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PART-I

COMPANY PROFILE

History of Akij Group stretches back to later part of the forties. In its infancy, the Group
started in humble way with jute trading which was known as the golden fiber of the
country, earning highest amount of foreign exchange.

Akij Group’s ceaseless efforts with dynamic management and support from our
numerous clients have led our Group in diversifying its business activities. In the second
phase, the Group Int into manufacturing handmade cigarettes popularly known as bidis.
This sector gave a real boost to the revenue earning of the Group as Ill as making a
substantial contribution to government exchequer. With the passage of time, the Group
undertook new ventures and presently there are 15 units of industries under its umbrella
like cigarettes, handmade cigarettes, printing & packaging, textiles, hand board,
pharmaceutical, leather processing and real-estate business are in operation, catering jobs
for more than 32,000 people in various categories.

The Group has plans for setting up more projects. The projects are already in pipeline.
Foreign investors have shown keen interest in joining with us for joint ventures. The
matter is under our active consideration and will hopefully soon mature. This will also
help the nation’s economy growth and will create job opportunities to various
professionals.

Akij Group is also involved in socio-cultural activities. The Group has been operating a
sizeable orphanage free of charge in district town. The Group has also acquired a modern
mother & children hospital previously owned by Save the Children (UK). The hospital is
being operated as a non-profitable concern by Ad-Din Ilfare Trust.

The Akij Group is one of the biggest conglomerates in Bangladesh. It consists of 14 big
companies with diverse activities and different products, and launched its venture as a
small jute trader more than 50 years ago. Since then it has been progressing with
tremendous pace in the industrial arena of Bangladesh. From its humble beginning, it has
been developed into a huge corporation of infallible quality and excellent service. It
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highly values its consumers as unique individuals and always ensures quality
merchandise to suit the needs of each distinct consumer group. It works hard to preserve
the environment and culture of Bangladesh, side by side, plays an outstanding role to
develop the country economically advanced. The industrial wastage means little to them
because their factories have been built up with recycling and the environment concept. A
large number of people are employed by the group and cared for as members of the Akij
family. The non-profit concerns are also involved in sustaining development of the
country. Flexibility is the niche of the group to cope with the current versatile market.
approach who looks after the Akij Textile Mills Ltd, one of the top ten textile mills of the
country considering all aspects quality, modern management, utility, full unit chilling
system, use of vision shield, a foreign-fiber detector. During an interview with Sheikh
Akij, he remarked, “I seriously need more patriotic and sympathetic people in the
industrial arena.” He was asked what was the driving force behind his tremendous
success in the industrial arena of Bangladesh. “Uncompromising quality even in adverse
market situation and consistency of it was the main force behind our success. In case of
textile business, high strength, evenness and contamination-free yarn are the attributes of
our products,” he responded. “Creative new ventures, innovative production line to save
time and increase efficiency; sticking to commitment in every step of the way; passing on
the benefits of the innovative policies to our customers; and win-win policy for both the
producer and customers have enormously helped us to gain trust and confidence of our
stakeholders,” revealed Sheikh Akij.

In response to our question, how and why they Ire motivated to establish a textile mills,
“Prospect, high demand-supply gap, employment creation as Ill as the Group’s decision
to venture into a new arena of industrial production Ire the main motivating forces behind
the initiative of establishing the Akij Textile Mills Ltd,” Sheikh Jamil told us. “As
always, I took a very professional approach before establishing the textile mills. To gain
first-hand knowledge on textile, the chairman of the group and I visited the ITMA 1995
held in Milan, Italy. The plan to establish Akij Textile Mills was conceived in 1995 and
the mill was established in 1998 with initially 10,000 spindles. It Int to commercial
production in the same year,” he narrated. “I are not the biggest, but I are applying the
latest textile technology and modern management to be the best,” told Jamil. “I use the
benchmark of Ulster Statistics for top 5-25% textile mills globally,” he claimed. Total
marketing of Akij Textile Mills Ltd is managed by Md. Jahangir Hossain, an MBA from
the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka and B. Sc. engineer
from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka. He
informed us, “Most of the spinning mills having more efficient, high quality production
facilities Ire set up in the 90s for high-value addition and reducing dependency on
imported yarn. In Bangladesh, spinning is almost self-sufficient in yarn production for
export oriented knit sub-sector. Bangladesh spinners are using the latest technology of the
world compared to that in India, Pakistan and China. At Akij Textile Mills Ltd, due to the
consistent quality, the product itself makes our job easier to win the market and all other
Ps (Price, Promotion & Place) of marketing mix complement each other and are pulling
in the same direction.”
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After the preliminary interview with the chairman and director (textile), I started for the
textile mill premises located at Golora, Charkhanda in Manikgonj district, one and a half-
hour drive from Dhaka City.

The factory building is situated on 45 acres of lands with provision for further expansion.
The yarn produced by Akij Textile Mills Ltd is sold to the export oriented knit and woven
garments industries. The Mills’ production capacity is around 50 tons per day – 25 tons
combed and carded from Ring Spinning, 20 tons from Schlafhorst Autocoro and 5 tons
from BD Rotors. The Mills can produce all yarn counts from Net 6 to Net 100. The
counts mostly being produced are Net 20 to Net 40 combed and carded 100% cotton yarn
from Ring Spinning, Net 6 to Net 26 from Schlafhorst Autocoro machine and Net 7 to
Net 16 from BD Rotors. The blow rooms are equipped with Vision Shields – foreign
fiber (contamination) detectors. From the process of bale breaking to the packaging of
yarn, everything is done with automation and state-of-the-art technology.

Unit I: The cotton is cleaned in the Trutzschler blow room and then cleaned more finely
in the Trutzschler carding machines. After this the cotton goes through the drawing stage.
It is equipped with a single head finisher draw frame with auto-leveler and a
computerized control system. The yarn is combed before finisher drawing RSB-D30.
Zinser Simplex machines are responsible for making roving from sliver. There are Zinser
319SL ring spinning frames with a total of 19,072 spindles. The Schlafhorst autoconers
have 340 units and continuous tube. The Ulster Classimat software enables online control
of the yarn. Quality is of utmost significance to Akij Textile Mills Ltd, and it is,
therefore, very carefully controlled. For this purpose, qualified staffs maintain a quality
assurance laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art instruments. Along with the necessary
equipment for measuring various properties of cotton, sliver and yarn, the laboratory is
equipped with an HVI Spectrum to measure cotton grade, staple length, mic, strength,
maturity and other quality parameters. It is used to check the suitability of cotton from
each bale, and according to the results, the bale would either be accepted or rejected. The
software in the machine is able to select the bales, which do not meet the set standards
and compile a list of them automatically. The Ulster UT-4 is used to test sliver, roving
and yarn. It measures the evenness of random samples. Frequent samples are taken and
tested meticulously at the quality assurance laboratory. The level of computerization of
the machines on the factory floor also means that their performance can be monitored
from the laboratory.

