Term paper on HRM Practices of GrameenPhone

Introduction:
GrameenPhone is a dynamic and leading countrywide GSM communication solutions provider. It is a joint venture company between Telenor and Grameen. Grameenphone Ltd., the largest telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh, received its operating license in November 1996 and started its service from March 26, 1997. Now, after 13years of successful operations, Grameenphone is the largest mobile phone service provider in Bangladesh, with more than 28 million subscribers as of November 2008. In this research, we want to know the customer perception, satisfaction of the service quality of GRAMEENPHONE.

GrameenPhone profile:
GP is the number 1 mobile operator with 44% market share (September, 2010). Number of subscribers stands at 2865 mn (Sep'10). For 2010 up to end 03, total revenues were SOT 55.1 ho versus R0T48.6 hr for same comparable period in 2009, whereas 525 for 2010 up to end 0.3 was SOT 523 against BDT 537 for the same period in 2009. For the fiscal year ended December 2009, GP generated total revenues of BDT 6S.3Bn (030942.8mn) and EBITDA of ROT 37.2Bn (USD 537.lmn), representing an EBITDA margin of 57% Q2'10 ARPU stands at DOT 241 (US $ 3.47), ARPM BDT0..S3 (US$ 0.0119) which were BDT 0.85 (US$0.0122) respectively in the same period of 2009. Initial capex cycle of geographical coverage build Out complete. Subscriber churn levels at 1% per month in 2010; amongst the lowest in emerging Asian markets. One of the largest ISPs in Bangladesh with approximately 4.5mn active subscribers. Its network covers over 99.14% of the population in all 64 districts of Bangladesh and 88.84% of the total land area, and the network infrastructure included around 114,000 TRXs in more than 7,200 base stations. Grameenphone operates on both OSM 900 & 1800 bands with a bandwidth of 22MHz. The recent allocation of 7,4M1-lz to OP in addition to the 14.6MHz it already has will help to decrease the pressure on GPs network. OP has 11300 base stations in over 6500 locations across Bangladesh.

Overview:
Grameen Phone (GP) started operations in 1997. In 2009, GP offered 69,439,400 ordinary shares at BDT 10 (US$. 014) each, in addition to a BDT 60 (US$ 0.871 premium, totaling BDT 4.86 bn (US$ 70.lSmn) & got Listed on OSE & CSE.

Quickly after its inception in 1997, GP established itself as the leading mobile operator in the country by providing superior coverage and better network quality perception than its competitors. In the last 4 years, market dominance of GP has slowly eroded through intense competition, falling from 63% in 2005 to about 44% (September 2010). GP's AR?U has teen constantly declining, as mobile voice tariffs continue to fall and as greater numbers of subscribers come from lower income groups. From USD 5.4 in Q1'07, the ARPU has come down to USD 3.03 in 03'10 (02 2010 USD 3.47). GP was the first mobile operator to introduce prepaid mobile connections in Bangladesh in 1999. Apart from internet services through EDGE, Crameenphone is also the only medium through which Cell Bazaar operates a service where people can buy and sell products through a mobile. It also operates a telemedicine service called Health line, It provides a host of other VAS services including ringtones, welcome tunes, SMS-MMS, instant messaging, sports-news updates, stock market updates, electronic ticketing service etc. OP plans to introduce mobile banking services in the country once the regulations are in place.

Shareholder Profiles:
Telenor-Ownership: 55.80% million mobile subscribers worldwide. World's seventh largest mobile service provider in terms of subscribers. Have operations in 13 countries. Strong subscription growth, particularly in Asian operations. Named the sector leader in mobile telecommunications by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (in which year). Revenues 2009: USD 17.15 bn Workforce 2009: 40000 Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and headquartered in Norway Telenor AS is the leading telecommunications company of Norway listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of USD 9.0 bn as of November 12, 2008 In addition to Norway and Bangladesh, Telenor has interests in mobile telephony companies in Sweden, Denmark, Hungary Russia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Thailand, Malaysia. Pakistan and Serbia with more than 150 million mobile subscribers worldwide as of September 30, 2008 Grameen Telecom-Ownership: 34.2% Grameen Telecom is a nonprofit company affiliated with Noble award winning Grameen Bank Operates "Village Phone" program to over 297,079 (Q2. 2010) rural. Head quartered in Ohaka, Bangladesh. Grameen Telecom ("GTC') is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh, working in collaboration with Grameen Bank, winner of the Noble Peace Prize in 2006, along with Professor Muhammad Yunus GE's mandate is to provide, easy access to GSM cellular services in rural Bangladesh and create new opportunities for income generation through self-employment by providing villagers, mostly poor, rural women, with access to modern information and communication-based technologies

