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9th December 2014
People & Organization
“Mobilink” (Team Project Report)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We owe a debt of gratitude to ALLAH AL-MIGHTY for the vision and foresight which inspired us to conceive this assignment.
We are particularly indebted to our teacher Sir Safiullah Hassan for inspiring us to do this work.
It is also our duty to record our thankfulness to Khyam Zikria who arranged the interview for us and Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar for providing the information and his valuable time from his busy schedule which helped us a lot in undertaking this assignment.
Finally we take this opportunity to acknowledge the services of the total team members and everyone who have collaborated in
producing this assignment.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENT..................................................................................................................2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................. 6
INTRODUCTION TO MOBILINK.................................................................................................7
Introduction:.........................................................................................................................7
Mobilink Departmentalization & Functions:.........................................................................8
Competitors of Mobilink:....................................................................................................11
Market Share:.....................................................................................................................12
MODULE 1: MOBILINK, A HYBRID ORGANIZATION................................................................13
OLD MODEL OF ORGANIZATION.........................................................................................13
NEW MODEL OF ORGANIZATION........................................................................................13
TABULAR ANALYSIS:............................................................................................................14
REQUISITES FOR TAKING EFFECTIVE ACTION AT MOBILINK:..............................................15
MODULE 2: THREE LENSES ON ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS AND ACTION...........................16
STRATEGIC LENS:................................................................................................................16
POLITICAL LENS:..................................................................................................................20
CULTURAL LENS:.................................................................................................................22
MODULE 3: MAKING TEAMS WORK.......................................................................................24
Teams:................................................................................................................................ 24
Work in Teams:...................................................................................................................26
Linking of Departments:.....................................................................................................26
Exposure to Environment:..................................................................................................26
MODULE 4: DIVERSE COGNITIVE STYLES IN TEAMS...............................................................27
MODULE 5: TEAM PROCESSES................................................................................................28
Team membership:.............................................................................................................28
Mobilink context of a Team:...............................................................................................28
TEAM PROCESSES:..............................................................................................................28
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MODULE 6: TEAMS AT MOBILINK..........................................................................................31
Boundary Management:.....................................................................................................31
Task Coordination:..............................................................................................................32
Information Flow:...............................................................................................................32
X-Teams:.............................................................................................................................32
MODULE 7: WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT..............................................................................33
OLD MODEL OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES:........................................................................33
NEW MODEL OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES:......................................................................33
PROMOTIONS AND REWARDS:...........................................................................................34
FLEXIBILITY:.........................................................................................................................35
ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING WORKFORCE AT MOBILINK:...................................................36
THE EVOLVING ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE AT MOBILINK:..............................................36
MODULE 8: MANAGING CHANGE AT MOBILINK....................................................................37
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE:...............................................................................................37
DIFFICULTIES THAT MIGHT ARISE DURING CHANGE:..........................................................37
STAGE MODEL OF CHANGE PROCESS:................................................................................38
DIMENSIONS OF CHANGE:..................................................................................................40
MODULE 9: MOBILINKS ACTIONS IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS..........................................41
Strategic Design Perspective: “Organization Set Model”....................................................41
Political Perspective: Stakeholders Model..........................................................................43
Cultural Perspective: Institutional Fields............................................................................44
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................45
RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................................46
APPENDICES........................................................................................................................... 48
TEAM ASSESSMENT................................................................................................................52
INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT......................................................................................................54
PEER ASSESSMENT.................................................................................................................56
ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT............................................................................................58
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Mobilink, subsidiary of the Vimpelcom, is Pakistan leading cellular company. With more than 31.6 million subscribers, Mobilink maintains market leadership through cutting-edge, integrated technology, the strongest brand and the largest portfolio of value added service in the industry
According to our analysis Mobilink is a Hybrid Organization following few characteristics of New Model Organization and few characteristics of Old Model Organization. It has a tall hierarchy and a long reporting channel. Decision making is centralized to a certain manner. Mobilink focuses on People rather than Process i.e. if a related person is not available then the work will remain pending till the time the person is not present.
Mobilink has grouped the organization on the regional basis in order to cover whole Pakistan for its services. There are three basic regions that are further divided into sub regions too. As the departments work in isolation so the linking mechanisms are weak plus there are certain problems with the alignment too.Political index is high at Mobilink as the employees do compete with one another because of existence of old practices. The individuals with better networking skills and greater informal networks are better off in many casesThe culture is strong and homogenous and compliance to it is mandatory as the standard operating procedures are clearly defined too. Due to repeated practices the culture became strong and homogenous.
In Mobilink departments work in isolation to a certain manner and departments do not see other departments their stakeholders and follow Service Level Agreements (SLA’s). People at Mobilink do work in teams usually in Cross Functional Teams, complementing and supplementing each other. Team members having different skills, expertise, experience, etc. X-Teams do not exist at Mobilink.
Performance is evaluated by the ultimate bosses and not the team leader which affects the team member’s performance. The promotions and incentive system is also clearly defined in terms of slabs and usually followed accordingly.
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INTRODUCTION TO MOBILINK
Introduction:Mobilink is the subsidiary of the VimpelCom Corporation is Pakistan leading cellular and Blackberry service provider. With more than 31.6 million subscribers, Mobilink maintains market leadership through cutting-edge, integrated technology, the strongest brand and the largest portfolio of value added service in the industry, a broadband carrier division providing next generation internet technology as well as the country’s largest voice and network with over 8,000 call sites. Housing Pakistan’s largest distribution and contact centre networks and an unparalleled 6,500 kilometres fibre optic backbone. Mobilink has already invested over US $3.3 billion in the country to date and provides uninterrupted countrywide connectivity, unmatched customer services and international roaming in over 140 countries. The company is also official cellular partner of the Pakistan Cricket Board. As a responsible corporate citizen, Mobilink also offers a range of socially inclusive products and services dedicated to enhance access to information. Through Mobilink Foundation, the company supports education, health and environmental initiatives and promotes sustainable business practices.At Mobilink, there are over 4,500 unique individuals who make us Pakistan’s largest cellular network. Facilitated by the best practices and enabling environment, they are the best minds in the industry today working with the leader is their sources of prideMobilink is more of a Hybrid organization; some features of its structure reflects the old model organization where as some of its features reflects new model organization. We interview Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar Assistant Manager Strategy Management department, we found out the advantages and disadvantages of working in a Hybrid organizations. How Mobilink works in a team, their reporting mechanism, Reward system, how politics take place at different levels of organization and how different employees practice polices according to their capacity. We also figured out how three lenses are applied on Mobilink.
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Mobilink’s Vision:To be the leading Telecommunication Services Provider in Pakistan by offering innovative Communication solutions that make each day better for our customers while exceeding Shareholder value & Employee Expectations.
Mobilink’s Values:Be PassionatePeople at Mobilink, are passionate about fulfilling & exceeding customer needs and enriching their lives every day.Be ProfessionalPeople take pride in practicing the highest ethical standards and take responsibility for our actions.Lead With PurposePeople are committed to lead the market through innovations in new services, products, as well as cutting edge technologies and solutions.
Mobilink Departmentalization & Functions:The organization is divided into departments and sub departments. The division, their sub-functions and their organization are mentioned below:
Technical:Installs, maintains and operates the GSM Cellular Network. It is also involved in planning and rolling out networks expansion as per business targets while working closely with other departments, especially commercial and IT, to launch new services and cities. It is the second largest division in the organization.
Regional Technical Operationo Technical Engineeringo Operations Access Network (OAN)o Operations Core Network (OCN)o Production and Deploymento Fibre Optics Operations
Technical Budget PMO and Quality of service Network Operation Centre Technical Logistics
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Marketing:Anticipates, and satisfies the customers’ communication needs. This includes consumer behaviour research and translating this research into service and pricing plans. This Marketing team helps identify new business opportunities and develops plans to exploit these profitably. It also designs and implements brand strategies and communication plans.
Data services Pricing and Strategy Brands Market Development Strategic Brand
Sales & Distribution:Employs direct and indirect channels to augment sales. They are also responsible for extending post sales support to ensure customer convenience.
