Lip A

Project report on: Corporate

social responsibility of Grameenphone

SAIMA ISLAM-

08-11039-2

SUBMITTED TO: Md. k. Enamul Haque Lecturer, School of Business Principle of Management

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITYBANGLADESH

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF GrameenPhone Limited

Letter of Transmittal 5th April, 2009 Mr. k. ENAMUL HAQUE Lecturer, School of Business Principle of management American International University Bangladesh Subject: Letter of transmittal Dear Sir, It is a great pleasure for us that we have the opportunity to submit the report on the “grameenphone” We have tried our level best to put meticulous effort for the preparation of this report. Any shortcomings or fault may arise as our unintentional mistake. We will wholeheartedly welcome any clarification and suggestion about any view and conception disseminated through this report. Thanking you--------Sincerely yours Saima Islam Roksana Alam Md.Hasanur Rashid Rahman Tasmia Md. Masudur Rahman

Acknowledgement First, we would like to express our gratitude to Almighty Allah for giving us the strength to perform by responsibilities and complete the report within the stipulated time. We are deeply indebted to my Faculty Advisors, Lecturer, for their whole-hearted advise. It would be very difficult to prepare this paper up to this mark without guidance. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all officers and staffs of customer care Department, GrameenPhone Limited especially Mr. Maqsudul Anam, Mr. Shahidul Islam Chowfhury, Mr. Asek Jahan, Mr. Shaon Azad for lending their helping hand whenever seemed necessary.

Last but not least, we like to thank to our parents because only for them where we are. we would like to convey my gratitude to friends good for advice, suggestions, inspiration and support.

Table of Contents Content:

Page No.

1.Introduction

5

2.Objectives

5

3.Methilogy

6

4.Limitations

7

5.Company Orientation

7

6.Grameenphone-Today

7

7.The Vision and Value of Grameenphone

10

8.Their Purpose

11

9.Their Strategy

11

10.Organization Chart

12

11.GP Organization and Management

13

13.Corporate Social Responsibility of GP

18

14.Findings and Recommendations

23

15.Conclusion

24

16.References

24

Introduction The telecom sector has taken a radical turn over the years, which has brought a significant change in the communal custom of the nation. With a view to facilitate the country with a state-of-theart communication network through an effective and broad network setup, mobile service soon has become a staple item in the day-to-day lives of the countrymen, and has proliferated itself at an enormous speed. 9

GrameenPhone was established to provide high quality GSM cellular service at affordable price in Bangladesh, with a vision of becoming the leading provider of telecom services all over Bangladesh with satisfied customers, shareholders and enthusiastic employees. It is a joint venture establishment, with Telenor (Norway) having 51% of the shares along with Grameen Telecom (Bangladesh), Marubeni (Japan), and Gonofone (USA) holding 35%, 9.5%, and 4.5% of shares respectively. GrameenPhone started its journey toward being the number one cellular telecom company on March 26, 1997 providing cellular telecommunication. Within the short period of operation, GP has earned the market leadership through the highest number of subscribers and value-added services. Striving to be the leader of telecommunication in the country, GP had undertaken excessive promotions and innovative products meeting the market demand and quality service and in the process has earned a strong Brand reputation.

OBJECTIVES The general objective of the paper is to know CSR section of GrameenPhone Limited, its formation some other

aspects. Also to find the underlying facts about CSR in

GrameenPhone Limited. Apart from these the project objectives are:  To give a detailed description of the host organization (GrameenPhone Limited), its business, performance and its organizational aspects.

 To provide a clear insight about the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of GrameenPhone Limited.

 To

investigate, the mobile telecommunication industry of Bangladesh and its current

and future posture, with CSR .