Definition of Recruitment:
Recruitment and selection refers to the chain and sequence of activities pertaining to recruitment and selection of employable candidates and job seekers for an organization. Every enterprise, business, start-up and entrepreneurial firm has some well-defined employment and recruitment policies and hiring procedures. The human resources department of large organizations, businesses, government offices and multilateral organizations are generally vested with the responsibilities of employee recruitment and selection Recruitment involves the utilization of organizational practices to influence the number and types of individuals who are willing to apply for job vacancies (Rynes, 1991; Rynes & Cable, 2003). Recruitment can focus on the internal labor market (i.e., pursuing staff already employed by the organization) or the external labor market (i.e., pursuing applicants from outside the organization). Internal candidates can be recruited through internal job postings, word-of-mouth, or internship programs." (Casper)

Definition of employee selection:

The process of interviewing and evaluating candidates for a specific job and selecting an individual for employment based on certain criteria. Employee selection can range from a very simple process to a very complicated process depending on the firm hiring and the position. Certain employment laws such as anti-discrimination laws must be obeyed during employee selection.

Recruitment Needs:
To plan for the future recruitment needs of a organization, hiring managers need to consider the future, i.e. changes in mission, strategic goals and objectives, organization demand, new legislation or economic conditions. Human Resources and hiring managers can use an organizational strategic plan as an input to the recruitment needs assessment process. The aim of the recruitment needs assessment is to ensure that people with the required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are hired in the numbers required by the organization in order to meet organizational goals and objectives. The recruitment needs assessment process consists of five distinct stages: Determining the knowledge, skills, and abilities required Determining how many people will be needed Determining which skills are available internally

Determining when the people will be needed Closing the gap between the current and required staffing levels

Objectives of Recruitment:
Support the organization ability to acquire, retain and develop the best talent and skills. Determine present and future manpower requirements of the organization in coordination with planning and job analysis activities. Obtain the number and quality of employees that can be selected in order to help the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. Create a pool of candidates so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool Attract and encourage more and more candidates to apply in the organization Increase the pool of candidates at minimum cost. Acts as a link between the employers and the job seekers Infuse fresh blood at all levels of the organization Meet the organization's legal and social obligations regarding the composition of its workforce. Increase the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques

Advantages of good recruitment:

Allocating appropriate time and resources to select the right person for the role is likely to have many positive effects: Good employees have a higher retention rate High performing employees provide superior client service generating higher client satisfaction More capable employees are confident and able to cope with multiple tasks and adapt more quickly to new roles. Capable employees work well in a team and need less attention from management. Once they commence work they will require fewer hours of hands-on supervision. High performing employees will be interested in ongoing learning and self development Good employees will most likely have more and better ideas that improve productivity and work practices Good employees can inspire and develop other staff

Undesirable consequences of poor recruitment:

Poor recruitment choices (i.e., poor person-job fi t) can have a range of undesirable consequences for the organisation and the worker including: Higher rates of turnover Reduced performance effectiveness Lowered job satisfaction Reduced work motivation

Types of Recruitment:
There are two types of recruitment 1. Internal 2. External Internal Recruitment - is a recruitment which takes place within the concern or organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily available to an organization. Internal sources are primarily three - Transfers, promotions and Re-employment of ex-employees. Re-employment of ex-employees is one of the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited and appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when ex-employees provide unsolicited applications also. Internal sources are primarily 3 Transfers Promotions (through Internal Job Postings) and Re-employment of ex-employees External Recruitment - External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from outside the organization. External sources are external to a concern. But it involves lot of time and money. The external sources of recruitment include - Employment at factory gate, advertisements, employment exchanges, employment agencies, educational institutes, labour contractors, recommendations etc. Advertisement Employment Exchanges Employment Agencies Educational Institutions