Indirect sales Distribution Sales & Operations
Customer Care:This department provides services to the customers pre and post purchase to ensure that customer expectations are exceeded. It is the largest division in the country.
Customer Operations Support Centres Quality Assurance, Standardization and Training Business Planning and Customer Retention-Business Intelligence Credit & Collection
Finance:Prepares and monitors financial plans and budgets. Arranges timely funding to meet business requirements and for maintaining accounting records, Sourcing and qualification of items and vendors, Reviews risk management procedures and compliance with existing
Corporate accounting Treasury Business Support & Revenue assurance Planning, budgeting and reporting Supply Chain
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Information Technical:Enables secure and efficient information sharing to meet the business needs. It facilitates conversion, storage, protection, processing, transmission and retrieval of information to and from various channels.
Planning, Implementation and Technological Management IT Strategy, Innovation and Service Management Business Intelligence and Billing Enterprise system Integration & support IT Governance & Information Security Technology Solution Planning Business Intelligence
Human Resource and Administration:The human resources function at Mobilink comprises four main areas. The staffing and compensation function is responsible for meeting the company’s recruitment requirements along with developing, implementing and maintaining companywide compensation and incentive plans.Overseeing nationwide facilities management, the Administration department ensures that employees are provided with a comfortable working environment that is conductive to high performance. Security department Aims to meet the security needs of the entire organization by covering people, property and assets nationwide.
Centre of Expertise Employee Services Business Partnership Administration Facilities and Build out Services
Corporate Affairs:Corporate affairs constitute Legal affairs, Government relations and interconnect. Legal affairs provide legal and corporate support and advice at all levels to ensure effective decision making and strategizing. The department also engages in policy-making, overseeing contracts and transactions, ensuring compliance with applicable rules, regulations and laws. Regulatory matters and assistance and support to the holding company and subsidiaries also falls within legal Affairs purviews.
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The Government Relations department liaises with Government authorities and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on regulatory aspects like government rules, policies and SOP’s.
Government Relations Inter Connect Legal Affairs
Office of Strategy Management (OSM)Formulates business strategy and works with other divisions for alignment and implementation. The department also identifies and recommends new business opportunities for revenues generations and strengthening strategic advantages.
o Business Intelligenceo Program Managemento Special Projectso Security
Business Solution DivisionThis division is divided into two sub-departments:The Sales Division is structured with the aim of maximizing accessibility and providing purchasing convenience to the customers by offering them the best possible sales solutions. To support these activities there is a dedicated Distribution Planning and Monitoring Department. This department ensures timely availability of stock, visibility of products, commission payments to the channel and policy making.
Competitors of Mobilink: Ufone Telenor Zong Warid
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Market Share:
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MODULE 1: MOBILINK, A HYBRID ORGANIZATION
OLD MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONPredictability and Reliability: Mobilink has shifted from being predictable and reliable in terms of practice as they became more networked and responsive to the environment whereas in terms of Services provided to the customers they are still the most reliable network of Pakistan.
Impartiality: The element of impartiality is diminishing at Mobilink as the allocation of resources and requirements of every division are becoming more apart from each other because of creating responsiveness to the changing environment.
Expertise: To a greater extent, experts are still present in every division of Mobilink but the number is decreasing with the time as Mobilink has promoted diversity which enables individuals with diverse skill set to be onboard rather experts of one division.
Clear line of Control: This element of old organization is prominent at Mobilink as the commands and authorities within the departments are clearly visible and reporting structures are well defined
NEW MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONNetworked: Currently the departments work in isolation but Mobilink is trying to move from being isolated to be more networked intra and inter organization and environment through the use of new technologies which can help the organization to be more responsive to departmental needs as well as the changing needs of customers and stakeholders. The interaction with outside environment is handled by a single boundary spanner division which is also a short coming.
Flat: Mobilink is rather an organization with tall hierarchy with multiple layers of middle managers so this element of new organization is not present at Mobilink.
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Flexible: Mobilink shows flexibility in terms of adopting the changing environment and competing with the other TELCOS and that’s why responses more rapidly to the changing environment.
Diverse: Mobilink encourages diversity among its employees therefore employs more people with diverse backgrounds and even individual from other TELCOS in order to examine their practices and acquire the best and suitable ones. New hiring’s at Mobilink majorly consist of young individuals which is helping to increase diversity index which previously was very low
Global: Though Mobilink operates under VimpelCom but the services under the name of Mobilink are only provided in Pakistan so this element of New Organization is not present at Mobilink.
TABULAR ANALYSIS:Below is a tabular analysis of different traits of an organization and practices of these traits as performed at Mobilink is provided. Further inference regarding the way the trait is practiced is part of new or old organization is defined.
Traits Mobilink Trait of Basic Unit Team New OrganizationFlow of Information Vertical and Horizontal New OrganizationDecision Making Centralized Old OrganizationHierarchy Tall Old OrganizationOrientation Structure Old OrganizationEmphasis Result and Outcomes New OrganizationWorking Hours Flexible (To limited extent) New OrganizationCareer Path Lateral and Flexible New OrganizationReward System Customised New OrganizationCulture Homogenous Old OrganizationMindset Ethnocentric Old OrganizationBoundary Management Handled by Boundary Spanner
(EPMO)Old Organization
Value Chain Local (Operations only in Pakistan)
Old Organization
Environment Local (Operations only in Pakistan)
Old Organization
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REQUISITES FOR TAKING EFFECTIVE ACTION AT MOBILINK:Mobilink doesn’t fall fully under old or a new organization because multiple elements of both kinds of organizations are present in the structure of Mobilink. In order to take effective action at Mobilink or to transform it completely to a new organization some elements under the head of Individual skills Organization features and Environment need to be addressed whereas some elements are already present.
Requisites for Taking Effective Action at MobilinkOrganizational Characteristics
IndividualSkills
Organizational Features
Managing the Environment
Networked Teamwork (Present)
Teams Structures Have Room For Improvement
Alliances Need To Be Managed
Flat Negotiation (Required)
Development Of Incentive System Is
Required
Boundaries Need To Be Managed
Flexible Multitasking (Required To An
Extent)
Workforce Needs To Be Managed
Learning Is In Progress
Diverse Listening / Empathy
(Required)
Conflict Management
System (Required)
Stakeholder Relationships Management
(Required)Global Cross-Cultural
Communication (Required)
Cross-Border Integration (Required)
Local Responsiveness
(Present)
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MODULE 2: THREE LENSES ON ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS AND ACTION
STRATEGIC LENS:Task:At Mobilink, the tasks are derived by breaking down Key Performance Instructions (KPI) provided by the Parent company that is VimpelCom. At the start of every year, an activity is held around the organization known as Objective Setting Activity (OSA), starting from the top flowing downwards, initiates when the parent company provides the KPIs in form of Multiple Generic Statements to the company President. The president team disintegrate the Generic Statements for Various Vice Presidents also known as Directors that take control of different divisions. Directors break the Objectives for various departments and hand it over to Head of departments (HOD) and further its responsibility of HODs to assign the basic task till the associate level.
Task Variety:Just like any other Company tasks at Mobilink varies in the dimensions of Complexity, Routinization and Interdependence.
Complexity:Mostly the complex tasks are a part of High level positions including President, Vice Presidents and HODs. Their tasks include Objective setting, Problem solving and keeping a check on performance of every unit.Routinization:Routinize tasks are part of lower level management including Seniors Managers, Managers, Specialists and Associates that contain high level of same work to be repeated on periodic basis.Interdependence:Pooled: Such types of interdependent tasks are undertaken at the same time, such as Quarter, Biannual and annual meetings. Representatives from various units take part at one place to complete the task.Sequential: Such types of interdependent tasks are undertaken in sequence, such as Implementation of customer strategy. A vague strategy is proposed by Services department moving to Research and development further to Technical, Finance, Branding and so on.
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Reciprocal: Such types of interdependent tasks are undertaken in repetitive coordination among different units, such as attainment on new technology in which Operations, Technical, Research and Development and various other units are in repetitive contact to make it work.
