Internship Report

Topic: Measuring the Effectiveness of GrameenPhones CSR Programs in

Creating the Brand Awareness.




Prepared for:
Dr. A.N.M. Shibly Noman Khan
Assistant Professors, School of Business.
Independent University Bangladesh.


Prepared by ID
SHANJIDA AHMED 1020710




Date of Submission: 12/12/13



Table of Content:

1. Name and Location of the Company 1
2.Historical Background of the Company

1-4
3. Name and Characteristics of founder 4- 5
4. Existing Share-holders 5-6
5. Vision, Mission, Objectives and Strategy 6-8
6. Organizational Structure 8-10
7. Operating Coverage 10-11
8.Grameenphones Different Divisions and
Departments
11-22
9. Industry Analysis 23- 34
10. SOWT Analysis 34- 36
11. Strategic Operations and Legal Issue 36-39
12.Products of Grameenphone 40- 43
13. Project Part 43- 64
14. Statistical Analysis: 65- 70
15. Findings and Discussions 70-72
16. Hypothesis Assessment 72- 75
17. Recommendation 75-76
18. Conclusion: 76-77
19. Bibliography 78-80






Letter of Transmittal

To,
Dr. A.N.M. Shibly Noman Khan
Assistant Professors, School of Business.
Independent University Bangladesh.
Subject: Submission of internship report on Measuring the Effectiveness of
GrameenPhones CSR Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness
Dear Sir
I am very pleased to submit the internship report on Measuring the Effectiveness of
GrameenPhones CSR Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness to you, which I have
prepared by performing 3 months internship in Grameenphone Bangladesh Ltd. to fulfill the
requirement of BBA program in the Independent University Bangladesh.
I earnestly believe & hope that this internship would help me in the long run and also enrich
my managerial capabilities. I am indebted for your valuable suggestions and humble
cooperation.
Now I have placed this report before you for your kind approval. I hope that my report will
satisfy you. For Any kind of queries, I would be available at your convenience.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
SHANJIDA AHMED
ID#1020710

.
Department: School of Business
Independent University Bangladesh.



Acknowledgement:

This report is the ending part of our BBA program and to enhance the capability to study. In
the field of practical organizational arena, a lot of efforts and study have done to make the
report reliable. This would have not been possible without the genuine support and
assistance. First of all, I want to pay me homage to the almighty Allah who made to capable
to continue my everyday task both inside and outside the work place during the whole period
of my internship. Afterward I want to pay my special thanks to Dr. A.N.M. Shibly Noman
Khan,Assistant Professors, School of Business,Independent University Bangladesh under
whom I have completed my internship report. Without his assistance it would not possible to
complete this report.
If I dont mention some of the employees names of Grameenphone Bangladesh LTD, my
acknowledgement will be incomplete & void. In this period, I am highly grateful to Debasish
Roy, Head of the Department CSR, who helped me to complete my internship program in
that company under his management. Furthermore I want to pay thanks to Hafizur Rahman
Khan, CR specialist, who gave me full support to acquire some basic knowledge about the
overall CR sector.
I want to give my specials thanks to Mr. Iftekhar Ahmed, who helps me by providing some
valuable information required to complete my report.
For successfully completion of my internship, I am really fortunate to get guidance and
supervision from my teachers, friends & others.



Abstract:

The Telecom market in Bangladesh has differentiated characteristics of very low Tele-
density, inefficiency and totally controlled by capitalization. Telecommunication business in
this country is hyper competitive and thus companies has to face a continuous challenge of
sustainability. In this context, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is used as a marketing
tool by the companies to increase consumer loyalty, purchase intention and brand awareness
which is a major benefit for the business. This study investigates the corporate social
responsibility of Grameen phone (GP) which is a major mobile phone service provider of
Bangladesh and its impact on customer loyalty and purchase in intension. Five hypotheses
were raised based on the literature review and primary data was gathered from a sample of
100 through a questionnaire based survey. Data analysis was done by SPSS software for
bivariate analysis. The findings revealed that, GPs corporate social responsibility has a
significant impact on increasing the companys brand awareness.
The objective of this report was to investigate how Grameenphone Ltd Company succeeds in
creating brand awareness by CR activities. Especially the mission statement which is talking
about how Grameenphone Ltd runs its business by using several components to create a good
relationship with its suppliers, partners (employees), customers, communities, the
stakeholders, and also how they are caring for the environment. During my internship at GP, I
found that many of the customers and people are not aware about GPs CR programs, and the
consequence is that they cant inspire other people to start dealings with GP. At the same
time I also found some customers who are not pleased with the service and they always
complain about high service charge of GP. Observing these attitudes of different customers I
have decided to do a research on Measuring the Effectiveness of GrameenPhones CR
Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness.





1


1. Name and Location of the Company:

Grameenphone limited is now the leading telecommunication service provider in Bangladesh.
It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-
profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and
community development bank Grameen Bank. Telenor is the largest telecommunication
company in Norway and it owns 62% shares of Grameenphone and Grameen Telecom owns
the remaining 34.20%.
Grameenphones headquarter is situated at Bashundhara Residential Area. They also have
around 14 buildings in Gulshan area, which was the previous headquarter of Grameenphone
office. None of those are Grameenphones own buildings. The GP HOUSE-
Grameenphone 9-storied headquarter building is located adjacent to the main entrance of the
Bashundhara Residential Area. The building was constructed by Associated Builders
Corporation Limited and Vistaara and Icon Architects (VIA) was the consultant.


2. Historical Background of the Company:

The Telecom market in Bangladesh has differentiated characteristics of very low Tele-
density, inefficiency and totally controlled by capitalization. BTTB (Bangladesh Telephone
and Telegraph Board) is proved to be incapable of providing sufficient interconnections to
meet the demand of mobile services providers. The state owned BTTB has been the
monopoly telephone service provider in the telecom industry. The zest of improving the
efficiency and ability of BTTB, the government initiated a restructuring program in telecom
sector to corporatize BTTB.
BTTB provided only fixed line telephony services in the urban areas where as 80% of the
population of Bangladesh lived in the rural areas. This unequal distribution of services
created the opportunity for the mobile operators to do business. In the telecom sector earth
shaking changes cropped up when Bangladesh government allowed private sector
participation in telecom sector by granting the permission to operate as a private service
provider in 1989. This license was awarded to two operators, BRTA (Bangladesh Rural

2

Telecom Authority) and Sheba Telecom Pvt. Ltd. Opening its mobile phone sector for private
and foreign investment in 1989, Bangladesh holds the pioneering figure among LDCs.
Pacific Telecom launched the country's first mobile phone service.



Figure-1
Achieving Licenses:
The granting of service license to Bangladesh Telecom Authority in 1989 paved the way for
mobile service in Bangladesh. Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (PBTL, now Citycell)
operating under CDMA technology was offered a cellular license in Bangladesh in 1993. In
1996, Bangladesh was preparing to auction off private cell phone licenses to four companies.
So in October 10 1996, at the request of Dr. Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Banks founder)
completely independent of Grameen Bank, a not-for-profit private company called Grameen
Telecom was formed as private limited company. Grameen Telecom, in turn, created a for-
profit company called Grameen Phone, found a foreign partner, and put in a bid; Grameen
Phone received one of the four licenses.

3

2.1. Launching Grameenphone service:
In the midst of lack of communication means, Grameenphone launched its service on the
Independence Day of Bangladesh with an effective and user-friendly mobile phone network.
They started their operation from March 26, 1997 with only 72 employees. They converted to
public limited company on June 25; 1997.Grameenphone put a positive impact on the
lifestyle of the people of Bangladesh.
Grameenphone was the first company to introduce GSM technology in Bangladesh when it
launched its services in March 1997. Since its inception, Grameenphone remains committed
to providing the best service to its customers, as well as launching innovative new products
and services. The Village Phone Program started in 1997 that provided a good income-
earning opportunity to more than 210,000 mostly women Village Phone operators living in
rural areas. Grameenphone makes its profits by serving wealthier urban customers. But from
the point of view of the Grameen family and its strong anti-poverty mission, the for-profit,
urban-only Grameen Phone exists for only one reason: To fund, with its profits, the extension
of cell phones into rural Bangladesh in order to provide entrepreneurial opportunity to
Grameen Bank members through Village Phone. As Dr. Yunus puts it, "Grameen Phone is
merely what we need to do Grameen Telecoms Village Phone."
The Village Phone Program was an exclusive program to provide widespread access to
telecommunications service in remote, rural areas. Controlling by Grameen Telecom
Corporation, it enables rural people who normally cannot afford to own a telephone to gain
the service while providing the VP operators an opportunity to earn a living.
2.2. Journey of Grameenphone:
After a successful launching, Grameenphone introduced its services in the second largest city
of Bangladesh, Chittagong In June 1998. Cell to cell coverage in the Dhaka-Chittagong
corridor also enabled Grameenphone to introduce its service in a number of other districts
along the way.
In 1999, Grameenphone expanded its business and started its business in Khulna. A good
number of other districts came under their coverage because of cell to cell coverage between
Dhaka and Khulna. Grameenphone was also the pioneer to introduce the pre-paid service in
September 1999. They introduce the EASY pre-paid service in the local market. Besides, it
established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced value-added services such as Voice Mail
Service (VMS), Short Message Service (SMS), fax and data transmission services, and many
other products and services.

4

In 2000 Grameenphone started its services in Sylhet, Barisal and Rajshahi and brought all six
divisional headquarters under the coverage of its network. After six years of operation, in
August 2003 Grameenphone has more than one million subscribers. And from November
2005 Grameenphone continues to being the largest telecommunication operator of
Bangladesh with more than 5 million subscribers. Grameenphone Ltd is continuing its
operations with a success in 2006. In November it has just reached the mark of 10 million
customers.
In 2008, Grameenphone has been listed in Bangladesh capital market after completing the
largest initial public offering (IPO) ever in the countrys history. Trading of Grameenphone
shares began in both Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges on 16 November 2009. The
share of BDT 10 each was offered with premium at BDT 70 and on 30 December 2009 the
trading price closed at BDT 187.5 in the Dhaka Stock Exchange. The number of subscribers
is increasing day by day. As of December 2009, Grameenphone has crossed more than 23
million subscribers. GPs subscription base reached at 23.3 Million with 44.4% market share
at the end of 2009. Grameenphone operates a digital mobile telecommunication network
based on GSM standard in the 900MHz and1800MHz frequency bands under a license
granted by BRTC which will expire on November 2011.

3. Name and Characteristics of founder:

Grameenphone is a joint venture company comprising of:









Figure-2
Founder
Telenor
Marubeni
Corporation
Gonofone
Development
Corporation
Grameen
Telecom

5

Telenor A state-owned telecommunication company from Norway. It has a long history
of successful cooperation with other operators in Russia, Hungary, Montenegro, Ireland,
Bangladesh, Greece, Germany, Germany, Australia, Malaysia etc.
Grameen Telecom - A sister concern of Grameen Bank. It was established by Grameen
Bank to organize and assist those Grameen bank borrowers who wish to retail telephone
services in the rural areas.
Marubeni Corporation A leading investment and trading company from Japan. The
company owns 9.5% of GP.
Gonofone Development Corporation A New York-based telecommunication
development company having investments in many companies in USA, Russia and other
parts of Europe. Gonofone Development Corp. owns 4.5% of GP.


4. Existing Share-holders:

Grameenphone is the largest mobile phone company in Bangladesh. The shareholders of
Grameenphone add their exclusive, in-depth experience in both telecommunications and
development. Telenor holds 55.8 per cent of Grameenphone, with Grameen Telecom
Corporation owning the remaining 34.2 per cent. The rest of the shares belong to general
retail and institutional investors. Telenor has played a pioneering role in development of
cellular communications in Bangladesh.









Figure-3


6

The international shareholder brings technological and business management expertise while
the local shareholder provides an existence throughout Bangladesh and a deep understanding
of its economy. Both are dedicated to Bangladesh and its struggle for economic progress and
have a deep commitment to Grameenphone and its mission to provide affordable telephony to
the entire population of Bangladesh.

5. Vision, Mission, Objectives and Strategy:

5.1. Companys Vision:
Grameenphones vision is Were here to help. That means Grameenphone Ltd. is always
there to help the customers get the full assistance of communications services in their daily
lives. They want to make it simple for the customers to get what and when they want it.
5.2. Companys Mission:
The mission of Grameenphone Ltd is to deliver reliable, widespread, convenient mobile and
cost effective telephone services to the people in Bangladesh irrespective of where they live.
They are providing a total communication solution to its customers. To do this, the service
advance of Grameenphone has extensively developed over the last few years. Grameenphone
subscribers now enjoy all the modern data communication and content services. Mobile
office, internet access, MMS and modern music and download services are available through
the nationwide EDGE enabled network.
5.3. Companys Objectives:
Grameenphone (GP) has been established to provide high-quality GSM cellular service at
affordable prices. Grameenphone has a dual purpose:
To receive an economic return on its investment
To contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh where
telecommunications can play a critical role
The Company has developed its strategies so that it earns healthy returns for its shareholders
and at the same time, contributes to genuine development of the country. This is why
Grameenphone, in collaboration with Grameen Bank and Grameen Telecom, is aiming to
place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic benefit of the
poor. It is on the way to get a total uprising in the telecommunication field. By accomplishing

7

the success factors, Grameenphone would like to be recognized as a consistent, honest and
committed company to its valued subscribers and stakeholders.
5.4. Companys strategy:
Grameenphone Limited's strategy was to effectively become the second national operator in
Bangladesh. Instead of focusing on a high-end, niche market; it pursued a low tariff strategy
designed to compete directly with BTTB.
Continuously grow subscriber base:
Grameenphones strategy is to grow their subscriber base, while seeking to limit declines in
APPM, by increasing the availability of their products and services throughout the
Bangladesh and by aiming to improve customer retention.
Focusing on high value customer:
Grameenphone strive to provide superior network coverage, connectivity, quality and
reliability, as well as to continue their product and service innovations through continued
investment in their network and products. They are focusing on high value customer segment
which they expect will grow as Bangladesh population becomes more affluent with their
value-added services, in particular Internet access and BlackBerry. They intend to increase
their focus on high value business segment customers, given the high usage of voice and non
voice services by these customers.
Achieve capital and operational efficiencies to improve profit margins and cash
flow generation:
Grameenphones strategy is to continue to exercise strong discipline over their operating
costs and capital expenditure to achieve improved efficiency and productivity in their
operations and leverage their existing capacity. They have also plan to reduce their operation
and maintenance expense by, among other things, using solar power, controlling service
agreement pricing and lobbying to reduce the SIM tax.
I ncreased Brand Awareness and reinforce brand values:
Grameenphone intend to support their brand by undertaking brand refreshment exercises
from time to time. They have planned to increase brand awareness through various point of
sales promotions.
I ncreased revenue from non voice services:
Grameenphone is offering a wide-range of non voice services, including SMS, MMS, games,
information services, content download, ring back tones, Internet access and BlackBerry
services. They plan to continue increasing their revenue from non voice services, developing

8

additional services and further expanding their presence as one of the largest provider of
internet access in Bangladesh.
Continue to expand their comprehensive distribution network:
Grameenphone new distribution model is to push sales to retailers by distributing their SIM
cards, electronic recharge systems and scratch cards through a network of nearly 100 third-
party distributors. Their objectives under this new distribution model are to improve their
product availability throughout the country with the establishment of more points of sales,
improve inventory management, accelerate distribution of product, provide better support to
their customer base, create a strong channel of communication between Grameenphone and
subscribers and obtain better market data to allow them to be more dynamic and responsive
to the market.
5.5. Companys Value:
Make it Easy:
Grameenphone believes that they are sensible. Everything they create is easy to appreciate
and use as they never fail to remember that they are trying to make their customers' lives
easier.
Be I nspiring:
Grameenphone believes that they are imaginative. They convey energy and thoughts to their
work. Grameenphone wants to be a collaborator in the progress of our society. They are
passionate about our business, customers and country.
Keep Promise:
Everything Grameenphone set out to do should work. If it does not, they are there to put
things right. They are about delivery, not over promising - actions not words.
Be Respectful:
Grameenphone shows acknowledgement and admiration the local culture. They are courteous
and professional in regard to all interactions, both internally and externally. They are open,
helpful and friendly.