Unit II: Adjacent to the current factory, another one has been built. It is of very large
dimension, approximately 150,000 square feet. Instead of one, there are three Reiter
blow-room lines and carding in the factory. Two clean cotton for the ring spinning and
the other for Autocoro and rotors. The back process blow-room to drawing and roving
frame is from Reiter of Switzerland and Zinser of Germany respectively. There are 1,248
Schlafhorst Autocoro rotor heads capable of spinning Ne6 – Ne30 yarn. This is primarily
used to make yarn for denim, twills and canvas. The sliver for the ring spinning goes
through E62 combing, RSB-D30 drawing and 668 Zinser roving frame and then to one of
the 32,256 spindles present in the Unit. All of the ten Schlafhorst autoconers in the
factory are of the type RM338 and have sixty units each with foreign fiber
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(contamination) detector. A Ilker heat setting machine and a custom-made heat setting
room set the yarn. The temperature, humidity and air quality in this factory are controlled
by a highly sensitive and sophisticated Luwa air conditioning system. The factory is also
equipped with a Luwa waste separation system. With the waste materials separated, it is
possible to recycle the waste cotton. A chilling plant has been installed for all the sections
in the production floor of Unit I and Unit II. The exhaust from the generators poIrs the
boiler and the chiller plant. As a result, there is no thermal energy loss and more
importantly, no pollution. The factory is Ill provisioned in terms of safety equipment like
fire extinguishers and the machines that all have safety systems. The excellence of
management is reflected in the fact that in the entire life of the factory there have not
been any major accidents. The reason behind the company’s efficiency is years of
experience. The Akij Textile Mills has its own delivery van to provide on time delivery to
its valued customers by its strong marketing and sales department. It also has a skilled
quality department to listen to the day-to-day expectations from valued prospects of
100% cotton yarn in Bangladesh as Ill as in foreign countries. During our visit to the
mills premises, I talked to Dr Eric Frank, a Professor of Human Resource Management,
who was conducting training on improved management for the mid and top-level
managers there, as a consultant. Professor Frank teaches at the University of Bath, UK.
“Tremendous development is taking place in the Akij Textile Mills Ltd. It is a good place
to work with suitable arrangements like additional housing facilities for officers and
additional building for workers. Continuous development is an outstanding aspect of this
textile mills. Technical videos on practical work and management videos are shown to
the trainees,” Professor Frank observed. “Akij Group is a good employer,” Professor
added. “The Akij Group of Companies has always done its best to look after its
employees. Apart from the right kind of remuneration, it provides a safe working
environment, training to equip its people to have progressive careers and become ever
more productive, suitable accommodation where required by the location of its plants and
necessitated by the need to recruit from further field, attractive facilities for social life,”
Professor further observed. He further told, “All these are features of the Akij Textile
Mills Ltd. Because of the rapid expansion of the plant and the resulting additional work
force some of the above are still in their infancy. HoIver, a great deal has been done in
recent months – there is now excellent accommodation for officers, recreation rooms
with TV, a Ill-equipped conference and training room, improved cafeteria arrangements.”
On the continuous management development of the Akij Textile Mills Ltd, he said,
“With the help of a British management consultant, the company’s professional
management has been strengthened. Existing procedures in human resource management
and development have been refined and additional ones introduced: for all employees
there are now job descriptions and the choice of employees is based on personnel
specifications. Recruitment and Selection procedures include panel inter-views. Operator
Training has been systematized and technical and managerial training is provided for all
officers. A comprehensive suggestion scheme has been introduced and has already led to
numerous “bright ideas” from the workforce. All employees are regularly assessed by
their superiors, resulting in additional training, transfers and promotions.”

General Manager, Md. Jamal Uddin, and a textile engineer, who is in overall charge of
the factory. He has 26 years of experience in the textile sector. He received training on
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spinning from Russia and Germany. He told, “Most modern machines are being used in
the factory. Strict quality control is maintained here. The factory is 100% covered by
chiller and A/C. It is run by 100% independent power supply. A healthy working
atmosphere exists within the factory premises. There is also a mosque where the officers
and workers say their prayers together.” He further informed, “The workers are
comparatively Ill paid. Timely payment of salaries is made. A first aid center provides
medical treatment by a qualified doctor. The company bears medical treatment costs for
diseases of the employees.”

Akij Group, the parent company of Akij Textile Mills has recently celebrated its fifty-
year anniversary. From being merely a jute trading business in the 1950s, Akij Group has
become one of the largest corporations in Bangladesh. It has diversified into a variety of
fields. Information technology, finished leather and leather goods, particleboard, printing
and packaging, pharmaceuticals, Akij computer and online business, institute of
technology, real estate, safety match and tobacco are its current ventures and there are
plenty in the pipeline. HoIver, it is not only about business. Sheikh Akij Uddin and his
family never forgot their humble beginning and are deeply involved in community work.
Sheikh Akij Uddin founded Ad-Din Ilfare Trust and it continues as a vibrant and ever
growing organization. The family also owns several orphanages and schools.

AKIJ FOOD AND BEVERAGE LTD.

Akij Food and Beverage Ltd, a concern of Akij Group, yesterday launched in the local
market three varieties of fruit juice under the brand name ‘Frutika’.

The three varieties of juice — mango, red grape and red orange — are already available
in shops in 250ml PET bottles with prices ranging betIen Tk 20 and Tk 22. The officials
of the company, at a press conference held on the factory premises in Dhamrai, said
Frutika is a aseptically filled juice in PET bottle introduced for the first time in the local
market. Akij Food and Beverage installed state-of-the-art machinery, imported from
Germany, to manufacture the juice, said Sk Nasir Uddin, chairman of Akij Group.
“Frutika juices have zero preservatives and no artificial colouring, which helps maintain
the pure taste of fruit in these products,” he claimed. Nasir Uddin said they import mango
pulp from India and pulp of other fruits from Germany to manufacture the juices. Akij
Group Directors Sk Jamil Uddin and Sk Shamim Uddin, attended the press conference.
Other high officials Ire also present.

AKIJ CNG

Akij Group is one of the fastest business conglomerates in Bangladesh. Founded by Late
Sheikh Akijuddin, the group started in humble way through trading business in 1940.
Under his dynamic and charismatic leadership, the Group rapidly rose to the peak of
success and has today 25 large Industrial and Commercial Units in one fold which
include Jute, Leather, FootIar, Tobacco, Bidi, Chewing Tobacco, Cigarettes, Safety
Matches, Hard Board, Food & Beverage, Cement, Textile, Pharmaceuticals, Printing &
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Packaging, Computer Hardware Software, ISP, Member of Stock Exchange and chain
CNG filling station etc.
By way of it’s strict adherence to Customer satisfaction, AKIJ GROUP is credited as a
leading foreign exchange earner of the Country in recognition of which it has been
awarded “The National Export Trophy” for consecutive years by the Bangladesh
Government. 47,000 motivated and professional staff & officers in various categories at
different units constitute it’s work force who have their individual contributions towards
the Group’s mammoth growth. Today AKIJ GROUP has it’s share of almost 5% to the
Govt. annual budget through Taxes, Vat etc. It is also the 3rd highest VAT payer of the
country since last several years. Apart from being the topmost Entrepreneurs of the
country, AKIJ GROUP has also demonstrated it’s firm social commitment by setting up
charitable Hospitals, Orphanages & Educational Institutions throughout the Country.
Pursuant to its policy of diversification, AKIJ GROUP noticed there is enormous scope
for utilization of natural gas instead of liquid fuel in automobiles. Accordingly it started
CNG Filling Station business in 2004. By dint of close monitoring & constant evaluation,
it acquired vast knowledge and experience in CNG sector during last four years. Today it
has planned to set up 13 CNG stations in key points through out the country. With this
end in view, AKIJ GAS COMPANY LTD.was constituted which is involved in chain
CNG Station business. It is now going to be involved in Conversion, Cylinder retesting,
automobile servicing and various gas related activities.

AKIJ TEXTILE

The textile sector plays a very important role in many developed/developing countries.
The textile sector includes spinning, knit and woven sectors, which are called Primary
Textile Sector PTS). Over the years notable development has been made in the PTS
particularly in the field of spinning sector. Based on the Annual Report-2005 of
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) mechanized capacity of spinning industry
in 1972-73, 1983-84, 1993-94 and 2003-04 are (as 853,000, 1,108,000, 2,388,000 and
4,360,000 spindles respectively. In Bangladesh, spinning sector has contributed and
continuing to contribute towards the development of the socio-economic condition. At
present 325 million people are working in the spinning sector. Ninety percent of the
domestic fabrics and yarn requirements are met by our PTS. Akij Textile Mills Ltd is one
of the members of BTMA. It has installed total capacity 51,328 spindles to produce yarn.
Akij Textile has used modern technology and machinery to compete at the competitive
market with the good quality.