Grouping:Mobilink has not grouped the whole organization in accordance to a single grouping technique; they used multiple methodologies at various levels and departments. Being a service provider, Mobilink went for Grouping by Market (Region) as their Primary Strategy. They divided whole Pakistan into three regions for its operations. Each region is headed by a vice president. Further every Region contains series of Functional departments as per requirements that are headed by Head of Departments more commonly known as directors. Every department contains managers of various levels including senior managers, managers, experts and associates.
President
Vice President (N orth) V ice President (Central)
H OD EPMO
H OD H RM
H ODM
arketing
HODStrategy
S enior M anager
Senior Manager
Manager
Manager
Specialist
Specialist
Associate
Specialist
Manager
S enior M anager
H OD
Finance
H ODTechnical
(O ther
D epart
m ents
)
Vice President (South)
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Mobilink comprises of a total 4500 employees Pakistan wide. The distribution on work force is in three tiers depending upon the position in management. The upper or top tier contains only 75 top level executives, the middle management layer consist of 750 managers whereas the base level consist of an overwhelming number of 3675 employees.
Linking:Linking Mechanisms:
Formal Reporting Structures As the hierarchy and chain of command are clearly defined in the hierarchy of Mobilink, the existence of Formal reporting structure is prominent in the strategic design.
Integrator RolesThe existence of Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO) as a boundary spanner and as a facilitator for coordination between departments allows it to perform the role of integrator. The office holds authority to make key decision between departmental issues.
Temporary Cross-Unit GroupsCross unit groups also known as Multi-functional teams at Mobilink exist only on temporary basis. The representatives only put issues that are related to multiple departments and don’t put forth the internal issues and changes that might affect other departments.
Information Technology SystemsMobilink lacks specialized system for the coordination among departments and they have to pass through EPMO at every step of coordination. As told by Mr. Asghar that the office direly needs a Video conference based system to coordinate with the Sales team head office which is located at Lahore.
Planning ProcessesDepartments are not completely involved in the planning process as the KPI are provided by the parent company and only the top management, Strategy Office and EPMO are fully involved in the planning process only.
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Alignment:Alignment systems:
Organization Performance Measurement SystemsAnnual Credibility reports are formulated in order to check the progress of individuals and company where as weekly “Thursday meetings” are arranged in every region in which summary is formed regarding last week progress and next week targets are determined. Vice presidents chair these meeting.
Individual Rewards and IncentivesExtrinsic rewards are part of structure are intrinsic rewards rarely exist. Rewards greatly depend upon the appraisal by the manager rather than performance based incentives. A hefty sum is rewarded to senior managers only in form of retention bonuses and Shares as well.
Resource AllocationEnterprise Project Management Office (EPMO) and top management holds the decision to allocation of resources to different departments. EPMO coordinates with all departments about their requirements regarding resources.
Human Resource DevelopmentSpecial emphasis is put on training and development of employees. Inter region training sessions are programmed as per the expertise are location of Department such as Sales head office is located in Lahore.
Informal Systems and ProcessesSome individuals directly report to Head of departments rather than senior managers as per understandings and this helps them pull certain favours personally.
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POLITICAL LENS:Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives. Although often portrayed negatively, organizational politics are not inherently bad. Instead, it’s important to be aware of the potentially destructive aspects of organizational politics in order to minimize their negative effect. As discussed with Mirza Sohail Asghar (Assistant Manager, Office of Strategy Management) we came to know that there was strong organizational politics in different levels and of different types in Mobilink.Core concept of politics depends on two elements that are following:
Interest:Every individual employee in Mobilink got their personal interest that they want to achieve the good reputation in eyes of top management. Good relationship with managers can help in receiving different fringe benefits like taking company maintained vehicle for the weekends, inviting a friend or two for lunch in Mobilink’s facility etc. This situation is completely different in Telenor where the focus is totally on process. Whistle blowing and leaking company’s information for vested interests is quite common in Mobilink. Changes in strategy, employee’s termination plans and financial reports are made public in platforms like www.Pro-Pakistani.com etc. regularly by internal anonymous employees.
Power:The ability to affect the behaviour or outcome of other people is Power. An example of power factor of Politics in Mobilink was the decision of disbursement of Cow sites (cell on vehicles) in recent Raiwand Ijtema. Although revenue wise this decision lacked feasibility but many senior management still proposed it as they were going in Ijtema and network coverage was to be ensured for them. Similarly based on the power influence one has over management ad placements in different location can be done. Mostly Hiring and Internship in Mobilink is also referral based i.e. someone from the internal organization has got to refer a candidate so that s/he is eligible for the interview.
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Sources of Power:Mobilink has still people based management which means the designation (formal position in the organization), contacts (informal position in organization or social network) and personality of an employee (personal characteristics) is the key factors for getting the work done.
Using the political lens:For using the political lens in Mobilink, building network and right negotiations skill were pointed to be very important.
Building Network: An important advantage of political relationship building as told by Mirza Sohail Asghar was of getting a due advantage in terms of attendance. Employees are usually given 20 days off annually but with the right connections one can waive off this limit to an extent.
Building negotiation skills: With good negotiation skills and a formal position often such incidents occur in Mobilink like bypassing the chain of command to get approval for a special project or training, going through improper channels to obtain special favours, or lobbying high-level managers just before they make a promotion decision which eventually results in unfairness among many employees. Those who follow proper procedures feel jealous and resentful because they perceive unfair distributions of the organization's resources, including rewards and recognition.
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CULTURAL LENS:Mobilink has a very open, collaborative and nurturing company culture. Mobilink's corporate values serve as the foundation for its culture, behavioural norms, and decision making. These values have always been at the heart of their business principles and success. The culture bears direct impact on the company’s most valuable asset that is the employees. Thus, continuous transformation and development in organizational culture tend to receive special attention from the management. At Mobilink, the organizational culture and values are specially taken care of to provide an environment based on Mobilink’s goals and vision. The goal of Mobilink’s culture is to promote self-confidence, passion, personal accountability and professional excellence.
Values of Mobilink:The three values are ‘Be Passionate’, ‘Be Professional’, and ‘Lead with Purpose’. These values are then further broken down into behaviours comprising the essential cultural elements. The new values and their underlying behaviours have been mapped over the previous organizational values to ensure adaptability, while introducing a few complementary behaviours for further consistency and higher degree of employee engagement. For example organization wide communication and awareness campaigns are planned for the launch of a new brand. Performance management system have also been updated with the new values and provided employees with a series of customized trainings, Mobilink Behaviours Reference Guide book, and e-learning module to help understand and implement the behaviours in everyday work.Mobilink’s Values and Behaviours are based on the Group Value Agenda. It is a result-driven approach and uses employee engagement concepts to ensure consistent and successful execution of Group and organizational strategy through an enabling culture. Employees are made to understand and integrate these values into their everyday tasks by providing them with a scenario based e-module that takes them through examples they can relate to.
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Subcultures:While the culture of an organization is representative of the company as a whole, many smaller subcultures also exist within this structure. As an example consider Head Office of Mobilink as being the organizational culture and the different departments such as HRM, Finance, Marketing, Production and Front line operations being subculture. There is fundamental cultural differences between the departments for example Office of Strategy Management has a very formal culture while Marketing department has very informal culture with no tap on dress code, office timing, use of jargons etc. Each individual subculture has its own unique set of characteristics making it distinguishable from the other subcultures, but together, they still operate as a whole striving for the same overall goals.
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MODULE 3: MAKING TEAMS WORK
Teams:Mobilinkers work in teams rather than working in groups. It enhances their productivity and efficiency. The most common teams at Mobilink are Cross Functional Teams.These Cross Functional Teams are made depending upon their tasks or requirements. As the telecommunication market is very competitive and in order to retain the market share and to meet the market requirement Mobilink has to be very flexible to change and has to adopt change as soon as possible. In Cross Functional Teams there is multiple reporting; team member reports to the ultimate manager and the team manager. And the performance of that individual/employee is evaluated by both the managers/bosses.Whereas in Mobilink people work in Cross Functional Teams and report to both their managers/bosses but the individual/employee performance is evaluated by the ultimate boss not the Cross Functional Team leader/boss. This leads to performance issues as the individual/employee does not perform well while working in a Cross Functional Teams. Mobilink’s departments are not highly linked together and in Cross Functional Teams linkage of departments are very important. Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar quoted an incident which happened in Mobilink few months back, the Strategic department needed some funds urgently and when it was forwarded to the Finance department for the sanction of funds, the Finance department took 3 days to allow the funds to the Strategic department but at that time it was too late and Mobilink had to pay penalties because of late payment. It happened because of low linkage of departments.