6. Organizational Structure:

Grameenphone has now more than 5000 employees. Grameenphone is divided into several
departments namely technical, sales & marketing, customer relations, administration, human
resource, finance and IT. Recently management has brought a change in the organizational

9

structure in view of need of time. Management and organization structure of Grameenphone
Ltd. are given in the following
Board of Directors:
Name Position Age Date of First
Appointment
Sigve Brekke Chairman And
Director
49 September 1,2008
Mr. Per Erik
Hylland
Director 56 June 25, 2007
Mr. Morten Tengs Director 37 July 18, 2013
Mr. Md. Ashraful
Hassan
Director 54 January 10, 2010
Mr. M. Shahjahan Director 53 June 26, 2006
Table-1
Management Team:
Name Position Age Date of Joining
Vivek Sood Chief Executive Officer 53 January 7, 2013
Allan Bonke Chief Marketing Officer 40 August 5,2012
Tanveer
Mohammad
Chief Technology Officer 38 July 1, 2010
Ahmed Raihan
Shamsi
Chief Corporate affair officer, Acting
chief Financial officer and Company
Secretary
36 September 10,
2001
Quazi
Mohammad
Shahed
Chief Human Resource Officer 50 November 1,
2012
Mahmud
Hossain
Director, Corporate and regulatory
affairs
March 8.2012
Syed Yamin
Bakht
Director, Public Relations Divisions
Table-2



10

Organ gram of Management Team is given below:






Figure-4

7. Operating Coverage:

Grameenphone has the leading network with the widest coverage in the country. The
Grameenphone network now covers over 99 percent of the population and over 87 percent of
the land area with the remaining areas mostly falling under the Sundarbans and the
Chittagong Hill Tract areas where mobile phone coverage is not allowed. Presently
Grameenphone has covered 462 upazillas of 64 districts.


11


Figure-5
The company has so far invested more than BDT 10,700 core (USD 1.6 billion) to build the
network infrastructure since its inception in 1997. It has invested over BDT 3,100 core (USD
450 million) during the first three quarters of 2007 while BDT 2,100 core (USD 310 million)
was invested 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. A record 4181 new base stations were put into operation around the country during
the year, crossing the 10,000 base station milestones in the process. In addition, the entire
Grameenphone network is EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing its customers to access high-speed
Internet from anywhere within the coverage area. Moreover as November 11
th
, they have 30
thousands subscribers under their 3G service.

8. Grameenphones Different Divisions and Departments:

In recent times management has brought a change in the organizational structure in view of
need of time. Currently Grameenphone has 11 divisions and 5 departments to run its
operations smoothly. The divisions are:
Customer Management Division
Finance Division
Information Technology Division

12

Sales and Distribution Division
People and Organization Division
Fiber Optic Network Division
Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Division
Technical Division
Projects Division
New Business Division
Marketing Division
The departments are independent from any divisions. The names of 5 departments are:
Administration Department
Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management Department
Information Department
Internal Audit Department
Legal and Compliance Department
There are also two projects running under observation of Deputy Managing Director. The
projects are independent of Projects division. These are, CHQ Project and Efficiency Project.
Among them the respective directors head ten divisions. Marketing division is leaded by a
deputy director. A General Manager leads Information Department. He has to report direct to
the Managing Director. Head of supply chain management has to report directly to the
director of Finance Division. This responsibility is added recently to the Director, Finance
Division.

8.1. Customer Management Division:
Customer Management Division is the link between the customers and the company. People
in this division serve the clients. A total of 210 people in this division are providing customer
service. They are escalating the relationship of Grameenphone with its valued customers.
This division can be subdivided into three major parts-

Call center
Billing department
Trainee development department.



13

Customer Service Division
Billing Department
Trainee development department












Figure-6
Call center:
Call center act in response to customers' query. 150 to 190 people working in shifting basis in
call center. They provide 24 hours service to the customers through telephones. They receive
queries and complaints related to GP service and network, solve them, provide different types
of information to the clients etc.

Billing Department:
Billing department is generally accountable for billing customers for the service and
collecting the revenue from them. This department works with the help of its eight units. The
units are distribution unit, general banking unit, bank reconciliation unit, bank
communication unit, collection unit, credit recovery unit, fraud management unit and revenue
assurance unit.

Trainee development department:
Trainee development department arranges all type of in-house and overseas training
programs for the employees. Experts from within the Grameenphone family conduct in-house
training programs. These programs include orientation for new employees, team-building
workshops, customized training for the senior managers on management style, motivation,
and project management and handling difficult situations. Many Grameenphone employees
are sent to foreign countries for overseas training, workshops and seminars. All the
organization and formalities concerning these programs are done through this department.

14

8.2. Finance Division:
The Finance Division consists of 330 employees in its various departments. The Division
encompasses all financial activities - both internal and external. 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 and
Budget and budgetary control
Provide management information and 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.
Responsible to lender, Telenor and Bangladesh Bank related to financing issues
Liaison with foreign lenders, sponsors, bankers and regulators
I nvestment Control:
Evaluation new investment proposal as project or programs
Prepare business case
Advice management and investment committee andre-rank the investment options
Financial Control:
Implementation of IFRS in preparing the financial statements
Maintain and develop internal control structure aiming at the Sarbanes Oxley Act
2002 (Section 404)
Check compliance of financial and procurement policies
Compliance with tax related issues and Review policies and procedure in place
and pass suggestion for continuous improvement
Payroll and Taxation:
This is a very sensitive and important segment in finance department. This department
compiles the Companies Act and rules regulations of the Government. This is also working
as legal advisory of tax, VAT and other external affairs. There is several sections based on
work volume and criteria of the extended works. The main role of this department defines as
under:
Preparation of payroll statement and bank advice
Preparation of salary perquisite and return submission and preparation accounts
and financial statement for tax and audit

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Companys tax return and ensure assessment
Ensure tax deduction and issuing certificate individuals and ensure treasury
deposits for tax, VAT and deduction at source
Supervising and arrange VAT register and reconciliation statement
VAT return and revenue statement preparation and preparation VAT report
periodically and annually
Price declaration for service offering and ensure approval
Supervision Provident fund and ensure investment of fund and supervising
welfare fund and ensure internal using
Ensure work permit and foreign loan registration
Internal audit co-ordination and external audit finalization and Quarterly report to
NBR (National Board of Revenue) regarding connection and handsets
Return and relevant document submission to join Stock Registrar and co-
ordination and corresponding with external organization and internal department.
In-addition to the above activities, special tasks assigned by the departmental/ management in
lieu of emergency basis also performed by this department.
Reporting & Accounting & System Administration
Financial reporting to Management, Telenor, OCM and Board
Financial and management accounting- actual and budget
Budgeting (preparation/implementation/monitoring)
Assets and I nsurance
Asset addition and Capitalization WIP
Land and land advance and Insurance for fire and business interruption
I nternational Settlement & I nsurance
Letter of Credit for all imports, Leasing, insurance and contracts
International roaming and receivables, payables and invoicing
All foreign payment, employee foreign travel and training payments and advance.
Treasury Department
Fund management and Cash rolling forecast
Local payments, Employee gratuity and provident fund
Bank reconciliations
Revenue Accounting
Collection of prepaid, post-paid and international roaming bill from subscribers
Recognition of prepaid, post paid revenue and revenue from all sub leases

16

Reconciliation of all collections
Handset payment management
Banking arrangement for collection
Costing of inventories and Invoicing to subleases and collection
Participation in revenue assurance activities

8.3. Sales and Distribution division:
Sales and distribution division have direct interface with customers. The total number of
employees of this department is 1588. The division is subdivided into two parts-

Sales department
Distribution department






Figure-7
Sales Department:
Sales department of Grameenphone is responsible for selling products and services of
Grameenphone. Therefore they have to work in close collaboration with Marketing Division
for their success in selling. They also need to keep good relationship with the sellers and also
with customers.

Distribution department:
The responsibilities of the part or the distribution department includes instant delivery of
products and services, maintaining relationship with dealers, serving the corporate clients
with extra care, follow up existing subscribers and building relationship with new and
existing subscribers. One of the most important tasks of sales department is sales-forecast.



Sales and Distribution Division
Sales Department
Distribution Department

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8.4. Information and Technology Division:
The Information Technology Division became a separated division in 2003. Till then it was
under the wing of People & Organization Division. The IT Division comprises the following
departments:
Core Systems:
Development/integration of business critical systems
Maintenance of business critical systems
I T Operations:
Access control, accessibility and stability for end- and IT-users
Operations, planning of operations and monitoring
Security
Readiness

I nformation Security:
Design, develop and deploy a security infrastructure including intrusion
detection, protection, assessment and management
Publish, monitor and enforce information and computer security policies
Supervise and/or conduct periodic security assessments
Manage long-term projects to improve security posture and capabilities
Business Processes and Architecture:
Overall IT architecture
Management of business process framework
Business process modeling
Exception handling
Project and Change Management

8.5. People and Organization Department:
People and organization Department, a significant department of Administration Division
plays very essential role in the total functioning of Grameenphone. Employee recruitment,
selection, transfer, promotion, training, performance appraisal - all these are conducted by
this division. The informal structure of HR according to its functions can be classified into
three main categories they are:


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Human Resource Management (HRM)
Human Resource Development (HRD)
Human Resource management Information system (HR- MIS)
Human Resources Development functions aim to increase the quality of the human resources
especially through training. Different divisions send their personnel requirement to HR
department. Then HRD sets target, prepare recruitment planning and go for the recruitment
process. When an employee is recruited a separate employee file is opened comprising of all
information of the particular employee which is regularly upgraded by HRD. This department
is also responsible for performance appraisal of employees that is very important for the
confirmation, increment, promotion, transfer of employees. This is done through job analysis,
setting up of performance standard and appraisal interview. HR Management also deals with
some personnel functions like show cause, termination, Dismissal, discharge, and resignation.
It also issues circular as & when required, conduct department inquiry, and all other functions
related to HR.

8.6. Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Division:
This division looks after the regulatory and interconnection issues. It is responsible for
maintaining close relationship with BTRC, MOPT, PSTN operators and mobile operators for
matters related to interconnection with fixed and mobile operators, and interconnection &
Revenue Sharing Agreement. This division is also responsible for maintaining relationships
with Ministries, the National Parliamentary Telecom Committee, Government agencies like
the Board of Investment (BOI), the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and law-enforcing
agencies.

8.7. Technical Division:
The Technical Division can be considered as the brain of this organization. Most of the
people in the technical division are from the engineering and technological educational
background. This division has 1077 at present which is the highest number of employees.
This division is divided into three departments-





19

Technical
Department
Planning
Department
Switch
Planning
Radio
Planning
Transmission
Planning
Implementation
Department
Site acquisition
Civil works
Roll-out
Operations
Department












Figure 8
Planning Department:
People working in planning department build the technology. They are accountable for
planning the network and equipment, taking decision about new expansion, enhancement and
up-gradation and closely monitoring network performance. They are also engaged with BSC
(Base Station Controller) and MSC (Mobile Switch center) related planning, timely supply of
equipment, making roaming agreements with other countries and negotiating with home
owners for building base stations on the roofs. This department has three parts: switch
planning, radio planning and transmission planning.

Implement Department:
The people of implementation department are responsible for the construction and acquisition
of base station room, antenna pipe, and power supply etc., installation of new base station
hardware, start-up and pilot operation of base station. It is also divided to three units: site
acquisition, civil works and roll-out.

Operations Department:
Operations department is responsible for smooth operations and maintenance of the network.
Their main tasks are operation, maintenance and overall management of the networks, fault

20

detection and fault handling of networks. This department always closely monitors the
network performance.

8.8. Fiber optic network division:
The Fiber Optic Network (FON) Division is a complete Division under Deputy Managing
Director. It manages the nationwide Fiber Optic Network, and to create and sell the
Transmission Capacity commercially to prospective business units/clients. The division
shares use of Fiber Optic Network capacity with third parties such as other telecom operators,
ISP's DDN service provider etc. Grameenphone is capable of offering point to point full E1
connectivity within GP Transmission Network for their sub-lease clients.

8.9. Marketing Division:
Marketing is responsible for all types of Product development and launch, Branding and
communication, International Roaming, Value Added Services and all types of Research
activities. The Division comprises the following departments:

Product and Market Development Department (PMD)
The Product and Market development Department includes Products & Prices Section
(Business Solution, djuice and, Mass), New Product development and Innovation lab, and
Forecasting and Analysis Section.

Market Research and Planning Department (MRP)-
Market Research and Planning Department includes Segmentation, Research & Planning
Section and Market Intelligence - acting as a central research point for Grameenphone.

Market Communications Department-
The Market Communication Department deals with media management, event management
and regional marketing.

I nternational Business Department-
The International Business Department is involved in international roaming services.



21

Value Added Services Department-
Value Added Services Department includes Service Development and Management Section,
Content Provider / Aggregator Management Section, CPA/CSF Platform Section and
Advanced Services section.

Brand Development and Management Department

8.10. Project Division:
The task of projects division is to manage the process of initializing, prioritization,
monitoring of execution of all major change request (projects). This division is accountable
for overall performance, measure and report of IT in delivering project-based services. This
division develops, maintains, and evolves standards, tools, templates, and documented
processes for project management within IT. Another task of this division is to develop tools
to assess the effectiveness of project management efforts within IT. This division gathers
project information and maintains a list of current project activity for IT including project
timeframes and resource utilization.

8.11. New Business Division:
New business is the newest division in the Grameenphone Ltd. Mr. Kafil H.S. Muyeed is the
director of this division. To seek new business opportunity in the telecommunication industry
is the main objective of this department.

8.12. Administration Department:
This department headed by an AGM has three units-

Office- The office unit looks after the furniture and general maintenance of the office
premises.
Security- The security unit is responsible for managing the security of office, TBS,
switches and BTS.
Transport- The transport unit determines the transport routes; transport related costs
and hires cars and microbuses for GP officials.



22

8.13. Revenue assurance and Fraud management department:
Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management (RAFM) function in Grameenphone is
responsible to stop revenue leakage in any form (intentional & unintentional) across the
complete business chain (Internal & External). Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management
focus includes core business processes, support processes, systems, people and organizations
involved with GP business in any form. RAFM as a principle, highly emphasize on cross
functional cooperation based on smart & effective processes.

8.14. Internal Audit Department:
This department, with a direct reporting to the Managing Director, is responsible for
monitoring the activities in the light of policies or procedures set by the Board of Directors
and/or the Management Team. In addition, this unit has to follow the Group Internal Auditing
Guideline as a part of subsidiary of Telenor Mobile. On the basis of reports of the Internal
Auditor, actions are taken to bring about developments and rectifications of systems or
policies and procedures.

8.15. Legal and Compliance Department:
This is a one-unit department whose major functions comprise as follows:
To ensure sufficient legal coverage and minimum exposure to risk
To establish high standards of corporate governance
To build GP's image as a compliant organization both among its customers
its other stakeholders

8.16. Information Department:
Information department is managing the efficient flow of information. It is responsible to
manage the relationship with media and newspapers, publish news bulletins regarding
different events of the company. It also publishes monthly newsletters and the Annual Report
of Grameenphone. It determines the contents of Grameenphone websites and Grameenphone
at work intranet site.




23

9.Industry Analysis:
9.
In the past three decades, due to significant liberalization and privatization, the entire
telecommunications industry has become a dynamic environment with huge growth potential
subject to new opportunities as well as threats. In recent years, in some Asian countries the
number of mobile subscribers even passed the number of fixed-line subscribers. Hence, lately
the strategic behavior of telecommunications companies has attracted so much attention, both
in the academic literature and in the popular press. In Bangladesh the scenario is not much
different. At present the socioeconomic profile of Bangladesh provides a great opportunity
for the mobile industry to expand as the regulation in the mobile services is becoming more
relaxed. Although the number of mobile operators is still limited to a few (five private mobile
operators and one state-owned operator), aggressive competition has forced the incumbent
telecommunications companies or mobile operators to reconfigure their strategy and business
to sustain or improve their competitive advantage.

In order to create a stronger framework and encourage further investment and monitor and
regulate the expanding telecommunications sector, in 2001 the Government of Bangladesh
enacted a new telecommunications law, BTA. The BTA provides for the creation of the
BTRC and specifies its responsibilities. The BTRC is an independent commission and
commenced functioning from January 31, 2002.

