Monday, January 27, 2020

Transformation And Growth In The Uk Commerce Essay

Transformation And Growth In The Uk Commerce Essay The emergence of Santander into the UK market with the acquisition of Abbey represents a big move across Europe in the banking industry. This report aims to evaluate the effect of the move across border while analysing various strategy and tools which were used in the process. This report shows the structure and dynamics of the industry in which Santander competes and the effect it has on the industry. It also analyses the industry in which Santander competes in using the Positioning school, Resource Based View and analytical tools such as the five forces framework, PEST, VRIN and Porters generic strategy to analysing the transformation and growth of Santander in the UK since its acquisition of Abbey in 2004. Introduction to strategy Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over a long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations (Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes and Richard Whittington, 2008). They also explained that the word strategy is associated with different issues, one of which is the strategic fit with the business environment. Here, organisations need appropriate positioning in their environment i.e. the product or service should meet clearly identified market needs. While the Resource-Based View of strategy is about exploiting the strategic capability of an organisation, in terms of its resources and competences, to provide competitive advantage and/or yield new opportunities. Mintzbergs (1987) view of strategy as a Plan, Ploy, Pattern, Position and Perspective covers the various ways which strategy is defined. He stated that strategy is a plan used to carry out an objective. It is a unified, comprehensive, and integrated plan designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved (Glueck, 1980:9). As a plan, a strategy can be a ploy; too, really just a specific manoeuvre intended to outwit an opponent or competitor. Strategy is a pattern- specifically, a pattern in a stream of actions. It is a position; a means of locating an organization in what theorists like to call an environment. It is also a perspective, its content consisting not just of a chosen position, but of an ingrained way of perceiving the world. Santander, the Spanish financial heavyweight in retail banking acquired Abbey, the British mortgage lender in late 2004. After stabilizing Abbey in 2005, it developed a three (3) year ambitious plan with the purpose of maintaining the performance of products with already high significant market value and share position, increasing its presence in other banking segments such as consumer finance, insurance and SME and Commercial lending in order to transform the institution into a full-service retail bank with a wide range of product and service offerings. Santander initially embarked on its strategy largely by exploiting its internal resources through Integration of human resources, introduction of its Technology, revenue growth and efficiency, maintaining a prudent approach to risk management. Industry and Market in which Santander competes The industry consists of a group of firms producing products or services that are essentially the same (Gerry Johnson, Richard Whittington and Kevan Scholes, Exploring Strategy, 2011). Santander competes in banking industry where it faces stiff competition from other major players in the industry like Barclays, Lloyds TSB, HSBC, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) otherwise known as the big 5 and its major line of business is the retail banking which accounts for over half of its net income. Its core market in the UK is centred on Mortgages, Savings and protection while it also competes in Brazil and other parts of Europe including Portugal where it is recognized as the fourth largest retail bank with a customer base of 1.7 million, 670 branches, 6000 employees, a mortgage market share of 16% and over 18% in mutual funds. Structure and dynamics of the market in which Santander competes As explained by (Porter 1985), the strength of each of the five competitive forces is a function of industry structure, or the underlying economic and technical characteristics of an industry (Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance by Michael Porter, 1985). To analyse the structure and dynamics of the market in which Santander operates, it is imperative to understand the major factors which affect the Industry in general which in this case includes other major banks, their products and services, structure and also their strengths and weaknesses as this forms the competitive forces in the market 4.1 The threat of entry These are the barriers that need to be overcome by new entrants if they are to compete successfully (Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes and Richard Whittington, 2008). Entry barrier for competing in this area is high because it is a capital intensive industry. Achieving economies of scale is a factor for competing in the banking industry as it would require new entrants to compete on the same level of the other major players in the industry if they are to survive. As seen from the case, Santander was able to gain entrance with a  £9 billion acquisition of Abbey in 2004 which was at the time, Europes biggest cross-border banking deal and it already had experience in European retail banking which at the time, accounted for over half of its net income before the acquisition of Abbey. As it is a highly contested market for customer base, the level of difficulty in entry is quite high because the market is already controlled by the major banks with strong brands like Barclays, LTSB, HSBC, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland and It would be quite difficult for beginners to convince customers to move from these already known and established brands. Santander was able to gain entrance into the market through the acquisition of Abbey which already had a strong customer base of 18 million and a well-known brand name. It also had a competitive edge. Santander introduced Partenon, its successful core banking platform and this technology enabled Santander to perform a seamless integration, launch new products with minimal lead time. Entry barrier into the corporate and SME sector is also high. Although Abbey achieved significant growth in that area, it was still largely controlled by the Big 5 banks. Abbeys plan to successfully enter and compete in that segment will be dependent on the introduction of its Partenon system. 