Flexible Timings:Mobilink offer flexible working hours to their employees to a certain limit and they are monitored by the management. Few years back Mobilink had very flexible timing (but depending upon the departments) for their employees, even they used to work a home occasionally but now Mobilink has introduced a sign in and sign out software every employee has to sign in when they reach to the office in the morning and they have to sign out before leaving the office and every month it is monitored by the top management and it is evaluated.
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Another thing which was highlighted by Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar was that every employee is allowed to take 20 leaves but if a person is having good relations with his/her manager then even a person can go for a leave without mentioning about the leave on the software. Where as in Telenor this thing was never practices during Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar tenure.
People Oriented:According to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar Mobilink is a people oriented organization; work cannot be done if the respective people is not available even if the work could be done without him. The work gets pending unless that person itself does not complete that work. It affects the work and performance which is to be finished as soon as possible takes a lot of time.Where as in Telenor; it is based on process means that if a person is not available who has to perform certain task but they have alternate people who can carry out their work and it also saves time and the tasks are completed on time.
Tall Hierarchy:Mobilink has a tall hierarchy though information flows vertical and horizontal but decision resides upwards with the top management and decisions flow downwards. Mobilink’s each department consist of cubical and telephone extensions although they have strong internet networking in the organization all the data, conversations are done through email and kept in record but still Mobilink has telephonic extensions. The size of the cubical varies according to the position of the employee. Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar said that while he was working in Telenor every department has big halls in it and tables and chairs were placed in a parallel way so that everyone could see each other, as Telenor has a grid structure.
Bossy Culture:Mobilink has a very Bossy culture Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar said Mobilink is the perfect example for the quotation “Boss is always right”. In Mobilink if the person is having good relationship with his/her boss then things are very easy for that person and if the person is not having good relationship with the Manager (boss) then things are very tough for that person.
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Work in Teams:In Mobilink employees work in cross functional teams depending upon the task which is to be achieved by the team and the team members are selected by the team leader according to the nature of the task. Mobilink focuses on the Team work rather than Group work.At the year start the C.E.O along with higher management of VimpelCom decides the objectives of the company also called as (OSA) objective setting activity. These objectives are further split into small task within the organization and through KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity in which the teams or individuals were engaged. And after every 6 months these are reviewed that whether the organization is on the right track or not.
Linking of Departments:At Mobilink, departments are not networked but they are linked together to coordinate with each other. As Mobilink is having a Bossy culture therefore they follow integrator to link different departments with each other. According to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar integrators are used in Mobilink because it is quite difficult for the people of different departments to coordinate with other department as everyone is busy with their own work and they have their own targets to meet so with the use of power it makes work easier for people of different departments to coordinate with each other.Whereas in Telenor people are given leverage and departments are linked together by Liaison and no power is used. Liaison is compatible with their organizational structure and Integrator is compatible with Mobilink’s organizational structure.
Exposure to Environment: Mobilink is densely networked to environment as the telecommunication sector is very competitive and in order to remain the market leader Mobilink has to be densely networked with the environment so that they are always aware of the customer needs and expectations.
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MODULE 4: DIVERSE COGNITIVE STYLES IN TEAMS
Cognitive style is an individual's preferred approach for solving problems and making decisions. We were not able to meet and survey multiple managers at Mobilink because of their non-availability due to their busy schedule. Hence we are carrying out this personality analysis solely on our reference at Mobilink Mirza Sohail Asghar. Following inferences were drawn
Four activities that every worker has to do each day are:Meeting with others (introvert vs. extrovert):Generating information (sensing vs. intuition)Making decisions (thinking vs. feeling)Choosing priorities (perceptive vs. judgmental)
At Mobilink creating and developing relationships with colleagues and top management plays a crucial role in career paths. It depends upon the personality type that whether a person is introvert or extrovert in nature. The Assistant Manager (Office of Strategy) was an ESTJ person. This conclusion was drawn by analyzing the questionnaire which we gave him (attached in annexure)
Personality Analysis:ESTJs are representatives of tradition and order, utilizing their understanding of what is right, wrong and socially acceptable to bring colleagues and managers together. Embracing the values of honesty, dedication and dignity, people with the ESTJ personality type are valued for their clear advice and guidance, and they happily lead the way on difficult paths. Taking pride in bringing people together, ESTJs often take on roles as community organizers, working hard to bring everyone together in celebration of cherished local events, or in defence of the traditional values that hold families and communities together.
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MODULE 5: TEAM PROCESSES
Team membership:What Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar told us about Mobilink’s team membership was that people working in a team are quite comfortable as the employees know each other as they are working in the same organization for couple of years. Transactive memory system exists in Mobilink’s team, but to a certain extent. Team members share relevant information with each other only if their position in front of their ultimate bosses is not held awkward.Expertise are always available in the team according to the task of work as the teams are design in the way that all the experience and expert people are present in the team for the achievement of a certain task or goal. Team member are highly diverse as there is no racial or gender discrimination in the organization.
Mobilink context of a Team:The tasks and goal are properly designed and different Key performance Indicators (KPI’s) are formed for each team member but the team does not have sufficient autonomy to carry out the task as the information flow resides with the person and might not be disclosed according to the condition.The issue working in a team is that the reward system in Mobilink according to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar is that the performance evaluation is done by the ultimate bosses not by the team leader. Which ultimately affects the performance of the individual working in the team as the employees know their performance will be evaluated by their ultimate bosses and their promotions is at their hands.
TEAM PROCESSES:
Task and maintenance functions:According to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar although the individual performance is evaluated by their ultimate bosses but still the performance of the individual in the team is satisfactory. As mentioned earlier that Mobilink has a bossy organizational culture therefore the team leader behaviours like a boss and the task is carried out in a proper manner and the goals are achieved by the team. The decision making authority resides with the team leader but still before the
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final decision the team members consent is also involved. The team members often go to a lunch or a dinner sponsored by Mobilink after the achievement of the goal/task, which is a form of extrinsic reward.
Team Decision Making:Decision making in teams are done by the Leader but with the participation of all the team members excluding exceptions. Leader asks for different solutions from all the team members and after getting all the solutions then a decision is made by the leader.Decision making often vary from situation to situation. Small issues or problems are solved by the team members themselves whereas when the problem are big then participation all members are required.
Team Communication:Team communication varies individual to individual and position to position. Individual who are extrovert are more communicative and individual who are introvert are less communicative. Position of the individual also matters a lot because a person who is the key personal in the team has to interact and communicate with every team member.The team members who are managing the boundaries of the team (inflow and outflow of information) within the organization communicate for frequently with the team members.
Team Influence:According to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar at Mobilink team influence depend upon the team members their personal characteristics, their experience, expertise, position at Mobilink.Team influence strongly exists in Mobilink, and most of the people in Mobilink very Efficient in using/exercising their powers. Most of the times a person who is the most influencing personal in the team dominate the whole team even by passing the team leader.
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Team Conflicts:Both substantive conflicts and affective conflicts occur at Mobilink. According to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar conflicts are good but if they are Substantive otherwise if they are affective then they slow down the team goal/task and team members are carried away.The conflicts vary from individual to individual depending upon their level of influence. If the person is highly influential for the team and for the organization then the conflict better needs to be resolved as soon as possible otherwise it would lead to unaccomplished goals.
Team Atmosphere:Team atmosphere has a high impact on the task completion. Every team tries to have a good, health and friendly atmosphere.Most of the times when teams are formed the people are friendly as according to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar Mobilink has stopped hiring new employees since 5 years. So when teams are formed then most of the times the team members know each other as they have worked with each other at different tasks and projects.People usually avoid taking risk as non of the team member wants to take responsibility of anything which go wrong because the team members want to maintain their good reputation in front of their ultimate bosses.