METHODOLOGY The project is mainly based on analyzing a leading mobile phone operator and its CSR department in Bangladesh. The heart of the project would be qualitative analysis. Personal observation, judgment and evaluation expertise would direct the success of this project. One important focus of this project is to identify improvements CSR operations of GrameenPhone Limited. Identification of problems is presented in the findings and it is followed by some recommendations to improve the process of CSR operations and increase operational efficiency. Both primary data and secondary information would be used to prepare the report. The sources are: Primary sources: 

Primary sources of information would be open and through discussion with the concerned of some officers and executives working with GrameenPhone Limited.

Secondary sources:



CSR of the department



Extensive Web search



Different journals, periodicals corporate social responsibility issues grameenphone

LIMITATIONS 

The report deals with the corporate social responsibility of GP Ltd. from within the organization. It would be better for the project if comparative analysis with other telecommunication service providers were done. 11



Some process of the CSR operations are deemed confidential, and hence, cannot be used in this report..



CSR is a new concept being practiced in organizations sector of Bangladesh.After its rapid expansion in the last few years, better arrangements for new idea incorporation and suggestions for improvements could be managed in GP’s early years of operation.

Company Orientation With a population of more than 140 million people, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The infrastructure for telecommunications is poor, however. The public fixed network, operated by the Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board (BTTB) is inadequate to meet the demand. With fewer than 700,000 fixed phone lines, current penetration remains below 0.5% and the distribution is heavily skewed, with roughly 80% of the service concentrated in the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong. In 1993, the Bangladesh government granted an exclusive mobile cellular license to Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (PBTL). By late 1997, when authorities ended the monopoly of Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited, it had sold just 4,000 cell-phone subscriptions. Since then, new operators have entered the market and the number of mobile phones has surpassed 35, 00,000 by Dec 2005.

-Today

Grameenphone is now the leading telecommunications service provider in the country with more than 20 million subscribers as of June 2008. Presently, there are about 30 million telephone users in the country, of which, a little over one million are fixed-phone users and the rest mobile phone subscribers. Starting its operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh, Grameenphone has come a long way. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (62%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway with mobile phone operations in 12 other countries, and Grameen Telecom Corporation (38%), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank. Over the years, Grameenphone has always been a pioneer in introducing new products and services in the local market. GP was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh when it launched its services in March 1997.The technological know-how and managerial expertise of Telenor has been instrumental in setting up such an international standard mobile phone operation in Bangladesh. Being one of the pioneers in developing the GSM service in Europe, Telenor has also helped to transfer this knowledge to the local employees over the years. The company has so far invested more than BDT 10,700 crore (USD 1.6 billion) to build the network infrastructure since its inception in 1997. It has invested over BDT 3,100 crore (USD 450 million) during the first three quarters of 2007 while BDT 2,100 crore (USD 310 million) was invested in 2006 alone. Grameenphone is also one the largest taxpayers in the country, having contributed nearly BDT 7000 crore in direct and indirect taxes to the Government Exchequer over the years. Of this amount, over BDT 2000 crore was paid in 2006 alone. Since its inception in March 1997, Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in the country with over 10,000 base stations in more than 5700 locations. Presently, nearly 98 percent of the country's population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network. Grameenphone was also the first operator to introduce the pre-paid service in September 1999. It established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced value-added services such as VMS, SMS, fax and data transmission services, international roaming service, WAP, SMS-based push-pull services, EDGE, personal ring back tone and many other products and services. The entire Grameenphone network is also EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing access to highspeed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area. There are currently nearly 3 million EDGE/GPRS users in the Grameenphone network. Grameenphone nearly doubled its subscriber base during the initial years while the growth was much faster during the later years. It ended the inaugural year with 18,000 customers, 30,000 by the end of 1998, 60,000 in 1999, 193,000 in 2000, 471,000 in 2001,