4.2. Bargaining power of Supplier The bargaining power of suppliers is high. The Big 5 banks (Barclays, HSBC, LTSB, RBS HBOS) control almost the same amount of share in some areas like the Credit Card Market and SME Banking and offer similar services. A supplier group is powerful where it is dominated by a few companies and is more concentrated than the industry it sells to (Porter 1980). 4.3 Bargaining Power of Buyers Buyers compete with the industry by forcing competition on prices, bargaining for higher quality or more services, and playing competition against each other- all at the expense of industry profitability (Porter 1980). With this being a highly competitive market, the bargaining power of buyers is also high and there is competition on price. 4.4 Threat of Substitutes According to Porter 1980, the threat of substitute is high if it offers an attractive price performance trade-off to the industrys product. In this area, the threat of substitutes is quite low. 4.5 Rivalry among existing competitors The rivalry among existing competitors is high especially among the Big 5 banks and this reflects in the close similarity in their market shares. As mention by Porter (1980), the intensity of rivalry is greatest if competitors are numerous or are roughly equal in size and power. Critical success factors for competing in the industry Critical success factors (CSF) are those factors that are particularly valued by a group of customers and, therefore, where the organisation must excel to outperform competition (Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes and Richard Whittington, 2008). To compete in its market, its new CEO Francisco Gomez- Roldan presented a three year ambitious plan for achieving success which was tagged The Three Year Plan: A Blueprint for success and this was a key factor to be implemented for them to compete in the financial market with the other major banks. This new plan was put in place in order to achieve the Groups vision of becoming the best retail bank in the UK. To begin with, the plan was aimed at maintaining the performance of products like mortgages which already had a high market share position and increase its revenue in other banking segments such as finance, insurance, SME and commercial lending so as to transform the institution into a full service retail bank with a wide range of products. The plan focused on increasing its revenue, efficiency and maintaining a prudent approach to risk management. To achieve this, it further grouped its operation into three main divisions and this was centred on Retail, Insurance and Asset Mana gement (IAM) and Abbey Financial Market (AFM). In the retail section, its target to achieve 75% in revenue and 70% of pre-tax profit would be through increased sales, customer and savings retention, cross sales and exploitation of new growth opportunities. The Insurance and asset management (IAM) section was to contribute 13% of its revenue before tax through its back book management. With a new regulation which allowed an individual considerable freedom in their pension contributions been put in place and becoming effective as of 6 April 2006 in the UK, it was envisaged that there would be increased demand for pension related products and advisory services and would lead to new opportunities for investment across sales. To key-in and compete in this section, Abbey will do so by developing its intermediary and end-customer focused retention programmes, introduce new stake-holder-focused communication strategies and remediation projects in order to reduce risks. Another area which would contribute 10% of Abbeys revenue and 17% of profit after tax is its financial market (AFM) and this was to be achieved by increasing its product range, customer base and transaction flow. In addition to the above, rebuilding Abbeys sales capabilities in mortgages, savings and protection, increasing its presence in bank accounts, unsecured personal loans (UPL), investment and pensions through the implementation of retention and incentive schemes proposed to target higher-value segments, developing a sustainable strategy for its online business Cahoot, increasing its telephone sales capabilities and also creating new branch sales system with sophisticated pricing by customer segment and increased focus on existing clients and cross sales for the unsecured personal loan segment will play a major role in competing successfully in its market. Its resources, competences, capabilities and how Santander differentiates itself from competitors Resources are the assets that an organisation have or can call upon and competences are the ways those assets are used or deployed effectively (Gerry Johnson, Richard Whittington and Kevan Scholes, 2011) while capabilities refers to the ability to integrate, build, and configure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments. Thus, it reflect an organisations ability to achieve new and innovative form of competitive advantage given path dependencies and market positions (Leonard-Barton, 1992) Santanders competence and capability in retail banking in Spain which accounts for half of its income is a strong advantage for them in terms of competing in the UK. They have an experienced and brilliant CEO in Antonio Horta-Osorio, who succeeded Francisco Gomez- Roldan after he passed away. His vision of making Santander the best commercial bank in the UK by focusing on efficiency, service quality, customer loyalty, teamwork and meritocracy showed his importance as a strong force which reflected on the growth of Santander since its entrance into the UK. Another great resource which Santander holds is its technology. The introduction of Partenon, its biggest technological asset which helped in the seamless integration and enabled them launch new products with minimal lead time. Their ability to outsource processes to Spain, Portugal and Poland in other to reduce the cost-to-income ratio while still maintaining physical interface with customers. With this resource, they were able to achieve economies of scale and offer reasonably priced products and services which meant higher income and increased customer loyalty. The proper utilisation of these human and technological resources by its management team led Abbey