Introduction of Organisation PTML is a subsidiary of PTCL (Pakistan Telecom Company
Limited), the largest operator in Pakistan. PTML was established to operate cellular telephony.
The company commenced its operations, under the brand name of Ufone from Islamabad on
January 29 2001. Since Etisalat took over PTCL in 2006, during the year as a consequence of
PTCL’s privatization, 26% of its shares were acquired by Emirates Telecommunication
Corporation (Etisalat). Being part of PTCL, the management of Ufone has also been handed over
to Etisalat.
In September 2006, Ufone selected Huawei to deploy the nationwide GSM network at a contract
value of above USD550 million. Ufone adopted Huawei's new-generation GSM solution,
including All-IP core network and BTS, to construct a GSM network covering 1,500 cities and
towns of Pakistan. Ufone has a subscriber base of 20. 23 million as of September 2010.
During2006 Ufone successfully completed the network expansion of Phase 4 in existing as well
as in new cities and towns which amounted to more than US Dollar 170 million. As a result the
asset base of the Company has increased from Rs. 0 billion to Rs. 27 billion. Ufone adopted the
policy of simplified tariffs with no hidden charges, which resulted in positive impacts on total
subscriber base, Ufone currently caters for international roaming to more than 195 live operators
across 119 countries and introduced International roaming facility for Prepaid subscribers in
Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Portugal and Kuwait with
lowest rates, featuring no security deposit and activation charges. GPRS roaming facility is
available with more than 75 Live Operators across 59 countries.
The Company has also been awarded a new License for providing cellular services in Azad
Jammu ; Kashmir and the Northern Areas. Organization structure Organizational structure
defines how job tasks are formally designed, grouped and coordinated. Ufone is a decentralized
structured organization at branch level but overall the whole setup is centralized. The
organizational structure is horizontal or lean. In this way flow of communication becomes very
easy and simple. It is divided into different departments and each department has a head which
take decisions. All departments are interlinked.
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The concept of departmentalization is effectively practiced at ufone. All departments contribute
to the overall goal of the organization. Ufone has 7 departments. 1. Finance 2. Marketing 3.
Information technology department 4. Customer operations department 5. Engineering dept 6.
Sales dept 7. Human resource dept. Formal Structure or Informal Structure? When a company
wants to compete in innovation, it needs to maximize flexibility. Flexibility is maximized by
aggregating work into larger, holistic pieces that are executed by teams of higher wages, high
skilled workers.
Giving the units their own support systems and decision-making authority to take advantage of
local opportunities in regional or specialized product markets also enhances flexibility. Keeping
in view of all these factors the structure of Ufone is designed i. e. the overall Structure of the
Ufone is Divisional (More flexible and innovative). Mainly Ufone has four regions and within
those regions the structure is functional . The decision making authority is centralized at the top
but within the regions it is decentralized i. e. egional heads have to inform top management
before making any decisions. This is what Ufone looks from the organizational hierarchy point
of view. There are 7 different departments each headed by a Project Director. They report
directly to the CEO. There are four BU (Business Unit) each Project Director is responsible for
these eight divisions. BUs are divided geographically into three divisions: * BU North (Peshawar
to Jehlum, including Islamabad) * BU Central-1 (Gujranwala till Sialkot) * BU Central-2
(Multan till Rahim Yar Khan) * BUM South (Sindh and Balochistan)
Nature of Organization Cultural Dimensions Organizational culture refers to a system of shared
meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from the other organization. Ufone
is following clan culture which competitors are lacking in that term. Oriented organization looks
like a very personal place, employee relations are shaped around mentoring and nurturing,
workplace looks like an extended form of family, a general encouragement of participation is the
building block of day to day routines of organization, and work is designed around flexibility and
self sufficiency.
Human development with high trust and openness is the basic agenda of clan oriented
organizations. Ufone has hierarchy culture dominance, the only organization having a
substantially different cultural orientation, to be singled out, is U-Fone, which is a public sector
organization. People find their jobs more secure in public sector, moreover the workload and
timings of job are much relaxed mostly in public sector organizations. These might be some of
the reasons why U-Fone is perceived to be a Clan oriented organization by its employees.
The disparity in the current and preferred culture is prevalent in individual organizations and
industry as well. Clan is the preferred culture by most of the organizations, leading towards an
industry preference as well. Ufone culture is very innovative due to a dynamic organization with
a powerful culture that allows people to make the most of their skills, personality and career in
very less time. Ufone empower their employees to compete with others in term of innovation and
bringing new ideas. People in ufone utilize their team effort optimally and their marketing
strategies are the concrete evidence for that.