775,000 in 2002, 1.16 million in 2003, 2.4 million in 2004, 5.5 million in 2005, 11.3 million in 2006, and it ended 2007 with 16.5 million customers. From the very beginning, Grameenphone placed emphasis on providing good after-sales services. In recent years, the focus has been to provide after-sales within a short distance from where the customers live. There are now more than 600 GP Service Desks across the country covering nearly all upazilas of 61 districts. In addition, there are 72 Grameenphone Centers in all the divisional cities and they remain open from 8am-7pm every day including all holidays. GP has generated direct and indirect employment for a large number of people over the years. The company presently has more than 5,000 full and temporary employees. Another 100,000 people are directly dependent on Grameenphone for their livelihood, working for the Grameenphone dealers, retailers, scratch card outlets, suppliers, vendors, contractors and others. In addition, the Village Phone Program, also started in 1997, provides a good incomeearning opportunity to more than 210,000 mostly women Village Phone operators living in rural areas. The Village Phone Program is a unique initiative to provide universal access to telecommunications service in remote, rural areas. Administered by Grameen Telecom Corporation, it enables rural people who normally cannot afford to own a telephone to avail the service while providing the VP operators an opportunity to earn a living. The Village Phone initiative was given the "GSM in the Community" award at the global GSM Congress held in Cannes, France in February 2000. Grameenphone was also adjudged the Best Joint Venture Enterprise of the Year at the Bangladesh Business Awards in 2002. Grameenphone was presented with the GSM Association's Global Mobile Award for ‘Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development' at the 3GSM World Congress held in Singapore, in October 2006, for its Community Information Center (CIC) project, and for its HealthLine Service project at the 3GSM World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, in February 2007. Grameenphone considers its employees to be one of its most important assets. GP has an extensive employee benefit scheme in place including Gratuity, Provident Fund, Group Insurance, Family Health Insurance, Transportation Facility, Day Care Centre, Children's Education Support, Higher Education Support for employees, in-house medical support and other initiatives.

November 28, 1996 Grameenphone was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications

March 26, 1997 Grameenphone launched its service on the Independence Day of Bangladesh

November 5, 2006 After almost 10 years of operation, Grameenphone has over 10 million subscribers

September 20, 2007 Grameenphone announces 15 million subscribers.

The vision and value of grameenphone in their own words: We are practical. Everything we produce should be easy to understand and use. Because we never forget we are trying to make our customers' lives easier. We are creative. We bring energy and imagination to our work. We want to be a partner in the development of our community. We are passionate about our business, customers and our country. Everything we set out to do should work. If it does not, we are there to put things right. We are about delivery, not over promising - actions not words. We acknowledge and respect the local culture. We are respectful and professional in regard to all our interactions, both internally and externally. We are open, helpful and frienobal Mobile Award Again Marking another successful year, Grameenphone ended 2007 with more than 16.5 million subscribers, up from 10.8 million in December 2006. Grameenphone has played a leading role in increasing the country’s tele-

penetration rate from less than one percent in 1997 to over 27 percent as of May 2008.

THEIR PURPOSE GrameenPhone has a dual purpose: to ensure the economic return on its investments and to contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh where telecommunications can play a critical role. This is why GrameenPhone in collaboration with Grameen Telecom is aiming to place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic uplift of those villages.

THEIR STRATEGY GrameenPhone’s basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. GrameenPhone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. The intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions but the basic strategy of cell to cell coverage is applied throughout phone network.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

Grameenphone Limited Type Founded

Limited 1997

Celebration Point, Road # 113 Headquarters A, Plot 3 & 5, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh Key people

Oddvar Hesjedal, CEO

Industry

Telecommunication

Products

Telephony, EDGE, GSM

Revenue

891Million USD[1]

Net income

▲ 6,403.8 Million Taka[2]

Employees

5052[3]

Website

www.grameenphone.com

Accordingly 3 main divisions were identified as the line organization part of the company. These are:

•

Technical Division

•

Sales and Marketing Division and

•

Customer Relation Division.

Besides there are:

•

Finance Division.

•

Personnel and Organization Division.

Technical Division Technical division is split into two parts:

•

Roll -Out Division: Responsible for building the network.

•

Operations Divisions: Responsible for operation and maintenance of the network.

