1 Introduction Communication and information technologies are the foundation of the new global information-based economy Advanced telecommunications networks and related systems, increasingly permeate every economic sector and help business of all kinds. It enhances their organizational efficiency and competitiveness while providing customers better goods and services at lower prices. 1.1 Global perspective of telecom industry The current global telecom industry, is going through a phase of turbulence after years of stability, the situation is changing radically. The industry is facing number of challenges; the most pressing one is opening of the telecommunication sector. It has led to evolve genuine competition in many markets; the introduction of mobile, Internet together with other value added services is rapidly creating new segments of market with very few similarities with the traditional marketplace. 1.2 Telecom sector of Pakistan Pakistan mobile industry at the moment is experiencing growth explosion. Though the existing players are trying hard to meet the growing demand still there is a huge amount of unmet demand in the country as against the supply of connection by the operating mobile companies. (See figure 1) Cellular industry of Pakistan comprises of five companies namely, Mobilink, Warid, U-fone, Telenor and now Zong. 1.3 Role of PTA PTA played a major role in increasing the growth rate of the industry. A transition from MPP (Mobile Party Pay) to P (Calling Party Pay) made incoming calls free. Moreover, PTA gave incentive to the operator by reducing royalty, reduction in interconnection charges and airtime tariff. All these factors made mobile phone affordable for a common man. 1
(figure1)
2 Background of Zong Paktel is a mobile telecommunication company in Pakistan. It was the first ever company granted license to carry out cellular phone services in Pakistan, set up by Cable & Wireless. It carried out AMPS services until 2004, when the company launched GSM services as well. Its main competitor emerged in late 1990s as Instaphone and soon began to dominate the market. However after the launch and rapid success of Mobilink in 1998, both services lost market share. In 2003, Millicom, bought Paktel. Millicom installed a new management team. In January 2007 Millicom sold Paktel for $284 million to China Mobile. 2.1 CMCC ZONG is the first International brand of China Mobile being launched in Pakistan. China Mobile is the world's largest telecom operator. Having a customer base of over 300 million customers. China Mobile is perhaps the only cellular network that provides uninterrupted, reliable coverage through tunnels, on highways, inside sky scrapper elevators as well on top of Mount Everest. One of the unique features of China Mobile servicing excellence is to customize its products, services and tariffs to suit the individual needs of its huge subscriber base. 2
2.2 Powerful source of communication The core essence of ZONG is to allow people to communicate at will without worrying about tariffs, network coverage, capacity issues or congestion. ZONG will be ed by ground breaking communications, trend setting customer service and an unmatched product offering which will redefine rules of the game and establish ZONG
as
a
serious
contender
for
the
number
one
spot.
ZONG would offer its customers with entertaining & innovative value added services and will empower them by giving a wide variety of products, services & content to choose from. 2.3 SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Strengths •Strong Historical Brand •Improving Network Services 3 Product and its Packages •Backing of World ’s Largest Mobile ZONG offers a wide range of new services to serve customers even better. Below is a Company brief introduction of all these services. •Strong Relationship With the • 12 Aanay Package. Government •
50paisa/call
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Free package 3
Opportunities
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Zong super free num
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Break time offer
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Aik sec package
3.1 Market Segment It has targeted the low and middle end market. Top management researched and come up with products and offers that masses wanted.. Initially they were least interested in very few elite class customers; instead they hit the low end market. 3.2 Didn‘t rush for offerings The calmness we can see in launch campaigns is observed in later promotions and offerings. Let’s take an example of Zong’s free call on one number package; they introduced it a month earlier than they started advertising it. There is another example, when Mobilink offered Rs. 1per min call, which was responded next day by Telenor with a similar offer. Ufone in a week or so came up with Uwon, while Zong took two months to start Rs. 1per min call. It shows how calmly they observe market trends before launching products. 3.4 Low operating expenses Zong’s offices are least liverish compared to of other cellular companies in Pakistan, hence saving many of other expenses. What they say “Kam Karch-Bala Nasheen”.