Communication Communication can flow vertically or laterally. The vertical dimensions can be
further divided into downward and upward communication. 1. Internal Communication in
Ufone: Internal Communication of Ufone is given below, Downward and upward
communication is called vertical communication within organization: Upward communication in
Ufone: Upward communication is the flow of information from subordinates to superiors, or
from employees to management. In Ufone communication is an important source that is
considered for success.
Upward Communication in Ufone is a mean for staff to: * Exchange information to
management, Ufone having organic structure employees does not feel hesitation to exchange
information. * Offer ideas in which they already have edge like their advertising strategies and
package offering are very effective. * Express enthusiasm as the matter of fact they have been
given empowerment so they come up with interesting ideas. * Achieve job satisfaction that is
related with the satisfaction employees achieve from the job. * Provide feedback on the internal
system.
Downward Communication Information flowing from the top of the organizational management
hierarchy and telling people in the organization what is important (mission) and what is valued
(policies). Employees working in Ufone are instructed clearly on the most important issues and
policies. This has encouraged two way discussions to discuss employee’s problem and customer
relationship issues. Normally Ufone announces important decisions and it falls in this category of
communication where employee needs to get all clear information on what to do in the
organization.
Upper level management motivates employees and gets feedback and if any policy or issue is not
being resolved is discussed to remove. Horizontal/Lateral Communication in Ufone: Ufone has
always been serious for having efficient teams working for different objectives like promotion
and other important issues. Communication among employees at the same level is crucial for the
accomplishment of work. Ufone has always encouraged team effort and innovation. Ufone has
one more thing to get to its credit is building goodwill by boosting efficiency and improving
teamwork. Employees always cooperate and perform well. . External Communication in Ufone
Communication with people outside the company is called "external communication".
Supervisors communicate with sources outside the organization, such as vendors and customers.
It leads to better; * Sales volume * Public credibility * Operational efficiency * Company profits
Ufone believes in Integrated Marketing Communication which is a carefully blended mix of
promotion tools. Ufone employ different marketing activities and channels to communicate and
deliver value to customer. These activities are coordinated to provide maximum communication
output.
These communication channels includes:-Advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct
marketing ; personal selling. Ufone strategize to carry out promotion in order to increase its
market share. Strategies: Ufone strategize to widen its coverage to all places in Pakistan in order
to meet the requirements of its increasing customer base. Now Ufone is heading from cities to
remote northern areas in expanding its network and also has developed some sites there. Ufone
has intensive promotion in cities, but it is also considering improving its promotion in rural areas
as well.
Customer Relationship Management Ufone focuses on the 10 commandments rule it has posted
on its office wall. Ufone believes in “SERVICE FIRST” rule and trains to its employees
(personnel) to follow this rule. It treats its customers as a king because one dissatisfied customer
dissatisfies the other customers as well. Ufone personnel are taught to deal with the customers
with the courteous attitude. Also promotion policies are developed from time to time to retain the
customers lost. This is done by giving discounts on calls rates, giving free SMS bundles, free
minutes etc. to the customers who don’t use their SIMs for 2 to 3 months. Call centre records the
calls done by customers to maintain quality assurance. Greeting messages are sent to customers
on religious events. Also, birthday messages or cards are sent to the loyal customers. Door step
services are provided to the customers. These services give a competitive edge to Ufone. Sales
Promotion: Ufone strategize to take aid of sales promotion whenever it sees a minor drop in its
usage by its customers. They mostly go for pull strategy in promotion i. e. hey spend a lot on
advertising and consumer promotion to induce final customers to avail their services. Ufone
applies sales promotion schemes continually in order to keep its customers loyal and happy.
Sales promotions are short term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or
services. Ufone utilizes sales promotion activities to boost its sales. It follows all four of the
promotion budgeting methods viz affordable method, percentage of sales method, competitive
parity method and objective ; task method. Ufone uses following sales promotion tools.
Contests, Games, Premium tickets and promotional packages. Which type of Network Ufone
follows? Type of network which Ufone is following is all channel network, where employees
coordinate with each other but still there is central authority and team work is more encouraged.
It is rather blend of wheel and all channel network, self managed teams are made and all
objectives being performed are checked by central authority. Interpersonal Relationships
Individual in Ufone share common goals and objectives. They have more or less similar interests
and think on the same lines.
Since they come from the similar background and so they develop good relationship. It has
always been better for Ufone. Employees in Ufone respect each other point of view and maintain
humble climate throughout. There is most important factor associated with interpersonal
relationship is having transparency which plays a vital role and since all relation must not be
biased and so they also focus on honest relationship. Since they have teams that perform most of
the time on different issues and they do not indulge in criticism, backbiting and do not interfere
each other. This creates a pleasant environment.