Under the BTA, the BTRC has the power to issue, renew, suspend and cancel licenses for
establishing and operating telecommunications systems, providing telecommunications
services and using radio apparatus and radio frequencies. The power is to be exercised in
accordance with the objectives of the BTRC in sections 29 of the strengthens the social and
economic welfare of Bangladesh; ensuring access to reliable, reasonably priced and modern
telecommunications services for the greatest number of people; and encouraging the
introduction of new services and creating a favorable investment climate. The BTA also
requires the BTRC to maintain and promote competitions between service providers. In
addition, the national telecommunications policy 1998 emphasizes the need to increase
teledensity rates and expand and upgrade network coverage throughout Bangladesh, in
particular by promoting greater private participation in the provision of basic
telecommunications services.

24


Bangladesh telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. (Bangladesh Telecom) was granted a 20-year license in
1990 covering trunked radio, cellular radio (both mobile and fixed-lines, i.e. including
wireless local loop), and paging and riverine radio communications networks by BTTB. This
license refers to a short agreement entered into on July 26, 1989, under which Bangladesh
Telecom received an exclusive right to provide telecommunications services for a period of
five years.
The part of the license authorizing cellular radio telephony (fixed line and mobile) was
transferred in 1993 with the consent of BTTB to Hutchison Bangladesh Telecom Ltd.
(Hutchison Telecom) being a joint venture between Bangladesh Telecom and Hutchison
Telecom. Hutchison Telecom subsequently changed its name to Pacific Bangladesh Telecom
Ltd. (Citycell) in 1996.

The mobile phone operations decisions were never being influenced by any International
agreement but held up as an independent entity for making market to grow. Self learning and
liberalizing the mobile phone sector shaped up in a chronological strategy for Bangladesh.
From 1993 till 1996 the mobile phone services were monopolized by one company; Pacific
Bangladesh Telecom Ltd. which didnt let the customer benefitted, however, with the
commissioning of mobile phone service by Grameen Phone Limited in 1997, the situation
started to improve in terms of price reduction and quality. The later period could be said
Grameen phone Ltd. golden period, but the arrival of Banglalink in (2005) the mobile phone
market brought immense price competition. The intensity of competition came as a blessing
for the customers. This change in trend forced every player to adjust their price policy and
quality. With significant reductions in tariff levels, Bangladesh is now one of the worlds
fastest growing telecommunications markets with a tele-density of approximately 30 percent.
This growth has supported the economic growth of the Bangladesh economy and Bangladeshi
consumers have received substantial benefits. Recently, there has been more regulatory
reform activity with the promulgation of the International long Distance Telecommunications
Services (ILDTS) Policy in 2007 and the corporatization of the BTTB to form the
Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL). The ILDTS Policy is
remarkably wide in its ambit and significant in terms of its effects on the telecommunications
sector in Bangladesh. It not only introduces competition in international services market but
also engages in significant industry restructuring by the introduction of new licence
categories such as the Interconnection Exchanges (ICXs)1. It also makes significant new

25

policies in relation to interconnection including voice and data, quality of service and retail
tariffing.












Figure 9
The GSM standard, operating in the 900MHz and the 1800MHz frequency bands, is the
predominant technology standard used for mobile telecommunications services in
Bangladesh.








Source: I nforma Telecom & Media

The Bangladesh Mobile Telecommunications services industry has experienced significant
growth in recent years. The total number of mobile telecommunications subscribers in
Company Technological
Standard
Grameenphone GSM 900/1800
Robi GSM 900/1800
Banglalink GSM 900/1800
Citycell CDMA 800
Teletalk GSM 900/1800
Airtel GSM 1800

26

Bangladesh increased from 4.2 million as of December 31, 2004 to 44.6 million as of
December 31, 2008, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 81.1%.
Grameenphone Limited believe this increase had been driven by various factors, including
An increase in the geographic coverage for mobile telecommunications services by
each of the major operators in Bangladesh
Continuing declines in the prices of mobile handsets
An increase in affordability of mobile telecommunications services due to continuing
declines in per minute prices and increasing availability of lower cost pricing plans
Despite having seen substantive growth over recent years, mobile telecommunications
penetration levels in Bangladesh remain low in comparison with those in other Asian
countries. The mobile telecommunications industry in Bangladesh is currently led by three
major GSM operators: Grameenphone, Banglalink and Robi. Grameenphone has the largest
market share with a subscriber market share of 47.0% as of December 31, 2008. Banglalink,
a subsidiary of Orascom, has the second largest market share by number of subscribers. Robi,
70.0% owned by Axiata (formerly TM International), has the third largest market share by
number of subscribers. Airtel, founded by the Abu Dhabi Group, entered the market in 2007
and has gained the fourth largest market share by number of subscribers. Citycell, a
subsidiary of SingTel, the Singapore-based telecommunications company, has the fifth
largest market share by number of subscribers, and is the sole mobile operator to use a
CDMA system. Teletalk owned by the Government has the lowest market share. The
following table summarizes market shares of mobile telecommunications operators in
Bangladesh:








Source: BTRC
Increasing competition among the major private telecommunication companies in
Bangladesh is pushing them to undertake various strategic and tactical measures to attract
Company Market Share, 2008
Grameenphone 47.0%
Robi 18.4%
Banglalink 23.1%
Citycell 4.1%
Teletalk 2.2%
Airtel 5.2%

27

new customers while retaining the existing customers. In this emerging market both prepaid
and post-paid subscribers are not exhibiting strong loyalties or commitment to any particular
service provider as they have options of switching to other service provider(s) for more
convenient and suitable service offerings. Hence, the major private telecommunication
companies have a stake high enough to consider how to create a loyal customer base that will
not be eroded even in the face of fierce competition. Therefore, the major private
telecommunication companies must realize the emergence of studying and understanding
various antecedents (viz. service quality, switching cost, trust, and customer satisfaction) of
the subscribers' relationship commitment to figure out ways to create a loyal customer base.

9.1. Market Position:
Telecom industry in Bangladesh is intensely competitive. Consumer demand in Bangladesh
makes the mobile market one of the fastest growing markets in the world. According to
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) the total number of
subscribers in the telecom industry of Bangladesh is 46.69 million as of June, 2009.
Grameenphone is the leading provider of domestic access and domestic services with nearly
44 percent of subscriber connections. Importantly, the geographic reach of the
Grameenphone network is greater than 98 percent.














28


9.2 Porters Five Force Model:
Before getting into a market, every company should have an assessment of the market
environment, how that market could react in different circumstances. Porters (1998) five
forces model has the ability to determine the competitiveness of a market. According to
Porter (1998), the collective strength of five major forces determines the ultimate profit
potential of an industry. But whatever the collective strength is, the strategy should be
formulated in such way that the company can defend itself against these forces or influence
them in its favor. And knowledge of these contending forces provides the pathway of the
right strategic action (Porter 1998, p21-22). Porters five forces are as follows:-











Figure 10

Barriers of Entry
Bargaining Power of customer
Bargaining Power of Supplier
Available substitutes
Level of existing rivalries
9.2.1Barriers of Entry:
Many foreign investors are now interested to do business in telecom sector in Bangladesh
which reveals that Bangladesh has become a significant hub for telecoms. All the current
players are either partially or fully foreign owned 55.80% of Grameenphone is owned by
Level of
existing
rivalries
Bargaining Power of
customer
Bargaining Power of
Supplier
Available
substitutes
Barriers of Entry

29

Telenor from Norway; Telecom Malaysia owns around 70% of Robi and Banglalink is 100%
owned by Egyptian Orascom Telecom. Singapore Telecom (Singtel) has entered the market
by acquiring 45% share in Pacific Bangladesh Telecom. Airtel Telecom of Abu Dhabi has
got the license and has already started their operation. And now the US giant Vodafone is
investing in the mobile telecom sector of Bangladesh by acquiring significant share of Robi.
A PSTN company named World Tel Ltd. whose license had been suspended, got back its
license with 7.5 MHz frequency in the GSM-1800 MHz band for operation in the central
zone. As the frequency is GSM, we expect World Tel may enter the mobile
telecommunication market. With its insignificance license fees, revenue sharing fees and
lower investment cost compared to the incumbent mobile operators, World Tel may
challenge our market share. This plethora of foreign investors shows that the threat of new
entrants is very high. However, the barrier to entry and exit are also high. High setup cost and
high level of sunk cost acts as a screening for small investors from crowding the sector.

9.2.1Bargaining power of customer:
In the beginning, the mobile market was controlled by sellers. When Pacific Telecom first
introduced their brand Citycell, the startup connection used to sell for more than Tk.100,000.
The airtime was over Tk.16 per minute. However, with the increase in competition, buyers
gained more power. Currently, the market is mainly dominated by buyers. The prices have
come down a lot. The low level of product differentiation and very low cost of startup
connections have led the buyers to switch operators very frequently. In Bangladesh Telecom
industry, there are already 6 giant companies trying to find their niche. Companies are
undertaking various promotional and product strategies to reduce churn. It has been clearly
noticed that, as the market is growing, proportionally all the companies are getting new
subscribers depending their nationwide coverage. So it is assumed that, even if the bargaining
power of the customer seem to be high, due to the high growth rate of the market, each
company is somehow getting benefited. Their market share is increasing, keeping pace with
the growth rate of the market. The middlemen played a major role in the determining the
buyer power. Previously all the companies used external dealers to ensure the smooth flow of
their distribution. The commission paid to dealers was very high. However, the dealers paid a
very low level of commission to retailers, as a result controlling the market to a great extent.
Grameenphone is the first company to deal with this situation. They have started their own
distribution network. This has not only reduced cost in the form of dealer commission but

30

also increased satisfaction of retailers. Thus, in a market with strong buyer power, a self-
owned distribution network can only help GP in maintaining its market leader position.

9.2.1Bargaining power of supplier:
Bargaining power of the suppliers is low in the market as there are a lot of telecom related
suppliers available. Moreover, some giant Swedish and Finish multinational companies have
already established their business in the market. Since the numbers of mobile phone
companies are limited the suppliers cannot switch frequently or pressurize the buyers. On the
other hand suppliers like Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens and Motorola are pretty big player
themselves and have specialized sales units. Thus, there was always a good understanding
between the suppliers and buyers. This situation is now tipped a little bit in the favor of the
mobile phone companies by the entry of the Chinese company Huawei. They are offering to
supply at lower rates than the previous suppliers. As a result, companies now have the option
to go for cheaper suppliers.

9.2.2.Available substitutes:
The presence of 6 competitors in the market makes high availability of substitutes and
competitions. But with a lower price strategy or may be an innovative new service, this threat
could be altered says the BTRC Chairman. Bangladesh has a growing economy. Per capita
income is very low, but this could not hinder peoples mobile consumption. But since the
income level is low, so tendency of switching seems to be ignorable. And finding have
already given the idea about how the market is growing. Mobile industry is a technology
based industry and like any other technology has the danger of becoming obsolete by new
technology. Thus, the threat of potential substitutes is always there. Currently, the biggest
substitute of mobiles is land phone. The land phone market, until very recently, had been a
government monopoly. Private land phone licenses were issued in 2005 and the PSTN (land
phone) companies are yet to capture a significant portion of the market. Moreover, it was
found that people keep mobile phones even if they have land phone connection. Thus, the
threat from land phones is not that high. Another threat to the mobile phone industry is the
expansion of broadband technology. People, especially youngsters, are finding it cheaper to
chat online with their friends rather than talking. Broadband provides with quite a few
advantages over mobile phones: chance to communicate with more than one person, cheaper
rate are a few examples. However, lack of proper infrastructure is acting as a barrier to

31

expansion of broadband countrywide. Thus, it is yet to materialize as a real threat to the
mobile industry.


9.2.1.Level of existing rivalries:
The mobile telecom industry is intensely competitive. Even a few years back the industry was
not as strong as it is now. Initially, Citycell enjoyed total monopoly in this sector. After the
entry of Grameenphone and Aktel (which is now Robi), the industry condition had changed.
Citycell lost its place as a monopoly player as Grameenphone took over most of the market
share and Robi took the second position. The scenario further changed with the entry of
Orascom Telecom, the mobile giant from the Middle East. They entered the market by
acquiring 100% shares of Sheba Telecom and re-launching the brand as Banglalink.
Aggressive marketing and promotion were one of their main entry strategies and it worked.
The airtime rates and connection prices came down because of the competition. This was an
awakening call for the other operators. Grameenphone and Robi, who were silently enjoying
their market positions, suddenly became aggressive as well. There was a huge increase in
promotional activities of all mobile operators. The prices also started climbing downhill.
Companies focused on segment marketing as well as mass marketing. GP launched its youth
brand djuice to cater to the needs of young generation. Citycell came up with their Aalap
Super and Aalap Super Plus providing free airtime whole night. Robi, which was known as
Aktel that time also came up with new offers like Aktel JOY that catered to the need of
couples. Overall, the industry became a hubbub of activities.
The following table is showing the summary of Porters five force analysis at a glance-

Five Force Strength
Barriers of Entry Low
Bargaining Power of customer High
Bargaining Power of Supplier Low
Available substitutes High
Level of existing rivalries: Moderate




32

9..3. Companys comparative conditions:
There are six mobile telephone operators in Bangladesh at the moment. Among them one is
Government owned telephone operator: Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB)
and the other five are privately owned companies namely Grameenphone Ltd., Axiata
(Bangladesh) Limited, Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Ltd., Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd.
(PBTL) and Airtel Bangladesh Ltd.







9.3.1.Grameenphone Limited:
Grameenphone Limited, the number one and leading mobile phone company in the area of
telecommunications in Bangladesh. Of Six mobile operators, Grameenphone Limited
managed to grab 43.9% of the market share only by providing cost-effective & best service
available in the market of mobile telecommunication. Grameenphone Limited has made its
expansion not only in the urban areas, but also it stretched its network in the rural areas for
the economic empowerment of the rural people. It has the largest network, the widest
coverage, the biggest subscriber base and more value added services than any other mobile
phone operators in Bangladesh. Grameenphone Limited has a very strong competitive
position in the telephone industry in the country.

9.3.1.Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited:
When Banglalink entered the Bangladesh telecom industry in February 2005, the scenario
changed overnight with mobile telephony becoming an extremely useful and affordable
communication tool for people across all segments. Banglalink was previously known as
Sheba Telecom which began operation in 1998. It was a joint venture between a Malaysian
Conglomerate, Technology Resources Industries Berhad and a local firm named Integrated
Services Ltd. (ISL). In 2005 Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) acquired Sheba Telecom and
gave a new trading name Banglalink. Within one year of operation, Banglalink became the
fastest growing mobile operator of the country with a growth rate of 257%. This milestone
was achieved with innovative and attractive products and services targeting the different

33

market segments; aggressive improvement of network quality and dedicated customer care;
and effective communication that emotionally connected customers with Banglalink. At
present it is holding the 2
nd
position in the cell- phone industry with respect to market share.
9.3,1Axiata (Bangladesh)Limited:
Axiata (Bangladesh) Limited is a dynamic and leading countrywide GSM communication
solution provider. It is a joint venture company between Axiata Group Berhad, Malaysia and
NTT DOCOMO INC, Japan. Axiata (Bangladesh) Limited, formerly known as Telekom
Malaysia International (Bangladesh), commenced its operation in 1997 under the brand name
Aktel among the pioneer GSM mobile telecommunications service providers in Bangladesh.
Later, on 28th March, 2010 the company started its new journey with the brand name Robi.
Robi is the third largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh in terms of revenue and
subscribers (8.59 million as of February 2009). In early 2008 Robi slipped from the second
position to the third after facing fierce competition from Banglalink. Robi boasts of the
widest international roaming service in the market, connecting 315 operators across 170
countries. It is the first operator in the country to introduce GPRS. Robi uses GSM 900/1800
MHz standard and operates on allocated 12.8MHz frequency spectrum.
9.3,1Airtel Telecom Bangladesh Limited:
Airtel Telecom International Ltd. is a GSM-based cellular operator in Bangladesh. Airtel is
the sixth mobile phone operator to enter the Bangladesh market. It is entirely owned
subsidiary of Airtel Telecom International LLC which is the part of an Abu Dhabi based
group led by His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, a Member of the Royal
Family of Abu Dhabi, and the Honorable Minister of Higher Education and Scientific
Research of the United Arab Emirates. Airtel officially launched their commercial services in
Bangladesh on the May 10, 2007 with a GSM Mobile Cellular network covering 64 districts
of the country and encompassing 70% of the mobile phone using population- the single
largest launch the country has ever seen. On July 19, 2007 Airtel Telecom announced in
major dailies of having achieved one million subscribers in the first of 70 days of operation.
As of September, 2008 Airtel has secured 3.86 million subscribers and is ranked fourth
among the six operators.