Marketing & Sales Division In order to carry out smooth operation of activities across Sales and Marketing division some changes in the Organizational chart has been made. Sales Department As its name suggests this department involves in the selling procedure of GP and thus enjoys the responsibility of direct interface with the customers. Marketing Department Marketing department’s activities are converted in to two types of activity. They are Market Research and Development and Market communication. Market Research and Development Market Research and development Department (MRD) is a vital part of GrameenPhone in terms of its importance and role. The central innovative department of GrameenPhone is MRD. This department facilitates communication between the different departments about existing and new products / packages of GrameenPhone. MRD also manages and co-ordinates information about different products. MRD evaluate the possibilities and develop new products. Market Communication The functions of marketing department are manifold. However the main function can be articulated as to develop product and promote Concept building for promotional activities. It includes advertisement in the leasing dailies in the most effective manner within a given budget, to arrange out-door advertisement, hoarding, promotions of gift items like dairy, calendar etc.

Customer Relations Division Customer Care Customer care is making the bridge between the customers and company. Besides Sales division it is the only department who deals customers directly. Sales department procures the business and Customer Care keeps the business with the company for long period. The Workforce: There are 135 personnel working under the supervision of one Additional General Manager and one Deputy General Manager. Purpose The purpose of the department encompasses the following.

•

To receive queries

•

To solve queries relating to GP service.

•

To provide all sort of information.

•

To solve any problem regarding network.

To ensure smooth operation Customer Care is providing services from two perspectives. •

Over HOTLINES

•

Through Information Center Administration Division

The term "Administration" is associated with misconceptions and controversies. Especially in the context of Bangladesh, it represents a bureaucratic organizational set up with typical characteristics of red-tapism, centralization of power and authority, favoritism, nepotism & so on.

Administration Division of GrameenPhone up with a view to breaks out from the socalled conventional system of bureaucracy and strives to be different in all respects.

20

Human Resources Department Human Resources (HR) Department, an important department of Administration Division plays very vital role in the total functioning of GP. Employee recruitment, selection, transfer, promotion, training, performance appraisal - all these are conducted by HR division. The informal structure of HR according to its functions can be classified into three main categories they are: •

Human Resource Management (HRM)

•

Human Resource Development (HRD)

•

Human Resource management Information system (HR- MIS)

Function of HR HR Management functions: Manpower planning is an important function of HR management section. Two major activities in this function are: • Planning and forecasting the organizations short tern and long term human resource requirements. •

Analyzing the jobs in the organization and determining skills and abilities that are needed. Finance Division

Finance division comprises three departments namely, Information systems, Finance and Procurement.

Finance Department Department of finance is an integral part of finance division. The main role of this department is defined in under:

•

Attends to financial planning and control

•

Budget and budgetary control

•

Provide management information

•

Development of system and method

•

Ensure proper internal control over the company

•

Analysis of financial statement for future action

•

Information flow for inter-department and external using

•

Co-ordination with external organization and internal department.

Information System (IT) Division IT is responsible to manage the following areas•

NT Server/Workstations 21

•

Alpha Server System

•

Mail/Internet System

•

PABX Systems.

Information Department This is a department responsible for information flow both within and outside the organization. External Co-Ordination & Legal: This division is responsible for booking after the regulatory obligation and legal finding of the Company. Now only two people are in this division excluding the director. They look after the legal issue that continuously arises handling both external and internal legal matters.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF GRAMEEN PHONE CSR at Grameenphone

Every step counts "Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..." - Chinese proverb At Grameenphone, we live by the statement "Development is a journey, not a destination." Our work is not just about ensuring connectivity; it is about connecting with people and building relationships, based on trust, with our subscribers, business partners, employees, shareholders, as well as the wider community. We have always believed that good development is good business. While we maintain our business focus, taking the nation forward remains our top priority. Thus our relationship with Bangladesh is built on a partnership which strives to achieve common economic and social goals. Corporate social responsibility, as we see it, is a ‘complementary' combination of ethical and responsible corporate behavior, as well as a commitment towards generating greater good for the society by addressing the development needs of the country.