Advantages and disadvantages of internal and external recruitment:

External recruitment ADVANTAGES 1. Outside people bring in new ideas

2. Larger pool of workers from which to find the best candidate 3. People have a wider range of experience two possible benefits of external recruitment over internal recruitment of a company 1. Introduction of new ideas, approaches and views, not entrenched in company politics and issues. 2. No problem of promoting one worker over others risking friction & resentment. Internal recruitment DISADVANTAGES 1. 2. 3. 4. Limits the number of potential applicants No new ideas can be introduced from outside the business May cause resentment amongst candidates not appointed Creates another vacancy which needs to be fille

Employee Selection process:

Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save time and money. Proper screening of candidates takes place during selection procedure. All the potential candidates who apply for the given job are tested. The Employee selection Process takes place in following orderPreliminary Interviews- It is used to eliminate those candidates who do not meet the minimum eligibility criteria laid down by the organization. The skills, academic and family background, competencies and interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview. Preliminary interviews are less formalized and planned than the final interviews. Application blanks- The candidates who clear the preliminary interview are required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates such as details about age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job, experience, etc. Written Tests- Various written tests conducted during selection procedure are aptitude test, intelligence test, reasoning test, personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively assess the potential candidate. They should not be biased. Employment Interviews- It is a one to one interaction between the interviewer and the potential candidate. It is used to find whether the candidate is best suited for the required job or not. But such interviews consume time and money both. Moreover the competencies of the candidate cannot be judged. Such interviews may be biased at times. Such interviews should be conducted properly. No distractions should be there in room.

Medical examination- Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism. Appointment Letter- A reference check is made about the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal appointment letter.

Ownership Structure:
The shareholders of Grameenphone contribute their unique, in-depth experience in both telecommunications and development. It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor (55.8%), the largest telecommunications service provider in Norway with mobile phone operations in 12 other countries, and Grameen Telecom Corporation (34.2% ), a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank. The other 10% shares belong to general retail and institutional investors. 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 yea

Background of the study:

Coming up with innovative service is easier than making subscribers aware of services. Hence through this report we have tried to analyze the present situation of the cellular phone industry in Bangladesh and GPs position there in, find out the services that Grameenphone is presently providing to its valued customers & their satisfaction level is currently the largest mobile telecommunications operator in Bangladesh with 20.3 mm subscribers, as of June 30, 2008, representing a 46.5% market share of telecom industry that is out of every 10 users 4 belongs to GP. So grameenphones marketing strategy should be Profitable growth & expanding market share through satisfying existing customers. We have drawn some valuable recommendation for GP to be the steady market leader even in future in this competitive market of Digital Bangladesh.

Objectives of the study:

To determine the level of customer perception regarding service quality of GP To determine the level of satisfaction regarding different products of GP To determine the level of satisfaction regarding different services of GP To evaluate the reasons behind dissatisfaction regarding products and services of GP

Grameenphone Limited

Type Founded

Limited 1997

Celebration Point, Road # Headquarters 113 A, Plot 3 & 5, Gulshan,Dhaka, Bangladesh Key people Industry Products Revenue Net income Employees Website Tore Johnse, CEO Mobile Telecommunication Telephony, EDGE, GSM 891Million USD 6,403.8 Million Taka 5052 www.grameenphone.com

Vision:
Were here to help (This vision crystallizes customer focus as the cornerstone of everything they do: helping customers get the full benefit of communications in their daily life. Its official slogan

Mission:
The vision will be achieved by Connecting Bangladesh with ease and care

Being user-friendly Providing value for money Providing simple and timely connections Having a right and understandable process.