34

9.3.1Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited:
Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is the first mobile communications company
of Bangladesh. It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. As of 1 March, 2008,
Citycell's total mobile subscriber base is 1.56 million, up 137 per cent or 680,000 from two
years ago, giving it the best growth rate of the company till date. Citycell is currently owned
by Singtel with 45% stake and the rest 55% owned by Pacific Group and Far East
Telecom.By the end of 2007 Citycell had refurbished its old brand identity and introduced a
new logo and corporate identity; the new logo is very reminiscent of the old logo. However
the slogan has remained unchanged "Because we care". As of July, 2008 Citycell has 1.67
million subscribers.
9.3.1Teletalk Bangladesh Limited:
Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. (Teletalk) was incorporated in December 2004 and is a wholly
owned company of the Government. It was awarded a GSM license in 2004 and commenced
commercial operations in March 2005. December 2005 and commenced its commercial
operation in May 2007. According to the website of teletalk Bangladesh (2009), Teletalk
Bangladesh Limited is a public limited company owned by Bangladesh Telegraph and
Telephone Board (BTTB) in other words by the Government of the Peoples Republic of
Bangladesh. It was incorporated on 26 December, 2004 being the only government sponsored
mobile telephone Company in the country. Teletalk Bangladesh limited was established
keeping a specific role in mind. It has forged ahead and strengthened its path over the years
and achieved some feats truly to be proud of, as the only Bangladeshi mobile operator and the
only operator with 100% native technical and engineering human resource base, Teletalk
thrives to become the true peoples phone Amader Phone.


10. SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:
Largest Subscriber base in Bangladesh
Shareholders with strong operation capabilities

35

Well-recognized brand name and reputation
Strong distribution channels and customer service
Leadership in product development and non-voice services
Experienced management team
Nation-wide coverage
Good Human Resource and Infrastructure Installation all over the country
through Bangladesh Railway and Grameen Bank.
First mover advantage
Loyal Customer Base
High Ethical Standard.
Financial Soundness.
Weakness:
Comparatively higher call rates
Dependency on prepaid products
Lack of value added services within SIM
Excessive GP-BTCL calls rates
Limited FnF (Friends and Family Numbers)
Too much inside out thinking in the company.
Different departments not working together.
Inadequate interconnection with BTTB.
Sometimes a tendency to be arrogant
No long-term Distribution/Channel strategy.
High employee turnover.
Opportunities:
Focus on additional requirement.
Economic growth of Bangladesh.
Improved technological improvement and network coverage
Focus on CR program
Increased socialization
Demand for new & innovative products.
Provide online banking facilities through mobile phone
Increase the brand value through IPO (Initial public Offering)
New and better interconnection agreement

36

Huge need for telecom services
Declining prices for handsets
Growth in other operator will give more connection.

Threats:
Aggressive marketing from other operators
Increased marketing/operating costs
Threat of Potential new entrants
Possibility of Merger among competitors
After converting in to PLC more information has to be disclosed
Increased bargaining power of the consumers
Price war.
Switching power of customer increased
More rigid government regulations.
Change of government might lead to competitors having more clout
Sabotage of installation.
Non-co-operation of government and fixed PSTN (Public Service Telephone
Network).
11. Strategic Operations and Legal Issue :
Grameenphone (GP) always endeavors to make the best possible services. However, it does
not promise any specific quality standards in services. Grameenphone does not obligate itself
to make services available in any specific area in Bangladesh or abroad within certain dates,
however, Grameenphone tries hard to offer the best service quality, though, the quality,
consistency and accessibility of service is not guaranteed as the same are dependent on
various technical, physical, topographical, distinctive, environment, regulatory, legal, and
such other factors. Grameenphone is not liable or responsible for any defect/insufficiency in
the same. In addition, Grameenphone is entitled to, without any liability, refuse, limit,
suspend, disable, delete, vary and/or interrupt service or any part thereof, for one or more
Subscribers, at any time, in its sole judgment, without notice and conveying any reason.
Grameenphone have the right to temporarily postpone the services in whole or in parts of its
network for repair, maintenance or circumstances beyond Grameenphone's control. In spite of

37

anything controlled herein, Grameenphone reserves the right to change, vary, add, substitute,
or withdraw the Web SMS service or any other services.
Grameenphone has the right to change /vary /increase / reduce the tariff charges, prices,
validity period, product/service feature and any other offers etc at any time in its sole
carefulness for any reason subject to official notification of such offers prior to giving effect
to such changes.

Grameenphone has the right to disconnect, suspend or bar the services for any breach of any
law of the land or giving fake information on the subscription form and/ or for changes in the
given information, which is not informed to Grameenphone. Grameenphone has the right to
examine or acquire any relevant document (s) possessed by the potential subscribers or
existing subscribers which may be required by Grameenphone.
The decision of Grameenphone is final in respect of this Subscription Agreement, if any
explanation of the Terms and Conditions is required.
Web SMS subscribers ensure that the contents of the SMS do not go against national defense
and/or national interest, social and religious principle of Bangladesh. And Web SMS
subscribers also guarantee that they must not use contents of SMS, which distinguish any
religion, sex or race or have negative effects on social life. Web SMS subscriber is solely
responsible for misusing the port, hacking by third party or internally, and will be responsible
for the SMS text also.
Grameenphone does not promise that, all messages will be delivered on time (as scheduled)
due to the service downtime/connectivity/other issues that might affect the performance of
this service and Grameenphone is not liable for any delay in broadcasting the message(s).
The result of any SMS sent for any request from a subscriber will be the responsibility of the
subscriber.
Grameenphone does not accept any responsibility for notifications that are sent or received
late, regardless of any cause whatsoever. Any authentic errors made by Grameenphone may
be corrected without customers prior permission. Grameenphone is not responsible for any
errors resulting from fraud perpetrated by any third party. Responsibilities of Grameenphone
are clearly stated in this agreement and Grameenphone takes no other responsibilities besides
these.
Subscriber/s cannot carry out any sort of advertisement & promotional activities of the said
service without former written approval from concerned Grameenphone authority. In spite of
anything contained in this contract, any information brochure, notification or any other matter

38

which will be published by Grameenphone regarding its Services, Service Price, Billing
policy and Credit policy will be included as the terms and conditions of this contract and both
Grameenphone and its subscriber is under obligation of the same.
Any of Grameenphones obligations under general terms & conditions will be interrupted or
delayed by force majeure or Act of Almighty, including but not limited to acts of war, riot,
civil commotion, act of State, strikes, fire, earthquake, flood or by incidence of any other
event beyond the logical control of Grameenphone, then Grameenphone shall be excused
from such performance only for such period of time as is reasonably necessary after such
occurrence has abated for the effects thereof to have dissipated. Grameenphone shall have the
right to suspend this service without any prior notice, if the customer is found in violation of
any above terms and conditions.
Grameenphone Web SMS provides access to its site to send SMS. Grameenphone will
attempt to deliver all of the SMS messages that the subscribers have addressed. Under no
circumstances can Grameenphone guarantee the delivery of messages. Grameenphone is not
responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary
damages caused by, but not limited to, delayed or failed delivery of short messages (SMS).
Sending a Text Message to someone who is not listed in Grameenphone supported network
list or out of their coverage area may result in message not being delivered to that person/s.
Sending messages with destination numbers in the incorrect format and not in the
International format will result in failure of message delivery. Messages not delivered after
24 hours will be deleted.
In the case a users phone is switched off or out of coverage area and not detected by the
network or SIM card or phone memory is full, the message will be stored for the maximum
validity and retried periodically according to International standards or norms until it is
delivered after which it will be deleted, if successful delivery is not possible. Customers use
of the Services is at his/her sole risk. The Services and information (as defined under
Grameenphone Web SMS Service) are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis.
Grameenphone makes no representations, warranties, or guaranties as to the quality,
suitability, truth, accuracy or completeness of any of the Content transmitted via the Services.
Every message sent into the network is billable. There is no guarantee of actual delivery or
delivery within a specific period of time.
Any material obtained through the use of the Services is done at subscribers own discretion
and risk and s/he is solely responsible for any damage to his/her computer system or loss of
Data that results from the download of such material.

39

The price of each SMS is, subject to change by Grameenphone at any time. It can only be
sent to Grameenphone and djuice subscribers, subject to change by Grameenphone at any
time. Maximum of 500 SMS can be sent in a calendar day, subject to change by
Grameenphone at any time. The length of each SMS is a maximum of 160 characters, subject
to change by Grameenphone at any time. Not all special characters can be sent this is also
subject to change by Grameenphone at any time. Web SMS will not be shown in itemized
bill, subject to change by Grameenphone.

Grameenphone shall have the right to provide with any information including call
recording/details of the subscriber to the law enforcing agencies as and when required by the
law of the land.
The SIM card and the corresponding mobile account in Grameenphones system are the sole
responsibility of the subscriber. Grameenphone is not liable for usage including
use/misuse/fraud/forgery and the like perpetrated by anyone including but not limited to the
subscriber or any third party.
The Subscriber cannot use the service(s) for any unlawful or abusive purpose, or for sending
obscene, indecent, threatening, harassing, unsolicited message or messages adversely
affecting/infringing upon national, social or economic interest, not create any damage or risk
to Grameenphone or its network and/or other Subscribers. Under such circumstances
Grameenphone shall have the right to discontinue the service.
For any Telecom offence, crime, trail, punishment, and relevant telecom matters the
Bangladesh Telecommunications Act-2001(Act No. 18 of 2001) and the Rules, Regulations
and guidelines framed there under shall be applicable and binding upon the subscribers/users.
To avail this service subscriber must have access to the necessary equipments to use the
Internet and have access to the Internet.










40



12. Products of Grameenphone:
13.
Grameenphones foot print covers almost 100% of the population of the country.
Grameenphone is the pioneer in providing world-class telecommunications services in
Bangladesh with innovative products and services while delivering and maintaining superior
customer experience.

12.1. Products:
Grameenphone categorizes its products into four business segments. They are Consumer
(Prepaid and Post-paid products, i.e. Smile & Xplore packages respectively), Business
(Business Solutions), Youth (djuice), and emerging markets (GP public phone and the village
phone).
Smile:
Smile prepaid brings the world of limitless possibilities. The services
helps gives words to every feelings, an expression to every emotion.
Smile subscribers enjoy a flat tariff to call all operators and three FnF
(Friends and Family) numbers at a competitive rate. It has the wildest
recharge options. Flexi load/ Scratch Card/Balance Transfer, and its
simple recharge saves from the hassles of rental and deposits, allowing refilling from Tk.10
to Tk1000. In addition to all that, prepaid customers can enjoy international roaming facility
and internet services from their mobile phones.
Xplore:
Life becomes simpler with the Grameenphone xplore post-paid package. xplore provides
unlimited freedom to reach out to people. In addition the post-paid service provides 6-12%
discount on monthly bill through Thankyou bonuses. The connection come pre-activated with
EDGE, allowing easy internet access from the mobile handset.
djuice:

41

djuice was the first product designed to attract the youth in Bangladesh. The brand positioned
itself as a youth life-style choice. djuice subscribers can connect with more than 3.2 million
djuice friends at a special flat rate. djuice customers enjoy the widest collection of value
added services, including the lifestyle benefit xtra-khatir. In addition, all djuice subscribers
receive other facilities enjoyed by prepaid and post-paid customers.
Business Solutions:
Business Solutions is a complete, quality business communications
service from Grameenphone-designed especially for the business
community in Bangladesh. When Business Solutions was launched, it
was for the first time that these kind services were introduced in
Bangladesh.
Business solutions comes with a special service- Closed User Group (CUG)-which allows
employees of an organization to communicate between themselves at a special low rate.
Business solution offers unlimited access to the internet through the mobile handset. Also,
special rates are offered to the clients under Volume incentive discount (VID). The
discount amount is calculated using a two-fold matrix where company airtime usage was
considered first and discount were given to the individual accounts of the respective company
based on those figures.
At the beginning of the last year, Business Solutions, for the first time in Bangladesh, also
introduced the BlackBerry service- one of the most innovative and prestigious corporate
communication tools in Bangladesh. BlackBerry Smartphone provide Grameenphone
customers with access to a wide range of mobile applications, including email, browsing,
messaging, phone, organizers, multimedia, and a wide range of other business and lifestyle
application.
Village Phone and GP Public Phone:
The internationally acclaimed Village Phone Program started on the
same day of commercial operations of Grameenphone in March
1997. Today, Village Phone operators provide telecommunication

42

services in over 58,000 villages and 64 districts of the county. The village phone program is a
unique initiative to provide telecommunication facilities in remote, rural areas all over
Bangladesh.
The Village Phone is a shared access model, which links the telecommunications sector with
the microfinance sector to enable microfinance clients, especially women, to borrow the
money needed to establish Village Phone business in rural areas. Village phone have proven
their immense potential in boosting income of poor households in rural areas, promoting
health care, development of agri-business and in the social empowerment of rural women. All
village phones were converted to prepaid products for greater convenience of the subscribers.
The Village Phone program has also been replicated in a number of countries including
Uganda and Rwanda in Africa.
12.2. Services:
The business at Grameenphone have been structured into three individual strategic business
units (SBUs)-
Voice Services
Message Services
Data Services.
a. Voice Services:
The Voice service business provides high quality, reliable and professional voice
communication services allowing people to communicate locally and internationally across
55 countries, using economy ISD (012) connectivity. The service also provides special rates
within specific communities (Closed User Groups) and on specific Grameenphone numbers.
In addition to that, there is a special service titled Pay 4 Me, which allows subscribers at
the receiving end to accept and pay for a call.
b. Message Service:
Messaging Services offers people a much more efficient and cost-effective way of
communication. The service allows users to send Voice SMS anywhere within the country, or
a text SMS anywhere in the country as well as abroad. Another special service is the Multi
Media Service (MMS), which allows users to share pictures, animations, music, video clips,
and text messages with others.



43

News Push is another valued service through which news headlines can be pushed to
subscribers through SMS.













c. Data Services:
Internet and Data service allows Grameenphone users to access the internet from their
handsets through Grameenphones EDGE-enabled network. The mobile data service allows
transfer/share of data over a mobile network, access remote servers, and access the Internet
from PC. An additional features-Mobile Fax- allows sending and receiving SMS through any
remote fax machine using any mobile phone.

13: Project Part:


An assessment of Grameenphons Corporate Responsibility:
Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step Chinese proverb
At Grameenphone, they live by the statement Development is a journey, not a destination.
GPs 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. They have always believed that good
development is good business. While they maintain their business focus, taking the nation

44

forward remains their top priority. Thus their relationship with Bangladesh is built on a
partnership which strives to achieve common economic and social goals.
Grameenphone defines CR as a complimentary combination of ethical and responsible
corporate behavior as well as a commitment towards generating greater good in society as a
whole by addressing the development needs of the country,'
To interact effectively and responsibly with the society and to contribute to the socio-
economic development of Bangladesh, GP has adopted a holistic approach to CR, i.e.
Strategic and Tactical. Through this approach GP aims to, on the one hand involve itself with
the larger section of the society and to address diverse segments of the stakeholder
demography, and on the other remain focused in its social investment to generate greater
impact for the society.

CR vision:
To be recognized as the most socially responsible mobile operator in Bangladesh and in the
corporate sector.

