U Fone Mobilink

CCOMMUNICATIONOMMUNICATION A ANALYSISNALYSIS O OFF T TWOWO OORGANIZATIONSRGANIZATIONS

Business communication VS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would appreciate the help of Ufone & Mobilink departments who provided us with information regarding their internal &external communication system.

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TIME LINE

HISTORY OF CELLULAR PHONES IN PAKISTAN

In Pakistan cellular phones were introduced in late 1980’s. It was the time when the technological boom was heading the developing countries like Pakistan, India, China etc. Initially it was hard to sell this new technology to the people of Pakistan, who consider it as a luxury more than a necessity. But afterwards through the organized efforts, these companies are able to market their products and services with a great success. And now millions of people are availing the services of four cellular companies throughout the country.

Paktel was among the pioneers in the mobile phone industry in Pakistan.

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ABSTRACT

We wanted to choose a company, which is the focal point of these days. For this purpose we chose Ufone as a company to be analyzed with the perspective of their communication.Ufone is a subsidiary of PTCL and is providing GSM technology based mobile services. After concluding out report we have directed few recommendations to help Ufone in catering with present and upcoming challenges.

INTRODUCTION

As all business organizations depends upon communication. Communication binds various elements and helps in developing a structure. For analyzing an organization we need to focus on how people of that organization work together, and what are their goals. The working of people in an organization depends on the nature of the structure of the organization. i.e. whether formal or informal structure. Similarly, analyzing what goals people work toward includes analyzing both formal and informal goals.People who communicate effectively in business also have to be aware of several major changes in the business environment that have drastically influenced business communications.Finally, the most important factor that helps in focusing on a business strategy is to know about the communication channels and their directional flow. Of course, communication within these channels may vary form formal to informal. Nevertheless, each channel of communication has certain inherent characteristics.

MISSION STATEMENT

TO BECOME THE BEST CELLULAR COMMUNICATION OPTION AVAILABLE IN THE COUNTRY FOR “U”

Ufone’s Visions of itself as an ORGANIZATION

“Ufone-last to enter, first to venture every time”

We define an organization as one that seeks to create its own future; assumes learning as an ongoing and creative process for its members; and develops; adapts and transforms itself in response to the needs and aspirations of people, both inside and outside itself

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STIMULATION FACTORS BEHIND THIS CHOICE

Ufone GSM has extended their network since their launch in Islamabad to Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. With PTCL at its back it achieved success by leaps and bounds and doesn’t appear to be slowing down either.

HISTORY OF UFONE

Ufone is the only mobile service named after the people it is meant to serve – you. Ufone is designed to cater people’s individual requirements. Launched on January 19th 2001, Ufone is a new cellular operator in Pakistan. Pak Telecom Mobile Ltd offers Ufone services to the people. Ufone has been a highly successful venture, touching 500,000 subscribers.Today more and more people are the using Ufone services. Within few years of it’s establishment Ufone has established itself in the market as one of the leading mobile service providers.

At its embryonic stage when they adopted its share-building strategy, they launched their operations in Islamabad only. As they were in such a high demand soon after their launch they were in the growth stage. So they had to adopt the strategies of growth stage. Their customers increased by leaps and bounds and their revenues have been increasing. In growth stage where companies with differentiation strategy invests in Research and Development, companies like Ufone, which consider themselves as the cost leaders, capitalize on their early boosted profits and beside consolidating present market niche that is Islamabad, it started up entering new markets including Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Kohat, Jehlum, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Multan, quetta, Sukher, Sialkoat, Gujranwalan, Gujrat and other areas are under consideration. These areas that are under consideration also hold a lot of demand for Ufone and so it can be rightly said that this Ufone’s growth stage will continue for some time to come.

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Growth

Ufone

Time

Demand


ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

The environment of any organization plays a very vital role in bringing out the inner qualities and talents of people. On entering the Ufone office, what strikes a person most is their atmosphere and décor. The atmosphere of the Ufone head office is a very pleasant one, with a large impressive lobby welcoming the distinguish customers. The décor includes glass and steel walls. This communicates that Ufone has effectively dealt with its most toughest and delicate issues with care.