Emotional Issues:As everyone working in the teams has clear roles and responsibilities so they have their identity while being in a team. Every team members know their KPI’s according to those KPI’s every team member decide their needs and wants.Control resides with the team leader as team leader will be held accountable in particular if the task is not completed on time and power is exercised by the individuals who have strong network, good position, expertise, experience.
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MODULE 6: TEAMS AT MOBILINK
Boundary Management:According to Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar the biggest problem which he has faced while working in Mobilink is that the departments work in isolations and one department do not see other department as the stake holder. Every department has their own (SLA’s) Service Level Agreements (Standard Operating Procedures) and they work according to those SLA’s. Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar gave a recent example of a cheque which their team need to get it from a Finance department to carry out their work. They needed that cheque as soon as possible but due to lack of inter-department dependence the cheque took 3 days and their work was pending for 3 days.Whereas Boundary Management does exist in Mobilink to interconnect with different departments
Influence dimension is vertical:In Mobilink when the parent Company “VimpelCom” sets objectives at the start of the year which needs to be achieved in a year or more. These objectives are then further communicated with the President of Mobilink Pakistan which is further discussed with the Vice Presidents and they are divided into different small tasks and goals which will when combined together will make the objective achieved.These goals/tasks are communicated with the employees and every employee has different KPI’s which help them to achieve the goal/task. At the mid of the year these KPI’s are reviewed by the management and they see whether the teams/individuals are on the right track or not, if not then it is rectified through communication. At the end of the year they are again reviewed and the top management get the complete picture. Then at last the final results are matched with the objectives.
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Task Coordination:As there are cross functional teams at Mobilink so it is easier to communicate horizontally. But teams or team members cannot force the other teams or departments to carry out work faster as each department has their own (SLA’s) Service Level Agreements (Standard Operating Procedures) which result in slow down of team performance and team effectiveness
Information Flow:Information does flow vertically and horizontally but in a certain manner. Here Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar told us that when Mobilink changed their logo only marketing department knew that as they were the one who changed it few finance individuals knew it and the rest of the departments do not even know that Mobilink is changing their logo.And on Monday when they came to office they saw that whole atmosphere of the office was changed and New Logo was introduced. This high lights that the flow of information exist but where necessary.Changing logo dramatically reduced their sales and sales department were not able to meet their targets. So due to the marketing people the sales people were unable to meet their targets. At this point it was necessary to communicate with the Sales department that they are changing the logo and their participation was important as their targets/goal were on stake.
X-Teams:During our interview with Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar we came to know that X-Teams don’t exist at Mobilink. Usually when teams are formed they are Cross Functional Teams.And Cross Functional Teams are effective, efficient as there are team members from different departments having different skills, expertise, and experience.Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar also told us that during his experience at Telenor even there Cross Functional Teams were formed.
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MODULE 7: WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
OLD MODEL OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES:Bounded:The workforce at Mobilink in different departments’ works in isolation and individuals from different departments cannot directly coordinate and therefore requires the presence of Boundary spanner department Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO). The employees stay in their cubicles most of the time concentrating on individual task and require permission of senior manager even for a visit to other department.
Hierarchical:Though in the past years Mobilink has diminished middle managers at various levels in order to become a flat organization but still the hierarchy is tall. Employees are inducted at associate level and spend several years on same level before being promoted up. The career path is well defined as there is no lateral rotation of employees among departments as the emphasis is on being an expert in a single domain.
Local:Though VimpelCom is an international service provider but the operations of under the head of Mobilink are confined within the boundaries of Pakistan that results in less globalization in terms of Work force. Mobilink do prefer candidates with international background in work and education. 2 top level management positions are also occupied by foreigners that are President and CEO Jeffry Hedberg and Chief technology Officer Gabriele Sgariglia
NEW MODEL OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES:
Flexible:Mobilink shows flexibility in terms of workforce management practices to an extent as they do provide almost equal rewards and incentives as compared to others Telco’s. The organization encourages Women participation in its work force at all levels too. Mobilink hire key individuals from other Telco are who know about the unique practices being carried out by the competitors.
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As in the case of Mr Sohail Asghar, who was a part of Health and Safety team at Telenor and after joining Mobilink initiated and implemented the idea of Health and Safety at Mobilink.Mobilink shows flexibility toward adapting new work force management practices which are being practiced in the other TELCOS but still the extent of flexibility is low as Mobilink only follows in the case rather than implementing it on first hand
Diverse:Mobilink encourages diversity among its work force as the hiring are majorly on Merit and individuals from diverse backgrounds and culture are inducted in offices around the country. Employees are also sent to other cities for certain period in order to learn the culture and work setting of that office. Training sessions are also conducted in various cities and employees from all around the country attend these sessions.
PROMOTIONS AND REWARDS:Promotion Policy:For promotional policy, the whole organization is divided into 5 tiers. The top 2 level promotion decisions depends on President whereas the lower three levels has a minimum period in years attached to it. Other than that the promotion is also dependent upon the availability of slot that in some cases the period is shrunk down where as in others the employees have to spend more years or even just get the pay scale upgraded rather than the position.
Chief According to president decisionDirector According to president decisionManager 3-4 years (Average)Specialist 4-5 years (Average)Associate 4-5 years (Average)
Rewards and Incentives:Mobilink considers its employees not just as a cost but also as a resource in which the company has invested room which it expects valuable returns. Pay policies and programs are one of the most important human resource tools for encouraging desired employee behaviors. The advantage of paying above the market average is the ability to attract and retain the top talent available, which can translate into highly effective and productive work force.
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The incentive scheme and incentive objective have been clearly defined and communicated to all the individuals and depends on their performance and appraisals. Intrinsic and extrinsic rewards include: • Special assignments• Medical care• Life insurance• Relocation• Credit advance policy • Recreation• Provident policy• Club travel policy• Education assistance policy• Business mobile phone policy• Official blackberry policy• Vacations
FLEXIBILITY:Flexibility in terms of Workforce is greatly associated with acceptance of Women at workforce. Mobilink encourages woman to apply for the job openings as Mobilink is an equal opportunity employer.Flexibility is taken to next level when the women’s are even involved and welcomed at the top managerial level of an organization. At Mobilink, the vice president of Human Resource and administration is a Female namely “Sadia Ahmed”. Women are also provided with special services such as more flexible timing, pick and drop service right to/from door step, extra leaves and others.
Flexibility Choices:
Flexible spaceThe option of flexible space is only provided to the top level executives. Though they have a specified office but they are given access to extra technological tools in order to communicate at long distances, whereas lower level employees have fixed and specified cubicles with no access to such technology
Flexible time and allocation of tasksFlex time is offered to the committed individuals with high performance over the years but it is to a limited extent whereas concept of job sharing is absent.
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Flexible career pathsThe career paths are fixed horizontally and there is no concept of lateral career paths or job rotation to other departments
Flexible workforce size and firm boundariesOutsourcing is done at the technological level due to the limitation and global practice. Concept of part time is absent where as interns are hired to assist associates and expert level employees in their routine tasks and to learn.
ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING WORKFORCE AT MOBILINK:Assumptions 20th Century /
21st CenturyPeople Theory X: People are a cost that must be
monitored and controlled20th Century
Work Segmented, Industrially based and individual tasks
20th Century
Technology Design technology to control work and minimize human error
20th Century
Leadership Senior managers and technical experts 20th Century
Goal Unitary focus on returns to share holders 20th Century
THE EVOLVING ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE AT MOBILINK:Perspective on Employees
People viewed as factor of production As well as resource
HR’s role in Strategy Implementation, SupportKey HR Activity Administration Recruitment, Training and
benefits as well as Alignment of Resources
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MODULE 8: MANAGING CHANGE AT MOBILINK
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE:As this project started we had in our minds that we have to propose a restructuring methodology for Mobilink in order to bring a change at Mobilink to make it a better organization. For bringing a change at Mobilink, we will address the structure at the first stage and more specifically the linking and alignment of the departments in order to make Mobilink more responsive so that the departments can work in close coordination. At the later stage, we’re going to address the political and cultural aspects of Mobilink.