CR goals:
Create shared value for Grameenphone and society through our mobile technology
integrate responsible business practices in all operations
Integrate responsible business practices in all operations

Corporate responsibility initiatives focus on creating shared value through:
Maximize the enabling effect of mobile telecommunications
Promote safer products and services
Minimize our carbon footprint

GPs CR initiatives are based on 3 main focus areas:
Grameenphone focuses its CR involvement in three main areas - Health, Education and
Empowerment. They aim to combine all the CR initiatives under these three core areas to
enhance the economic and social growth of Bangladesh.GP believes that Corporate
Responsibility is a journey along which they will create a positive difference in the

45

community and the development of the country; thus meeting the expectations of their
customers and stakeholders.
Some of the key CR initiatives:
Health:
Helping and caring for the community is an essential component of Grameenphone's
Corporate Social Responsibility; therefore we endeavor to make a positive contribution to the
underprivileged community of Bangladesh by helping in improvement of the health perils in
the country as much as possible.
Healthcare is still inaccessible for many Bangladeshis. Almost half of the country's
population live below the poverty line and cannot even afford basic healthcare. Only 35% of
the rural population use adequate sanitation facilities and 72% have access to clean drinking
water. Moreover the people of the flood-prone areas suffer from many waterborne diseases.
Two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are to; reduce the under-five mortality
rate and to improve maternal health by reducing the maternal mortality rate. In Bangladesh,
the infant mortality rate is 66 per 1000 and the maternal mortality rate is more than 315 per
1000 during child birth, which is one of the highest in Asia.
The major problem in this sector is the significant gap between healthcare knowledge and
practice and availability of the healthcare services. Therefore, all possible sources, be it
public or private, should mobilize their efforts to make healthcare services available to the
people who need it most, and thus help in achieving the MDG goals.
Our plan is to engage in programs, especially in the rural areas, that will assist in creating
awareness about healthcare and healthcare services and help improve the overall quality of
life.
Safe Motherhood and Infant Care Project (2007-2010)
Grameenphone in partnership with Pathfinder International and
through USAIDs network of Smiling Sun clinics provided free
essential healthcare services (ESP) via 318 static clinics, 8000
satellite clinics and 6000 community-based health-workers
across the country from 2007-2010.





46

Project Milestone:
A total of 1.7 million services provided to economically disadvantaged mothers and
infants & more than 8000 institutional deliveries were conducted free of cost.
Patiya and Bhola clinics of two NGOs (FDSR and Swanirvar Bangladesh) upgraded to
emergency obstetric care centers.
10 motorized vans (ambulances) provided to facilitate better patients referral.
4 clinic-on-wheels were given to increase the accessibility of services in the hard-to-reach
areas.
NID Awareness Campaign (2007 2012)
In an effort to eradicate the re-emergence of polio,
Bangladesh observed several rounds of the
National Immunization Days (NIDs) in 2007 till
date to immunize around 24 million children
under the age of five. Grameenphone has been
a proud partner of the mass awareness
campaign during these NIDs .
As part of the campaign, radio and newspaper announcements urged parents to bring their
children to nearest vaccination centers across the country; free SMS alerts were sent to all
Grameenphone subscribers. Mobile vaccination centers also provide vaccination across DCC.

Every sight counts 24 Free Eye Camps (2007-2010)
Bangladesh is a signatory to 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.
80% of Bangladeshis living in rural areas are almost completely deprived of all eye-care
services.
Grameenphone, jointly with Sightsavers International,
organized free eye camps in different parts of the country.
Prior to the days of the eye-camps, community based public
announcements were carried out in the targeted localities to
ensure optimal participation by the community. In these
eye camps, two types of services were provided:
free prescription based on necessary medical check-up,
and free cataract surgery, if required. More than 6000
cataract surgery were performed through these centers.

47


Helping Thalasaemia patients
Keeping in mind these two vital factors - lack of awareness and supply requirement of
healthy, fresh blood - Grameenphone, as a responsible corporate citizen, aimed to
organize 3 blood collection campaigns every year among GP employees which were
donated for the treatment of thalasaemia patients.
The main objective was to address the problem of acute shortage of fresh, healthy blood
supply as well as lack of wide awareness regarding this disease
Regular fresh blood transfusion might help a thalasaemia patient to maintain almost a
regular lifestyle. But this is not as simple as said. Bangladesh suffers from acute shortage
of fresh, healthy blood supply.

789 Health line
The Healthline service, first of its kind, is
designed to extend primary healthcare information
and services to people in both rural and urban areas.
It is a 24-hour Medical call center which provides
services through an interactive teleconference between
a Grameenphone mobile user and a licensed physician.


Grameenphone subscribers may seek medical advice on emergency, non-emergency or
regular medical situation by just dialling 789.'
A 789-caller will also enjoy additional medical information services, such as doctor and
medical facility information, interpretation of laboratory test reports and data, and emergency
support information.

Partnership with UNAIDS for AIDS awareness Camp 2009)

Grameenphone embarked upon a CR partnership with UNAIDS, a joint venture of the
United Nations family, to build an AIDS-free Bangladesh through the Asia Pacific
Leadership Forum (APLF).

48

Grameenphone works jointly with UNAIDS in their advocacy campaign to create
awareness about HIV and AIDS to create a non-discriminatory and enabling environment
for HIV- and AIDS-affected individuals at the workplace and in the wider community.
Grameenphone carried out an extensive mass media campaign starting from mid-
November leading up to the World AIDS Day on 1st December, including television
commercials, press advertisements, radio announcements and billboards.
Grameenphone also sponsored the screening of a telefilm titled UTSHO (The Source)
produced to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS issue.
A direct mail with messages from the CEO and APLF champions were sent to leading
corporate houses of the country on World Aids Day.

Partnership with Dhaka Ahsania Mission (2007-till date)
Launched a partnership with Dhaka Ahsania Mission to sponsor the complete
development and upkeep of five wards and an Operation Theatre at the under
construction Dhaka Ahsania Mission Cancer & General Hospital.
One third of the beds sponsored by GP will be reserved for economically disadvantaged
patients who will receive free admission and full treatment; the rest of the disadvantaged
patients will also receive treatment at a subsidized rate.
Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA)
2011-2012

MAMA initiative uses mobile phones to deliver life-
saving health information to parents-to-be and new
parents in Bangladesh either by calling to the port
16227 or sending SMS to the port (16227) with the
required information. Once expectant and new mother
have registered, the health information services will
inform women of ways to care for themselves during
pregnancy, dispel myths and misconceptions, highlight
warning signs, connect women with local health
services, reinforce breast feeding practices, explain the
benefits of family planning, and make new mothers
aware of how best to care for their babies..





49


Internet Genius Campaign
Grameenphone brings Internet to schools
Grameenphone has joined the biggest ever
education sector project in Bangladesh and
brings Internet to secondary and higher
level educational institutions across the country.
Bringing Internet to the people 102 events in
1000 schools and colleges were visited by 300 000 people in Bangladesh. This was
Grameenphone's contribution to let them explore the world of Internet.

I-Genius : Grand Proud Partner of Special
Olympics Team Bangladesh
Grameenphone Sponsored Special Olympic
Bangladesh Team to participate in the World
Summer Games in 2011, held in Athens. 40
athletes [boy 28 girl 12] participated and won a
total of 60 gold medals among which 37 were
gold medals. Special Olympics Bangladesh
Football team qualifies for Brazil.Special
Olympics Bangladesh team has qualified for the
prestigious "FIFA Unified World Cup Football
Tournament", which will be held in Brazil on
2014.24 teams from all over the world will be
playing in FIFA Unified World Cup Football
Tournament, Brazil in 2014.Special Olympics
team won Gold Medal in Floor Hockey Event at
Special Olympics Winter Games held in South
Korea defeating defending champion Canada.
Grameenphone is the proud sponsor of Special
Olympics Bangladesh national team from 2007.

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Environment Awareness activities &
Communication
With the aim to support a healthier
environment, Grameenphone set out to
do its part with the launch of its
environmental and climate change
campaign Stay Green, Stay Close
Grameenphone organized a cleaning
campaign Shobuje Thakun, Kachey
Thakun (Stay Green, Stay Close)
around Dhaka University to celebrate
Bengali New year-1418 with the aim to
build a cleaner and greener Bangladesh.
Each year the grand celebration for
welcoming Bengali New Year generates
more than 100 tons of wastes in Dhaka
University area. Grameenphone
partnered Dhaka City Corporation for
this cleanup campaign.
Cyclone Shelter cum Primary School
GP built 4 Cyclone Shelters as part of the
rehabilitation plans in the SIDR affected
areas.
Earlier, Grameenphone extended its help
towards victims of the devastating
cyclone SIDR. A contribution of BDT 10
million was made to the Chief Adviser's
Relief Fund, which included GP
employees' 1-day salary contribution.
During the relief operations earlier,
Grameenphone organized 16 medical
camps and 14,000 family packs were
distributed among the affected. Almost
200 employees voluntarily participated
during the relief effort.

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14.1. Organ gram of Communications Department:










Figure 11
From the above Organogram we can see that the Communication and CR Department is
headed by an Additional General Manager (AGM) then have a Deputy General Manager
(DGM) followed by a Deputy Manager (DM) with two of his subordinate Officers.
Project Part
Problem Statement:
In this era maintaining sustainable marketing strategy is a major concern for most of the
companies. Bringing brand awareness is a critical thing for most of the companies. CSR
activity of a company helps to improve brand awareness which creates purchase intention.
Moreover if consumers can supports or relate them with any of the CSR activities of a
company, they will try to be a part of it willingly, this is how customer loyalty increases.
During my internship at GP, I found that many of the customers and people are not aware
about some of GPs CSR programs, and the consequence is that they cant inspire other
people to start or get more involve with GP. In addition although GP has an excellent
network service, the price is high compared to other telecom service providers. Thus
maintaining a balance between the service and the charge is a critical issue for maintaining
customer loyalty. CSR activity might play a vital role in this scenario. For these reasons, Ive
Officer

Officer

Deputy Manager

Manager

Deputy General Manager (DGM)

Additional General Manager (AGM)


52

decided to do a research on Measuring the Effectiveness of GrameenPhones CR
Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness.

Objectives:
Broad Objective:
The main objective of this study is to determine whether the customers of GP are aware about
GPs CR programs or not.
Specific objective:
The research will be aimed at fulfilling the following specific objectives:

Which CR activities are most significant for the customers?
For which reasons customers choose GP?
Which CR activities are most effective in creating brand awareness?
The relative position of GP compared to others?
Which customer groups are more satisfied with the service?
Significance of the study:
To give a better explanation of corporate social responsibility (CSR):
Adam Smiths 1776 opus, The Wealth of Nations, is considered as the landmark of modern
capitalism (Smith, 1991). Smiths proposition states that when business is free to pursue
profits and efficiency, it eventually benefits the common good, i.e. it serves both its interests
and those of society at best (Lantos, 2001). Milton Friedmans neo-classical position draws
upon the Smithian argument by explaining that profitability is the ultimate social
responsibility of business, if done in an ethical way and in obedience to the law.
Adopting the Agency theory framework, Friedman explains that the alleged social
responsibilities of business people are nothing but agents acting inappropriately as civil
servants. Therefore, when using the resources of the principals they should ultimately serve,
business people eventually do more of a disservice than good to society (Friedman, 1970;
Lantos, 2001; Moir, 2001) This concept known as the shareholder model has started to be
questioned by academics. In 1953, for example, Bowen introduced the idea of social
responsibilities of business people in a wider sphere than pure profit-seeking. Doubt arose
among scholars due to growing discrepancies between liberal assumptions and socio-
economic reality, as well as from the evidence of the inconsistency of the economic man

53

model, a rational decision-maker seeking to pursue his own benefit only (Takala, 1999).
Society itself reacted strongly to the disillusion of the liberal economic model that brought
moral compromises along with business success. The core idea was that business could and
should be reasonably expected to serve society in a way that goes beyond its previous
obligations. The 1960s and 1970s brought a significant expansion of academic interest in the
CSR field. The concept was examined and discussed in depth resulting in the emergence of
models of CSR and debates on the managerial implications of CSR and introduction of
related concepts of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsiveness (Carroll, 1999).
Alternative themes to balance the argument were a major focus of research in the 1980s,
notably Corporate Social Performance (CSP) and the stakeholder theory and stakeholder
management models. Since the 1990s, CSR has been used as the base point or integrated as
an element of other related concepts. Current research explores in particular how CSR applies
to the public sector since public organizations have turned into more network-type entities
alongside the private sector (Scholl, 2001) The first characteristic of CSR is that it is part of a
long-term perspective of economic gain that may not be financially measurable but may
provide a valuable asset for future profitability, and eventually for social power (Davis,
1970; Carroll, 1999). This idea is reminiscent of the concept of sustainability, i.e., business
does not pursue only short-term profits, but rather a multitude of goals which all combine to
guarantee businesss survival and prosperity in a changing environment. This is even more
essential in a knowledge-based society where organisational assets are intangibles
(reputation, technology, know-how, etc.) as much as tangibles (financial resources, buildings
and equipment.
Second characteristic on which academics agreed by the 1970s is that CSR is about going
beyond the narrow economic, technical, and legal requirements of the firm (Davis,
1973,p.312; Carroll, 1999). Therefore, abiding by the law does not immediately mean being
socially responsible and CSR is implicitly the expression of a voluntary effort by which the
firm complies with ethical standards, as opposed to purely economic or legal imperatives
(Jones, 1980; Carroll, 1999). Johnson and Scholes (2002,p.220) highlight that aspect, stating
that: corporate social responsibility is concerned with the ways in which an organisation
exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate
governance. CSR is in the domain of moral obligation or normative principles, and not
only a question of obedience to the law (Kilcullen and Ohles Kooistra, 1999; Scholl, 2001)
Another characteristic of CSR is the idea that business is accountable to various stakeholders

54

who can be identified and have a claim, either legally mentioned or morally expected, on the
business activities that affect them (Frederick, 1987; Mitnick, 1995; Jones, 1999)
To explain, how CSR activities create brand awareness
One will realise that the literature available focuses on the relation of CSR to profits,
reputation and image. Also, most of the CSR literatures recorded have focused more on other
regions than on West Africa and Ghana. Since the significance of brand awareness has been
established, it is equally important to know the bearing that CSR has on Brand Awareness.
This study hopes to contribute to the discussion of CSR in the context of Ghana and to fill the
gap by finding the effect of CSR on another very important issue- Brand Awareness. The
word brand is derived from the word brandr which means to burn. This was a way in
which herdsmen labeled and identified their cattle (Keller, 2008). Till today, this practice is
still being performed. A brand is 21 also said to identify the maker or supplier of a particular
product or service which also helps in differentiating ones goods from other competitors. To
the customer, it shows the promise of what the goods, service or firm stands for and the
experience that can be derived from it (Kotler, 2003). Currently, brands are of importance to
most businesses and corporations and of higher importance is the notion of building a strong
brand. This is because building a strong brand has been shown to provide numerous financial
rewards to the firm (Keller, 2001.) Building a strong brand is made up of four steps. The first
thing is to establish depth and breadth of brand awareness (Brand Identity). This is followed
by creating the appropriate brand meaning through favorable and unique brand associations.
The third thing is eliciting positive and accessible brand responses and the final step is
creating brand relationships with customers characterized by intense loyalty (Keller, 2001).
As noted above, brand awareness is very vital and significant in building a corporate brand
because it serves as the foundation, and it is the first step of the communications process
towards creating brand attitudes and associations, and intention of product purchase (Rossiter
and Percy, 1987). In reference to this, brand awareness will simply mean the familiarity of a
brand. It reflects the salience of the brand in the customers mind (Aaker, 1996) thus forming
an integral role of brand equity. Consumers are aware of a large number of brands when
making buying decisions, and brands with higher awareness levels are more likely to be part
of the final buying 22 decision. Brand awareness is also said to influence the brands
perceived quality (MacDonald & Sharp, 1996). Kitchin, (2003) views brand and
responsibility as being related. He identifies Responsibility as being brand dependent. Brand
is, in fact, the prime determinant of responsibility. Every brands social responsibility is