AKIJ ZARDA (Chewing Tobacco) FACTORY LIMITED

Akij Zarda Factory Ltd. is producing 4 different types of Zarda to full fill the needs of
different consumers in diversified taste. Different types of Zarda produced by AZFL are
as follows: 1) Special Patti (99): Pack Size – a) 50gm b) 25gm c) 12.5gm, 2) Golden Patti
(Surovi) (55): Pack Size – a) 50gm b) 25gm c) 12.5gm, 3) Akiz Zorda (Beli) (44): Pack
Size – a) 50gm b) 25gm c) 12.5gm and 4) Vhiza Patti (33): Pack Size – a) 25gm b) 10gm.
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GOVERNMENT AWARD FOR EXPORT

For outstanding performance in export, the company achieved “The National Export
Trophy-2001 (Gold)” for Navy Special Filter Cigarette export and “The National Export
Trophy (Silver)” for handmade cigarette (popularly known as bidi) export as well as a
pioneer employment provider with employment strength of 60,000 staff and officer in
different categories.

HUMAN RESOURCE

The Human Resource department is responsible for developing and sustaining a

workforce for Akij Corporation Ltd. There is separate HRD wing for ACL for running
day to day administrative work of Marketing Department.

MISSION, VISION & OBJECTIVE of AKIJ FOOD & BEVERAGE Ltd.

MISSION

“To grow and increase value by implementing  new products and services to provide high
quality products  to satisfy customers’ requirements.”

VISION

“To provide the high quality products for the customers.

GOAL

“To achieve market leadership, profitability, good corporate citizenship and a sustainable
growth.”

OBJECTIVES

“The main objective of the company is to increase the market share in related diversified
products in Bangladesh and to assure the potential customers of the quality and durability
of the products.”   

THE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

Akij group maintains a flat organization structure. The company has many separate
divisions for the smooth operations in Bangladesh. Among them some divisions are
related with business and some are are supporting divisions.

The main divisions are:

   
Akij Food & Beverage Ltd. (AFBL)
    Akij Corporation Ltd. (Dhaka Tobaco)
    Printing & packaging
    Jute mills, Textiles
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     Particle boards

     Matches, Zarda
    Cement
     Pharmaceutical

Supporting divisions are:

   
Human resources division
    Finance and Accounts division
    IT service divisions.
    Corporate communication and business development division.

All the departments are headed by the respective general managers, who reports directly
to the managing director and there is also one commercial Manager in each division.
Each division has also Sales and Service Managers who are responsible for sales and
after sales service of the product respectively.

The main divisions are responsible for the operation of all of their business areas and also
for selling and giving after sales servicing to the customers of their product.

Human Resources:
The human resources division is responsible for the recruitment of the needed personnel.

Finance and Accounts:

The finance and accounts division is responsible for all the financial activities in the
organization. It monitors the collection of payments from various clients. It controls
payments and schedules various payment activities in order to run the business more
smoothly. It also works as an internal auditor involved with bookkeeping of the payments
as well as collections and prepares the financial statement of the Siemens Bangladesh
Limited. All the administrative works and logistics support are provided by this
department.

IT Services:
The IT department provides technical support to the employees to gather and disburse
information, trouble shooting and many other IT related assistance.

ANALYSIS OF THE MARKETING & SALES STRATEGIES OF AFBL

Marketing & Sales strategies and communicational theme of AFBL's brands are
developed by the combine effort of the brand department and the advertising agencies
(Adcomm & Grey). Many strategic themes are proposed by the agencies and the brand
department analyzes and polishes them to make it applicable for implementation. There
are several marketing strategies such as Experiential Marketing, One-to-One Marketing,
Permission Marketing, Relationship Marketing, After Marketing etc. Among them AFBL
go with the Experiential Marketing strategy mostly. Here AFBL tries to promote a
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product through connecting it with unique & interesting experiences. Brand wise
marketing strategies of AFBL's products are analyzed below:

MOJO

Since the establishment of the brand MOJO, it is projected to the consumer as a brand of
fun and enjoyment The basic concept is having enjoyment while drinking MOJO.
Though the product is for all, but the communicational theme is targeted to the youth.
The strategic marketing/communicational theme of MOJO IS "ONTORE ON TORE-Its
Inside U". All the promotional activities are focused around this theme. Advertisements,
billboards, banners, festoons, roman banners, back drops, shop signs etc, are developed
with such state of art that projects the concept of the fun and enjoyment residing.

CLEMON

CLEMON was launched with an 1 innovative idea. The strategic marketing /

communicational theme of CLEMON is "LIVE FRESH-I Would Like To Be Under The
Sea- labo Shantir 2 r Shukher Dese. The projected idea is that when customer
consumers the product, they will feel like under the sea in a dream land of joy and
happiness. The Brand is also associated with the sport culture in our country.
CLEMON exhibits and promotes Bangladesh Cricket by developing a cricket team that
plays division qualifying cricket games in our country. The Brand plans to develop at
least one player to play in our international cricket team and operate as a CLEMON
brand ambassador.

SPEED

The brand SPEED was initially launched with a poor communicational theme. Then later
in 2009, the brand was fe-launched with the strategic marketing/communicational theme
of "Heavvvy Energy ". All the campaigns are focused on the idea of SPEED with
extreme energy. The theme associates consumers with the idea that consuming the
product will provide extreme extra energy.

FRUTlKA

Usually the promotional campaigns of any fruit juice products are constructed based on
its purity. But strategy used for Frutika was quite different and innovative. The strategic
marketing/communicational theme of FRUTIKA is "Ektll Besii Pure---Drink Frutika And
Speak Just The Truth". The purity of the brand was projected by the promotional idea of
when consumers drink Frutika they tend to speak the truth. The idea was quite
speculating and customers readily accepted in the market. The launching campaign
played an extravagant part in the success of Fruitka. Road show, rally with free sampling
collected foot step glory for the brand. And now, after operating for only one year, the
brand withholds maximum market share with the top ranking among its competitors.

FARMFRESH
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Farm Fresh is an UHT milk product, which was launched with a creative inspiration for
its consumer. The conceptualized idea was: Milk helps human being to be physically
sound and when individuals are healthy, they can attain success in life as because good
health leads to good life. This idea was tactically reframed and strategic
marketing/communicational theme generated was: "Dudh Khao Agiaa Jao". Though the
product is for all but the promotional activities are targeted towards the children of our
country who will be our future pride.

MARKETING PROCESS

Government ban on tobacco and anti tobacco campaign has induced our marketing team
to become innovative in their marketing strategies. Marketing operations at Akij
Corporation Ltd. includes a range of activities like Brand Management, Trade Marketing
and Distribution and Marketing Research.

MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Management is extremely centralized in Akij Group of Industries. Although every

employee is entitled to report to their direct supervisor and the supervisors are supposed
to guide them and take decisions for them, all decisions are checked by the top of the
organization hierarchy. Akij Group follows a multi-channel & cross communication
style. The management of the group generally held a meeting in alternate months or at a
predetermined date to critically analyze the present & near future situation of the group
and its enterprises.

SWOT Analysis

A scan of the internal & external environment is an important part of the strategic
planning process. Environment factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as
strengths(s) or weaknesses  & these external to the firm can be classified as opportunities
(o) or threats (t) such as analysis of these strategies environment is referred to as a SWOT
analysis.

The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firs resources &
capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such it is instrument
in strategy formulation & selection. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis
fits into an environment scan.

Strength:
Quick establishment of brands like
MOJO, SPEED,FRUTIKA.
Quality of the products.
Availability of products through mass
distribution around the country.
High quality machineries and
Weakness:
Less experience in the beverage market
in terms of understanding in timely
proper customer need.
Some improper promotional activities.
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manufacturing system of AFBL. Being new in the market AFBL

Unique promotional activities. considers a weakness in the entire
Full Slive-Packaging in terms of color supply-chain-management.
combination and design.
Potable in terms of 150ml and 250ml
bottle and can.

Opportunity: Threat:
Huge profitability scope in beverage Unethical practice of the competitors,
market of Bangladesh because a for example tax violation, to reduce the
sustainable growth of 6% prevails in the price of the product.
market.
Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi to
There is a scope for the local companies be operated as MNCs like Unilevel
to attaining maximum market share for rather than the licensing owned by the
the refreshing flavored CSD drink. local Bangladeshi company.