DIFFICULTIES THAT MIGHT ARISE DURING CHANGE:While proposing and communicating a change idea to the stakeholders of Mobilink we are going to face some challenges that are
Human Nature:Change represents uncertainty and its human nature to avoid risk and uncertainty. With the change implemented employee generally feels reservation and insecure about the future regarding their job prospect, authority, expected workload and reporting procedures. The managers might think that they’ll lose the authority and power and the lower level employees might get free hand to do their tasks more independently.
Organizational Inertia:The overall organization environment is also reluctant to change because adopting new practices and procedures disrupts the flow of processes and information.
Unanticipated Consequences:Change can also result in negative consequences due to internal and stakeholders non-compliance. Often it causes loss of key alliance partners. Like with changing the strategic structure of organization it may result in negative assumption of the company in this competitive environment.
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STAGE MODEL OF CHANGE PROCESS:
Unfreezing:This first stage of change involves preparing the Mobilink to accept that change is necessary, which involves break down the existing status quo before you can build up a new way of operating.Key to this is developing a compelling message showing why the existing way of doing things cannot continue. This is easiest to frame when you can point to declining sales figures, poor financial results as happened in the recent quarter (3rd quarter 2014) where Mobilink lost 9% in revenues, worrying customer satisfaction surveys, or suchlike: These show that things have to change in a way that everyone can understand.To prepare the organization successfully, we need to redefine the structure in terms of Linking and Alignment whereas the grouping will remain the sameThis first part of the change process is usually the most difficult and stressful. When we’ll start cutting down the "way things are done", we’ll put everyone and everything off balance. It may evoke strong reactions in people, and that's exactly what needs to be done.
Change:After the uncertainty created in the unfreeze stage, the change stage is where employees at Mobilink will begin to resolve their uncertainty and look for new ways to do things. People will start to believe and act in ways that support the new direction.The transition from unfreeze to change does not happen overnight: People take time to embrace the new direction and participate proactively in the change. A related change model, the Change Curve , focuses on the specific issue of personal transitions in a changing environment and is useful for understanding this specific aspect in more detail.
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Implementation of new mechanisms for linking and alignment and making amendments in the already existing linking and alignment mechanisms and later on addressing the political and cultural aspect of Mobilink is the main course of action during the change stage.Time and communication are the two keys to success for the changes to occur. People need time to understand the changes and they also need to feel highly connected to the organization throughout the transition period.
Refreezing:When the changes are taking shape and Mobilinkers have embraced the new ways of working, the organization is ready to refreeze. The outward signs of the refreeze are a stable organization chart, consistent job descriptions, and so on. The refreeze stage also needs to help people and the organization internalize or institutionalize the changes. This means making sure that the changes are used all the time; and that they are incorporated into everyday business. With a new sense of stability, employees feel confident and comfortable with the new ways of working.With the application and integration of new mechanisms, employees may need a little time and in some cases detailed training sessions depending upon the complexity of the new system installed.
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DIMENSIONS OF CHANGE:
Scope:The change at Mobilink we’re about to bring is going to be incremental in nature. Everything will be installed, initiated and integrated from time to time rather than changing the whole face of organization in a single night, just like that happened in the past in the case of changing of Branding of Mobilink.
Pace:The pace of change is going to be punctuated rather than continuous. At every step of change, some time will be invested in order to make it firm into the position and then the change will be moved to the next step. The changes in different mechanism will be brought one by one rather than working on all elements at once
Source:The change will emerge bottom up because the kind of changes we recommending are actually lacking at the lower level and these do exist in some form at upper level that may be in form of extra features and authority provided to the upper tier of management
Process:The process of change is planned as we already have a task in hand to propose a strategy for Mobilink to make it a better organization. The plan is to
Communicate the idea of change at all levels Answer queries and remove barriers and misunderstandings Integrate new methodologies for linking first and then alignment Work on political aspect Work on cultural aspect Reinforce the change with the help of trainings as required
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MODULE 9: MOBILINKS ACTIONS IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
Strategic Design Perspective: “Organization Set Model”Organization set model maps resource environment in terms of input set and output set. Applying in Mobilink we extracted the following data:
Input: Human resources: The Human Resource Department of Mobilink keeps its
eyes on the requirements of the Mobilink Head Office and recruits appropriate applicant to fill those requirements. The process starts from the post of announcement to market the organization and the position to possible candidates. The applications are received and then screened the candidates and selected through a clear selection process. Employees are also hired through different job fairs, visiting top universities and HR management firms.
Financial Resources: Mobilink arranges its finance through the Parent Company i.e. AAR Consortium that has Alfa bank and Alfa Capital. Local banking channels aren’t used for financing and the company solely depends upon its own source bank.
Technology: Mobilink has been using Teradata Enterprise Data Warehouse technology and services since 2005. All of the top 15 Communication Service Providers in the world use Teradata data warehousing and analytics solutions. For integrated silicon solution Mobilink technological partner is Broadcom Corporation that enables broadband communications and networking of voice, video and data services. Mobilink has also bought “Point of Sale Verification Solution” Frame Contract with Secure Tech Consultancy (Put) Ltd. Secure Tech provides necessary hardware using its own developed proprietary software to capture customers designated fingerprint, convert it to a format that is acceptable to NADRA for its 1:1 verification with the already saved fingerprint in NADRA’s database and thereby verify the customer and link him to his CNIC.
Knowledge: Mobilink adopts its practices from the knowledge gained by the best practices of others in the same industry. Also regulatory authority provides guidelines for the standard of procedures.
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Output: Customers: Mobilink is the leading telecommunications service provider in
Pakistan with 38.1 million subscribers and market share of 28% as of March 2014. Customers can be divided into two categories: Corporate Clients and Regular Customers. Mr. Mirza Sohail told us that Mobilink Corporate Clients includes many famous celebrities including Shan, Ali Zafar and politicians like Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari etc.
Retailers: Mobilink has 30,000 retailers strategically spread in rural and urban areas to maximize financial outreach.
Distributors: Mobilink also has the largest distribution and call centre network that enables it to offer wider accessibility and quality customer services across Pakistan.
Regulatory Set:PTA is a regulatory body for the telecom sector in Pakistan and has been established under the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act 1996. It has been formed to ensure and facilitate the availability of high quality, efficient, cost-effective, and competitive telecommunication services throughout Pakistan and to protect the interests of consumers and licensees. It is worth noted that in 2003, Mobilink was slapped a fine of Rs60 million for poor quality of service by PTA with a direction to pay the penalty by compensating its customers within 30 days. With a customer base of one million in the country at that time every customer got a compensation of Rs60 each.
Set of Competitors:The four direct competitors of Mobilink are: Warid, Zong, Telenor and Ufone. According to PTA consumer survey 2013; Mobilink is number 1 in market in terms of service excellence followed by Warid, Telenor, Zong and finally Ufone.
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Political Perspective: Stakeholders ModelStakeholders’ model includes internal stakeholders and external stakeholders. Analyzing it in the context of Mobilink we inference the following data:
Internal Stakeholders:Interest: Internal Stakeholders of Mobilink mainly includes the CEO, top managers, middle managers and employees. Internal stakeholders’ interest is mainly profit and revenue maximization. Middle managers main concerns are compensation and job security because due to economic downfall Mobilink frequently lays off its middle and low level employees. To align the goals of top management (profit maximization) and middle managers/workers (bonuses, job security), In Mobilink the compensation (bonuses provided) to managers depends proportionally (i.e. 50:50 or 60:40) on own performance and company’s performance. Interests of internal stakeholders are clearly defined in job description and performance measurement systems.
Power:The basis of power is the formal hierarchical position as the authorities are clearly defined. Element of informal networking also plays a pivotal role and allows to get off the desk work done.
External Stakeholders:The main external stakeholders of Mobilink are its corporate and regular clients as Mobilink has the largest customer base in Telecom industry so the interests of customers is responsibly addressed in terms of promotions and packages. Mobilink ensures that the compliance of Governmental authority and its specification are aligned with that of inputs of its technological partners. Telecom industry has biggest chunk of tax paid to government so regulatory authority keeps a close eye on the revenues of different telecoms. Government also ensures that the telecom industry complies with its ordinance like blocking of services in certain days of strike. Mobilink has also its own NGO, Mobilink foundation which aims for the betterment of the lives of un-privileged class of our society. It provides assistance in terms of scholarship, trainings, medical aids etc. This upholds the Mobilink CSR responsibility.