Our core strategy in this area is to be Bangladesh's partner in developing the country, particularly in its promise, as a United Nations Millennium Declaration signatory, to meet the eight targets known as the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. We have consolidated our social investment initiatives in four core areas related to the Millennium Development Goals namely, • • • •

Poverty alleviation, Healthcare, Empowerment Education.

We are witness to the endless possibilities and the strength of the people of Bangladesh. We believe every step matters in the journey of hope we are taking together as a nation. With every connection we provide and with every opportunity we create in the community at large, we see the emergence of new possibilities. The Village Phone ladies lead us towards a silent yet powerful social revolution. The indomitable spirit of acid survivors inspires us, while the confidence of intellectually challenged athletes shows us how to make the word ‘impossible' obsolete. Every step inspires us to move forward and takes us one step closer to our destination. Every step counts.

Every dream counts - Scholarship Program

Today’s children are tomorrow’s gilded reality. Education opens up unlimited

possibilities for them and builds the foundation for a prosperous future. But in reality, 65 percent of our people live in the darkness of illiteracy, 40 percent of our children have never gone to school, and 93 percent of primary school-going students will never progress beyond the primary education level. Poverty is the main cause behind this. Grameen Shikkha Scholarship Management Program has made it possible for the bright but underprivileged students to realize their educational endeavor. Grameenphone is honored to be participating in that program. Launch Date: December 2003 How it Works: Grameenphone, in collaboration with Grameen Shikkha, an organization of Grameen Bank Family, provides financial assistance to 100 bright but underprivileged students through a scholarship fund at different academic levels annually. Of these scholarships, 60% are for female students. The fund is being managed directly by Grameen Shikkha. Project Milestone: → Currently, 66 scholarships are being managed under GP’s fund. → By end of 2008, the total scholarship number will reach

Every sight counts - Free Eye Camps

Bangladesh has the highest number of blind people in terms of its population. There are about 750,000 adults and 40,000 children, who live blind due to cataract or other ocular diseases that could have easily been cured with timely and proper intervention.

The major challenge in eliminating blindness in Bangladesh is reaching the rural and underserved population as the majority of country's eye-care facilities are based in the big cities. 80 percent of Bangladeshis living in rural areas are almost completely deprived of all eye-care services. Bangladesh is a signatory of the VISION 2020: Right to Sight, a global initiative jointly launched in 1999 by WHO and IAPB to eradicate blindness from the world by the year 2020. Hence, with a mission to combat blindness, Grameenphone, in partnership with Sightsavers International, organizes free eye-care camps in different parts of the country where eye-care services are not readily available. Launch Date: July 2007 How it Works Grameenphone, jointly with Sightsavers International, organizes the eye camps and provides associated actual cost for organizing the camps and also provides surgery costs which includes transportation and follow-up visit cost of patients. Project Milestone: → Around 18,732 patients received free eye-care support and 2,206 cataract surgeries being performed so far. → 12 eye camps have been conducted in different parts of Bangladesh.