Baseless rumors are always discouraged and since they have been motivated all the time from
upper management and their productivity increases and they try to perform even better and come
up with some innovative ideas and they are also satisfied employees. According to a survey
conducted, most of the employees do not want to leave this organization for the only reason that
they have become satisfied and all the policies and procedures are quite good and criticism has
been very low. The reason being the Ufone success could also be the interpersonal relationship
which encourages efficiency.
Ethics The word "ethics" is often in the news these days. Ethics is a philosophical term derived
from the Greek word "ethos" meaning character or custom. This definition is germane to
effective leadership in organizations in that it connotes an organization code conveying moral
integrity and consistent values in service to the public. Ufone always consider ethics while
making their policies and recruitment policies. Even marketing strategies are made in the way
that shows ethical behavior as compared to competitors so they are strictly following it.
Customer relationship management is another important thing which should be taken seriously
for ethics. Your customer is your only way for making your organization survives in the market.
So ethics are important for Ufone to maintain good relationship with customers and in this regard
customer service has been given clear instruction on how to deal customers and they have even
promoted ten codes for customers in different franchise of Ufone and also customer complaint
cell has been formed if someone behaves wrong then it should be taken in to consideration. How
Ufone encourages ethical behavior?
Also quality service department checks the ongoing calls of customer support and also feedback
is checked so these are all the policies in regard for customer relationship and to maintain ethics
so customer should feel respected. Recruitment policy of is designed in way that makes sure that
everyone should apply for different position in organization and no gender discrimination is
made. Even training is given to new employees rather leaving them alone in initial stages. They
even hire diverse people and they think it is for the best interest of the company to follow such
steps.
Ufone also holds different issues for showing their love for Pakistan. The events like cultural
diversity and workshops are good steps taken by Ufone. Employees are given motivation good
extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to make them efficient. Performance Appraisal Objective of the
Performance Management: The basic objective for performance UFONE employees circles
around the following: * To look at Performance system as a means to an end * Setting an
individual’s goal * Aligning goals across the company * Ensuring employees get coaching from
managers Determining merit pay * Identifying training and development needs * Providing data
for promotion decision * Input from multiple source on worker performance The performance
appraisal process: The Performance appraisal system used by UFONE for reviewing the
performance status of its employee starts with identifying specific appraisal goals set by each
Group for each cadre. After this a detail job analysis is done with looking in account the job
expectation and then matching the actual performance with the desired performance.
Afterward the performance is appraised according to the set standards and this appraisal is not
done by the supervisor alone, their major focus is on taking into the account the employee’s
perspective as well. Therefore whenever the appraisal is done employee is fully participative in
the process. Performance Appraisal Method Use by UFONE UFONE is using 180-Degree
Performance Appraisal Method. Within this method, managers, peers, customers or colleagues
are asked to complete questionnaire on the employee being assessed. In UFONE, performance of
an employee is appraises twice a year. Once in June while other in December.
In the questionnaire there are five sections and in each section there are five questions related to
the performance of employee. There are total 100 points from which an employee gets.
Performance appraisal: 360° Behavior 20% Results 80% Total 100% Total 500 Marks| Best ;400|
Good ;300| Average ;250| Compensation Responsibilities of Ufone HR Department
Compensation Administration (designing and installing job evaluation program, pay structure,
analyzing jobs and their dollar-worth, maintaining suitable records, wage and salary surveys of
the labor market). * Health and Safety (health programs, safety programs, Medical facility).
Employee relations (wages, rates of pay, hours of work, conditions of employment, negotiation,
contract interpretation and administration, grievance handling, allocation of overtime). * Benefits
and Services (insurance programs, Transportation facility, sick leave pay plans, loan funds, LFA
salary, Yearly bonus programs along with special bonuses for achieving high targets).
Employees Reaction to the system As mentioned above that Ufone follow the job based and
competitive structure, so this thing is in the nature of human that to react against any system
because by implementing structure everybody in the organization thinks that e or she is doing
much and organization is not treating them well with the comparison of others. But at Ufone as
we observed mostly of the permanent employees are quite satisfied with this system as compared
to the contractual employees. Their reaction towards the system is cooperative because of their
appraisal system; the Ufone performance appraisal system is very effective after every six
months everybody knows that what their score is.
Ufone is a performance oriented organization so they compensate their employees on the basis of
their performance so everybody know that if they show the results then the organization will
compensate them good if not then they will never expect, This is a good approach for
performance oriented organizations to implement the system like this because of this system
everybody interests involves in it. And the Ufone also adopted the Competitive approach for
compensation, because of this system every employee know what the other organizations are
paying for the same job and what they are getting is fair or not.
Some are not satisfied because they think that we are very senior and the organization should
have to compensate us for our seniority not for our work done, (Loyalty factor involves).