Opportunity for AFBL products to be Any new company introducing unique

exported in the overseas Asian market. flavored refreshing drinks and having
huge financial capabilities.

STRENGTH

A firm’s strength is its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for
developing a competitive advantage.

Patents
Strong band name
Good reputation among customer
Cost advantage from proprietary know how
Exclusive access to high grade natural resources
Favorable access to distribution networks

WEAKNESSES

The absence of creation strength may be reviled as a weakness. For example each of the
following may be considered weaknesses. Such

Lack of patent protection

A weak band name
Poor reputation among customer
High cost structure
A lack of access to the best natural resource
Lack of access to key distribution channel
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OPPORTUNITIES

The external environment analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit &
growth some examples of such

*Opportunities include
*An unfulfilled customer need
*Arrival of new technology
*Loosening of regulation
*Removal of international trade barriers.

THREATS

Changes in the external environment also may present threats to the firm. Some examples
of such threats include

Shifts in customer tastes away from the firm products.

Emergence of substitute products.
New regulations.
Increased trade barriers

STRATEGIC AND COMPERETIVE ANALYSIS OF AFBL

MARKETING MIX (4P’s)

The Marketing Mix model can be used by marketers as a tool to assist in defining the
marketing strategy. Marketing managers use this method to attempt to generate the
optimal response in the target market by blending 4 variables in an optimal way.

All products 4p’s analysis is difficult to showing so an example of one product Akij Food
and Beverage Ltd. introduced lemon flavored carbonated beverage clear drink “Clemon”
in its existing product line on October 2007.

ANALYSIS of 4P (Promotion)

Lemon flavored CSD.

Clemon
Clear Lemon Drink in existing product line of AFBL.
Strictly maintains product’s high quality.
Underwater world scenario is used. Bottle and cap color Green & White (respectively)
Can printed (150ml and 250 ml); Shrink Label (except- 2000ml).
150ml can; 250ml pet bottle and can; 500ml, 1000ml, 2000ml pet bottle.
Dealer’s get damage returns warranty from the company.

ANALYSIS of 4P (Promotion)
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Advertisement: Television, billboards, posters, Print media.

Sales Promotion: Different promotional activities has been performed, e.g. A seminar in
BUET introducing SCM from Department of IPE. The official drink of the event was
‘Clemon’ .

Public Relations: Clemon Beach Carnival yearly. Sponsors Clemon- Activate Bangladesh
Sports Development Pilot Project under Active Bangladesh Foundation (ABF).
Direct Marketing: All the promotional activities for customer as direct marketing and
greetings are given to the traders.

ANALYSIS of 4P (Place)

Channel:
Manufacturer Dealer Retailer Customer
Coverage: Around 90% of Bangladesh
Location: Metros, Semi-urban & Rural areas.
Inventory: Currently no specific amount of inventory is maintained for backup.
Transport: The transportation is upon the choice of the distributors. They may use their
own transport or else the company has arrangement for transporting the goods.
ANALYSIS of 4P (Price)

List Price: Decided as competitive price. The prices of various sizes are: 250ml= Tk.12;
500ml= Tk.20; 1000ml= Tk.40; 2000ml= Tk.65
Allowances: Dealers enjoy allowances depending on their total purchase. The crate size
of Clemon delivered to the dealers are:
150 ml (can)= 24pcs./crate
250ml (can & pet): 24pcs./crate
500ml(pet)= 20pcs./crate
1000ml.(pet)= 12pcs./crate
2000ml.(pet)= 6pcs./crate

Credit terms: With all the dealers dealing is done in credit. Only the dealers of high
business volume enjoys credit term allowance for clearing due payments at an early date.

ANALYSIS of 4C

1. Customer Solution
As a product Clemon has been designed to provide customers a clear lemon carbonated
beverage as per demanded sizes for self and family/group consumption at a close similar
quality comparing to similar products in the market.

2. Customer Cost
The component “Price” of the marketing mix determined by keeping an eye on
customers’ willingness to spend for a beverage product comparing to similar products of
other brands. The other pricing factors regarding allowances and credit terms are also
justified according to reasonability.
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3. Conveniences
Clemon is available at local grocery stores, fast food shops and super markets to ensure
customers convenience

4. Communications
Clemon is being advertised using almost all the Medias which communicate better with
the targeted group.

Within the target group the media which communicates with them the most is Television
Advertisements and radio and billboards communicate in a smaller scale.
The company of Akij Food and Beverage has a product line of almost all the types of
drink and snacks. “Clemon” fulfilled the line of carbonated beverage by adding the lemon
flavored carbonated beverage.

Product development matrix is a tool to analyze in which market with which category of
product, a company has penetrated.

Product Development
Matrix Current Product
Market Penetration
Current Market Company combating with
the current product in the
current market.
Market Development
New Market Slanting the current product
into a new arena/market.
New Product
Product Development
Introduced new product in
the current market.
Diversification
Sense of innovation, by
developing new product for
a new market.

As per AFBL’s brand portfolio, the assortment of the brands in respect to the product
development matrix is provided below:

PDM Brands
MOJO
LEMU
Product Development CLEMON
SPEED
FRUTIKA
SPA

Diversification WILD BREW

FARM FRESH (UHT Milk)
 15

Most of the AFBL’s new products have been developed and launched in the current
beverage market, with no market development made. But for the new products Wild
Brew & Farm Fresh, new market of non-alcoholic malt beverage and UHT milk was
developed.

BCG GROWT MATRIX:

BCG Growth share matrix helps to identify brands position in the market as per market
share. The matrix has four segments each reflecting a position of a brand for the
company.

STAR:

A product in this segment denotes to have high market share when the industry is
experiencing high market growth.

CASH COW:

Product in this segment tends to have maximum market share when the industry is
floating in low market growth

PROBLEM CHILD:

Product in this segment tends to make least market share when there is high market
growth in the industry

DOG:

Product in this segment trends to be a burden for the company as there is low market
growth and the product avails limited market share.

Graphical presentation of AFBL’s Brands as per growth share matrix:

 LEMU
 MOJO
 CLEMON
 SPEED
HIGH  FARMFRESH
 FRUTIKA
 SPA
LOW CASH COW WILD BREW
HIGH LOW
        Relative Market Share
 16

AFBL is operating in the beverage industry for only 3 years and within this time span it
has the following three brands in the STAR grid which reflects a great prosperity for the
company.

 MOJO: (Market share: 27% & Market position: 02)

 SPEED: (Market share: 36% & Market position: 02)
 FRUTIKA: (Market share: 32% & Market position: 01)

PEST ANAlYAIS of AFBL

PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological. This analysis is
used to assess these four external factors in relation to your business situation.

Basically, a PEST analysis helps you determine how these factors will affect the
performance and activities of your business in the long-term. It is often used in
collaboration with other analytical business.

POLITICAL FACTORS of AFBL

Consumer Protection:
AFB limited maintains their customer right protection very effectively. Customers has the
right to give their opinion and AFB limited account them as the feed back of their
consumer or customer.

Political Stability:
In our country all of the business has strong political stability so AFBL is always in
political stability.

ECONOMICAL FATORS of AFBL

Economic Growth
AFBL contribute their share in SEC. AFBL economic growth is balanced rather than the
other competitor.

Investment
Total investment: Tk. 4.5 billion/450 Corer (approx)

Turnover (revenue) in year 2012-2013: Tk 907.6 million/ 90.76 Corer (approx)

Tax paid in year 2006-2007 : Tk.160 millio/ 16 Crore (approx)

Total number of employees: 338 approx

Sales & Marketing: 180 employees (approx)

Factory personnel: 158 employees (approx)

 17

SOCIAL FACTORS of AFBL

A man walks to Ad-din Hospital in Dhaka. The hospital, a philanthropic venture of

corporate giant Akij Group, is poised for expansion to provide low-cost medical services
to the poor.
Akij Group has sped up its corporate philanthropic efforts by expanding Ad-din Hospital
to provide "low-cost, yet standard" health services to the growing urban population.
The corporate giant that has three hospitals in operation will set up three more outlets this
year: two in Dhaka and a third in Khulna, hospital officials said yesterday.
The hospital's Dhaka unit, founded in late 1997, provided outdoor treatment to 7.19 lakh
patients in 2008, a 20 percent rise from 5.99 lakh patients treated in 2007.
Akij is one of the country's largest business conglomerates and has diversified businesses
ranging from biri (traditional cigarettes) to IT software and manufacturing of goods.
To encourage private companies into CSR efforts, the government had earlier approved
tax exemption facility at the rate of 10 percent on part of the corporate income to be spent
asCSR.