Values:
Make it Easy; Keep Promises, Be Inspiring, and Be Respectful We're practical. We don't over complicate things. Everything we produce should be easy to understand and use. No waste. No jargon. Because we never forget we're trying to make customers' lives easier. For our customers, making it easy will be addressing some very fundamental customer needs. They need simplicity. Solutions and services that are easy to buy, easy to use and are built to meet their needs. Solutions and services that work well. Everything we set out to do should work, or if you don't get it, we're here to help. We're about delivery, not over promising - actions not words. For our customers, this will mean they can build trust in us. The solution or service works - if not, we are there to make it work. They need us to deliver on time, to expected levels of quality, and at a fair price. They need us to be strong on action, not on fine words! For employees everywhere, this means... We follow through. We never launch something new before it works as it should work. We arrive on time and we deliver on time. We commit to concrete, realistic promises to our customers - and deliver on our promises

We are creative. We strive to bring energy into the things we do. Everything we produce should look good, modern and fresh. We are passionate about our business and customers. For our customers, this will mean they will want to engage with us, will appreciate our innovative and modern approach, will appreciate our future proofed solutions and services, and will acknowledge our category leadership. For

Telenor employees everywhere, this means... that we live up to the challenge and inspire our colleagues and customers ' walk the talk! We must call for creativity at every level, show care, energy and passion. Be fresh and direct, and demonstrate a can-do attitude.

We acknowledge and respect local cultures. We do not impose one formula worldwide. We want to be a part of local communities wherever we operate. We believe loyalty has to be earned. For our customers, this will mean each of them can expect to be treated like an individual. Each of them will feel valued, understood and listened to, and their needs acted upon.

Our Brand:
A connection exists between every person regardless of the distance that separates. And each person is designed to seek out those connections, to stay in touch. Grameenphone serves as that correlating string that connects thousands of people across the country, across the world. It makes the daunting physicality of distance and time trivial. And thus it bring people together, holding their dreams and hopes, joys and sorrows, helping them stay close. This power to connect all, eliminating all differences, is the power of Grameenphone the power to create magic for every common man, the magic of love, the magic of closeness.

Smile
The Grameenphone Smile prepaid connection now gives you more freedom, more opportunities and more reasons to smile!! Talk to all your Grameenphone friends at only Tk. 0.49/min in the special hour and only at Tk. 1.50/min at other peak and offpeakhours. You can also call other operator numbers at only Tk. 2.00/min. There is also the super off peak hour which allows you to make GP-GP calls at Tk. 0.49/min, and other operators at Tk.1.00/min. SMS rates are BDT 0.50 per SMS to FnF numbers and BDT 1.00 to other GP-GP and other operator numbers

Xplore
Xplore is a postpaid connection and is available with Mobile to Mobile with BTCL connectivity. BTCL incoming is absolutely free in Xplore. ISD facility will be

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available if your security deposit is BDT 3000 or you have Bank Guarantee from UCB.

Shohoj
Grameenphone prepaid connection comes with this pre-activated package where you will be able to talk to any operator number at a low, flat rate of Tk 0.79.

Bandhu
This package with the highest number of F&Fs allows you to talk to your near and dear ones at the lowest rate. This package gives you the privilege of calling 7 FnF numbers at Tk 0.49/min. You can calls to all other numbers (Other than the seven FnFs) are BDT 0.99 per minute. SMS rates are BDT 0.50 per SMS to FnF numbers and BDT 1 to other GP-GP and other operator number.

Aapon
You can talk to over 31 million Grameenphone numbers at a very low rate of 49 Paisa per minute. It offers attractive rates at different times of the day to call GP numbers

Baadon
Grameenphone has always strived to help the people to Stay Close by providing them with the products and services that match their needs. This time it has came forward with a special package named "Baadhon" which will be very suitable for the rural population

Mobile Services
Organizational Overview:
Grameenphone Ltd. is a joint venture of two different companies of two different countries. Grameenphone is the largest cellular phone operator in the industry in Bangladesh. The company holds the majority market share and largest subscriber base in the industry. The details of the company are discussed in the later parts

Organizational Structure:
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 11

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 high-speed 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, 16.5 million in 2007 and 20 million customers in 2008. From the very beginning, Grameenphone placed emphasis on providing good aftersales 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 income-earning opportunity to more than 210,000 mostly women Village Phone operators living in rural areas. 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 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.