Satisfaction Reward System at Telecom Sector: There is a department which looks after the
motivational factors of the employees. Rewards are performance based. But incentives are
something related to job tenure and attached to every job title accordingly. They offer both type
of rewards 1. Extrinsic 2. Intrinsic Intrinsic rewards are motivation, making them feel good and
giving them empowerment and extrinsic rewards are salary, and different pay plans.
Salary at telecom sector: According to the field of experience and job description every
employee is compensated. Salaries are reviewed every year in January. Beside these fixed
salaries there are various ways of rewarding one 1. If the employers complete their tasks within
time and with quality they are recognized at the end of the year and they get bonuses
accordingly, 2. If they show excellent performance in their departments, they can be promoted
before seniors, 3. There are some commissions given to their employees on the basis of revenue
they generate or the customers they make, they get more money. . Medical care,( the employees
get medical for their husband/wife/children and parents) 5. Life insurance, 6. Vacations, 7.
Relocation, 8. Credit advance policy provident policy/ advance against provident fund and
occupying of gratuity, 9. Recreation, 10. Club policy travel, 11. Education assistance policy, 12.
Mobile phone, 13. Business mobile phone policy, 14. Official blackberry policy, Supervisory
Support At Telecom Sector: Supervisory support is excellent in these companies. They guide
their employees about their customers, about the company, about their rights and help them in
every manner.
Even if the performance of employees is not satisfactory, their supervisors ask them to look for
the department of their choice. In the call centers of these companies the agents are constantly
monitored by their supervisors, in case agents get stuck with a caller question then the supervisor
come to them and help them with the answer because supervisors are senior persons, the
supervisors appreciate their agents before the whole team if an agent takes more calls in their
group. Empowerment Empowerment is the transfer of authorities from a senior to a junior or we
can say delegating powers to another person is empowerment.
Ufone is a very friendly employer and lets every personnel work efficiently. It lets every
individual have the authority of taking decisions and performing tasks at his own level in the best
possible way. This freedom creates a sense of ownership in each employee and he becomes more
concerned about his job. When the freedom level is created, employees feel happy to work with
the organization and hence interact in a friendly way with the customers, thus enhancing the
organization’s goodwill. Teams Work Teams:
Rather than having people attend committee meetings where very little gets done, or relegate
people to their workspace where work may or may not get done, Ufone assign people to work
teams. People can share the workload with each other and competition between work teams will
help to encourage productivity. This will allow you to share some of your resources rather than
buy one for every desk (like a stapler, for example. Sure, it's a small expense but it adds up
quickly). Because responsibility is spread among team members, work won't get missed because
someone goes away on holidays.
Work teams should be semi-permanent arrangements between people. Self managed team: The
phrase self-directed work team — or self-managed team — doesn’t mean that the team doesn’t
need a leader or manager. It just means that the team is responsible and accountablefor its
decisions, as opposed to proposing action that will be approved or denied by someone outside the
team. So Ufone always go for self managed team to resolve different issues and if some package
plan has to be introduced in case competitor has introduced some cheap package.
Virtual Teams: Ufone often go for Virtual teams that help to reduce expenses and increase
productivity. While meetings are essential, it's not always necessary for one person to fly to
another city or drive to another office to attend the meeting. Virtual teams take care of that by
using technology (like Webex or GoToMeeting) to connect teams. The first 3 types of teams are
specific groups of people who get together to do the work they've been mandated to do. The 4th
team is simply a mindset to improve productivity while reducing travel expenditures.
So lot of team member without traveling to other city gets their work done in no time.
Leadership Leadership style What makes a good leader or manager? For many it is someone who
can inspire and get the most from their staff. There are many qualities that are needed to be a
good leader or manager. Ufone upper level management has certain qualities to deal with
employees. * Be able to think creatively to provide a vision for the company and solve problems
* Be calm under pressure and make clear decisions * Possess excellent two-way communication
skills Have the desire to achieve great things * Be well informed and knowledgeable about
matters relating to the business * Possess an air of authority Managers deal with their employees
in different ways. Some are strict with their staff and like to be in complete control, whilst others
are more relaxed and allow workers the freedom to run their own working lives (just like the
different approaches you may see in teachers! ). Whatever approach is predominately used it will
be vital to the success of the business. An organization is only as good as the person running it”.
There are three main categories of leadership styles: autocratic, paternalistic and democratic.
Ufone follows democratic style of management that will put trust in employees and encourage
them to make decisions. They will delegate to them the authority to do this (empowerment) and
listen to their advice. This requires good two-way communication and often involves democratic
discussion groups, which can offer useful suggestions and ideas. Managers must be willing to
encourage leadership skills in subordinates.