According to officials, Ad-din in Dhaka is facing increasing pressure from patients

because of its low-cost services, compared with other hospitals in the city.
“A Caesarean costs only Tk 6,400. Medicines are also provided in our hospital. The total
services cost no less than Tk 30,000 in any other hospital in the city,” said Rokeya
Khatun, a doctor for the hospital.
Currently, the hospital deals with 30 deliveries and treats 1,200 outpatients a day on
average. A doctor's visiting charges per patient cost Tk 50. The patient also gets a card
from the hospital. Follow-up visits will not require additional spending.
MIS officer MA Monsur said the hospital treated only 16,000 patients at its outdoor
facility in Dhaka in 1998. The number reached nearly five lakh in 2005. The number
again rose to nearly six lakh in 2007, and crossed the seven lakh mark in 2008.
The hospital has 350 beds, of which 180 are totally cost-free. It has about 650 staffers: 50
consultants, 40 medical officers and over 200 nurses.
“Operational costs are met by the income of the hospital, but the management has to
inject about Tk 50 lakh every three months to subsidise treatment for the poor,” Farazi
said.
Akij Group's annual turnover is around Tk 3,500 crore, according to officials. Dhaka
Tobacco, a concern of the group, has an annual turnover of Tk 2,200 crore. The tobacco
company has a dominant market in the country's low-cost cigarettes sector.

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS of AFBL

New technology helps AFBL to better meet their customers’ needs and demands more
efficiently. New and improved product and services help to increase the maximum
growth of the organization.
With the help of the technology, AFBL are able to perform their business operation very
effectively. And adopting latest technology group of company like Akij Group, they can
minimize their all utility costs.
It helps the company to survive in the long run on a competitive business environment.
 18

CONCLUSION

The company AKIJ FOOD & BEVERAGE LTD (AFBL) lately came in the business, and
has already achieved a flourishing state with some of its brands. We are highly obliged
for being a part of this venture, and understanding their business policies, operational
structure, strategy formulation and implementations. The comprehension gained from the
marketing activities of AFBL enhanced our knowledge portfolio to a greater extent. The
Brand department of AFBL contributes intensive effort regarding the brand building of
the products. The reflection of the efforts could be seen from the strategic
marketing/communicational theme and USPs of brands like MOJO, SPEED, FRUTIKA,
CLEMON etc. The pace at which AFBL is currently accelerating, will undoubtedly lead
the company to the peak of success where majority of the market shares will be withhold
by the brands of AFBL. I will be concluding my research report by stating that, being
able to work with a company which is in the growth stage of the organizational life cycle
(OLC), enabled us to captivated a bundle of practical knowledge which will turn out to be
a great support for our future strategy formulations and implementations achievements.

RECOMMENDATION

Analysis from our report enabled us to improvise constructive recommendation regarding

the marketing/communicational strategies and brand building of AFBL’s products. In the
period of investigation, we came across many explanatory issues that won’t have been
possible to attain without such thorough profound work. We have provided
recommendation as per the brands of AFBL and they are outlined below:

One of the core influencing reason of consuming AFBL’s products is the packaging.
Most of the respondents stated the packaging to be very attractive and persuasive. Thus
AFBL should never take any initiative to alter the packaging of the brands specially
MOJO, LEMU, CLEMON, SPEED, FRUTIKA.

MOJO, SPEED & FRUTIKA have strong strategic Marketing/Communicational theme

which pertain the enhancement of the positive brand building. Thus AFBL should firmly
hold on to the USPs and perform greater promotional efforts centering the themes to
create a platform that preserves the high-level sustainable awareness.

The brand CLEMON has moderate awareness level but potentiality exists to increase the
awareness level to a prospective reach as because consumers projected positive attitude
towards the strategic Marketing/Communicational theme. AFBL should focus on
developing innovative promotional activities, which promotes the USP to a much greater
extent and attain higher level of exposure among the consumer to create more affirmative
awareness.

The entire strategic Marketing/Communicational theme of LEMU should be changed by

AFBL as because poor awareness level and brand building prospect prevails with the
association of the current USP of the brand.
 19

Recommendation for SPA is the same stated for LEMU but entire strategic
Marketing/Communicational theme of SPA won’t have to be altered. USP of the brand
associates the factor of purity and good health thus AFBL should formulate some
auspicious idea that conveys positive perception to the consumer and consumer can intern
associate the brand with purity and healthiness.
 20

PART-II ADVANCED CHEMICAL LIMITED

COMPANY PROFILE

ICI Plc of UK had a pharmaceutical business in Bangladesh. In 1992 the business was
sold to management and the name of the Company changed to Advanced Chemical
Industries (ACI) Limited. ACI inherited the rich ICI culture of product quality, customer
service and social responsibility and continues to nurture. ACI is the first company in
Bangladesh to obtain certification of ISO 9001 Quality Management System in 1995.
ACI is also the first Company in Bangladesh to get certification of ISO 14001
Environmental Management System in 2000. ACI employees are proud of their work
culture, business ethics and environmental consciousness. ACI values are embodied in its
vision and mission statements. ACI quality and environmental concerns are clearly stated
through declared policies.

ACI represents principals like AstraZeneca, UCB, Searle and Fujisawa in

Pharmaceuticals business; Colgate-Palmolive, Heinz & Dabur in Consumer Products
sector; Synzenta in Agrochemicals; Ranbaxy, Dabur, Wockhardt, Sanofi and Invesa in
Animal Health sector. The company maintains strategically located sales centers in
nineteen different locations across the country. It has developed an advanced distribution
system through its more than 300 skilled and trained manpower and a large fleet over
eighty vehicles. The distribution system is capable of handling continuing volume of
diverse range of products from the various businesses.

The company’s distribution centers are highly streamlined, computerized and automated.
We are capable of maintaining a cold chain for some specialized range of products such
as vaccines and insulin. The combination of this advanced function and multidimensional
capabilities made it possible to handle hundreds of products efficiently. ACI has three
separate manufacturing plants in the outskirts of Dhaka. The Pharmaceuticals plant is
located at Narayanganj; ACI Formulations has been setup at Gazipur and the Tetley
factory has been built at Konabari.

ACI Limited is the first company in Bangladesh to have attained the ISO 9001
certification for Quality Management System and ISO 14001 for Environmental
 21

Management System. The Trading subsidiary has also received ISO 9002 certificate. At
our manufacturing facilities, we follow cGMP guidelines and standards recommended by
World Health Organization (WHO) for pharmaceutical formulations.

ACI Limited Production and Sales Strategy Analysis:

It has been observed that depots of ACI Limited are selling finished goods both in cash
and credit. And at the end of each month, they prepare Monthly Stock Statement which
state the total sold quantities. For this reason, the Company can have the following
problems in future date:

 The finance department would be unable to trace out how much quantities are
sold on cash and how much on credit.
 Sometimes depots take the advantage of this by giving cash on delivery products
frequently as credit to the customers without payments.

Inefficient Stock Management of Depots:

The depots play a major role in selling and distributing Consumer Brands products. But it
has been observed that some depots are not maintaining effective sales management. The
reasons of their lack of capability of stock movement to distributors are as follows:

 No Sales Plan: It seems that some remote area depots like Maijdee, Sreemongol
etc are not developing a sales plan to help manage the sales team. They are just
only focused on distributors’ requirement, not motivated.

 Inefficient Workforce: It has been observed that there are some depots like
Rangpur, Maijdee etc who hire a worker without providing them with the level of
stock knowledge required to succeed.