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Types of Packages
Client Based (Rich & SyncML client) Package:
Rich client supports EDGE/GPRS enabled, high end handsets, where the backup & restore takes place through a wap application downloaded and stored in the handset SyncML client supports EDGE/GPRS enabled, medium handsets, where the backup & restore takes place by synchronizing the phone with the Mobile Backup website. If you are a rich client user, you can do a manual or a scheduled backup Using scheduled backup, you can set the frequency based on which your contents will be backed up automatically You can restore your data on a new handset in the event you lose your existing handset or change your handset. You will be authenticated by the password which you have to enter before restoring the data.

SMS Based Package:

SMS backup supports all type of handset i.e. both EDGE/GPRS enabled and non-enabled handset. For getting and/or restoring the saved contacts through this method the handset need to have Vcard option only.

The items that can be backed up along with the price plans of all 3 categories are given below: Client Based Package SMS Based Package (Supports EDGE/GPRS enabled handset (Supports all EDGE/Nonfor Rich & SyncML client) EDGE enabled Handset) Contact

Packages

Backup Options Contact, SMS, Photos, Backup Options* Videos, Audio, Calendar, Events & Tasks, Notes. Price Plans

Monthly BDT 20 BDT 10 Subscription Fee For EDGE/GPRS enabled handsets, Mobile backup usage has to be carried out with GP Wap browsing New Mobile Backup subscribers having EDGE/GPRS enabled handsets can avail 3 days free internet browsing offer. Prepaid subscribers will enjoy the free internet browsing time from service activation date. Postpaid subscribers will enjoy the free browsing time after 12 A.M. from service activation date and the 3 day free browsing will be shown as discount in the monthly postpaid bill All SMS for Backup and Restore are free of charge Handset dependent service; support of features may vary upon handset type.

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Monthly subscription charge and free 3 days internet browsing offer are subject to change Standard SMS and Data charges applicable. VAT and conditions apply.

New Prepaid Price Plans:

Grameenphone brings you a new prepaid connection only at Tk 149 with a bonus talktime of Tk 50. You will get a bonus talktime of Tk 20 instantly after recharging. This connection, gives you the freedom to choose amongst the three exciting offers Shohoj, Bondhu and Aapon. You also have the option to move into the djuice package. Special packages for new prepaid connections Shohoj Package: Grameenphone prepaid connection comes with this preactivated package where you will be able to talk to any operator number at a low, flat rate of Tk 0.79. You can also send SMS at Tk 1/SMS to any operator ( GP/ others) number.

Time Voice call SMS 24 Hours

GP-GP Tk. 0.79/min Tk. 1.00/SMS

GP-Other Operators Tk. 0.79/min Tk. 1.00/SMS

Bondhu Package: This package with the highest number of F&Fs allows you to talk to your near and dear ones at the lowest rate. This package gives you the privilege of calling 7 FnF numbers at Tk 0.49/min. You can calls to all other numbers (Other than the seven FnFs) are BDT 0.99 per minute. SMS rates are BDT 0.50 per SMS to FnF numbers and BDT 1 to other GP-GP and other operator numbers. Time GP-GP Tk. 0.49/min Tk. 0.99/min Tk. 1.00/SMS Tk. 0.50/SMS GP-Other Operators Not Applicable Tk. 0.99/min Tk. 1.00/SMS Not Applicable

7 FnF (Voice call) Voice Call SMS SMS (7 FnF)

24 Hours 24 Hours

xplore Postpaid:
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xplore the joy of doing more. With the new xplore postpaid, discover the pleasure of doing much more. Packed with a treasure of new features and facilities it keeps you in touch with your loved ones and gives you access to unlimited information and entertainment. xplore postpaid sets you free! To know more follow these links. To get further details or assistance, call 121.