to win the Euromoney award for best Bank in the UK in mid-2008. Its sources of competitive advantage Competitive advantage is how an SBU (Strategic business unit) creates value for its users both greater than the cost of supplying them and superior to that of rival SBUs (Gerry Johnson, Richard Whittington and Kevan Scholes, 2011). It is further explained that to have an advantage, they must be able to create greater value than competitors because in the absence of a competitive advantage, the SBU is always vulnerable to attack by competitors. Barneys (1991) VRIN framework is also used to determine if a resource is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. To serve as a basis for sustainable competitive advantage, resources must be valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable (fig 2). Competitive advantage is realised based on three factors (Sudarshan D, 1995): (1) the firms marketing strategy, (2) implementation of this strategy and (3) the industry context which refers to Porters generic strategy. Previous study by Porter (1980) introduces generic competitive strategies for gaining competitive advantage as: Overall cost leadership Differentiation Focus The differentiation strategy is one of differentiating the product or service offering of a firm, creating something that is perceived industrywide as being unique (fig 1). Santanders main source of competitive advantage which is unique is its IT Partenon banking platform. They differentiated themselves and gained a competitive advantage over its competitors through the use of Partenon. With this advanced business mode of operation, they were able to operate from their German and Italian centre through their data centre in Madrid, gain the trust of their customers, introduce a more secure way of doing business and offer a higher quality of service compared to its major competitors. In addition, it gave them a first mover advantage meaning they were able to eliminate duplicated processes, reduce the cost per transaction, and release new products into the market with minimal lead time before their competitors. Santander also gained competitive advantage by being the cost leader. According to Porter (1980), Cost leadership requires aggressive construction of efficient-scale facilities, vigorous pursuit of cost reductions from experience, tight cost and overhead control, avoidance of marginal customer accounts, and cost minimization in areas like RD, service, sales force, advertising, and so on. With Santanders experienced management team coupled with their experience in retail banking, they were able to introduce best practices into the UK market at low cost and with an advantage in inputs in terms of its Partenon system, they were able to cut cost in operations while providing quality services for their customers. The major Macro/Micro environmental strategic marketing issues facing Santander, its view as an opportunity or threat, time frame for which each issue will be most relevant and the level of priority to be assigned to them The Macro/Micro environment consist of broad environmental factors that impact to a greater or lesser extent on almost all organisation and the PEST framework identifies how future trends in political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal environments might impinge on organisations (Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes and Richard Whittington, 2008). The analysis below shows the various environmental marketing issues faced by Santander. 8.1 Political issues The new regulation in the UK which became effective as of 6th April, 2006 A Day afforded individuals considerable freedom in their contributions to the pension schemes and other investment assets. This development is an opportunity for Abbey as it will bring about an increase in demand in the pension schemes and investment area through new product and advisory services offering. 8.2 Economic issues The British market for motor finance which was still fragmented with the three leading providers holding a combined market share of 30% presents an opportunity for Santander to increase its activities in consumer finance in the UK as it is a leading car finance provider in Continental Europe, its expertise, product range and economies of scale coupled with a joint with a joint venture with Abbey would develop the British market. With the general business climate in the UK housing market slowing down, the mortgage lending and market share faced a downward slide and this represents a threat to Santanders 10% market share in mortgages. Its counter-intuitive decision to cut down its market share from 10% to 6% prior to the downward change in the area due to its cautious and prudent approach to business was a timely and good decision made by Santander. A repeat of economic recession which happened in the past could be a threat to Santander. 8.3 Sociological issues Cultural differences With the acquisition of Abbey and entrance into the British market without prior operations in the UK market, Santander could face a brick wall at the initial stages of it operation in the UK because of the differences in national culture and business organisational culture. It is assumed that with the introduction of experienced management running the operations, and with the gradual introduction of its other resources, the effect of change can be cushioned. At the time of its acquisition, it was noted that Abbey had a total of 18 million customers, a strong brand which was built over time, but had weaknesses in customer relationship, poor sales productivity and sales culture. This was a weakness for Abbey because customer relationship and loyalty is a key factor for success in the industry. In other words, they were poor in customer orientation. This issue should be apportioned top priority considering that Santander had just gained entrance into the UK market by acquiring Abbey. Further operation under those poor customer relationship circumstances would most likely lead to loss in customer base and have a negative effect on Santanders total income. 