55

unique, not just to the business segment it operates in, or to its own operational impact, but
unique to the promises that the brand offers, and unique to the delicate framework of trust
that it has established with its stakeholders (Kitchin, 2003).
To show the role of CSR for developing customer loyalty
Different CSR activities refer to how an organization handles the way in which the customer
is addressing his/her service needs (Boshoff, 1999). Boshoff (1999) distinguishes two types
of communication styles: convergence and maintenance. Convergence refers to a voice-to-
voice encounter as a communication style in which the banker adapts his/her tone of voice''
in accordance with the Banker's schemas held by the customer (Boshoff, 1999). In a
maintenance style, the banker displays no effort to adapt to the customer needs (Boshoff,
1999). Crosby et al. (1990) found that customer perceived similarity (i. e. Appearance,
lifestyle, and socioeconomic status) of sales persons ``plays an important role in determining
sales effectiveness''. Banker sometimes has to adjust the language for different customers, for
example increasing the level of sophistication with a well-experienced customer and speaking
simply and plainly with a novice (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
To examine the relationship among corporate social responsibility, brand
awareness and consumer loyalty.
During the industrial revolution a significant portion of the human work force was replaced
with machines used in factories. This helped to produce a substantial number of millionaires
and corporate figures causing a significant gap between the upper class and working class
(Ahmad and Jaseem, 2006). The significant income disparity between the rich
(entrepreneurs) and the poor (working class), led to the call for social justice and hence the
advent of sound realisation of socially responsible practices (Pokorny 1995; Bergtedt and
Nilsson, 2010). In the last twenty years, CSR has become increasingly important to
multinational enterprises, with clear links to business case for corporations (Brown and
Dacin, 1997; Porter and Kramer, 2011). The major plus point that CSR brings is to ensure
that companies are on par with the expectations of their customers (Surricchio, 2009). Baker
(2001) stated that CSR is the positive outcome a company provides while it manages its
normal business trade. CSR is said to provide a long term commitment to social contribution
be it towards the society or for the development of a particular company's workers. In doing
so, a company as a whole, can organise its business ethically in order to directly contribute to
the betterment of the society as a whole (Soni, 2009; Verhoeff, 2009; Verma, 2010). Neito

56

(2009) stated that when blended together, CSR and branding strategies can add value to
companies in the eyes of both customers and employees. In the early days, giving away
branded articles to customers will get businesses recognized (Buchholtz and Carroll, 2003).
Today, corporations know that CSR is linked to their reputation and brand identity (Holding
and Pilling, 2006). Manhaimer (2007) stated that customer loyalty is linked to brand
awareness. Stated differently, this means that there is a possible relationship between CSR
and consumer loyalty via brand awareness. CSR efforts by a company can enhance its brand
awareness and thus the overall consumer loyalty. Smith, Gradojevic and Irwin (2007)
asserted that one of the most interesting marketing factors that most private companies were
indulging in is in developing brand awareness. Pakseresht (2010) argued that now, most
companies are distinguished by their brand thus they are evaluated based on how they
perform in the eyes of society. This is further substantiated given the fact that technology and
web-based intelligent sources assist consumers in verifying indexes about a particular
company vis-a-vis its social responsibility. Van Heerde, Gupta and Wittink (2003) also
suggested that brand awareness can impact loyalty and these two factors in turn can be driven
by CSR initiatives. Other researchers such as Balsara (2009) called for making CSR
compulsory in relation to a company's overall brand strategy. These authors added that CSR
can be used to not only promote a cause, but also help to create unique brand equity for the
company. Myers (2003) suggested that customers tend to affiliate themselves with a
particular brand based on the value of its brand. Upon such significant relationship with the
brand, a company can form a unique identification between the customer and the brand.
The above discussion implies that a possible relationship exists between consumer loyalty,
brand awareness and CSR initiatives.

Methodology:

Research Design:
Formal study: Formal study begins where the exploration leaves off. It begins with a
hypothesis or research question and involves precise procedures and data source

57

specifications. Our research study is a formal study because the goal of our research is to test
the hypothesis and answer the research questions posted.
Communication study: As the data would be collected through questionnaires and we will
be collecting data in person, our method for data collection falls under communication study.
Ex post facto: In our research we have no control over the variables in the sense of being
able to manipulate them. This can only evaluate the facts based on measured variables and
what has happened or happening. Here we are going to report the effects in the variable under
our study.
Cross sectional study: This study will be carried out only once and it will represent a
snapshot of one point in time. So our research is considered to be a cross sectional study.
Statistical study: We have designed out study for breadth rather than depth. Our goal is to
capture the characteristics from a sample and then testing the resulting hypothesis and our
findings will be generalized.
Field condition: As our research samples are going to respond or we are going to capture our
sample response in the actual environmental conditions where the dependent variable occurs,
it can be told that this research is a field condition study.
Actual routine: As we are not going to manipulate our sample and their response place is the
actual environment, participants would not perceive any deviation from everyday routine
which is why it falls under actual routine study.
Sampling
Sampling unit: For our research, a systematic sampling procedure will be employed to
ensure that the sample includes different demographics and socio economic groups.The
people to be surveyed are customers of GP. The sampling unit considers the age groups of
15-25 years, 26-35 years, 36- 45 years, 46 years and above. Income range for this sampling
unit is 500- 15000, 16000- 25000, 26000- 3500, 36000 and above. Occupation for the
sampling unit includes students, businessman, service holders and other.
Sampling size: The sample unit consists of 123 people. Questionnaires will be used and each
interview will last for ten minutes max.

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Sampling procedures: The samples for this research will be selected randomly. This refers
to a non-probable sample. Potential customers will be approached and asked if they would
like to participate. Those who agree will be given the questionnaires.
Instruments
The questions used for data collection are all close ended questions. There are 25 questions in
total for measuring all the variables. Each variable is measured by at least 5 questions.
Business research used in this report is of descriptive nature. Through this descriptive
research this report seeks to determine the answers to who, what, where and how questions of
the cellular industry of Bangladesh. To prepare the report, research design and methods of
this study is described as follows:
Data source:
Data for this report has been extracted from primary sources as well as secondary sources.










Figure-12

Primary Data:
The target population in this study was the consumers using Grameenphone in Dhaka. A total
of 120-123 questionnaires will be distributed among the students, service holders, and
businessmen in Dhaka. The target of this study will be educated people because they are
more critical about different brands as compared to others.




Questionnaire survey
Direct interview
Primary
Data source
Annual Report
Informal discussions
Published articles
Journals
Brochures
Official web sites
Secondary
data source

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Secondary Data:
Majority of the data will be collected from Annual Report, Informal discussions mainly with
my supervisor, published articles on telecommunication sectors, journals, brochures,
Grameenphone official web sites. Many of the data will be collected from the observation of
the CR Departments activities.
Sample Size:
The sample size of will be 100 for this project purpose.
Questionnaire design:
The questionnaire will be designed in such a way so that the view of respondents articulated
properly regarding each and every issue.
Data Collection:
Organization part-
Annual Report, Informal discussions mainly with my supervisor, published articles, journal,
and brochures, Company websites
Project part-
Organization part information have provided in a descriptive manner
Data have been analyzed by the software called Excel.

Limitations of the study:
Time constraint is a big factor could be a big issue, as I have to do this report along with
my regular office work.
Data availability could be another big issue here because company might not want to
disclose all the confidential information regarding their managerial strategies and plans.
The sample population will be limited in terms of proportion and composition.
Data collection is restricted within Dhaka city only, which may fail to represent the
factual scenario of the relationship between measured variables.
Most of the people do not possess any clear idea about, CSR.
Present scenario of political environment.






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Literature review:
Corporate Social Responsibility:
The concept of CR originated in 1953 after the publication of Bowens book Social
Responsibilities of Businessmen (Valor, 2005).According to Kotler and Lee (2005),it is a
difficult concept to pin down as it overlaps with other such concepts as sustainable business,
corporate citizenship and business ethics (Moon, 2002).According to Mohr, Webb and Harris
(2001), CR is a companys effort and responsibility to reduce or avoid harmful effects and to
maximize its long run positive and useful impact on society. In spirit CR speaks of
organizations reaction to social plans.
Earlier Organizations were considered only as profit maximizing entities. However, with a
change in the structure of business environment, the role of organizations has altered
dramatically. Today, organizations are an essential part of social life (Karaibrahimoglu,
2010).CR is basically a tool for organizations to carry out diverse activities to fund and
resolve social problems and to fulfill their commitment towards society.It also allows the
organizations to generate and assign the resources in effective and efficient way (Petrick &
Quinn, 2001).So is one of the best tools to gain competitive advantage (Porter & Kramer,
2002). Due to this reason CR is quickly gaining importance as more and more firms are
realizing its value. CR initiatives and actions are not only about charity but about
transforming these ideas into useful business strategies. CR driven efforts does not only relate
to make a contribution by donating money but it speaks of incorporating societal and moral
practices into business strategies that help the consumers in building a optimistic brand
image. Research has shown that socially responsible activities of a firm enhance the brand
image of the firms goods as well as the general image of the firm.
Brand Image:
Brand image is an important concept in consumer behavior studies since the early 1950s (Li,
Wang & Cai, 2011). Levy (1959) proposed the concept of brand image and suggested that
merchandises have societal and emotional characteristics and consumers develop emotional
connections with the brands. Brand image is the most vital part of brand equity as brand
image comprises of all links in the mind of consumers interconnected to that brand. So if
anything which has an influence on a business from consumer's point of view is brand image.

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The brand image of a popular brand is a valuable business asset as consumers identify
products and services more easily through the respective brands. These perceptions which are
grounded on connections between characteristics and the brand name are normally stated as
the brands image (Keller, 1993). So, brand image is basically a perception of a brand held in
the memory of a customer and it reveals a customers general impression.
Nowadays a brand is not considered just as logo but it is more likely taken as a carefully
scored experience which is supported by huge marketing budgets, action and cultured
mindset. A positive brand image can be taken as a capability of a firm to hold its market
position(Wu, 2011).A positive brand image helps to increase numerous outcomes such as
customers contentment, service superiority, loyalty and repurchasing intention (Lai, Griffin
& Babin, 2009). Therefore, much of the marketing struggle is focused on building up
perceptions about the brand in the memory of a consumer. CR could be a beneficial for
building a positive brand image and building consumers positive attitudes so it is a key
source of competitive advantage. Endorsing brand image with the help of CR initiatives
assures positive comments and eventually has a positive impact on the brand because a firm
is crystal clear about its external communications as well as internal practices.
Brand Awareness
One will realize that the literature available focuses on the relation of CR to profits,
reputation and image. Also, most of the CR literature recorded have focused more on other
regions than on West Africa and Ghana. Since the significance of brand awareness has been
established, it is equally important to know the bearing that CR has on Brand Awareness.
This study hopes to contribute to the discussion of CR in the context of Ghana and to fill the
gap by finding the effect of CR on another very important issue- Brand Awareness.
The word brand is derived from the word brandr which means to burn. This was a way in
which herdsmen labeled and identified their cattle (Keller, 2008). Till today, this practice is
still being performed. A brand is also said to identify the maker or supplier of a particular
product or service which also helps in differentiating ones goods from other competitors. To
the customer, it shows the promise of what the goods, service or firm stands for and the
experience that can be derived from it (Kotler, 2003).
Currently, brands are of importance to most businesses and corporations and of higher
importance is the notion of building a strong brand. This is because building a strong brand

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has been shown to provide numerous financial rewards to the firm (Keller, 2001.) Building a
strong brand is made up of four steps. The first thing is to establish depth and breadth of
brand awareness (Brand Identity). This is followed by creating the appropriate brand meaning
through favorable and unique brand associations. The third thing is eliciting positive and
accessible brand responses and the final step is creating brand relationships with customers
characterized by intense loyalty (Keller, 2001). As noted above, brand awareness is very vital
and significant in building a corporate brand because it serves as the foundation, and it is the
first step of the communications process towards creating brand attitudes and associations,
and intention of product purchase (Rossiter and Percy, 1987).
In reference to this, brand awareness will simply mean the familiarity of a brand. It reflects
the salience of the brand in the customers mind (Aaker, 1996) thus forming an integral role
of brand equity. Consumers are aware of a large number of brands when making buying
decisions, and brands with higher awareness levels are more likely to be part of the final
buying decision. Brand awareness is also said to influence the brands perceived quality
(MacDonald & Sharp, 1996).
Kitchin, (2003) views brand and responsibility as being related. He identifies Responsibility
as being brand dependent. Brand is, in fact, the prime determinant of responsibility. Every
brands social responsibility is unique, not just to the business segment it operates in, or to
its own operational impact, but unique to the promises that the brand offers, and unique to the
delicate framework of trust that it has established with its stakeholders (Kitchin, 2003).

Brand loyalty
As early as the 1960s, definitions of brand loyalty incorporated both attitudinal and
behavioral concepts, yet few empirical studies have incorporated both dimensions. Instead,
research in this area appears to have fragmented into two distinct traditions, with behavioral
researchers focusing on the observable actions of loyal customers (Ehrenberg, and
Goodhardt. 2000) and attitudinal researchers investigating commitment to brands and
repurchase intentions (Dorsch et al., 2000; Patterson et al.1997). Research in these traditions
has produced studies of the level of commitment consumers' display towards a brand, how
decisions taken at one moment affect subsequent purchases, and consumers' relative
expenditure on brands in a category. Despite the view that brand loyalty be conceptualized

63

broadly and be reflected by both attitudinal and behavioural measures (Dick and Basu, 1994:
Baldinger and Rubinson,1996), few studies in either the consumer marketing or business
marketing literatures have incorporated both dimensions of brand loyalty.
Brand Satisfaction
Satisfaction is well researched for consumer services (Curran et al., 2003; Ganesh et al.,
2000). Many empirical studies show that satisfaction is an antecedent of brand attitude, brand
intention, and attitudinal brand loyalty for consumer services (Oliver. 1980; Pritchard et al..
1999; Shimp and Dyer. 1981). However, research on satisfaction and loyalty from the
perspectives of business purchasing and business services is not well documented (Patterson
et all.,1997; Shimp and Dyer,1981). The high credence nature of business services typically
results in customers being more likely to rely on prior expectations, so that satisfaction for
business services is likely to be evaluative in nature. Thus, satisfaction is likely to be an
important driver of loyalty in business settings, as it implies an evaluation of a brand's
performance based on a small business' experience with past purchases of the brand.
Satisfaction is an antecedent of attitudinal loyalty in this context.
Perceived quality
Aaker (2002:17) identifies perceived quality as a brand association that is elevated to the
status of a brand asset for several reasons, which are listed below:
Among all brands associations, only perceived quality has been shown to drive financial
performance.
Perceived quality is often a major strategic thrust of a business.
Perceived quality is linked to and often drives other aspects of how a brand is perceived.
A study by Aaker (2002:18) has demonstrated that perceived quality does drive financial
performance. Many firms explicitly consider quality to be one of their primary values and
include it in their mission statements. For many brands, perceived quality defines the
competitive milieu and their own position within that milieu. Some brands are price brands,
others are prestige or premium brands, the perceived quality position are often the defining
point of differentiation (Aaker, 2002:19).
Perceived quality is usually the primary focus of what customers are buying.Brand identity is
defined by functional benefits, as most studies have pointed to the fact that perception about

64

product benefits are closely linked to perceived quality. According to Pappu et al. (2005:143),
perceived quality is not represented by the actual quality of the product, but the consumers
subjective evaluation of the product. Perceive quality also provides customers with a reason
to buy and by differentiating the brand from competing brands.
Hypotheses of the Study:
From literature review following hypotheses were formulated:
H1: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Awareness.
H2: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Image
H3: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand loyalty.
H4: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Perceived Quality.
H5: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Satisfaction.
Conceptual Framework:














Figure 14
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
Brand
Awareness
Brand
Image
Brand
Satisfaction
Brand
Loyalty
Perceived
Quality

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14. Statistical Analysis:

Which of the following brands would you prefer for mobile connectivity?


The first question of the questionnaire was about the most preferred brand for mobile
connectivity and among the 100 respondents the majority that is 40% preferred GP. The reason
might be the strongest network coverage over the country. 25% told that they prefer Banglalink
and 20% said they prefer Airtel because of their low call rate and 10% preferred Robi due to their
different package availability and only 5% people went for Citycell.
Before this survey have you ever heard about Grameenphones CR Activity?