 Sales Metrics: Depots maintains “Sales Metrics” that include number of

distributors, name of distributors, number of holding stocks and delivered etc that
overwhelm the sales staff with excessive tracking numbers.

 Lack of Sales Accountability: Regardless of the support and training, some

workers of depots are not properly stick to the commitment on Company’s policy.
It seems they have deficiency in targeting, frequency of contact and
communications with distributors.  

 Monthly Reporting:  According to Company’s policy, each depot has to submit

monthly stock information to the Finance Department. It is found that although
two separate reports are sent from each depot the quantities mentioned in each do
not match creating difficulty for the Finance Department to conclude the right
figures.
 22

 Less Sales Control: It has been observed that some depots are less focused on
sales. They have valuable skill set that quickly walk to the competitors rather than
the product profitability.

 Unrestrained Holding Stock: According to Company’s policy, the holding days

of stocks of products can not be exceeding more than three months. But it has
been noticed that there are some products like Dabur, Vatika, ACI Salt, Pure
Masala etc has low turnover and stocks remain in the depot for long time.

Saleable Capability of Depots:

The maximum saleable quantity depends on the capability and efficiency of depots. Each
depot is assigned to sale minimum 70,000 quantities of products to distributors’ within
two months. But it has been observed that some of the depots are not as efficient to sale
maximum quantities of products. According to the stock statement of January to March
2009, the saleable capability of depots can be categorized into three levels.-

 Maximum Saleable Capability

 Minimum Saleable Capability
 Lowest Saleable Capability

Management of Non Conforming Report:

ACI-FL and N.Gonj has a well-organized management of finished goods. They maintain
a seperate sheet of Non Conforming Report for obsolete products for following reason.-

 In future after refurbishment the products which recovered are send back again for
resale and final damaged products are remarked for the write-off purpose. Also it
is necessary to identify and differentiate between fresh stocks and  NCR stocks.

As there is no investigation of statement of sales return by finance department, the

Company do not specify the reasons of sales returned stocks. Also it is the major problem
in predicting the future stock quantities for higher customer satisfaction.

SWOT Analysis of ACI Limited

This SWOT Analysis of ACI Limited provides a strategic SWOT analysis of the
company's businesses and operations. This free SWOT analysis shows strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This SWOT analysis of ACI Limited can provide a
competitive advantage.

Strengths

-reduced labor costs

-barriers of market entry
-high growth rate
 23

 
Weaknesses

-small business units

 
Opportunities

-income level is at a constant increase

-new markets
-growing demand
-growing economy
-new acquisitions
 
Threats

-increase in labor costs

-tax changes
-growing competition and lower profitability
 
Profitability
Outlook
Market

The industry shows a growth rate of about 7%.

Industry specific SWOT analysis (Relevance/Importance)

What happens in the underlying industry? Factors and trends affecting the overall
industry and their implications for this business:

Strengths

-The industry has unique products. (44%, 35%)

-The industry is more robust than the economy in general. (32%, 15%)
-Access to comparable industries is possible. (18%, 11%)
-The industry provides future trends. (11%, 42%)
 
Weaknesses

-There is a competitive market. (11%, 24%)

-There might be too less suppliers. (51%, 53%)
-We see long adjustment periods in this industry. (49%, 11%)
 
Opportunities
 24

-New products and services are possible. (55%, 38%)

-Global markets are available. (11%, 52%)
-New trade agreements between countries are possible. (40%, 40%)
-New trends can increase market size. (29%, 30%)
-The market changes fast. (23%, 50%)
 
Threats

-Increasing costs might be possible. (33%, 31%)

-Economic barriers can be seen. (49%, 50%)
-Automation is an unknown factor for this industry. (26%, 17%)
 

Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis provides a comprehensive insight into the
company’s history, corporate strategy, business and financial structure, management and
operations. The report contains a detailed SWOT analysis, information on the company’s
products and services, key competitors, as well as detailed financial information.

PEST Analysis of ACI.Ltd

PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological. This analysis is
used to assess these four external factors in relation to your business situation.

Basically, a PEST analysis helps you determine how these factors will affect the
performance and activities of your business in the long-term. It is often used in
collaboration with other analytical business tools like the SWOT analysis to give a clear
understanding of a situation and related internal and external factors.

Political Factor of ACI.LTD

Politics can increase ACI limited food risk factors. Because government can change
business rules that negatively affect ACI limited food business.

ACI  is committed to maintain the harmonious  balance of our eco-system and therefore
constantly seeks ways to manufacture and produce products in an eco-friendly manner so
that the balance of nature remains undisturbed and the environment remains sustainable.
In pursuit of this goal, ACI will
 Comply fully with all local and national environmental regulations.
 Conserve natural resources like water and energy for sustainable development,
and adopt environmentally safe processes.
 Ensure appropriate treatment of all effluents prior to discharge, to prevent
pollution or degradation of environment.
 Ensure appropriate communication and cooperate with internal and external
interested parties on environmental issues.
 Create awareness on environmental issues among our employees and suppliers.
 25

 Adopt modern waste management technology.

Economic Factor of ACI.LTD

Life Cycle of stock inflow and outflow of ACI Limited:

It has been observed, efficient stock management depends on inflow and outflow of
stocks of products that enable the company to forecast stocks of products for future
needs. Also it helps to predict investment opportunities or future stock deficiencies by
providing information in making critical business decisions. The system of the stocks
inflow and outflow of ACI Limited can be designed into the following ways:

Social Factor of ACI.LTD

ACI's guiding principle in all its operations is to be a 'responsible corporate citizen'. Thus,
Social Responsibility is a top priority for every individual at ACI. Our endeavors toward
discharging our social responsibilities have become more focused since our adoption of
the principles of the Global Compact.
 26

Initiatives that have shown significant contribution to societal development are

Continued Medical Education (CME) for medical professionals and Children's
Education Programs.

A dedicated team of medical graduates makes up the Medical Services Department

(MSD) in ACI, which carries out CME programs termed 'Clinical Meetings' all across
Bangladesh. These are essentially non-advertised meets of medical professionals that
serve as a training and knowledge-sharing forum, often conducted by experts on the
subject. Our partners in development for these programs are doctors, medical associations
and/or departments, and various study groups. The level of involvement of ACI in these
programs may range from only sponsoring the entire program to providing all types of
services and technical support to the presenter to even conducting the program by an
MSD doctor. Support from MSD include research support for deliberations at the meet,
literature and multimedia presentation for the program, updates on new technology and
thoughts in medical fields, and even educational support to any participant in their area of
interest.

ACI has also undertaken an English Education program in Faridpur, one of the remotest
districts of Bangladesh. This provides support to teach English Language to school going
children.

Outcome

Doctors in Bangladesh who are not living in the metropolitan cities have very limited
access to the Internet or any other sources of information. In order to keep them updated
on the developments in the medical practices regularly, the CME program has been
proven highly effective.
 27

ACI believes that by promoting education of children, we are contributing to societal

development by shaping the minds of our future leaders.

Technological Factor of ACI.LTD

It has been viewed that to keep track of all the sales invoice, the finance department use a
Software named “Sales and Depots Management Software (SDMS)”. The benefits of
using this software are as follows:

 It helps in keep tracking of all Invoices for proper sales.

  The department can easily sort out the sales management of depots.
 It improves the efficiency by saving time and money

The workout of SDMS Software is shown below:

But it seems that SDMS has a limitations tat it does not indicate the overall stock position
of products in each depot.

Suggestions:

Efficient Management of Non-conforming products: To specify the reasons of sales

returned stocks as detected at Konabari and other factories, the manufactures should run
investigation and evaluation procedures on the defected stocks. This will help the
Company to identify the error in both production and warehouses.
 28

Management of Stock of Cash and Credit Sales:

To analysis the actual sold quantities, the depots should prepare separate sheet for cash
and credit sales.

Conclusion:

Bangladesh is a country of immense opportunities. With a huge population density and

only 22% penetration rate, there is a big untapped market waiting to be discovered. ACI
Limited is the biggest market player in the manufacturing industry and should think about
these opportunities for retaining the market leader position.