8.4 Technological issues Technology enhancement through Partenon remains one of Santanders marketing assets which have helped to further strengthen the growth of the company since its introduction into Abbeys operations. The timely introduction of Partenon afforded Santander an opportunity to reduce cost of operation and allowed them release new products into the market in lesser time. The introduction of Partenon could be a challenge and an opportunity for Abbey. As it was a new system introduced, it required a lot of time and training before it could be fully implemented but proper training and gradual implementation, it turned into a major source of competitive advantage for Santander. The domination of the credit card section by the big clearing banks such as Barclays (16%), LTSB (11), RBS (16), HSBC (14), RBOS (6), and MBNA (9%) meant Abbey had little or no control in the market and this was as a result of its lack of experience in the area. Its plan to build a new credit business by target its existing customer base and prospects in the UK through strong product offerings will be a welcome development for Santander. However, this will be more relevant in the future after Santander must have cemented its position in the market along with the big banks. To what extent can Santanders strategy be described as being marketing oriented, what other strategic orientations could be considered A firm characterised as market oriented might have: developed an appreciation that understanding present and potential customer needs is fundamental to providing superior customer value; encouraged systematic gathering and sharing of information regarding present and potential customers and competitors as well as other related constituencies; and installed the sine qua non of an integrated, organisation-wide priority to respond to changing customer needs and competitor activities in order to exploit opportunities and circumvent threats (Hunt and Morgan, 1995; Kohli and Jaworski, 190; Narver and Slater, 1990). Considering Santanders plan to build selected products areas on a stand- alone basis, both organically and by acquisitions for its Corporate and SME segment, it can be said that it is quite market oriented. It can also be argued that Santander is not very market oriented because they mainly act and operate using their internal capabilities such as human, financial and technological resources to gain market presence and share without regarding the needs and wants of the customers. For instance, it acquired Abbey for its large customer base and geographical location and figured they could offer their services by mode of operation and technology (Partenon) to gain more customers and market shares even though they had no prior experience in the UK market. Other strategic orientation that could be considered Santander should consider a more aggressive oriented approach to compete in the market as against its prudent approach which it is currently known for. As explained by (Clark and Montgomery, 1996; Fombrum and Ginsberg, 1990), aggressiveness captures the facet of a firms strategic orientation that, in comparison with its competitors, rapidly deploys resources to improve market position. High concentration on RD in other to identify new services or products with high demand in other to create a first mover advantage while improving on its IT platform which remains one of its major sources of competitive advantage. Strategy evaluation methods utilised The strategy evaluation method utilised in section I II was from the position school and the Resource Based perspective of strategy and the Porters five forces theory as they relate to the way in which Santander operate in the UK market and the forces which affect the market in general. Similarities and differences of the different schools in analysing Santander Findings show similarities and differences in the position school and RBV. While the RBV refer to the internal capabilities, some of which are intangible and mostly unique assets of an organisation which they apply to gain competitive advantage, the positioning school revolves around competing with unique resources based on the analysed competitive forces of the industry. As explained with Porters three generic strategies which are; cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategy (fig 1), organisations compete using rare resources to position themselves in a profitable environment thereby gaining competitive advantage. Both of these strategies seek to exploit the organisations capabilities in other to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Appropriate strategy approach With this case and having applied both the positioning and resource-based view strategy, both strategies seem to work for Santander as they both revolve around capitalising on capabilities either by fitting into places of advantage revealed in the external environment by the five forces or by using internal capabilities or organisational resources/capabilities to create competitive advantage. In strategizing, whichever fits an organisation and allows it operate successfully should be used. Other issues that would minimise the likelihood of implementing the option and ways of overcoming these challenges As most organisations compete using their source of competitive advantage by applying it through positioning or RBV strategy, an issue that could minimise the likelihood of implement the options is the thought of a rare resource becoming available to competitors, this might cause it to lose its competitive edge over it competitors. To overcome this change, continuous development and innovation is necessary for an organisation for it to continue to stay relevant and compete over time. Recommendation Santander has shown strong desire to compete and become one of the best banks in the UK since its entrance. However, for it to continue in its growth, high concentration on market orientation is very important in other to increase business performance across all areas of its operation. Also, continuous development of its product range should be put into consideration while it continues further development on its technology system as this has shown to be one of its driving forces in competing with the other major banks.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Cougar or Coyote Essay

