Today there is a growing perception among business enterprises that sustainable business success and shareholder value cannot be achieved solely through maximizing short term profits, but through market oriented yet socially responsible activities of the business. Therefore, the social responsibility and non price competition tools practices has become an important part of today’s business agenda, which indicate the commitment of the business to behave ethically and contribution towards improving the quality of work and social life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.
However, business organizations are the power wheels of economic growth and development, and help the society by providing better jobs, increasing income levels of the people, and by supplying goods and services to the consumers. This paper aims to investigate the non price competition tools of Banglalink (Orascom Telecom Bangladesh) Limited. Banglalink is truly a people-oriented brand of Bangladesh. Banglalink, the people’s champion, is there for the people of Bangladesh, where they want and the way they want. Having the local tradition at its core Banglalink marches ahead with innovation and creativity.
The company today commands many CSR activities. To take the company to its current position, the CSR activities of the company have to be an efficient and an organized one. Therefore, it is imperative that the awareness level of CSR activities of the company must be well known and efficiently delivered so that they can win over its competitors to attract new customers and at the same time to do for the betterment of the society. As Banglalink has been rebranded itself two years back so it is very significant and important to get involve large number Corporate Social Responsibilities activities to establish among the general people. . 1 Limitations of the Study While preparing the report several difficulties had to be faced this might have hampered the quality of this report. The findings could have been better if these limitations could have been overcome. Although the obstacles might seem less in number but still the hindrances created by this small group was massive which has stopped to produce the quality of the report at the desired or optimum level. The obstacles those were faced while preparing the report are as follows- ? Unavailability of Financial Statements ?Omission of many historical data 1. Methodology of the Study The study has been conducted mainly with the help of primary data ; as well as with the help of secondary data. But the main foundation of the study has been laid with the help of secondary data whereas the existing practice has been discovered with the assistance of primary data. 1. 3 Secondary Data Sources ?Company Website ?Different articles ; journals ?Books Banglalink is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh. As of August, 2008, Banglalink has a subscriber base of more than 10 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom.
Banglalink had 1. 03 million connections until December, 2005. The number of Banglalink users increased by more than 253 per cent and stood at 3. 64 million at the end of 2006, making it the fastest growing operator in the world of that year. In August, 2006, Banglalink became the first company to provide free incoming calls from BTTB for both postpaid and prepaid connections. 2. 1 History: Sheba Telecom (Pvt. ) Ltd. was granted license in 1989 to operate in the rural areas of 199 upazilas and later they were also allowed to extend to cellular mobile radio-telephone services.
In July, 2004, it was reported that Orascom Telecom is set to purchase through a hush-hush deal the Malaysian stakes in Sheba Telecom, as it had failed to tap the business potentials in Bangladesh mainly due to a chronic feud between its Malaysian and Bangladeshi partners. An agreement was reached with Orascom worth $25 million was finalized in secret. The pact has been kept secret for legal reasons, considering financial fallout and because of the feud. The main reason for the undercover dealing was because the existing joint venture agreement between the Bangladeshi and the Malaysian partners dictates that if any party sells ts Sheba shares, the other party will enjoy the first right to buy that. Integrated Services Ltd (ISL), the Bangladeshi partner, was being ‘officially’ shown as purchasing the shares held by Technology Resources Industries (TRI) of Malaysia for $15 million. ISL then paid another $10 million to Standard Chartered Bank to settle Sheba’s liabilities. Sheba had a base 59,000 users, of whom 49,000 were regular when it was sold. In September, 2004, Orascom Telecom Holdings purchased 100% of the shares of Sheba Telecom (Pvt. ) Limited (“Sheba”).
It was acquired for US$ 60 million and re-branded and launched its services under “Banglalink” in February, 2005. Banglalink’s license is a nationwide 15-year GSM license and will expire in November, 2011. In March, 2008, Sheba Telecom (Pvt. ) Limited changed its name as Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited, matching its parent company name. 2. 2 Objective of the Banglalink: ?To deliver optimum value to customers and employees ?Attract and retain quality human resource. ?Firm commitment to the society and the growth of national economy while ensuring good Corporate Governance ?