Benefits at a glance:

Post-paid product with BTCL (Local, NWD, ISD and Economy ISD) connectivity Enjoy free incoming call from BTCL. Attractive Start-up Offer with Free VAS No on-net/off net, simple flat and low Tariff Reduced rate on four F&F numbers Economy ISD (012 ) SMS Roaming Breakfast News Pre activated EDGE Service GSM features (Caller ID, Call divert, Call barring, Call Hold, and Call waiting) Wide collection of value added service (SMS, EDGE, Welcome Tune, Voice Mail, Voice SMS) International Roaming facility Flexible credit policy Pay your bills from anywhere using FlexiLoad Monthly 6-12% discount on airtime

Customer Satisfaction of GP:

The Customers are in the mainstream of sales oriented services. The success of such companies largely depends on the satisfaction of the customers .The buyers are happy if the product and/or the services meet their expectations. If their requirements do not meet the expectations the buyers become discontented, they are delighted when the performance fulfils their requirements. Customers past buying experiences, the opinion of friends, associates, marketer, competitor information and promises lead to the expectations. Marketer must be careful to set the right level of expectations. If they set expectations too low, they may satisfy those who buy but fail to attract enough buyers. In contrast, if they raise expectations too high, buyers are likely to be disappointed. Dissatisfaction can arise either from a decrease in product and service quality or from an increase in customer expectations. In either case, it presents an opportunity for companies that can deliver superior customer value and satisfaction. To-day most successful companies have taken the strategy of are raising expectations and delivering performance to match. Such companies track their customers 15

expectations, perceived company performance, and customer satisfaction. Highly satisfied customers produce several benefits for the company. Satisfied customers are fewer prices sensitive remain customers for a longer period and talk favorably to others about the company and its products and services. Now, we have a very good idea regarding the importance of customer satisfaction. So, it is also important for the company to know about the satisfaction level of the customers. When any problem is identified, it becomes easier to solve the problem. The next part of this paper has focused on the Customer Satisfaction Factors of GrameenPhone. It is done through a research survey to find out the customer satisfaction level of GrameenPhone.

Customer Satisfaction Factors of GP:

GrameenPhone is a fast growing mobile company. In mobile telecommunication industry, there are direct and indirect factors that influence customer satisfaction. Here focus on the most important factors that influence customer satisfaction at GrameenPhone which relates with after sales services. Airtime: Air time is the core offering of GrameenPhone, So, quality of communication network availability, etc, are the most important customer satisfaction factors, quality of airtime depends on the ratio of subscribers and transmission base station. It the numbers of subscribers are increased without developing the network, quality of airtime goes down After Sales Services: After sales services is very important in the mobile telecommunication industry. GrameenPhone has extensive after sales customer care tools. Here focus on these step by step. 1. Helpline GrameenPhone is the first company that introduced 24hours helpline in Bangladesh. In this part of my paper I tried to focus on the existing operations of the helpline service of GrameenPhone which will enable us to understand the importance of the helpline service. 2. Interactive Voice Responses (IVR) This newly introduced service by GrameenPhone. This is automated helpline service. A GrameenPhone subscriber needs to dial 121 to reach this service. After that she/he can get information regarding the bill, usage, credit policy, bank name that receives

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GPs bill and so on by choosing different options. It is free of charge for the first minute, from the second minute the subscriber needs to pay tk.2 per minute. 3. Information Centers Most of the problems of the subscribers are solved by the helpline service. But there are some problems that can not be solved there. Subscriber need to come physically to deal with those problems. GrameenPhone Phone has many customer relation centers which provide services all over the country. These Customer Relation Centers are situated in the prime divisional head quarters like Dhaka, Chittagone, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna and GrameenPhoneSDs situated all most everywhere in Bangladesh. In these information centers the subscribers can come directly with their problems like billing, address change, SIM change, handset problems, etc.These after sales services are very crucial to keep subscribers satisfied regarding GrameenPhon