Proper Stock Management of ACI Limited is needed to identify both cost and revenue.
And after identification of cost and revenue, profit can be recognized. The Stock
Management of Consumer Brands of ACI Limited is pioneering in introducing and
implementing various modern financial statements like Monthly Stock Report, Refurbish
Statement, Non- Conforming Report, Stock Reconciliation etc. Though they manage
stocks in a systematic ways, but they need more automation in this management.

The Stock management function not only compiles and coordinates the company plan of
the conglomerate but also instrumental in feeding the Local Market of the country as well
as world in large. The Consumer Brands area is one of the most exciting areas in ACI
Limited. But Company should think about incorporating more facilities, inventing newer
services and increasing effectiveness and efficiency in Stock Management system. Only
then it can remain in the position it is in now.
 29

PATR-III PARTEX GRPUP

PARTEX GROUP

Partex group is one of the largest Bangladeshi industrial conglomerates. The industries

under this conglomerate include foods and beverages, steel, real estate, furniture,
agribusiness, plastics, etc. Its 2015-2016 turnover amounted to approximately US$500
million. Partex Group is the largest family-run conglomerate in Bangladesh, consisting of
over 45 industries.

PRODUCTS

Food & Beverages, Steel, Real Estate, Furniture, Plastics, Paper, Power & Energy, Jute,
Agribusiness, Shipyards, Shipping, Textile, Construction, IT, etc

Food & Beverages:

Danish Foods Limited

Danish Foods Ltd. is one of the leading food and beverage producing and marketing
company Bangladesh and a part of Partex Star Group. It produces several types of foods
and beverages and market under the brand name of Danish Foods Ltd.

Danish Foods Ltd. is committed to conduct the business in such a way that demonstrates
the highest ethical standards. The company believes that integrity is the imperative utility
to succeed. Danish Foods Ltd. is serving the best for the consumers to uphold the
superiority in the market. It also believes that success depends on customers. This is the
primary criteria to fulfillment of customer’s needs.

Danish Foods Limited takes a comprehensive approach to all kinds of agro processed
food products, considering all of the ways their lives can be enriched through ensuring
hygienic and quality food products. With HACCP compliance to ensure best quality
products reach to the consumers, Danish Foods Limited places great importance on
hygienic manufacturing processes. This encompasses everything from choosing quality
materials to the use of storage facilities and careful monitoring of products using
electronic sorting. Skilled and experienced personnel select finished products which are
then examined in a laboratory to verify their quality and to check for residual substances
 30

both before and after the production process. Furthermore, company’s computer systems
offer continuous monitoring of all manufacturing process to ensure the highest levels of
quality.

ANALYZING SALES AND MARKETING STRATIGES

The first principle states that people face tradeoffs. For PARTEX this tradeoff includes
striking a balance between MUM and its other products. For instance we may consider its
main beverage product, the Royal Crown Cola. Now the tradeoff implies that if PARTEX
is to produce more of its bottled drinking water it must revert some of its resources from
the production of RC cola. Thus an increased production of MUM drinking water means
a decreased production of RC cola.

The second principle states that the cost of any good is equivalent to its opportunity cost.
When someone buys a half litre bottle of MUM he loses the chance to buy something else
for that price, say a bar of chocolate that costs roughly the same. The opportunity cost
will be further discussed in a later chapter.

According to the fourth principle, people respond to incentives offered. Suppose the price
of MUM bottled water goes down for some reason. The buyers will be more inclined to
buy more water due to this reduced price. At the same time, the sellers will look to
increase supply and sell more to meet this increased quantity demanded. So incentives
can influence people.

The fifth principle implies that trade can work to everyone’s advantage. For example, the
producers of MUM, the PARTEX group have specialized in producing bottled drinking
water. So they are more efficiently and cost effectively bringing it to the market. This
allows producers of other goods at a better price. At the same time this gives them the
scope to specialize in something else, subsequently bringing its price down. So the
producers of MUM can get those goods at a better price. Thus this tradeoff is good for all
parties concerned.

The economy of Bangladesh is a market economy. This enables competition of price and
quality among firms and sellers, and ultimately helps keep the economy stable. The huge
number of buyers and sellers means that externality and market power is largely reduced.

PLANNING PROCESS of PARTEX BEVERAGE:

Planning process like as a diagram of decision of planning of a company. The line

authority makes a decision and the lower level employee makes it effective and develops
the plan.

PUSH/ PULL PROCESS FOR THE PARTEX BEVERAGE:

Partex Beverage use both push and pull view process to produce product. but that is
depending on the time of manufacturing time. Push process is more costly for the
 31

company because it consume more time and more costly. Forecasting is essential to
produce a product due to push process.

Partex Beverage some time use push process to forecast the customer demand in the
present market. some time they ensure the customer satisfaction is first. Push process
describe the demand is not known and must be forecast. Push process may also be
referred to as speculative processes because they response to forecast rather than actual
demand. Partex Beverage most of the time use pull process may also be referred to as
reactive processes because they react to customer demand. Because their philosophy is
customer demand and want is first so they use both procedures for their customer
satisfaction.

PUBLIC RELATION

Partex Beverage Limited always tries to build up a good relationship with their

consumers. So  they sometime take different social activity that help them to keep a good
relation to the customers.

Build general awareness/inquiries/traffic, encourage distribution trial, shift awareness

(e.g., change attitude), respond to negative news/perception, image building, prepare
markets for future activity (e.g., new product).

SALES PROMOTION

Partex Beverage Limited provides some extra facilities sometimes to increase their sales.
Like sometimes they offer discounts for their products. They offer discount and gifts with
on purchase during Eid, Puga, Partex also takes place in the fairs like trade fairs for
advertising and sales promotion that helps them to increase their sales.

Build inquires, encouraging inventory building, support other promotions, encourage

handling of new products, obtain distributor assistance.

ANALYSIS WITH ECONOMIC CONDITION

Positive Analysis of the Market

MUM is a product of Partex Beverages Ltd Bangladesh having a brand image of a safe,
hygienic and reliable pure drinking water. MUM introduced its products in the market
during the late 90’s being one of the first bottled drinking water suppliers in the market.
Over the years MUM has constantly developed and controlled its quality which
contributed developing its current brand image. The economy that MUM drinking water
operates in is a market economy.  Although MUM operates in an oligopolistic market, it
holds a relatively higher market share despite the slight price difference with other
bottled drinking water.
 32

 We can differentiate the market of Bottled Drinking water into three different categories,
viz.

 Segment Dependent on Public water supply:

One part of the Bangladeshi market is almost wholly dependent on the public water
supply (WASA). For home use they drink boiled/non-boiled WASA supplied water and
when drinking outside of the home they depend on locally filtered drinking water.
Usually the low-income families comprise this type of market.

 Segment Dependent partially on Public water supply:

The other segment depends partially on the public water supply. They depend on the
WASA-supplied water for other purposes except drinking. For drinking at home they
either boil and domestically filter the WASA-supplied water or buy from Water-jar
suppliers. But when away from home they buy bottled drinking water. Mum basically
targets this specific market segment.

Circular Flow Diagram Model

The circular flow diagram demonstrates the business cycle for MUM bottled drinking
water. The business firm being PARTEX GROUP produces and supplies goods to
retailers and restaurants. The household contains general consumers who buy and
consume bottled drinking water from PARTEX and provide factors of production
through land and labor.

 Production Possibility Frontier

The production possibility frontier shows the different combination of outputs for
PARTEX group and subsequently demonstrates the highest possible production of its
goods. In this case we can put the production of MUM bottled drinking water against one
of their other product, the Royal Crown Cola. For simplification of calculations, let us
assume that at any time, PARTEX can produce a maximum of 3000 litres of RC Cola as
opposed to a maximum of 6000 litres of bottled drinking water.

If PARTEX decides to reduce production of RC Cola by 500 litres, they can use the spare
resources to produce 1000 more litres of MUM drinking water. On the other hand, if they
decrease production of bottled water by 2000, they can produce 1000 more litres of RC
Cola. Any point outside this frontier is not feasible. Selecting a point on the frontier will
maximize output and provide a convenient combination of the different goods.