To earn customer satisfaction through diversified telecommunication activities and introduction of innovative ideas. 2. 3 Efforts of Banglalink: ?To achieve the goal through fully motivated, committed and dedicated work force. ?Respond to the customer needs with speed and accuracy ?Share their values and beliefs ?Grow as our customer grow ?Offer first rated solutions of client problems and issues ? Provide product and service at competitive pricing ?Create life long relationship based on mutual trust and respect ? Provide service with high degree of professionalism and use of most modern technology 2. Value of Banglalink: Banglalink aims to understand peoples’ needs best and develop appropriate communication services to improve peoples’ life and make it simple. To ensure their vision is achieved, they have set their selves a few values, they want to be: ? Customer focus ?Integrity quality ?Team work ?Respect for the individual ?Responsible Citizenship ?Straight Forward ?Reliable ?Innovative ?Passionate 2. 5 SWOT analysis of Banglalink: Now we are going to describe the SOWT analysis of Banglalink. As a business organization Banglalink has its own Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats for the future.
Strengths: Banglalink has some unique strength by which it is rapidly increasing its market share and attracting customer. ?Low call rate ?Aggressiveness ?Large network coverage ?Large investment ?Low sim rate ?Good number of media partner Weakness: It also has some weakness by which its performance is being greatly hampered. ?Newly established ?Small number of customer ?No brand reputation ?Bad reputation ‘Sheba” ?Inexperienced ?Need more sales people Opportunities: Banglalink is not in good position comparing with other telecom Organization yet. But still it has various opportunities .
Proper utilization of these opportunities can make them number one telecom organization in Bangladesh. ?Good amount of reinvestment ?Good support from mother company ?High technological networking system ?Large number of cutomer ?Could develop new product ?Profit margin will be good ?Could seek best supplier deals Threats: There also some future threats for Banglalink,which can kick off Banglalink from operations. So Banglalink should tactfully overcome these threats ? Existing competitor ?Increase of sim tax ?Legislation could impact. ?Environmental effects would favour larger competitors. Existing core business distribution risk. 2. 6 Culture of Banglalink: Banglalink is employee oriented Telecommunication Company. It believes employees are human being not machine. Employees of Banglalink are also very loyal with the organization. Banglalink recruit employee on the basis of six month contractual agreement. In this agreement an employee can terminate or continue the job within six month. The sitting arrangement of MD and other directors are flat that means they sit along with other employees. This arrangement is helpful in which all employees can accomplish work within a friendly environment.
Office area is free of smoking. Banglalink follow multi culture in which it practices country of origin culture along with host country culture (Bangladesh). 2. 7 Organizational Structure: Fig : Organizational structure of Banglalink Non-price competition is a marketing strategy “in which one firm tries to distinguish its product or service from competing products on the basis of attributes like design and workmanship” The firm can also distinguish its product offering through quality of service, extensive distribution, customer focus, or any other sustainable competitive advantage other than price.
It can be contrasted with price competition, which is where a company tries to distinguish its product or service from competing products on the basis of low price. Non-price competition typically involves promotional expenditures, (such as advertising, selling staff, sales promotions, coupons, special orders, or free gifts), marketing research, new product development, and brand management costs. Firms will engage in non-price competition, in spite of the additional costs involved, because it is usually more profitable than selling for a lower price, and avoids the risk of a price war.
Competition among firms that choose to differentiate their products by non price means, for example, by quality, style, delivery methods, locations, or special services. Non price competition is often practiced by firms that desire to differentiate virtually identical products. More specifically Non price competition can be said, Competition between companies that involves something other than lower prices. That is, rather than advertising the lowest price for a product, a company may advertise that is has the best quality, the most convenience, or even the best branding.