To make the atmosphere more pleasant, a touch of greenery has been added, to communicate that Ufone is an eco-friendly organization. The security check on entering the majestic hall gives the customer a sense of security. It requires the person visiting the office to sign an entry form and wear a badge.

All these things made the office informally communicate that it welcomed customers and guests, but the most important element that makes this backdrop complete is the employees, all formally dressed, communicating that the organization strictly adheres to dress code.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND ANALYSISERROR: REFERENCE SOURCE NOT FOUND

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GM Customer care

GMHR & Admin

GMFinance

GMInformation Systems

GM Marketing

GM Engineering

GMQuality Assurance

Business Unit Manager (BUM) North

BUM South

BUM Central NOTE: Similar Lines for the other two BUMS


A BRIEF DESCRIPTION

This is what Ufone looks from the organizational hierarchy point of view. There are 7 different departments each headed by a General Manager. They report directly to the CEO. Then there are three BUMs (Business Unit Managers) who report directly to the CEO but they are also directed and responsible to report to all the GMs of the 7 other departments. BUMs are divided geographically into three divisions

BUM North (Islamabad, Peshawar, Jehlum) BUM Central (Lahore till South of Punjab) BUM South (Entire Sindh)

DEPARTMENTS

As shown in the organizational structures there are 7 departments, which are prevailing in Ufone.

Human Resource & Admin Marketing Customer Care Information System Engineering Finance Quality Assurance

EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS

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Ufone has a very comprehensive and distinctive procedure of requirement, selection, hiring and placement of the employee. The have an active incentive program. They tend to test people skills by assigning to them challenging tasks that fulfills their achievements needs.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The GM HR told us that they have changed the term job description to position description. As job description gives a general briefing of the requirements of the job while position description gives quantifiable objectives, such as

Objective of the job (increase the sale by 4%) Key activities Time spent on each activity Reason on each activity End result of activity

MONTHLY EVALUATION SYSTEM

Ufone has a monthly evaluation system in place that keeps a check on employees every 30 days. This is done by two methods

Informal: The HR department keeps an informal check on all employees and monitors their performance.

Formal: Every employee is evaluated through his or her respective departments on a 30 days basis

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION

Ufone, in one year has started providing coverage in most major cities of Pakistan. This roll out plan has been far more aggressive than any of Ufone's competitors. Its services

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are now available in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Jehlum, Kohat, Sialkot, Sukkhar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujrat, and Sialkot etc.

WAP (WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL)

Ufone has provided WAP services for its customers that enable them to gather information from the net. Thus connecting the people to the Internet.

In simple words Mobile Internet! WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is the standard way for a mobile phone to access and receive content from the Internet. You can browse thousands of WAP enabled pages, get information like news, weather etc. entertain yourself with jokes, and games, communicate using email, actually the way internet is, its impossible to give a whole list of things you can do with WAP.

WAP is one of the latest communication technology offered by Ufone, which is getting quite popular among the customers.

SMS (SHORT MESSAGING SERVICE)

Ufone SMS provides you the option to stay in touch with other Ufone customers in an economical way, and you don’t even have to talk. They have also started MMS (multimedia messaging service). Recently ufone has launched a new service of messaging through out the world in almost 161 countries.

G- MAIL

This is an added benefit that your friends, family and colleagues can now send you e-mails of up to 160 alphanumeric characters on your mobile from anywhere in the world using their own e-mail accounts. You get your own G-Mail address "0333(your Ufone number) @”Ufone.com" which becomes your mobile e-mail "G-mail" account.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Ufone International Roaming allows you to take your Ufone outside Pakistan and use it without having to change your telephone number. Your business associates and loved ones can stay in touch with you by dialing the same familiar Ufone number, and you have the convenience and security of a mobile phone even outside Pakistan.

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Currently Ufone has signed roaming agreements with three Operators, Thuraya, Saudi Telecom and Etisalat (UAE).

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

It is imperative for the achievement of goals and objectives, that all the workers must have a clear sense of direction towards their objective.This is achieved through an effective internal communication between top executives and employees.