Poverty Alleviation

Progress through Connectivity

Around the world, development is attributed to myriad factors. From education to stable governance, hundreds of issues are directly linked with the process of growth. Curiously, connectivity has never been canonized in the same vein and has often been viewed as a peripheral tool rather than a genuine factor towards development. That perspective must change as we, at Grameenphone, understand the essential correlation between connectivity and development. We realize that when a rural farmer purchases a SIM card, he has purchased more than just a means of communication. What he has actually done, is to open up a gateway of hope and possibilities. The ‘mere’ SIM card offers the farmer a level of connectivity that can steer him out of poverty. But things have not always been this way. For decades, our people were deprived of access to convenient low cost communications. From the ashes of those problems arose mobile telephony and Bangladesh has never been the same since. As the pioneers of mobile telephony in Bangladesh, we have connected more than 20 million people across the country, many of whom previously had little or no access to such communication. The ripple effects of such connectivity can be felt in the larger picture of development in Bangladesh. Access to information transforms lives every day and generates business opportunities through direct and indirect employment. This is where connectivity meets development. The village phone helps to bring both social and economic empowerment to the rural women as they take center stage in earning a living and setting an inspiring example. Connectivity also brings with it entrepreneurship, such as setting up Community Information Centers (CICs). It drives people to invest in technology and bridge the digital divide, thus helping both individuals and the communities along the way towards development. Connectivity also assists towards making informed business decisions as well as reducing the dependency on middlemen. CellBazaar – an electronic marketplace – facilitates traders with necessary market information and thus contributes towards business growth. In connecting the unconnected, we have contributed towards bringing the urban to the rural and the rural to the urban, generating employment, increasing GDP, empowered millions and generally making life easier. In our march towards development, no one is left behind and every day we hope to keep connecting the unconnected.

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION In this chapter some specific recommendations will be presented based on the project findings. GrameenPhone Limited deeply believed that some improvements can result in higher operational efficiency and improved productivity of the department. The findings and recommendations are somewhat illustrated for the ease of understanding of the readers. Findings are organized according to the chapter sequence of the project.

Findings: The existing process of CSR is a very complicated and critical process. The activities that falls under this are very lengthy in terms of time and operational aspects. The measure of time required for each activity time schedule is constructed .The great advertisement on CSR of grameenphone creates a vast interest among people .This an very appreciated steps like a developing country like us. Day-by-day grameenphone is making our life easier through this technology.

Recommendat ions:

Regarding the findings of the Report and Reconciliation Unit, the following recommendation is suggested: The individual dealers, distributors and agents of GrameenPhone had provided certain recommendations that they believed if implemented would result in increase of GP’s service performance and thereby influence customer satisfaction through their corporate social responsibility(CSR) as well as confidence in GP. Some important and relevant recommendations are listed below. Some of these recommendations would be to improve the general situation: 100

1. GP employees should be more properly trained .

2. More workshops should be conducted to educate customers. 3. The existing infrastructure of GP should be developed. This is in order to meet the rising demands of its growing customer base. 4. Communication between GP and society should be made easier . 5. Another major recommendation from dealers operating outside city limits is that they believe that providing more promotional material will help improve CSR section. it needs Vvast use of media for addressing the mass population. GP should provide more gifts towards customers like their HEALTHLINE . to show the customer that they care.

Conclusion: We are tried our level best to find out the total scenario of corporate social responsibility of grameenphone. By our research we have found facts and general recommendation on this part of the organization. We also have found some past and recent history’s of grameenphone from various journal, books, newspaper and internets. We also have found some real scenario from GP like limitations of this research.

References  . India: Irwin/ Mc Graw-Hill, 1996.  Tersin, Richard J Principles of Inventory and Material Management 2nd ed. New York: Wiley & sons, 1982.  Peterson, Rein and Silver, Edward A Decision Systems for Inventory Management and Production Planning, New York: Neal –Schumen Publisher, 1979.

 Malhotra N. K. Marketing Research – An applied Orientation. New Jersey: Prentice Hall International, Inc. 2000.  Silver, Edward A, and Peterson Rein. Decision Systems for Inventory Management and Planning, 2nd Ed. New York: Wiley & Sons. 1985.  Telenor Article on GP Revenue  Mobile Phone Subscribers in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission  Economist article, March 9,2006  Asia Week, June 21,2001  GSM World press release17 October 2006, About Grameenphone section bdnews24.com  http://www.bauani.org/thinkings/2008/08/bdnews24-grameenphone-fined-tk250.html  http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=13349 Telegeography Article  External links • • •

Project home page Iqbal Quadir on The impact one cell phone can make on a village... TedTalks, July 2005 Iqbal Qadir on Grameenphone

 Grameenphone case study