Non price competition is especially important where competition is stiff and companies cannot afford to charge much less than they already do. Here some of the non price competition tools used by Bangla link are discussed bellow: 3. 1 Logo The meaning of Banglalink logo is tiger which is national animal of Bangladesh. Banglalink wants to become the national asset of Bangladesh; this is why it used the symbol. 3. 2 Free Sampling Banglalink offered misti komola package with sampling orange to the customers in the cities. This was a different way to reach the people ; touch with their identical product. . 3 Before ; After Sales Service After Sales service is one of the major tools or techniques applied by Banglalink. Banglalink establishes many customer service centers in and outside Dhaka City. We have set the benchmark in customer care with our state-of-the-art call center, largest customer care network, and a passionate ; vigilant team serving you every single moment. Banglalink care line offers a dedicated 24 / 7 services to answer all your queries. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Any queries you may have about: ? subscribing for a new connection ?any form of account information coverage details ?product information ?value added services ? 3. 4 Extensive Distribution Banglalink segmented their target market for post paid into two broad categories: i) Enterprise personal Customer: The people who use network for personal corporate activities. Who mainly purchase the PCO connection? ii) Small entrepreneur People who do mobile business. Banglalink First targeted the small entrepreneur after obtaining growth market share they targeted the people who use network for personal enterprise packages. Small entrepreneur are the mainly purchaser of M2M connection.
On the other hand enterprise personal customers are the purchaser of Call and control connection 3. 5 Appealing Advertising Banglalink for the 1st time introduce advertisement that is different in nature and manner. Their advertisement was awarded for the touching of heart of the people of our country. Banglalink award winning Advertisement: Banglalink Ad on Independence Day 2007 3. 6 Special Services Targeting the corporate and SME segments, banglalink has launched “Banglalink Enterprise” with state of the art services including GPRS, corporate SMS broadcast, dedicated customer relationship management, and customized packages.
Banglalink enterprise offers customized telecom solutions for different businesses as per their requirements and the objective of banglalink enterprise is to assist the clients at every step as their businesses grow. Banglalink also provides services to the farmers. Students are also benefited by Bangla link for their music station, amar tunes. Banglalink provides services in the health perspective. Any Banglalink operator can dial 789 for help in case of health services. 3. 7 Identical Product
Banglalink was the first operator to introduce a flat rate for all calls (inside own network and to other operators) for the convenience and ease of customers. Thus “desh” was launched – the best prepaid package for making calls to any network. In addition, a new prepaid package, banglalink desh “rong” has also been launched. This package offers attractive tariff plan for customers who need to talk within the banglalink network. “Rong” is a Bengali word that means “color” – the objective is to give customers a brand that they can refer to as colorful and lively.
Banglalink desh is already a very popular and well-liked brand – banglalink desh rong is a brand extension to enrich the brand. 3. 8 Delivery of Services Delivering services to the customers involves decision on the place and time of the delivery to as well as methods and channel used. Banglalink distribute their services to the final customers through the retail outlet, Bsp (Banglalink service point) etc. The dealer of the retail outlet get the commission on the basis of the specific sales proportion. In addition to Banglalink take security money from their dealer. . 9 Promotion ; Education No marketing program can be succeeding without effective communication. Banglalink marketing communication effort is used to perform the following three activities: a. Providing needed information and advice b. Persuading target customers of the merit of the services. c. Encouraging target customers to take action at specific times. (i. e. Influence to purchase the service) Usually Banglalink provide their advertising in the newspapers(Prothom Alo, Daily Star),TV Channels(ATN,Channei,NTV,RTV,ETV,BTV.
Channel1),Bill board to promote their services to the target audiences. In their advertising Banglalink try to educate their customers about the tariff rate during the peak period and off peak. Which is helpful to stimulate customer’s behavior to use network during the period of low demand? The ad also used to highlight the manipulation of other marketing mix elements to get specific response to the customers. This is why in their ad Banglalink provide information regarding their service offerings, supplementary services, dedication of service personnel etc.