The trickster is an important archetype in any religion or myth because it provides an outlet for all of the chaotic and destructive emotions and tendencies of a people that are controlled by a larger social construct. It is through a trickster figure that people of a religion or society are able to explore the more untamed side of their nature while additionally presenting them with the consequences of those desires. The trickster is a figure that at once both mocks social morals and at the same time also reinforces those morals by showing the pandemonium and trouble that arises if the people do not follow the rules that are in place. The trickster also allows the people of a religion to express ideas and desires that might not ordinarily be acceptable in their society. In this way the trickster plays a very important and cathartic role in a religion or myth. Penelope, from Homers The Odyssey, is a woman of grit and spirit. Ellen Shull declares in her essay â€Å"Valuing Multiple Critical Approaches: Penelope, Again†¦ and Again† that Penelope is â€Å"the paragon of resilient womanhood† (32). However, a trickster god, like Monkey from Wu Ch’eng-en’s novel Monkey, and a mortal woman like Penelope appear to have nothing in common. Their roles are so different and their apparent purposes are even more so. On the surface it may seem as though Penelope from The Odyssey shares very little resemblance with a trickster god. However, when one takes a closer look the similarities become more obvious. Penelope is at once a powerful figure that adheres to the social norms of her patriarchal society while still rebelliously challenging the acknowledged rules of how a woman should behave. This can be seen as how a trickster like Monkey is used in myth to subvert a society’s own beliefs. Penelope is the other side of the coin of what it means to be a trickster. She is the female version as it were. Penelope may not be male, amoral, animal, or supernatural but she is cunning, childish, inventive, and she also a subversive figure within her patriarchal society. The most obvious source of incompatibility of Penelope being a trickster is that she is female while the trickster is usually a male like Monkey. Now, unless Penelope was even more deceitful than anyone had ever imagined then it is safe to say that she is not a trickster god based on that one quality alone. Leeming states that the trickster is â€Å"always male† (163). Obviously, Penelope is not male which means that she is, according to Leeming, not a trickster god, no exceptions. But if Leeming were to make an exception then Penelope would be one. Penelope is a woman who must work against all the restrictions and suffocating bounds that her society uses to leash women in order to trick the people surrounding her and she does. â€Å"She deceives the suitors and even her own husband† (Mueller, 337). Penelope even has long lasting deceptions that fool people for years. The sexual organs Penelope was born with seem to be of little importance when compared to the massive opposing powers and influences that she if forced to undermine and battle against. The next point of disparity between Penelope and a trickster figure like Monkey is that the trickster is seen as a philandering, unprincipled, hooligan. The trickster is considered to be an ethically neutral figure with a propensity for getting into humorous predicaments. Leeming calls the trickster â€Å"amoral†¦outrageous†¦ [and is] untamed by the larger social conscience†). Monkey is a perfect example of this side of a trickster. Monkey is not exactly immoral he just has his own sense of what the right thing to do is and he is overwhelmingly selfish. Every action and quest he takes at the beginning of his story is motivated by his desire to be immortal and to gain power. Even when Monkey protects his other monkey subjects he does so because he wants to maintain his kingship more than out of a fear for their safety and wellbeing. One could even posit that the monkeys would be better off without him because he brings the wrath of heaven down upon them. Monkey has all these qualities that Leeming states a trickster is comprised of. Penelope, on the other hand, is none of these things. In fact, she is usually remembered for her faithfulness to her husband even though he was gone for twenty years. Penelope â€Å"waits in Ithaca for Odysseus. She looks after his home, his son and his estate. She weeps lonely tears but nothing induces her to betray her husband and to neglect her duties, not even under pressure from the suitors does she contemplate infidelity† (Smit, 393-394). Her unwavering loyalty to her husband and her devotion to the gods are not the sort of characteristics seen in the trickster who typically represents lower or baser instincts and functions. Penelope is a classy lady but again she also has that side to her that rebels at the rules of her culture. Some might even call her a vain tease for keeping her suitors around for so long while never picking one or giving in to their masculine power. Penelope, also, does not fit in the trickster category because she is only human while a trickster is usually an animal. Leeming states that a trickster â€Å"takes animal form† (163). Monkey obviously fits into this category. Not only is he a monkey but he has mystical origins. He was born from a stone. In fact Monkey’s animal form is a point of ire for him because he in Monkey he tries become more and more human-like. He starts wearing clothes and stands upright in an attempt to appear more human. This fight between animal and human characteristics is vital in a trickster figure because that animal quality is in part what allows them to get away with their mischief. Penelope is no dog. Or any animal for that matter. She is in fact a very desirable woman with scores of suitors fighting for her hand in marriage. This does not help her in the trickster category but it does, however, show how her beauty and desirability are in part what allow her to get away with her schemes. Her beauty can even be seen as her animal side because it basically serves the same function that the animal form serves the trickster. An animal form, or in the case of Penelope, her beauty, is a metaphor of who they are and it allows them to be more completely that character and it allows them to do things that would not ordinarily be acceptable within that society. Penelope’s beauty is what allows her to subvert her patriarchal culture because her beauty gives her power over her suitors. She is a woman but she uses that to her advantage. It could also been seen that being a woman in the time of The Odyssey was akin to being an animal because it was such a male dominant culture where woman were little more than chattel or bargaining pieces. Maybe Penelope has more trickster qualities than are first apparent. The last way that Penelope does not fit into the trickster category is that she has no supernatural powers. Leeming â€Å"† (). She has no magical powers which show even further how she is not like a trickster. The trickster is almost always a supernatural figure. This category obviously denotes that a trickster has otherworldly abilities with which to influence outcomes. Penelope works entirely in the realm of her intelligence to bring about the results and tricks that she has concocted. This can make Penelope seem as being more skilled than a god who needs magic to bring about the outcome that he so desires. When compared to Penelope supernatural powers might be viewed as cheating.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Customer Satisfaction of Banglalink