Ufone has maintained open communication channels both downward and upward in the company’s hierarchy. This is quite effective in creating a good working environment for the employees.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

A healthy working environment is very necessary to induce a sense of belonging into the employees. At Ufone we found that the working environment was very informal. People were encouraged to participate and they could easily communicate with their co-workers. Few of the things that we noticed about their communication flow were: Mostly downward communication occurs. However employee suggestions are also

welcomed. They can talk to their superiors easily. Employees and workers are encouraged to participate in decision making to some

extent. They are asked their opinions in any new package that the company is offering. But mostly at higher level, GM of all the departments interacts with each other for

major decisions. And the lower level is informed about the decision. No trend of memos, unless there is a major event or an unexpected holiday

announcement. There is not much written communication. They mostly contact through a phone call or email. In a way we see that there is an

open communication channel with in the company.

TEAMWORK

Teamwork is emphasized in all situations. Employees are well communicated about the importance of ‘Work for customer satisfaction’. If you go to one of the branches you’ll see that they work as a team, no one individually responds. Good working environment is provided to the employees.Workers are well satisfied with their jobs. They consider their office comfortable and there is friendly atmosphere

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No file work, everything is done on and through computers. This lessens the employee’s burden of keeping records of files and heavy paper work.

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

The basic aim of their external communication is to run the business smoothly by keeping customers, Suppliers, dealers etc satisfied.

CUSTOMERS

One of the important element of any kind of business’s success is knowing your customers and keeping up with their demands. Ufone has emphasized on building a relationship with the customer. They encourage their customers to offer different suggestion to improve its services. They respond positively to the desires of the customers.

Customer care

Though Ufone has a lot of good feature about it, but we found their customer care department to be one of the major highlights in terms of customer satisfaction. Whenever a customer calls in to one of their call centers he feels more than welcome by either their friendly staff. In our own survey we also came to the same conclusion as a lot of people ranked Ufone’s customers services as a factor that they were thoroughly satisfied with. Though it may be a biased opinion but the Ufone management also highlighted the fact that they not only stressed on having good customer care services but also that they have been successful in doing so.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION

This subdivision is mainly meant for promotional activities. It includes building an identity for the corporation and brand, managing advertising campaigns, sponsorships (example: the Junoon concert), media relations (newspaper coverage, press releases, press conference before launching etc), point of sale material preparation (brochures, tariffs, flyers etc), website management.

MEDIA

Ufone's television commercials have received a lot of appreciation from both their valued customers and advertising industry professionals in Pakistan. Ufone, with Pakistan's largest advertising company Interflow Communications Private Limited, has always tried to deliver truthful and interesting advertising to its viewers. Through these ads they are

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http://www.interflow.com.pk/


trying to convey the message that Ufone is solely meant for the people’s benefit and convenience.

PRESS RELEASES

Ufone is continuously informing the masses about their latest developments and projects through press releases.

BROCHURES

Ufone has designed attractive brochures for their customers. These brochures contain all the necessary information about their package deals and tariffs. Hence making it easier for the people to know about the general prices and services offered.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF UFONE

What is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a tool used to provide a general or detailed snapshot of a company's health. SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By identifying the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, managers can formulate strategies in such a way so that the strengths and opportunities can be utilized and internal weaknesses and environmental threats can be minimized. To fulfill its mission, Ufone should capitalize on its key strengths, overcome or alleviate its major weaknesses, avoid significant threats, and take advantage of the most promising opportunities.

Why use a SWOT Analysis?

In any business, it is imperative that the business be its own worst critic. A SWOT analysis forces an objective analysis of a company's position and the marketplace. Simultaneously, an effective SWOT analysis will help determine in which areas a company is succeeding, allowing it to allocate resources in such a way as to maintain any dominant positions it may have.

The SWOT analysis of Ufone is conducted as under: -

STRENGTHS

Following are the vital strengths of Ufone:

Ufone is an acknowledged market leader of all the companies of its kind.