Banglalink provided an ad regarding the rules and regulation to get a new connection and re registration the old packages if it was purchased on before February 28, 2006. It is also can be considered as educational promotion program. Banglalink is a media partner of the cricket council, in which it indirectly promotes and educates the customers (both current and prospective) about the service through the sponsored one day or test matches. Banglalink also provide ad to educate different market segment to attract their services. For instance it is currently providing the Dialogue with “DIN BADOLER PALA” to attract small entrepreneur.
For medium to upper level entrepreneur Banglalink providing ad dialogued with “BAGLALINK TO GROWTH”. The following are the samples of various ads of Banglalink broadcasted in different TV channels to inform customers about the various value added services. 3. 10 Physical Environment The appearance of Banglalink building, vehicles, interior furnishing, equipment, staff members, signs, printed materials all are the visible cues provide tangible evidence of a firm,s service quality. Banglalink operate two core branches which control primary supportive value chain activities of various zonal offices.
All offices are well furnished through the interior and exterior decoration. All the exterior point of BSP centre BP centre, distributors offices ,core branches, zonal offices are decorated by the orange color with Banglalink logo. 3. 11 CSR Activities Banglalink remained committed to play its role as a responsible corporate citizen to contribute in making a difference in the socio-economic development of bangladesh. The company undertakes several projects each year for the welfare of community and preservation of the environment. These initiatives consolidated banglalink’s reputation as forerunner in the corporate social activity. anglalink social activities include the following initiatives: Cox’s bazar sea beach cleaning project and international coastal cleanup day Since 2005, banglalink has been cleaning world’s longest sea beach, cox’s bazar. Under this project, 26 female workers clean the 3 km long beach 363 days a year in 2 shifts. In addition to that there is another team of 7 male workers who support to move all heavy dirt and rubbish from the beach. banglalink has been truly making a difference in preventing environmental pollution at cox’s bazar beach and preserving the environment.
Moreover, banglalink is educating and generating awareness among the visiting tourists and encouraging them to join hands in making a difference. This initiative is considered as one of the iconic csr activities in bangladesh, which has a far reaching sustainable impact in the community. Donating blankets at orphanages Since 2009, to help underprivileged children, banglalink has taken this special initiative to distribute blankets among the orphan children of many orphanages around the country- which are in great need for it during winter season.
Last year we distributed 5,000 blankets among the destitute children of 101 orphanages across the country. The districts covered were- dhaka, chittagong, khulna, rajshahi, rangpur, barisal, narayanganj, mymensingh, and tangail. Special arrangements for hajj pilgrims at the hajj camp Since 2009, banglalink took several initiatives to provide free services to hajj pilgrims at hajj camp where they gather to depart for hajj. this includes arranging air-conditioned busses for pilgrims, water distribution zone, phone counter for making free phone calls, free charging units etc. ther than these, to further aid the pilgrims, banglalink provided them with trolleys, signage, information through vas ; a hajj guide booklet to facilitate quick and easy understanding of hajj rituals. Water ; date distribution and iftar at orphanage during ramadan Since 2009, banglalink distributed free water and dates for the fasting people who got stranded at major traffic points of selected metro cities around iftar time during ramadan. anglalink also took initiative of arranging regular iftar ; dinner in different orphanages around the country. In 2011, we provided water ; dates to almost 85,000 people and iftar and dinner for more than 12,000 orphans of 123 orphanages across the country. IT support for underprivileged children: computer lab set up To remove the curse of illiteracy from society and to enlighten the students who will become the hope of tomorrow, banglalink has successfully set up computer labs in 270 underprivileged schools at different parts of the country in 011. The computer labs are equipped with pc, laptop, internet modem, multimedia projector, speakers and microphone. Now, the newly established computer lab is offering them a ray of hope. If anyone just walks into some of these computer labs, a buzz of activities can be seen in an otherwise unexciting establishment of learning, and stories of lives being transformed can be witnessed. This is how banglalink is ’making difference’ and in the process aiding the government in achieving its vision of ’digital bangladesh’.