A report on â€Å"Customer Satisfaction Of Banglalink† Submitted to: Dr. Mamun Habib Course Instructor, Research Methodology; Sec: C; AIUB Prepared BY: GROUP: A ? Huda Md. Nazmul08-11678-2 ? Rahman Md. Masudur08-11030-2 ? Imranuzzaman Md. 08-11471-2 ? Shahzahan Masum Bin08-11636-2 ? Haque Shajabul08-11554-2 ? Munsi Md. Hasan (Sec: E)08-11417-2 ? Hasan Md. Khalid08-11024-2 AMERICAN INERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY-BANGLADESH Date of Submission: April 19, 2011 April 19, 2011 To Dr. Mamun Habib Course teacher, Research methodology; Sec: C; AIUB Subject: Request to accept the research paper. Dear Sir We have the privilege to present our group work set by yourself & permitted by your guidance. We are obliged to you for giving us such an opportunity to make a study on the topic named â€Å"Customer Satisfaction of Banglalink†. Finally we seek your favorable consideration as for permitting us to submit this report before you. Yours truly, Huda Md. Nazmul (08-11678-2) { On the behalf of the Group} Acknowledgement This study is the outcome of a research work. At first we want to thank The Almighty who has created us and gave up ability to do a type of research work. We are thankful to them who have spontaneously assisted us in conduction the research. Specially, we are thankful to our honorable teacher Dr. Mamun Habib course instructor of Research Methodology; Sec: C; AIUB. He helped us in every step of starting and completing our research paper promptly. Without His help it was impossible for us to complete the research. We are thankful to all those people who co-operate us with their kind patience. We are also thankful to all those people who helped us for collecting Information to survey. We are thankful to all the group members of the group. Without their help we would not able to complete our study successfully. We like to thank our friends who directly and indirectly helped us a lot by providing different information. Abstract Banglalink is one of the biggest mobile phone companies at Bangladesh. It started its operation in February 2005. Previously it was known as Sheba telecom Pvt L. T. D that had been GSM (Global Service of mobile) Service in Bangladesh since 1998. Orascom Telecom brought 100% share of Sheba telecom in 2004 & gave it new name as Banglalink. Every company’s existence depends on its customers. So, each and every company tries to satisfy & retain its customers providing attractive services. So, we’ve conducted our research on the customers of Banglalink to find the satisfaction level towards the company. As the satisfaction level indicator we used the following contents: Today’s market is highly competitive. So, every time competitors try to find the weakness & want to beat those points. So, the company should take customer feedback on continuous basis. That’s why excessive market research is required. Finding the customer’s demand & recommendation will help to take right decision. Table of Content . Chapter-1 (Introduction)(6-10) ? Introduction of the study 6 ? Research Objective 7 ? Limitation of the study 8 ? Significance of the study 8 ? Scope of research 8-9 ? Statement of Problem 9 2. Chaptre-3 (Research Framework) 10 3. Chapter-4 (Research Methodology)(11-13) ? Methods of research used 11 ? Respondents & sampling procedures 11-12 ? Researc h Instruments 12 ? Statistical Treatment of Data 13 4. Chapter-5 (Presentation of Data & Discussion of results)(14-17) 5. Chapter-6 (Summary, Conclusion & Recommendation) (18-20) ? Summary of the Findings 18-19 Conclusion 19 ? Recommendation 19-20 Bibliography 21 A. Appendix : (Questionnaire) (22-24) Chapter-1 Introduction Introduction of the study Banglalink is the second largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh after Grameenphone. As of November, 2010, Banglalink has a subscriber base of 12. 99 million. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom. Banglalink had 1. 03 million connections until December, 2005. The number of Banglalink users increased by 257 per cent and stood at 3. 64 million at the end of 2006, making it the fastest growing operator in the world of that year. In August, 2006, Banglalink became the first company to provide free incoming calls from BTTB for both postpaid and prepaid connections. On August 20, 2008, Banglalink got past the landmark of 10 million subscriber base. Organization overview In Bangladesh, Banglalink aims to understand peoples' needs best and develop appropriate communication services to improve peoples' life and make it simple. All our work is aimed towards meeting our vision. All members of the Banglalink family are highly passionate individuals, fully committed to achieving the vision that we have set ourselves. Our customers' needs matter most to us- making their life simple and improving it is all we want. To ensure our vision is achieved, we have set ourselves a few values, we want to be †¢ Straight Forward †¢ Reliable †¢ Innovative †¢ Passionate All the Banglalink family members have one thing in common- a passion to serve to go that extra mile, so that you can have the best possible service Investing in the future of Bangladesh. The biggest barrier today for people is the cost of handsets. We will strive to lower the total cost of owning a mobile. We are here to make a difference in people's lives by providing affordable and reliable connectivity will strive to connect people and link their lives by listening to them and by understanding their needs. We are here to help you speak your language. Research Objective Our research objective is to find out the satisfaction level of banglalink customer. The purpose of the study is to provide a specific and accurate definition of the