40%
25%
20%
10%
5%
Which of the following brand would you prefer most for mobile
connectivity ?
GP Banglalink Airtel Robi City cell
35%
47%
18%
Before this survey have you ever heard about
Grameenphones CR Activity?
Never heard of it Aware Once/Sometimes

66


Out of these 35% people said that, they never heard of GPs CR activities. The reason might
be the lack of promotional activity of GPs CR activity or they may not have a clear idea about,
CR activity. 47% of the people said that they are aware of it. These people are highly
educated and always try to keep themselves updated about different organizations social
works. 18% people said that they heard about GPs CR activities once or sometimes, most of
them consider the road dividers and the big passenger shade with Grammenphones logo.
How did you first hear about the Grameenphones CR activities?



36% of the people that is almost half of the population said that they came to know about the
CR activity from TVC. These 36% of consumers have related Grameenphones CR activity
mostly with different TV advertisement, which are Bangladesh cricket team centric. As
Grameenphone was the proud sponsor of Bangladesh cricket team for the past couple of
years. In the other hand Grammenphones other CR activities like, it sponsored one special
Olympic team of Bangladesh, and it has a history of supporting acid victims. Moreover in
recent Savar tragedy (2013) Grameenphone has extended its sincere support for
300 victims (injured & affected in the Savar Tragedy) through setting up free
Flexiload business facilities, these activities of Grameenphone has covered by different
newspapers. 30% of the total sample size that is 30 respondents comes to know about the
brand by reading newspapers or magazines. 3 people that are 3% of the sample said that they
came to know about it from word of mouth. This is quiet surprising for CR activities, word of
mouth are an unusual medium. 30% of the people said that they came to know about this

67

from billboards. Here we can say that TVCs, newspapers or magazines would be the best
media to create the awareness program for GPs CR activities.

Do you remember any of the promotional activities of Grameenphones CR?




This question was intended to know about the brand awareness through the CR activities of
GP brand. Among the 100 respondents 90% that is 90 people answered Yes and only 10
people that is 10% answered NO. Here we can say GPs CR activities might be one of the
strongest tools to create a strong brand image in consumers minds.
How well the brand is positioned according to the CR activities?


Very poor
0%
Poor
0%
Average
47%
Good
43%
Very good
10%
How well the brand is positioned according to the CSR
activities?

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This question was asked to get the consumer insight and their perception about the brand
awareness, because of their CR activities. None of the100 people said that the CR activities
of Grameenphone are positioned very poorly or poorly. 47% people think that it is positioned
moderately. 43% of the respondents think that Gps CR activities are positioned well and
10% of the respondents think those are positioned very well.
Do you think CR activity is better than other promotional tools in terms of positioning?



This question asked to judge the difference among the positioning of different tools of GP
(CR activities or other promotional tools. among the 100 respondents majority that is 87%
thought that doing CR is better positioned than using other promotional tools. Because most
of the respondents believe that, any business organizations goal is to earn profit, which is
very normal. In the other hand, like any other marketing tool, through CR activities a brand
can easily show that it is trying to do something towards the community from where it earns
its profit. This shows that the company is not here, for one day, rather than it has an intension
to have its business for long time.
On the other hand 10% thinks maybe other promotional activities are positioned well than CR
activities. 13% of the respondents said nothing about it. However from this part of analysis it
clearly shows GP needs to put more emphasize on its CR activities. So, we can say that GPs
CR activities might be one of the strongest tool to promote its brand.


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How would you like to rate, overall CR activities of Grameenphone?



This question was asked in order to find out the consumer perception towards the overall CR
activities of Grameenphone. 10% people think that the CR activities of GP are Very good.
33% people think that the CR activities of GP are good and 57% think that it is moderate.
None of the respondents think that the CR activities of GP is Poor or Very poor. From this
analysis we can see that still 57% think that it is moderate which almost half of the
population. So here we can suggest GP, that it still has an opportunity to do something more
for our society.
Do you think that you are influenced by CR activities while you buy the products of
Grameenphone?

This is the last question, which has been asked to the respondents that are they influenced by
CR activities while buying products of Grameenphone brand, 33% people answered that may
be they are influenced, 37% people told me that they are influenced and 30% said that they
10%
33%
57%
0% 0%
How would you like to rate, overall CR activities of
Grameenphone?

Very Good Good Average poor Very poor
37%
30%
33%

Do you think that you are influenced by CSR
activities while you buy the products of
Grameenphone?

Yes No may be

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are not influenced by CR activities at all while buying Grameenphone product, they are using
GP because it has a good network coverage.

15. Findings and Discussions:

From Basic Descriptive analysis which involves direct percentage of data came from
questionnaire, some important findings are clearly visible. These findings include:
The main purpose the project was to find out specific questions related to the brand
awareness of Grameenphone through the Corporate Responsibility activities. The main
questions were to find out whether the CR activities by Grameenphone are effective or not
and another one is, whether these CR activities are better than other IMC tools or not. The
answers are definitely positive. Because analysis shows maximum number of respondents
said that they have heard about the CR activities of the Grameenphon before this survey.
Because these types of people are educated and concern and always keep them updated. Out
of these 35% people none of the people said that they never heard of GPs CR activities. The
reason might be the lack of knowledge about CR activities or CR related promotional
activities of GP. But a few people said that they heard about GPs CR activities once or
sometimes it from word of mouth or saw by their own from roadside or newspapers but not
regularly.
On the other hand some of the respondents are not aware about the CR activities but many of
them use it and also use it in a regular basis just influenced by the promotional activities. The
next phase was to determine the ability to recall the CR activities by the respondents. In this
regard the respondents were asked if they remember any of the CR campaigns of Grameen
phone. 40% of the respondents said that they remember the activities of GPs online
schooling, road side shadows, health care etc. Others could not remember any CR
particularly. So again in terms of recalling the brand, the response is moderate. But most of
the people could recall the IMCs of GP.

In terms of media exposure, consumers were asked that from where they came to know about
the CR activities. Most of the people said that they came to know from TV. Almost 33%

71

people said that they first heard of the product from TV. So we assume that the TV exposure
is good enough compared to the other mediums.

One positive sign is that according to most of the respondents the most important element of
branding is Name and most of the people think that the name of Grameenphone is good
enough. So this is positive aspect for the brand. But again on the other hand a major part
which is 30% of the people thinks that the positioning of CR activities is moderate. This
means that GPs CR could not achieve the desired positioning yet. So here we can suggest
GP that still it has an opportunity to do something more for our society.
The brand resonance of GP is also very good. There is a behavioral loyalty found in the
consumers. Most of the people will be going to recommend GP to their peers. This shows that
there is a community association. In a question of brand positioning, most of the people
instantaneously recalled the name of GPs CR. So according to the consumers,
Grameenphone does the best branding in the market. From my survey I found almost 90%
thought that doing CR is better positioned than using other promotional tools. A few thinks
that may be the promotional activity is positioned well than CR. 13% do not sure about the
matter. So GP needs to invest more on its CR activities. Here we can say GPs CR activities
might be the strongest tool to promote its brand. Last question that was asked to the
respondents that is are they influenced by CR activities while buying products of
Grameenphone brand, a major part of them which 67% answered that may be or not
influenced by CR activities at all while buying Grameenphone products 30% said that they
would be influenced. So in order to make the customer brand loyal CR activities might not be
a strongest tool. 10% people think that the CR activities of GP are Very good. 33% people
think that the CR activities of GP are good and 57% think that it is moderate. None of the
respondents think that the CR activities of GP is Poor or Very poor. From this analysis we
can find out that still 57% think that it is moderate which almost half of the population. So
here we can suggest GP that still it has an opportunity to do something more for our society.
Consumers have very low association with the CR activities. They cannot relate themselves
with the CR activities. Sometimes people cant determine whether the CR is appropriate for
them or not. Again, in terms of brand judgment and feeling the response is very good. The
feeling of the respondents toward the Grameenphones CR is very positive. They are also not
sure that whether the brand is able to satisfy their need or not.

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16: Hypothesis Assessment:
1. H1: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Awareness.
Discussion:
The main purpose the project was to find out specific questions related to the brand awareness of
Grameenphone through the Corporate Responsibility activities. The main question was to find out
whether the CR activities by Grameenphone effective or not and are they better than other IMC tools.
The answer is definitely positive. Because maximum number of respondents said that they have heard
about the CR activities of the Grameenphone brand before this survey. Because of these types of
people are educated and concern and always keep them updated. Out of these 35% people none of
the people said that they never heard of GPs CR activities. The reason might be the lack of
knowledge about CR activities or CR related promotional activities of GP. But a few people said
that they heard about GPs CR activities once or sometimes it by word of mouth or they have
read about it in newspapers but not regularly. So, here we can say In terms of brand awareness
CR activities were successful and strongly supported my first hypothesis (H1) which is CR is
positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Awareness.

2. H2: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Image.
Discussion:
The brand resonance of GP is also very good. There is a behavioral loyalty found in the
consumers. Most of the people will be going to recommend GP to their peers. This shows that
there is a community association. In a question of brand positioning, most of the people
instantaneously recalled the name of GPs CR. So according to the consumers,
Grameenphone does the best branding in the market. From my survey I found almost 90%
thought that doing CR is better positioned than using other promotional tools. A few thinks
that may be the promotional activity is positioned well than CR. 13% do not sure about the
matter. So GP needs to invest more on its CR activities. Here we can say GPs CR activities
might be the strongest tool to promote its brand. So here my findings strongly supported my
second hypothesis which is (H2): CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand
Image.

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H3: CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand loyalty.
Discussion:
Last question that was asked to the respondents that is are they influenced by CR activities
while buying products of Grameenphone brand, a major part of them which 67% answered
that may be or not influenced by CR activities at all while buying Grameenphone products
30% said that they would be influenced. So in order to make the customer brand loyal CR
activities might not be a strongest tool. Here conclude that my findings didnt support my
the hypothesis 3 (H3) which is CR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand
loyalty.
H4: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Perceived Quality.
Discussion:
When I have asked them the question How would you like to rate, overall CR activities of
Grameenphone? This question was asked in order to find out the consumer perception
towards the overall CR activities of Grameenphone. 10% people think that the CR activities
of GP are Very good. 33% people think that the CR activities of GP are good and 57% think
that it is moderate. None of the respondents think that the CR activities of GP is Poor or Very
poor. From this analysis we can find out that still 57% think that it is moderate which almost
half of the population. So here we can suggest GP that still it has an opportunity to do
something more for our society. So, in terms of Perceived quality CR activities are strongly
related and that support my fourth hypothesis (H4) which is CR is positively and
significantly related to GPs Perceived Quality.
H5: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Satisfaction.
Discussion:
Consumers have very low association with the CR activities. They cannot relate themselves
with the CR activities. Sometimes people cant determine whether the CR is appropriate for
them or not. Again, in terms of brand judgment and feeling the response is very good. The
feeling of the respondents toward the Grameenphones CR is very positive. They are also not
sure that whether the brand is able to satisfy their need or not. Here my findings didnt y

74

support my fifth hypothesis (H5) which is H5: CSR is positively and significantly related
to GPs Brand Satisfaction.


Figure 13

Now, if we want to put the different aspects of the findings in consumer based brand equity
model then the result would look like the following;
Brand Salience: In terms of awareness the CR activity is very good because most of the
people hear about those activities.
Brand Performance: The respondents are not sure whether the CR activity is able to satisfy
their need or not. Because most of the people do not care about the CR activity of GP.
Brand Image: The image of the Grameenphones CR is well defined and is quite good for
brand positioning. First of all, most of the respondents remember about the CR activities and
moreover the brand is positioned towards them.
Brand Judgment & Feelings: A major part of the respondents are not influenced by the CR activities
while buying products of Grameenphone brand and they are not sure about recommending the product
to their peers. This represents the weak association of the consumers.
Brand Resonance: Since all the block of the pyramids shows positive result towards CR
activities of Grameenphone then this is very much certain that there is a resonance. The
consumers find themselves in synergy with the CR activities and the brand.
From the above discussion it is clear that the hypothesis 1,2 and 4 are totally correct. The CR
activities of Grameenphone are successful and effective. It could generate the amount of

75

awareness which it was intended to. So, hypothesis 4 is correct. On the other hand both
hypothesis 3 and 5 might not be correct regarding brand loyalty and brand satisfaction.
17. Recommendation

The scope of corporate social responsibility is so extensive, that the role of active
organization in improving and enlarging it cannot be over emphasized. Moreover a society
that is made of vigilant, watchful and proactive citizens is a sine qua non for any civilized
community. I think that the company has come to the correct way to run business by fully
practicing CR and keeping their market position. Thus GP as an active organization can be
instrumental in improving CSR in the following ways:
Creating Awareness and Interest: Grameenphone can contribute immensely towards
making businesses socially responsible by becoming aware of different issues of the
society. GP must not only remain apathetic to different global or local issues which affect
the community it serves directly or indirectly but also must take adequate interest in this
matter.
Investing More: In near future CR activities may have possible belongingness with the
law to run different businesses so I am recommending GP to participate now and then
same as other companies participating in CR. Moreover the analysis shows that CR
activities increase sales volume as people get emotionally attached with the brad. So here
we can call CR activities invest, not waste.
Extending Proactive Support: The CR endorsement of GP can also induce to produce
awareness among active citizens, so that we must be prepared to buy them even at a
premium price.
Expressing Dissent: At times it is not uncommon to find the news flashed in the media
highlighting the irresponsible and unethical behavior of some companies. Mahatma
Gandhi has taught us the effectiveness of picketing and social boycott. Thus the threat of
civilian actions that can ruin their corporate image can deter companies from being
lethargic. As active organization must adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards those
things that disregard business ethics and display severe apathy towards social
responsibility.
Communication with Management: Several large corporations are public limited
companies that are listed on the stock exchanges and are owned by the public at large.

76

Shareholders of GP can exert pressure on the management to comply with the prescribed
legislative norms not only in letter but also in spirit. They can make their voices heard in
the shareholders meetings and also by communicating with the top management. As
active citizens, we the shareholders can be instrumental in asking the management to rise
above the qualifying legal line and additionally involve in meaningful projects to show
their commitment to social causes. Company at times has to sacrifice their short-run
financial returns in order to cater to the long-term CSR strategy. Thus we must be
prepared to accept lower returns on our investment in these companies. Studies have
revealed a positive correlation between social environmental performance and financial
performance.
Influencing the Supply chain members: In terms of brand loyalty, Grameenphone Ltd
is not only thinking about its benefits but also for all parties related with their business, by
following the laws of each country. Grameenphone Ltd has managed to create fair trade
with its suppliers, customers, and even for their competitors. It has made Grameenphone
Ltd very successful in its brand loyal situation. Moreover, CR can build competitive
advantage over competitors that Grameenphone Ltd gains more competitive advantage by
engaging in CR into every part of the company.

18. Conclusion:

The objective of this report was to investigate how Grameenphone Ltd Company succeeds in
creating brand awareness by using different CR activities. It is very interesting to see how
Grameenphone Ltd has operated its business ethics. Especially the mission statement which
is talking about how Grameenphone Ltd runs its business by using different stakeholders to
create a good relationship with its suppliers, partners (employees), customers, communities,
the stakeholders, and also how they are caring for the environment.
The other interesting things about Grameenphone Ltd are its code of conducts, which show
that Grameenphone Ltd has collaborated with the mass people in orders to be a trust worthy
partner at the same time that it improves the life and environment
In this report I have tried to provide some knowledge in terms of GPs CR activities. But I
think that, there are many other interesting areas to study regarding this subject. However, I

77

will recommend that future research such as what is the perspective of customers to CR,
why are suppliers interested in operating with a company which participates in CR and
what are the setbacks of companies which do not participate in. However, there are many
other topics interesting in this term.
Corporate Social Responsibility has been growing in recent years and many companies are
starting to participate in CR to run business in which they see the benefit from CR. Moreover,
nowadays customers are starting to demand that companies take their social responsibility.
A companys CR practice relates to numerous different behavioral aspects within a company.
Many organizations argue that companies engaged in CR can obtain increased sales and
market share, reduce costs and increased interest from investors, improved employees
motivation, improved brand awareness and image of the company. However, I think that the
companys CR investments will affect the companys performance positively as customers
value CR activities. It is the reason why the company has succeeded in creating a strong
brand name in its industry by CR.
For Grameenphone Ltd, it provides premium service which the prices are little bit higher
comparing with other brands, though it has good environmental concerns, partners, facilities
and a good brand image. But nowadays not only Grameenphone Ltd has provided those
things but also there are other competitors providing all facilities almost in the the same
manner such as Banglalink and Airtel . Because both of them are providing cheap priced
products and services which is another acceptable issue in general. Although their facilities
are not as good as Grameenphone Ltd. Especially today the way of human life has changed
and most people have to hurry for newer things. This is an aspect that Grameenphone Ltd can
improve upon. If this is not done, there is a tendency that some customers will switch to
others brands which are cheaper. In this case, Grameenphone Ltd may provide some
promotion based on its CR activities to motivate its customers emotionally. Therefore,
although Grameenphone Ltd does not have discount policy this point calls for flexibility in
business strategy.






