 Economic Growth of Bangladesh  Declining Price of Mobile Phone

 Population Growth  Rapid Digitalization
 Operating in a Young Country  Cross Border Communication
 Increasing Requirement of Telecom
Services

Threats
Bangladesh government has introduced
mobile number portability service in
2018, which enables a Grameenphone
subscriber to switch to any other
operator without changing the contact
number. This is a huge threat for
Grameenphone. Besides, Bangladesh is
prone to natural disasters which can
affect the network system of
Grameenphone Limited. The consisting generation gap in this country has created a
misconception about internet which resists Grameenphone from the opportunity of expanding
their data connection services. The pie chart shows the result of network service used by

24
Grameenphone Subscribers. As Bangladesh is not a very technologically learned country, still
now most people are using 3G network service.

 Strict Government Regulations  Misconception about Internet

 Natural Disasters  Switching Behavior of Customers
 Devaluation of Currency  Price War
 BTTB has Limited Capacity for  Mobile Number Portability

CONCLUSION
Overcoming all the challenges, Grameenphone has earned its position as the market leader of the
telecom industry of Bangladesh. Starting from scratch now they have the biggest share of
subscribers. Grameenphone’s extraordinary network and services are the key elements by which
they buy their customer’s loyalty. Although earning this loyalty was a tough challenge,
preserving it is difficult on a new extent. Besides of them contributing to the economy of this
country, they carry out their fair share of social services as well. When Grameenphone came into
being it aspired to provide telecom service even to the rural areas. 22 years later, they have
accomplished their goals and as their tag line says ‘GO BEYOND’, they have GONE BEYOND.

QUESTIONNAIRES
 What is the key factor that keeps Grameenphone’s employees together?
 Do you think your company is more affected by the internal or the external factors?
 How do employees communicate with the higher level managers?
 Why 4G is still not available throughout the country?
 About the recent problem Grameenphone is facing with BTRC, what is your say on this
issue?
 Last year so many employees lost their job. Why is that and how did you people handle
the situation?
 Who are your suppliers and how does a supplier take an order?
 Is there an area where you need to improve immediately?
 Where can Grameenphone grow in the current and future market?

REFERENCES
Survey Link: https://forms.gle/uHsrfkSKcpJoBFv29

 https://www.telenor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Annual-Report-2018-Q-
f620116b2df031374baf3747e3e5644a-1.pdf

25
 https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/grameenphone/timeline/timeline
 https://www.grameenphone.com/about/discover-gp/about-grameenphone/our-brand
 https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/job-cut-fear-grips-gp-employees-1655953
 https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2019/09/18/govt-softens-stance-on-gp-robi
 http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/mobile-phone-subscribers-bangladesh-october-2019
 http://www.worldscientificnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/WSN-34-2016-74-
85.pdf
 https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/btrc-audit-claim-sc-asks-gp-pay-tk-2000cr-
1831585
 https://www.grameenphone.com/about/media-center/press-release/gp-refutes-allegation-
downsizing
 http://www.newagebd.net/article/57071/gp-staff-seek-regulatory-intervention-amid-
massive-job-cut-move
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Our
%20Culture_0.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Our
%20Strategy_0.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Clim
ate%20Change%20-%20Moving%20Towards%20Green.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Corp
orate%20Information_2.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/How
%20We%20Create%20Value.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Orga
nisational%20Structure.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Man
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on-Mission-and-Values.pdf
 https://cdn01.grameenphone.com/sites/default/files/investor_relations/annual_report/Sust
ainability%20and%20Partnership%20to%20Reduce%20Inequalities.pdf