overall PR & communication department of banglalink. As a 2nd largest company how they are managing the public relations. †¢ Provide an overview of the banglalink To identify the factors influencing on the marketing plan of the company †¢ To find out the strategies need to implement for achieving its long term goal. †¢ To measure and improve your performance †¢ To know customers are satisfied or not by taking service †¢ To supply products at competitive prices. †¢ To explore public relation activities in the market. Limitatio n of the study: Every work when started that to face some limitations. So in our research we face some problem. Our main limitation is time. Because we do not enough time for make this project but we tried our label best to make this report is a good one. Our second limitation was our different class schedule that why it was creating some problem when we making the survey. Our third limitation was financial fund because we are student. Significance of the study: Our research is based on the satisfaction of banglalink customers. We think from our research banglalink company will get more benefits. From our research banglalink customers relationship management can get some information about their customer’s satisfaction. In sort they can know from our research how they provide their services for their customers and how the customers react their services. So when banglalink management observes our customers satisfaction research result based on this result they can take their decision. Scope of Research: Research type: This research is a type of descriptive study which defines the relationship between the customer satisfaction and the banglalink management. Here the customer’s satisfaction is about the measurement of the wants of banglalink customers. On the other hand, banglalink customers are the population of our project as well the respondent. Those customers who are using the banglalink sim card and use their given services. Sample: Here the sample means the customers of banglalink those who are using the banglalik sim card and use their given services. Measurement: Basically we are come through a solution of our problem with Survey Questionnaire. And we make this Questionnaire to identify how much the customers of banglalink are satisfied. Statement of Problems: We have a solution of our problem by briefly discussed and we conducted a survey on the students group of AIUB. For that, we arrange a set of questionnaire and seeking some help from some loyal customers of banglalink. And those customers are basically ongoing users or once used Baglalink connection and also those customers who are use from their beginning. How is their satisfaction as a customer of banglalink in their real experience? Then we are the seven members work jointly to complete a strong semester project on customer satisfaction of Banglalink whatever we get acquire knowledge from our honorable course instruct Dr. Mamun Habib during this whole semester. Chapter-3 Research Framework Research Hypothesis: Hypothesis means the assumption. We are assuming some questionnaire to our respondents and try to analysis those. This research is coming through â€Å"One-Tailed Test† that is defined as the direction of the project. For example is that (Low/High) HO: Customers satisfaction would be greater than, less than their expectation Ha: Customers satisfaction would be less than, greater than their expectation Chapter -4 Research Methodology Methods of Research Used Difference types of research technique we are selecting descriptive research because we are finding customer satisfaction of Banglalink based on primary data. How many people are satisfied or not. Descriptive: Describes characteristics of a population or phenomenon, objects, organizations. Some understanding of the nature of the problem. Respondents & Sampling Procedures Population is any complete group of people, sales territories, stores . Sample subset of a large population we are select people among university student they are satisfy or not. There are three types of sample size we select formula for known and unknown population because firstly select BANGLALINK service users or not. Probability sampling we use to get our respondents. This process has to each element of population an equal chance to be selected . Known, nonzero probability for every element. Different categories sampling among these category we select simple random sampling. Simple random sampling: A sample procedure that ensures each element in the population will have an equal chance of being included in the sample. Research Instruments: Here different tools for questionnaire survey: †¢ Simple Attitude scale †¢ Category scale †¢ Likert scale †¢ Semantic scale †¢ Numerical scale †¢ Constant sum scale †¢ Stapel scale †¢ Graphical Rating scale †¢ Graphics rating scale stressing visual communication From these survey scales we used Five point Likert Scale for conducting our survey. We asked different questions based on BANGLALINK customer care service and collected answers through likert scale. Statistical Treatment of Data SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences): Based on SPSS we complete our statistical treatment. Descriptive analysis: Demographic information of respondents and estimate proportion among respondents. | | | | | | | | |Valid |52 | | |Missing |0 | Mean |1. 31 | | | | | | |N |Valid |52 | | |Missing |0 | |Variance |. 217 | Chapter-5 Presentation of data and discussion of results There are several tools available for data analysis. Like Excel, SPSS, AMOS, LISREL etc. For the collective data analysis we have used MS Excel & SPSS (Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences). The respondents’ percentage based on gender: [pic] â€Å"Banglalink’s call rate is reasonable with compare to other operators†: pic] â€Å"Banglalink provides good services at their customer care centers:† [pic] Banglalink’s network s ystem is very strong: [pic] Banglalink has huge opportunities to become market leader of Telecommunication Industry: [pic] Chapter-6 Summary, Conclusion & Recommendation Summary of the findings: Banglalink is one of the largest telecom companies in Bangladesh. After commencing their operation in Bangladesh, Banglalink captured a large number of customers. So, other mobile operators’ customers switched the brand. But now from our research we are finding a complete different scenario. In person we are the