78



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Appendix




Questionnaire
This questionnaire has been prepared for a research on Measuring the Effectiveness of
GrameenPhones CSR Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness.
Place with a tick mark, where you stand, in the options below:
Gender
o Male
o Female
Age
o 15 25 years
o 26-35 years
o 36 or more
Profession
o Businessman
o Service holder
o Student
o Housewife
o Other
Monthly income
o Below 10,000 BDT
o 10,001-20,000 BDT
o 20,001-30,000 BDT
o 30,001-40,000 BDT
o 40,001 BDT or above
Which of the following brands would you prefer for mobile connectivity?
o GP
o Banglalink
o Airtell
o Robi
o Citycell


Before this survey have you ever heard the about Grameenphones CR Activity?
o Never heard
o Aware of it
o Once or sometimes
How long are you using Grameenphone?
o Less than one year
o 2-3 years
o 4-5 years
o More than 5 years

How did you first hear about the Grameenphones CR activities?
o TVC
o newspapers or magazines
o word of mouth
o billboards
Do you remember any of the promotional activities of Grameenphones CR?
o Yes
o No

How well the brand is positioned according to the CR activities?
o very poorly
o poorly
o Average
o very good
o good
Do you think CR activity is better than other promotional tools in terms of positioning?
o Yes
o May be
o Not Sure
How would you rate overall CR activities of Grameenphone?
o very poorly
o poorly
o Average
o very good
o good


Do you think that you are influenced by CR activities while you buy the products of
Grameenphone?
o Yes
o May be
o No
Do you think the web-site of GP is well-updated and provide enough information about
GPs CR activity and its products?
o Yes
o No
o Neutral
Do you think the facilities of GP is very convenient and flexible?
o Yes
o No
o Neutral
Are you satisfied with the CR activites of GP?
o Yes
o No
o Neutral
How likely are you to recommend GP to a friend or relative?
o Very Likely
o Not Likely
o Neutral


Any expectation from Grameenphone regarding the improvement of CSR actvities provided
by Grameenphone

Rank the following banks according to your preference. (Rank from 1 to 5; Give 1 to the
most preferred bank)
GrameenPhone Ltd. ______
Banglalink. ______
Airtel bangladesh ______
Robi. ______
Citycell. ______



Proposal
Introduction:
As a student of BBA, majoring in Marketing, I prefer telecom industry as my first choice. To
complete my BBA degree successfully I have to do an internship. So I applied for the intern in
Grameenphone Ltd. in the beginning of September and after a written and viva session I got the
chance to work as a intern in GP, and from 15th September, 2013 I have started my internship
there and will work there till 19th December,2013.
Grameenphone Ltd. has already crossed the twenty million subscribers as of June 2008. A lot of
debate has risen regarding the communication message of the brand. The debate is intense all
over the country and especially in Dhaka. With the big quest whether marketing communication
of Grameenphone has successfully communicated the right messages to the target group the
study has started to delve into the company documentation as secondary source and interviewing
the customers as the primary source. "Perception of Grameenphone in the minds of its
customers" is a research based report on how effectively is Grameenphone (GP) communicating
with its customers. Due to massive competition in the mobile industry, it has become absolute
obligatory to create a distinction between Grameenphone and its competitors' position.
At Grameenphone, they live by the statement "Development is a journey, not a destination."
Their work is not just about ensuring connectivity; it is about connecting with people and
building relationships, based on trust, with their subscribers, business partners, employees,
shareholders, as well as the wider community. They always believed that good development is
good business. While they maintain their business focus, taking the nation forward remains GPs
top priority. Thus the 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.
This report is undertaken to measure the Effectiveness of this Marketing Communication
Program in Creating Brand Awareness in the context of GPs CSR activities and the perception
of the people that they hold about the brand.
Problem Statement:
During my internship at GP, I found that many of the customers and people are not aware about
GPs CSR programs, and the consequence is that they cant inspire other people to start dealings
with GP. At the same time I also found some customers who are not pleased with the service and
they always complain about high service charge of GP. Observing these attitudes of different
customers I have decided to do a research on Measuring the Effectiveness of
GrameenPhones CSR Programs in Creating the Brand Awareness.
Objective:
The main objective of this study is to determine whether the customers of GP are aware about
GPs CSR programs. I will also try to find out the answers of the following questions-
) Which CSR activities are most significant for the customers?
a) For what reasons customers choose GP?
b) Which CSR activities are most effective in creating brand awareness?
c) The relative position of GP compared to others?
d) Which customer groups are more satisfied with the service?
Literature Review:
Corporate Social Responsibility:
The concept of CSR originated in 1953 after the publication of Bowens book Social
Responsibilities of Businessmen (Valor, 2005).According to Kotler and Lee (2005),it is a
difficult concept to pin down as it overlaps with other such concepts as sustainable business,
corporate citizenship and business ethics (Moon, 2002).According to Mohr, Webb and Harris
(2001), CSR is a companys effort and responsibility to reduce or avoid harmful effects and to
maximize its long run positive and useful impact on society. In spirit CSR speaks of
organizations reaction to social plans.
Earlier Organizations were considered only as profit maximizing entities. However, with a
change in the structure of business environment, the role of organizations has altered
dramatically. Today, organizations are an essential part of social life (Karaibrahimoglu,
2010).CSR is basically a tool for organizations to carry out diverse activities to fund and resolve
social problems and to fulfill their commitment towards society.It also allows the organizations
to generate and assign the resources in effective and efficient way (Petrick & Quinn, 2001).So is
one of the best tools to gain competitive advantage (Porter & Kramer, 2002). Due to this reason
CSR is quickly gaining importance as more and more firms are realizing its value. CSR
initiatives and actions are not only about charity but about transforming these ideas into useful
business strategies. CSR driven efforts does not only relate to make a contribution by donating
money but it speaks of incorporating societal and moral practices into business strategies that
help the consumers in building a optimistic brand image. Research has shown that socially
responsible activities of a firm enhance the brand image of the firms goods as well as the
general image of the firm.
Brand Image:
Brand image is an important concept in consumer behavior studies since the early 1950s (Li,
Wang & Cai, 2011). Levy (1959) proposed the concept of brand image and suggested that
merchandises have societal and emotional characteristics and consumers develop emotional
connections with the brands. Brand image is the most vital part of brand equity as brand image
comprises of all links in the mind of consumers interconnected to that brand. So if anything
which has an influence on a business from consumer's point of view is brand image. The brand
image of a popular brand is a valuable business asset as consumers identify products and services
more easily through the respective brands. These perceptions which are grounded on connections
between characteristics and the brand name are normally stated as the brands image (Keller,
1993). So, brand image is basically a perception of a brand held in the memory of a customer and
it reveals a customers general impression.
Nowadays a brand is not considered just as logo but it is more likely taken as a carefully scored
experience which is supported by huge marketing budgets, action and cultured mindset. A
positive brand image can be taken as a capability of a firm to hold its market position(Wu,
2011).A positive brand image helps to increase numerous outcomes such as customers
contentment, service superiority, loyalty and repurchasing intention (Lai, Griffin & Babin, 2009).
Therefore, much of the marketing struggle is focused on building up perceptions about the brand
in the memory of a consumer. CSR could be a beneficial for building a positive brand image and
building consumers positive attitudes so it is a key source of competitive advantage. Endorsing
brand image with the help of CSR initiatives assures positive comments and eventually has a
positive impact on the brand because a firm is crystal clear about its external communications as
well as internal practices.
Brand Awareness
One will realize that the literature available focuses on the relation of CSR to profits, reputation
and image. Also, most of the CSR literature recorded have focused more on other regions than
on West Africa and Ghana. Since the significance of brand awareness has been established, it is
equally important to know the bearing that CSR has on Brand Awareness. This study hopes to
contribute to the discussion of CSR in the context of Ghana and to fill the gap by finding the
effect of CSR on another very important issue- Brand Awareness.
The word brand is derived from the word brandr which means to burn. This was a way in
which herdsmen labeled and identified their cattle (Keller, 2008). Till today, this practice is still
being performed. A brand is also said to identify the maker or supplier of a particular product or
service which also helps in differentiating ones goods from other competitors. To the customer,
it shows the promise of what the goods, service or firm stands for and the experience that can be
derived from it (Kotler, 2003).
Currently, brands are of importance to most businesses and corporations and of higher
importance is the notion of building a strong brand. This is because building a strong brand has
been shown to provide numerous financial rewards to the firm (Keller, 2001.) Building a strong
brand is made up of four steps. The first thing is to establish depth and breadth of brand
awareness (Brand Identity). This is followed by creating the appropriate brand meaning through
favorable and unique brand associations. The third thing is eliciting positive and accessible brand
responses and the final step is creating brand relationships with customers characterized by
intense loyalty (Keller, 2001). As noted above, brand awareness is very vital and significant in
building a corporate brand because it serves as the foundation, and it is the first step of the
communications process towards creating brand attitudes and associations, and intention of
product purchase (Rossiter and Percy, 1987).
In reference to this, brand awareness will simply mean the familiarity of a brand. It reflects the
salience of the brand in the customers mind (Aaker, 1996) thus forming an integral role of
brand equity. Consumers are aware of a large number of brands when making buying decisions,
and brands with higher awareness levels are more likely to be part of the final buying decision.
Brand awareness is also said to influence the brands perceived quality (MacDonald & Sharp,
1996).
Kitchin, (2003) views brand and responsibility as being related. He identifies Responsibility as
being brand dependent. Brand is, in fact, the prime determinant of responsibility. Every brands
social responsibility is unique, not just to the business segment it operates in, or to its own
operational impact, but unique to the promises that the brand offers, and unique to the delicate
framework of trust that it has established with its stakeholders (Kitchin, 2003).
Brand loyalty
As early as the 1960s, definitions of brand loyalty incorporated both attitudinal and behavioral
concepts, yet few empirical studies have incorporated both dimensions. Instead, research in this
area appears to have fragmented into two distinct traditions, with behavioral researchers focusing
on the observable actions of loyal customers (Ehrenberg, and Goodhardt. 2000) and attitudinal
researchers investigating commitment to brands and repurchase intentions (Dorsch et al., 2000;
Patterson et al.1997). Research in these traditions has produced studies of the level of
commitment consumers' display towards a brand, how decisions taken at one moment affect
subsequent purchases, and consumers' relative expenditure on brands in a category. Despite the
view that brand loyalty be conceptualized broadly and be reflected by both attitudinal and
behavioural measures (Dick and Basu, 1994: Baldinger and Rubinson,1996), few studies in
either the consumer marketing or business marketing literatures have incorporated both
dimensions of brand loyalty.


Brand Satisfaction
Satisfaction is well researched for consumer services (Curran et al., 2003; Ganesh et al., 2000).
Many empirical studies show that satisfaction is an antecedent of brand attitude, brand intention,
and attitudinal brand loyalty for consumer services (Oliver. 1980; Pritchard et al.. 1999; Shimp
and Dyer. 1981). However, research on satisfaction and loyalty from the perspectives of business
purchasing and business services is not well documented (Patterson et all.,1997; Shimp and
Dyer,1981). The high credence nature of business services typically results in customers being
more likely to rely on prior expectations, so that satisfaction for business services is likely to be
evaluative in nature. Thus, satisfaction is likely to be an important driver of loyalty in business
settings, as it implies an evaluation of a brand's performance based on a small business'
experience with past purchases of the brand. Satisfaction is an antecedent of attitudinal loyalty in
this context.
Perceived quality
Aaker (2002:17) identifies perceived quality as a brand association that is elevated to the status
of a brand asset for several reasons, which are listed below:
Among all brands associations, only perceived quality has been shown to drive financial
performance.
Perceived quality is often a major strategic thrust of a business.
Perceived quality is linked to and often drives other aspects of how a brand is perceived.
A study by Aaker (2002:18) has demonstrated that perceived quality does drive financial
performance. Many firms explicitly consider quality to be one of their primary values and
include it in their mission statements. Perceived quality is often the key positioning dimension
for corporate brands and other brands that range over product classes. For many brands,
perceived quality defines the competitive milieu and their own position within that milieu. Some
brands are price brands, others are prestige or premium brands, the perceived quality position are
often the defining point of differentiation (Aaker, 2002:19).
Perceived quality is usually the primary focus of what customers are buying.Brand identity is
defined by functional benefits, as most studies have pointed to the fact that perception about
product benefits are closely linked to perceived quality. According to Pappu et al. (2005:143),
perceived quality is not represented by the actual quality of the product, but the consumers
subjective evaluation of the product. Perceive quality also provides customers with a reason to
buy and by differentiating the brand from competing brands.
Hypotheses of the Study: From literature review following hypotheses were formulated:
H1: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Awareness.
H2: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Image
H3: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand loyalty.
H4: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Perceived Quality.
H5: CSR is positively and significantly related to GPs Brand Satisfaction.

Fig 1: Conceptual Framework:












Corporate
Social
Responsibility
Brand
Awareness
Brand
Image
Brand
Satisfaction
Brand
Loyalty
Perceived
Quality


Significance of the research
The purpose of this research paper is to examine the relationship between corporate social
responsibility and four dimensions of brand image. Four hypotheses will be developed. The
reason to this can be CSR is a new concept for many firms and it is becoming a tactical approach
to run businesses on a sustainable basis. From the companys perspective this study will help GP
to understand its brand position in terms of satisfying its customers. It will help them to know
which CSR activities are most significant for the customers. They will be able to understand in
which area of GPs CSR lacks most and thus improve the brand awareness. They will understand
which customer groups are more potential. They will also be able to know which brands of GP
are mostly preferred by the customers. The scope of the study is limited within
telecommunication business in Bangladesh. It is also limited within the organization of
GrameenPhone Ltd. and especially within corporate social Responsibility of the Company.
Research Methodology:
To do my research and to accomplish my objectives I have to go through different sources and I
will use the both primary and the secondary sources to collect the most appropriate information.
The "Primary Sources" are as follows Face-to-face conversation with the customers and if
possible find their responses through questionnaire survey.
The "Secondary Sources" of data and information are:
a) Website of GP www.grameenphone.com
b) Various book, articles, compilations etc. Regarding CSR functions.
To prepare the research report and to find the output of my research I will use the SPSS
software.
Questionnaire:
It can be seen from conceptual framework that corporate social responsibility was an idependent
variable and brand image was a dependent variable. In order to test the response rate from all the
respondents few items of corporate social responsibility were adopted from Turker, D. (2009)
and to measure brand image and its sub-dimension like; brand loyalty, brand image, brand
awareness and brand satisfaction were adopted from Lai, C. S., Chiu, C. J., Yang, C. F., & Pai,
D. C. (2010). There would be one open ended question also and respondents will be asked to
specify any other brand which they like. Questionnaire consisted of four sections. First section
will be about demographics which included gender, back ground and family income. Then in
second section respondents would be asked to choose GP brand so that they can answer the
questions of other sections. Third section will be about independent variables like; corporate
social responsibility and the last section covered four dimensions of brand image which was the
dependent variable. Questionnaire was based on 5-point scale like; 1=strongly disagree,
2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree.
Population and Sample:
The target population in this study was the consumers using GP in Dhaka. A total of 120-123
questionnaires will be distributed in the students, service holders, and businessmen in Dhaka.
The target of this study will be educated people because they are more critical about different
brands as compared to others. My sample size would be 100 respondents. For this reason, I
would have to distribute 120-123 questionnaires among the target group. I assume 20- 23
questionnaires will not be properly filled or might be rejected.
Limitations
To measure the visibility, a sample survey is conducted which may not represent the
entire population.
Focus on limited factors and leaving out some other relevant factors which has been
discovered after collecting the data.
A survey outside Dhaka was not possible due to time limit and budget constraint.