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Cultural Perspective: Institutional FieldsIndustry:Institutional field concept analyzes interactions between organizations and their environments. The practices of other telecom competitors have greatly affected the culture of Mobilink. As competition has increased so to retain the best talent Mobilink has made its practices very adaptive that has ultimately resulted in the transformation of the overall organizational culture.
Parent Company: The KPI’s (key performance instructions) provided by the Parent Company has made some practices of the culture very rigid. As the financing including compensation and SOPs is provided by them so the overall behaviours and work attitude of employee is more inclined towards homogeneity.
Customers: Mobilink has a large database of corporate clients so its culture is a mirror image of it. It is reflected in its advertisement and promotions campaigns.
Suppliers:To remain competitive Mobilink has outsourced its technology from suppliers already mentioned above in the report. This is the industry practice to outsource the technology. So Mobilink gives training to old employees or hire new employees who are aware with the technology in use. This induction is making the culture more diverse and evolving over the period of time.
Regulatory Authority: Regulatory Authority like PTA gives SOP and regulations in terms of technical specifications. This makes the culture aligned with the industry practice.
Coercive Isomorphism:Stakeholders provide KPIS which imposes the structural and procedural demands in Mobilink. The ARR consortium is a multinational group which has hold on several of its business. The key aspect is that they ensure the already defined practices are enforced in each of its business. Hence coercive isomorphism is deeply rooted in the culture of Mobilink.
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CONCLUSION
The analysis performed on Mobilink as per the studied knowledge of the course “People and Organization” gave us a detailed and comprehensive insight about the whole structure of Mobilink. We became able to see the things we were not aware of before also the unseen.
The analytics part provided us the understanding of basic practices that use to happen, that happen now a days and even how the new ones are transforming into more advanced one due to the changing requirements.
The team part provided us with the insight to how teams are formed, what kind of individuals join these teams, how teams work, what is their composition, the benefits of team over groups and individuals and the diverse kinds of teams
The organizational part elaborated how workforce is managed, what motivates them, how to sort out their issues, the changing initiatives in organizations and how the environment is changing and becoming more complex.
The knowledge gained by working on this project gives us a new perspective to look at an organization and taught us the ways to be successful in specific settings.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Starting from the practices, we found Mobilink tilted toward old practices so the organization needs to works more on networking by as the departments work in isolation, to make the organization flat but removing the unnecessary middle management level, flexible toward practices as to initiate rather than adopt and Diversity by increasing diverse workforce.
We will start from the strategic lens. We studied the structure in detail and we found that grouping technique (By Market/Region) is good enough for Mobilink to continue. Changing the design will result in huge disruptions and business. The region segmentation is covering whole Pakistan well in terms of service. The problem arises at the integration between the departments (Linking) and to reinforce the links (Alignment).
The role of Enterprise Project Management Office EPMO should be completely refined as it acts as the boundary managers. It must facilitate the interaction of departments in a positive way and make decision as per requirement.
Some cross unit group needs to e permanent who work in close coordination and more freely on the task that are integral I nature.
The basic reason of lack of communication between the departments is the lack of technological resource. Communication systems such as VideoCon must be implemented so that departments can come out of isolation.
All departments of organization must be involved in planning process so that no issue would arise later about the task and resource distribution and it will also give them a sense of ownership.
Performance measurement system needs to be customized and the leaders of cross functional groups must also be involved in the appraisal that will increase productivity.
Individual rewards are as per the competition but being a market leader; Mobilink should provide more competent and unique rewards.
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Departments are to be involved in decision making so they can own the tasks they are given to complete and resources, especially technological systems, are required in every department.
Training about these new systems will be compulsory as the old managers might not be able to handle it plus on the other issues as they arise.
Team membership exists at Mobilink but lacking organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB).
Complete information should be shared with the team members regardless of the individual position in front of the ultimate boss.
In order to increase team effectiveness and efficiency more autonomy should be given to the team members.
Affective conflicts should be resolved as soon as possible, sooner the better. Influential team members should use their influencing power in a positive
way. Mobilink’s need to strengthen its boundary management; departments
should be highly interdependent. Focus on results and outcomes rather than SLA’s Performance should also be evaluated by team Leader rather than ultimate
bosses Should also work on creating X-Teams to have rapid response and quick
task completion Mobilink should focus on process rather than people Mobilink should introduce friendly culture, it would help employees to be
more creative and will develop OCB
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APPENDICES
Annex 1:Personality Test(From Assistant Manager- Office of Strategy Management) You find it easy to introduce yourself to other people. Agree A logical decision is always the best, even when it hurts someone’s feelings.
Agree You are rather impatient. Agree You need to retreat and have some “alone time” after spending some time
talking to other people. Disagree You are relaxed most of the time. Agree You can easily read between the lines and “get” metaphors. Agree It is rather difficult to excite you. Agree People often say that you are inflexible. Disagree Emotional movies can easily make you sad. Agree Your home and work environments are quite tidy. Agree You often feel as if you have to defend your principles and ideas. Agree You are often accused of being indecisive. Disagree You do not mind being at the centre of attention. Agree You would rather come up with an action plan than deal with its
implementation. Agree You rarely get mood swings. Disagree You believe that it is important to be in control of your environment. Agree You find it difficult to start talking when you do not yet have a clear idea in
your mind. Disagree Your mood can change very quickly. Disagree You often do things spontaneously or in a rush. Agree You want your work to reflect how you feel instead of just meeting some
objective standards. Agree Your work style is like energy spikes than to a slow but constant flow. Agree You are often envious of others. Disagree An interesting book/video game is often better than a social event. Agree Being able to develop a plan and stick to it is the most important part of
every project. Agree Ideas are often more important than real things. Agree You find it easy to support your friends emotionally. Agree You often over think your tasks or projects. Agree You do not let your emotions show, even when you are with friends. Agree
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You find it difficult to keep a cool head in conflict situations. Disagree You enjoy thinking about what impact current events could have on
something far away in the future. Agree It does not take you much time to start getting involved in social activities at
your new workplace. Agree You would rather do something in your own way than copy other people’s
methods, even if they are shown to work. Agree It is easy to irritate you. Disagree You are a perfectionist. Agree You would rather call yourself down-to-earth than a dreamer. Agree You do not mind being criticized, even harshly, if the arguments make
sense. Agree You find it easy to notice factual discrepancies than underlying patterns.
Agree You would rather improvise than spend time coming up with a detailed
plan. Agree You can quickly remember important facts and events (e.g. birthdays).
Agree You often stick to your ideals, even when your mind tells you to go in a
different direction. Agree Keeping your options open is more important than having a to-do list.
Agree You would rather work in a team than alone. Agree You rarely feel insecure. Disagree You have no difficulties coming up with a personal timetable and sticking to
it. Agree Justice is more important than mercy. Disagree You always try to imagine the full picture before looking at individual facts.
Agree You feel better after spending time with other people. Agree Your actions are often influenced by your feelings. Disagree You see yourself as very emotionally stable. Disagree You cannot stand chaos. Disagree You have a good fashion sense. Disagree You like to isolate yourself from the surroundings every once in a while.
Disagree It is difficult for you to hide your feelings. Disagree You are a relatively reserved and quiet person. Disagree If the room is full, you stay closer to the walls, avoiding the centre. Disagree
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You would rather choose an old and reliable approach than try one that is new and unpredictable, but possibly better. Disagree
You feel very anxious in stressful situations. Disagree You think that there is nothing wrong in bending or breaking some rules if
the situation calls for that. Agree You think that there is little point in being empathic in a professional
environment. Agree You often take initiative in social situations. Agree
Annex 2:Cultural Questions:
Why did Mobilink transform its values and philosophy? What are the values of Mobilink? Describe the behaviours Mobilink promotes within the employees. Organizational values evolve over time. To what extent was the change
in the company’s values natural/organic and to what extent was it a conscious effort?