customers of Banglalink. So, we conducted our research on our friends & the different students’ group of AIUB to get quick access to the information. Our research shows that for the last few years Banglalink’s performance is falling gradually & failing to meet the customer’s requirement. †¢ Most of our respondents have agreed that Banglalink’s call rate is not so high with compare to other operators. But there is also a larger group of respondents who didn’t comply with this statement. †¢ Banglalink’s offered packages are somewhat attractive according to our respondents. A major portion of respondents have agreed that Banglalink is good at promotional activities. †¢ Banglalink’s customer care services are satisfactory in the view of the respondents. †¢ Banglalink has developed its internet facility recently. So, the current customers are satisfied with new services. †¢ In terms of network s ystem there are different opinions among the respondents. In the cities & towns the network is good, but at villages or remote places this service is very bad. As our all respondents are from Dhaka city, the respondents are satisfied with the network service. Banglalink has somewhat contribution in social development regarding our respondent’s view. †¢ There are a few large telecom companies in our country. For the last few years GrameenPhone has been holding the market leader’s place. From our research we can see that Banglalink has no possibilities to become the market leader. Conclusion: In the country Banglalink has come with the mission of â€Å"Din Bodoler Pala†. At their market entrance they showed huge possibilities to become the market leader. They captured the most of their customers within their first two years of operation. But with times customers are leaving Banglalink. Recently a new operator has penetrated into the telecom industry. Besides the former operators are diversifying their packages & offerings. But Banglalink had failed to cope up these new changes in the industry. They also offered some new packages, but those are not sufficient to cope up the situation. To attract different group of customers, Banglalink should take different approaches to gain new customers. Recommendations: Banglalink is a large organization & they are skilled & well experienced to take any decision. Our research shows that dissatisfaction is generating among the customers of Banglalink. So, we have come up with some recommendations: Bibliography To prepare our report we took help from several internet based websites. We are cordially grateful to those internet site authorities & author who provides the information. †¢ www. google. com †¢ www. banglalinkgsm. com †¢ www. wikipedia. com A. Appendix: Questionnaire Survey (Banglalink’s customer satisfaction evaluation) 01. Have you ever used Banglalink connection? ? Yes. ? No. 02. Which product did you used or using? ? Pre-paid. ? Postpaid. 3. How long have you used or have you been using Banglalink connection? ? Less than 6 months. ? 6 months – 1 year. ? 1 – 2 years. ? 2 – 3 years. ? More than 3 years. 04. Banglalink’s call rate is reasonable with compare to other operators. 05. Banglalink’s offered packages are very attractive. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 06. Banglalink’s promotional activities are very effective. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 07. Banglalink has its customer care centers at convenient and important places. ? Strongly agree Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 08. Banglalink provides good services at their Customer care centers. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 09. Banglalink’s employees are skilled & highly professional. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 10. Banglalink provides attractive internet services. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 11. Banglalink’s information is highly available. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 12. Banglalink’s network system is very strong? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 13. Banglalink has significant contribution towards social develo pment? ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 14. Banglalink has huge opportunities to become market leader of Telecommunication Industry. ? Strongly agree ? Agree ? Neutral ? Disagree ? Strongly disagree 15. Your gender: ? Male ? Female 16. Your age: ? Less than 18. ? 18 – 22 ? 23 – 25 ? 26- 35 ? More than 35 17. Your profession: ? Student ? Service Holder ? Businessman ? Housewife ? Unemployed[pic][pic][pic] ———————– THANKS

Friday, January 3, 2020

Changes among American Indians Adaptation, Revitalization, Resistance Free Essay Example, 2750 words

The key factors associated with the development and changes among the people of American Indian, especially their lifestyle in the changing society is the power of resistance among the American Indians against the continuously changing social as well as economic conditions. Over the course of time, the style of living, level of importance, economic social and political significance of the American Indian started to change considerably. In the beginning, they were the majority but slowly they started to lose their importance in the history and economy of the country. It is a proven fact that the native peoples of the Americas have been fighting Euro-American domination for over 500 years and the protest in the past few decades have been particularly interesting. Some of the most prominent and common ways by which Native American raise their voices are Protests, blockades, and standoffs. In order to establish their rights, the Native Americans especially the American Indians had invol ved in a number of movements such as AIM or American Indian Movement, Wounded Knee standoffs and in modern times armed movement. Among all these movements most talked upon and significant one was the AIM which played a major role in establishing the rights of the American Indians in the 20th century. We will write a custom essay sample on Changes among American Indians: Adaptation, Revitalization, Resistance or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page In his article, Kotlowski (2003) also discussed the role played by Nixon and Ford, two US presidents against the Native American s protest. In this writing, he critically discussed the point of view of both the Presidents against such rebellion activities and how they able to tackle those.