4 Strategic Alternatives Company’s Vision “Zong to be one of the leading mobile information company in Pakistan exceeding customer expectations, through
employees dedicated to excellence,
maximizing shareholders value”
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4.1 Objectives Increase Market Share to 30% by 2010 Restructure Business & Organization Enhance Image: Re-launch Corporate Brand Grow Through Partnerships, Acquisition & New Licenses Display Corporate Social Responsibility 4.2 PEST Analysis: Political factors: The current situation of telecom in Pakistan clearly indicates the success of policies adopted by the government of Pakistan in Telecom sector. China Mobile has already invested $500 million in the country and has plans to invest more. It has made the largest investment among all the Chinese investment in Pakistan. PTA has recently awarded the license for providing cellular service in Azad Jammu Kashmir and Northern Areas to China Mobile. Economic factors: Marketers should consider long term and short term state of a trading market. Inflation is getting uncontrolled and rate of unemployment is alarmingly high. Due to downturn of the economy, the turnover ratio is increasing as companies have no more capacity to hire the people. Social factors During the formation of marketing strategies, companies have to look after a lot of factors. Deep study of local culture and social setups is also one of the major factors which much in successful strategy formation. The study of culture helps to understand the consumer behavior and in turn assists firms to improve their marketing strategies:
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Zong has done wonderful job in this perspective. Before entering into market It has done extensive research on the behaviors of the consumers. By doing this their aim was to bring forth the latent desire of the people. It has fulfilled the demands of students, middle class and elite class equally. Technological factors By using different technologies a company can have competitive advantage on others and now companies are investing in their infrastructure not only to expand but also to upgrade their existing structure. 5 Structure of the organization In Zong the hierarchy is very lean, in general the whole setup is centralized, all the matters are to be reported to the main company and all the policies and targets are approved at the higher level. But at the department level the structure is decentralized. The human resource of Zong is highly skillful, educated and committed towards their work. Mostly people working in Zong are masters in specialized fields. According to them their human resource is their biggest assets. Human resource manager is responsible of handling any disturbances but small disputes are handled by supervisors. A continuous training is conducted inside and outside the organization to improve the skills of the employee. On achieving different target different intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are given. The job description of each and every employee is predefined. Performance appraisal is done on annual basis. Group analysis: In our industry we need creativity, speed, execution, written communication, attitude, knowledge & skills that is why we prefer new and young talent that’s why fresh graduate are hired each year. Unless and until people don’t have freedom to express their views and new ideas such organization can not grow , and to this view with in each department people should have decision making power and this can done
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by decentralizing. 5.1 Managerial skills Planning, Organizing, Leading: team counseling, vision and goal setting , performance appraisal, job rotation, ensure motivation are common tasks. Lower level is also involved in decision making which help them to vision some thing which is really achievable and is according to their capability. They also keep on rotating people to different departments relative to their field so that they don’t get lethargic this also give them a chance to find the best place where thy can fit in . Controlling: To ensure timely for all “services & processes” being offered inuse of both internal and external customers. National and international training sessions are arranged for the employees to keep them up dated and to make them able to work on latest technology. 5.2 Technical, human and conceptual skills Technical skill : Persons have knowledge of processes, techniques and tools of a specific area like technical issues of engineering, network coverage so that they can understand problems of customer and provide better customer care services. Human skill: involves the ability to interact effectively with people. Person performing this job interact and cooperate with employees and customers and unless and until they are not social and don’t have good communication skills they can’t help their customers. Conceptual skill: involves the formulation of ideas. Persons performing this job have understood abstract relationships, develop ideas, and solve problems creatively to handle the problems on the spot, to satisfy the customers. 5.3Team Building The sales department is highly dependent on the team efforts and can only perform well if the team is highly motivated. At Zong, sales officers are highly competitive and motivated as they know how well they have to inculcate their ideas and product into consumer’s mind. In this era no organization can perform its tasks effectively without 7
team involvement but especially cellular companies can’t even dream of doing work without sales teams. Hierarchal structure
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C.E.O
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C.O.O
Director sales& Distribution
Director H.R.M
Director Marketing
Regional Director
Regional Director
S &D M
S &D M
A.S.M
B.D.O
A.S.M
B.D.O
B.D.O
B.D.O
(Figure 2)
6 Role of franchises Zong has almost 25 franchises working to help its s that are linked with the main head office. The franchises are the only authorized dealers of ZONG. Every franchise has a manager who controls and looks after all the major 10
Conclusion Zong offers several promotions, services and packages to cater to different needs of a varied customer base. They have done considerable research In order to understand customer needs. For the first time s will get what they want, rather than being made offers that suit operational needs more than needs. China mobile has proven itself as a brand now and it seems like they are going to give tough time to other cellular companies in coming days. The hardest part of china mobile was to rebuild the image that had been lost by Paktel: often we see, it’s easy to make a new building, than of restructuring the damaged one. Recommendation •
Voice clarity and call discontinuity is a major issue of Zong and it can be solved by using boosters in different areas.
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Their emphasis is on fresh, young and energetic personnel which is good but besides this they should train their old workers as they are assets of the organization and they understand some issues more better than the new ones.
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If an employee is performing dual tasks simultaneously, he/she should be well paid. In this way they can be encouraged and hence they will increase productivity of the organization.
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As “customer is king” so Customers care services should be improved and complaints of the customers should be solved in time.
Performance evaluation form
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Name: SMART Tasks skill or ability area
skill or ability area
specific task
measures
agreed
realistic
timings
comments/actions
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WORKS CITED 1. http://www.zong.com.pk/packages.html 2. http://www.zong.com.pk/vas.html 3. www.pakistanlaw.com/mobilepolicy28012004.pdf 4. www.cn-c114.net/576/a287756.html - 15k 5. www.pta.gov.pk/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=6
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