What is the role of Mobilink’s values in driving a high performance culture?
How do you motivate the employees to integrate the values into every routine and small task, as opposed to the bigger picture? Isn’t the translation of these values into small daily tasks more challenging?
What external factors were considered while implementing the change in organizational values?
What were the biggest hurdles in moving to the new organizational philosophy?
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Annex 3:
We asked open ended Questions from Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar in order to get as much information as we canQuestions which were asked are as following: Is there formal hierarchy in the Mobilink? How Goals are set in Mobilink? What kind of Team exists at Mobilink? Does Politics exist at Mobilink? Do people use Power? What is the culture at Mobilink? Does Team Membership exist at Mobilink? Does X-Teams exist Mobilink? Is there clear line of authority? Are there formal rules which you have to comply with? Are there set boundaries for departments? Is there flexibility in organization? Is the organization networked? At Mobilink is the organizational structure is flat or vertical? Is the organization global? Is the organization diverse? What is your current company strategy? How are the employees being rewarded? Do you have to perform same task the same way every day? What sort of strategic grouping do u use at Mobilink? Does Mobilink have some sort of informal structure in their hierarchy? Does manager act as Liaison or integrator? Are there cross units at Mobilink permanent or temporary? How efficiently are the resources allocated to the employees? What sort of human resource programs do you deploy at Mobilink?
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TEAM ASSESSMENT
What criteria were used in selecting an organization?After the initial group meeting, the members discussed the choice of references on hand and the organizations that they belong to. The references were scrutinized by the probability that they will give us enough time and information about the company to carry out the report whereas the organizations were examined on their visible futures with respect to the course. After some discussion Khyam Zikria came up with reference of Mr Sohail Asghar who is assistant manager in the strategic office of Mobilink and so Mobilink was finalized.
How was leadership negotiated?Before the announcement of project we observed that Ibrahim is an active student in class and always contributes in lessons so we voluntarily gave the Leadership to Ibrahim as we found him better at complementing and supplementing.
How was work divided?The work was divided equally and module wise and certain changes were made according to the strong areas and attention to a particular topic of an individual too.
What was the most difficult conflict to resolve and how did you resolve it?Communication, we were new to each other and it was our first time to be a part of single team so we had a communication gap. The issue was resolved with frequent contact outside class and discussion on topics.
What is the team most proud about this project?The completion of this project! The project required a lot of effort and brain to come in this final shape. On the other hand the effort resulted in deep understanding of the subject along with minute details too that can help us identify even the “unseen” at an organization
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What would your team do differently on this project if you could do it again?o More communication and coordinationo Better Planning o Make a time lineo Better explanationso More DetailsAnd all this will surly result in a more improved outcome
What grade do you think this should receive based on team performance?We can never ever forget the effort, amount of time and concentration we gave to this project, so we expect an A (Being the highest) as a result.
Should every member receive the same grade? Why or why not?Yes, the effort every member gave in is almost the same so giving same grades complies with equality and justice.
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INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT
MUHAMMAD EHSAN
What did I learn about working on a team?Teams are good when they work at the same frequency and energy level. Team inducts diversity, creativity and other positive factor to the outcome. The members have to complement supplement each other’s work in order to come up with a better outcome.
What did I learn about myself from this experience?I learned to compliment and supplement the work of other group members when they have genuine reasons to lack behind in progress. It taught me how to handle pressure, meet deadlines and carry extra workload.
What will I do differently as a team member on future teams?To create an understanding before starting the task so that all members can be at the same frequency and to emphasize the responsibility toward the assigned task to each member as it’s for their own good.Introducing the concept of timeline is also in the list followed by taking the responsibility to be a leader at first hand.
KHYAM ZIKRIAIn the initial stage we were totally unaware of each other so obviously had some communication and understanding problems. But later on through exchanging numbers, email ids and joining the online platform for sharing information of the group; we made good acquaintances with each other. I learnt how to accept criticism gracefully by giving extra efforts on the next assigned chapter. Our team members supported group decisions even if they initially disagreed which made me learn the importance of collective bargaining. I was never a good listener but these team efforts made me a good listener and I found it necessary for yielding creativity. In the end I would say that I realized and understood the importance of collective efforts for a better result while working in a team.
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IBRAHIM GHAZNAVIMy experience in working in a Team rather than a Group was great. Me and my team members implements all the attributes of a Team and we came to know that working in a team creates synergy among the team members, by Complementing and Supplementing each other helps to finish the given task before time.
What I learnt working in a Team was that we have our Clear Roles and Responsibility, first we figure out that what are the Strengths and Weakness of each Team member and then roles were further divided into the team members. I noticed that my effectiveness and efficiency had a multiplier effect on my performance. I really enjoyed working in the team with such a good team members. The team environment was very friendly and we all got to know each other very well.
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PEER ASSESSMENT
By MUHAMMAD EHSAN
Mr. X was the first class mate when I joined university for MBA. We both, being from same locality, share a similar kind of thoughts at many things. MR x had a better understanding with me, though he had some time occupation but was available when contacted. He worked sufficient in the report and is always there to assist me.
Mr. Y has a dominating character and always comes up to fill the gaps where we lack. That’s why we made him our team leader as he’s good at complimenting supplementing too. He completed his work on time, lead us at the interview with comprehensive questioning that provided us with the information required.
After the discussion with other teams of the class I realized that I was a part of the best group out of the whole class and that’s a blessing.
By IBRAHIM GHAZNAVIWhat I learnt about my team member Ehsan, he is hard working person with really good computer skills, he helped us in formation of our Report in computer very well by using various commands on MS Word and MS PowerPoint. Ehsan is a responsible person and I never came to know that he has not completed his task on time. He always completed the task before time.
My team member Khyam is a very good guy and a very supportive person. Through his reference we told the interview of Mr. Mirza Sohail Asghar (Mobilink’s employee). He arranged a meeting with him. Khyam also played a vital role in the completion of this project Report. He is also a very responsible person and gives his sincere input in the work. He always completed the given task on time.
Have Good Team Members is a blessing.
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By KHYAM ZIKRIAMuhammad Ehsan:As a team member Ehsan played a very important role in this project. He always exceeds productivity standards by applying his well understood core concepts of the subject. I found him always very polite and willing to help. He is a self-starter with high motivation and constantly goes beyond call of duty. He carried out tasks without overly depending on other team members. His quality of work was always accurate in all areas of contribution. Ehsan never missed a team meeting and was always on time. During the report writing process I found his work done ahead of schedule.
Ibrahim Ghaznavi:Ibrahim was our team leader responsible for aligning and coordinating all the team efforts. I found him very sociable and outgoing. He listens and understands the situation of others team members very well. He kept the group together and in the right direction with his steady influence. The most inspiring thing about his leading the team was his positive attitude and spirit. He always contributed positively to group discussions and was the initiator in every group working aspect (interview with our Mobilink’s reference, report’s proof-reading etc). It was Ibrahim who when conflict occur made the team confront and deal with the issue before moving to another subject. Ibrahim also made our different article presentations cohesive by complementing and supplementing arguments of other team members. His communication skills are exceptional and he always articulated his idea clearly. I found him reacting sensitively to verbal and nonverbal cues of other team members.
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ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT
It was a nice experience with these gentleman’s namely Muhammad Ehsan, Khyam Zikria and Ibrahim Ghaznavi from Bahria University whom I met at a series of meetings regarding their Project regarding Organizational Analysis on Mobilink.
I found all these individuals dedicated to work, on time and concerned more about knowledge rather than just wrapping up the work as they asked very comprehensive questions at the interview. At times even I had to think a little when they put forward a question or request them for some time so that I can guide them better.
The project was not only a learning for themselves but for me too as I got to know multiple aspects about my organization which I didn’t know earlier. These full of knowledge sessions gave me a new perspective to look at my organization and to address the shortcomings in more effective way
I look forward for their recommendation on solving these issues at Mobilink and expect them to get good grades too for this project.
Mirza Sohail AsgharAssistant ManagerOffice of Strategic ManagementMobilink