Gains from Trade

Absolute Advantage: The absolute advantage is the comparison among producers in

terms of productivity. The comparison here is between the market of MUM and that of
the other mineral water suppliers. Since Mum and Fresh are the market leaders of the
 33

oligopoly, we will be comparing the cost-revenue analysis of these two. To compare

them in turns of productivity we will have to have a deeper view into the purification
process of both.

 MUM: The source of water plays a key role in the quantity and quality of water
one wants to produce, as well as to remain profitable. About a quarter of all
bottled water comes from municipal supplies, with the rest coming from natural
sources like springs and wells. But, regardless of where the water is flowing from,
is privy to all the testing from the agencies. One thing to take into consideration is
what and organic and inorganic compounds are present at the source, and if it is
practical or not to invest in equipment to remove them. However, the common
elements that are found in the water of the country  are Mg, Al, Ca, V, Cr, Mn,
Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd. These are not that expensive to be
removed. Here are the steps that are undergone in the process of purification.

Membrane Filtration: It removes organic impurities, metal and other ions.

Colonization: It breaks down organic constituents and reduces their odor potential while
also sanitizing to minimize further microbial contamination.

It costs around 14 BDT to purify and bottle per liter of water and is sold at 22 BDT. And
more than that, the companies are also using water supplies from WASA which is
partially subsidized by the government.

 FRESH:  Fresh has almost the same purification process. The Cost per liter of
purification and bottling is around 15 BDT and the water is sold in the market at a
rate of 18 BDT per liter.

From the aforementioned study of the cost and revenue per liter of both the companies it
can be clearly stated that MUM has absolute advantage over Fresh.

MARKETING RESARCH:

Marketing research is the systematic & objective identification, collection, analysis,

dissemination & use of information for the purpose of improving decision making related
to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing.

RESARCH FRAMEWORK:

A research deign is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research

project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the required information and its
purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses of interest, determine, possible
answers to the Research questions and provide the information needed for decision
making.
 34

OPPORTUNITY, COST AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE

We have already studied the absolute advantage of Mum. Comparative Advantage is the
comparison between two goods in terms of opportunity cost and opportunity cost is what
we give up to obtain that specific good. Even in this case we would be comparing Mum
and Fresh since these are the major two Bottled water seller in the country. For Mum, it
costs around 14 BDT to purify and bottle 1 liter of water and they sell it at 22 BDT . On
the other hand, for Fresh Drinking water it costs around 15 BDT and they sell the same at
18 BDT per liter. So, the opportunity cost for Mum is greater than that of fresh because to
buy Mum one has to give up 22 BDT per liter compared to Fresh’s 18 BDT per liter.
Thus it can be inferred that Fresh has comparative advantage over Mum but due to TQM
and other specific qualities the market is more inclined towards buying Mum than Fresh.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF PARTEX GROUP

Strengths

Strong Management (Partex group)

Strong management can help Partex group reach its potential by utilizing strengths and
eliminating weaknesses.

Financial Leverage (Partex group)

Financial leverage allows Partex group to use their balance sheet to expand their business
and increase their profits.

Supply Chain (Partex group)

A strong supply chain helps Partex group obtain the right resources from suppliers and
delivery the right product to customers in a timely manner.

Weaknesses

Outdated Technology
A lack of proprietary technology and patents can hurt Partex group’s ability to compete
against rivals.

High Staff Turnover 

High staff turnover can hurt Partex group’s ability to compete, because replacing
valuable staff is expenses

Weak Supply Chain

A weak supply chain can delay the arrival of products to Partex group’s customers.
Unnecessary delays can hurt Partex group over the long run, because customers will
cancel orders

Customer Service
 35

Weak customer service hurts Partex group’s reputation and causes customers to flee to
competitors, who are more respondent.

Opportunities

Financial Leverage
Leveraging the balance sheet allows Partex group to quickly expand into other markets
and products, especially in fragmented industries

Innovation
Greater innovation can help Partex group to produce unique products and services that
meet customer’s needs

New Technology
New technology helps Partex group to better meet their customer’s needs with new and
improved products and services. Technology also builds competitive barriers against
rivals

New Products 
New products can help Partex group to expand their business and diversity their customer
base. “New Products (Partex Group)" has a significant impact, so an analyst should put
more weight into it.

Threats

Bad Economy
A bad economy can hurt Partex group’s business by decreasing the number of potential
customers.

Mature Markets
Mature markets are competitive. In order for Partex group to grow in a mature market, it
has to increase market share, which is difficult and expensive… … "Mature Markets
(Partex Group)" has a significant impact, so an analyst should put more weight into it.

Political Risk
Politics can increase Partex group’s risk factors, because governments can quickly
change business rules that negatively affect Partex group’s business.

Conclusion

Finally it can be said that Bottled Drinking Water has a major demand in the market of
Bangladesh and a major portion of the demand is being met by Mum. Mum being a
product of one of the biggest group Partex has a good scope of spreading its business
around border of Bangladesh and since yet no news of any shortage have been noticed,
the Supply and Demand are well in equilibrium.  The only lagging of Mum may be its
 36

backwardness in the comparative advantage. Since they already have the major portion of
the market they can well take over the advantage by reducing the selling price per liter.

RECOMMENDATOION:

By conducting the research carefully the following recommendations are provided to the
producer –

 New brand’s positioning should be unique in the minds of the consumers.

 Increase product quality and Affordable price.

 For the TV advertisement arrange favorite TV program like Ittadi.

 Provide more promotional campaign of the product.

 Produce alcohol free energy drink.

 Product distribution should be first and maintain JIT Delivery procedure.

 Product distribution can be conducted through existing dealers all over the country.

 Brand name, brand elements should be selected carefully to touch the consumer’s minds.

 Product quality, taste, flavor, color should be different from the existing brands.

 Create more attractive packaging to the customer.

 Packaging can be done in two ways:

a)     Plastic bottle – 250ml (Normal Packaging)

b)     Steel Cane – 300ml (Prestigious Packaging)

 Target consumers are teens & young generation.

Segmented market regions are – mainly urban area e.g. divisional city & districts town.

The existing price (Tk. 20 = 250ml/270ml) provided the producers are satisfactory but we
have to add more values with the new brand for Tk. 20.

The price for the plastic bottle (250nl) can be Tk. 20 and for steel cane (300ml) Tk. 30.

Every market should be touched once in a week and the market where demand is high
should be touched frequently.
 37

Attractive advertising campaign should be conducted especially through TV, Newspaper,

FM radio & billboards.

Another promotional activities like free sampling in university, campus or on Pahela

Baishak in Dhaka City including others big cities.

 Brand attachment with superstars like James, The Rock Stars or Bangladesh cricket team
will bear unique brand positioning.

 Above all, everything regarding the new brand should be performed in such way that
will go with the image & status of Partex Beverage Ltd.
 38

PART-IV

REFERENCE

Principles of Microeconomics – N. Gregory Mankiw

https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/pest-pestel-analysis.html
http://dspace.ewubd.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/970/Md._Safiqul_Islam.pdf?
sequence=1
https://www.scribd.com/document/340274188/Pest-Analysis-of-Pran-Rfl
https://www.assignmentpoint.com/business/marketing-business/marketing-positioning-
strategy-akij-food-and-beverage-limited.html
http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-77049
http://www.akijjute.com/csr.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partex_Group
http://www.assignmentpoint.com/business/organizational-behavior/assignment-on-
partex-group.html
http://www.partexgroup.com/
https://www.scribd.com/doc/101318668/Term-paper-on-Partex-Beverage-Ltd

http://www.aci-bd.com/case-study.php
http://swot.advisorgate.com/swot-a/538-swot-analysis-aci-limited.html
https://www.swotanalysis24.com/swot-a/1386-swot-analysis-aci-limited.html
http://www.assignmentpoint.com/business/finance/report-on-aci-limited.html
http://www.assignmentpoint.com/business/aci-limited-corporate-information.html