Finding on Analysis:
Several frequency distributions have been constructed to find the answers regarding the customers perspective of GrameenPhone line users. By the analysis some limitation of GP has been identified. The most important finding of the analysis is customers have claimed some problem on their network system. It is found that some of the customer of GP hardly got connected after calling more then 4 or 5 times. This problem happens especially in case of connecting outside Dhaka. It is found from the analysis on customers occupation that the GrameenPhone is being more used by the students and executives. Also the have been frequently changing their choices regarding mobile service providers. By proper customer care, once they catch this group for long time, they can better perform in the market. Analysis shows that 80% of the customers use prepaid lines. One of the significant finding from the analysis is that customer who use GrameenPhone, use the line because of network coverage compared to other. So further study is needed to understand the related problems and the company should offer more facilities to the competitors to increase their customer and present users satisfaction

Recommendations:
Analysis of the Results
It is already discussed that GrameenPhone is one of the leading company and pioneer of the mobile Telecommunication industry in Bangladesh. This has been possible because it has a created a superior image in comparison to the other operators. In other words, GrameenPhone has a clear advantage over competitors. However, there is dissatisfaction among the GrameenPhone users with the service of the company. Many important factors are acting as reasons behind this overall dissatisfaction. Quality of airtime and network availability is not satisfactory. GrameenPhone Phone connections are difficult to reach sometimes. It so happens that 17

the subscribers used to pay extra money to get the access. This is especially true for prepaid service. It is encouraging that very recently situation has improved to a certain extent bases on the findings in this report. After analyzing the study variables in the context of GrameenPhone, the following issues were found to be recommended - From the result it was found that Tangibles, Responsiveness and Assurance are significantly related with the customer satisfaction. Therefore, these issues should be taken more care of. Although all the variables have impact on customer satisfaction, these three described variables have more importance to the subscribers. So to ensure better tangibles GP need to change their interior decoration and design of all the brochures of customer care. Although the current decoration and other physical facilities of GrameenPhone are good enough, all theses things have become outdated and losing their appeal day by day. To make the whole environment more appealing to the customers, GP should change their decoration frequently. To increase the satisfaction level of the customers GrameenPhone should participate in some promotional activities. In the current market, consumers have the perception that the other operators are providing extra facilities compared to GP. Therefore, to hold the market share or to build it for the long term, GrameenPhone has to provide different types of consumer promotions such as- they can introduce price pack and can sell the package at a reduced rate, they can offer free SMS and call services on the special occasions. Currently where the other operators are focusing on theses types of promotional activities . Therefore, it can be recommended that, GrameenPhone should deeply focus on the customer promotional tools to survive in this competitive industry.

Conclusion:
In the context of service oriented organization trust and switching cost have great importance in the service marketing to ensure the customer loyalty beside the service quality. Therefore, from this study GrameenPhone can get the indications on which of the issues they have to pay more attention to hold the market share, to raise it and to increase the usages. Finally, this research will encourage further study and useful guidelines for these types of researches.
:

Helpline is not so easy to reach.Behavior of helpline officers is quite rough.Helpline gives support

to solve our problem.Info Centers take a whole day to solve a small problem.In Chittagong city,

there should be more info centers, especially in old side.Prepaid connections are very difficult to

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avail.Billing rate should be reduced, it is too high.Aktel does not think about the subscribers, their

main intensions are to make

References:
Class lecture sheet Book
Anderson, E., & Sullivan, M. (1993). "The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms". Marketing Science, 12(1), 125-143. Anderson, E. W., & Fornell, C. (1994). ``A framework for comparing customer satisfaction across individuals and product categories''. Journal of Economic Psychology, 12(2), 267-286. Barsky, J. (1992). Customer satisfaction in the hotel industry: measurement and meaning. Cornell H.R.A. Quarterly, 7(5), 20-41. Bolton, R. N. (1998). A dynamic model of the duration of the customer's relationship with a continuous service provider: the role of customer satisfaction. Marketing Science, 17(1), 45-65. Business Research Method 7th edition published 2008 Philip Kotler, Garry Armstrong 7th edition published 2007
Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction and Value.: The Free Press, New York, NY. Page, N., & Eddy, C. (1999). The correlation between service quality, satisfaction And

Website
www.msn.com www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.GrameenPhone.com www.yahoo.com www.ask.com

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