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Being a GSM company The network service of Ufone is in progress to be distributed over a wide area. Ufone provides good service to its customers. The customers of Ufone are very much satisfied therefore, therefore it is the

biggest strength Ufone has a distinctive competence. It has adequate financial resources. The company has good competitive skills. Ufone has effective product innovation abilities. Increased brand equity Premium brand image

The company has hired well qualified and able employees in all its departments.The services of Ufone are wide spread such that you can see many small outlets in every market area.

WEAKNESSES Following weaknesses are identified in Ufone:

Ufone provides costly services to customers as compared to other mobile companies.

Sometimes the network is busy and over loaded which results in poor connectivity.

The product line is too narrow.

OPPORTUNITIES Ufone has the following opportunities:

2.3% of the population of Pakistan are mobile users. Ufone has the opportunity to expand its services to a larger number of people.

Ufone can expand its target markets and enter new market segments. This company has faster market growth. Ufone has the opportunity to add further products to its existing product line.

THREATS

The threat that U-fone may faces is the strength of existing competitors. Although U-fone has competitors in the market but as U-fone is a market leader so it has no fear from competition but still there are some factors which can affect the sales of U-fone.

U-fone has two major competitors, Mobilink and Instaphone. Under certain circumstances these companies may act as a major threat for the organization.

Change in Government policies can act as a threat for U-fone. Rising sales of substitute products like Mobilink may also act as a threat. If PTCL privatize then it may have implications

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Wireless local loops can be a threat.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

As far as marketing communication is concerned, one very big success that they have achieved, that is, they have built a very strong brand and corporate identity of Ufone. Starting off with their logo choosing campaign to their punch line “Tum He Toh Ho” they have established an image of Ufone the way they wanted to as a consumer oriented company. But looking at it from another point of view, Ufone’s advertisement campaign is geared towards only a limited set of customers as well as portraying only one objective of their strategy. We were told that they wanted to portray Ufone as a company that had technology in terms of quality as well as prices as their strength. More over they planned their target market to be a mixture of both corporate users as well a common person. But they focused so much on their low prices and middle/lower target markets in their advertisement campaigns that there is a huge difference between the forecasted and actual division of their common and corporate users.

Ufone had a very well established and placed dealer network which clearly indicates the efficiency of the Dealer Sales. Each one of their dealer outlets appeared to be a mini-Ufone building as they had the same color effects as well as the same interior outlooks. We visited few dealers some time ago and they were more than satisfied with the way things were going between them and Ufone. But that has more than changed over the past couple of months. As Ufone stopped issuing more subscription the dealers were the people that were affected the most. Though it was indicated by Ufone that the dealers are being compensated for the loss in sales but still they feel a cloud of uncertainty for the future. In both cases Ufone is suffering, as they have to pay compensation as well as lose out on dealer loyalty and motivation.

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MOBILINK

Mobilink GSM started operations in the year 1994, from then on it has shown enormous growth. At the time when it entered the market it was a small player in the cellular market of Pakistan, it is now the market leader both in terms of growth as well as having the largest subscriber base in Pakistan. the main head office is in Islamabad and it had other offices are in Karachi and Lahore. What makes Mobilink GSM the preferred choice of its customers is that MOBILINK provide state-of-the-art value Added Services that no other cellular operator offers. A few of these include Short Message Service (SMS), Mobilink GSM-The News Info services, Mobilink GSM G-Mail, Mobilink GSM G-Mail, Mobilink GSM Fax & Data Services, International Roaming, Secure Communication and Innovative tariff structures.

VISION STATEMENT

“To be a superior communications service company in Pakistan which provides the best value to its customers, employees, business partners and shareholders.”

This statement also reflects the image of high quality products that Mobilink offers. . Quality is the cornerstone of the success of the Mobilink Company. People all over the world show their trust in the company by choosing Mobilink products. This trust comes from a quality image that has been built up over a time period. Therefore, the quality of the products ultimately enhances the quality of the consumer’s life. Finally, it is quite evident that the organization has actually implemented its vision statement in the business practices that it carries out. Also, the vision statement has been an important guideline for any SBU that the company has started and this is portrayed by the success that each SBU of Mobilink enjoys.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WARRANTIES

MOBILINK provide its customer with post sales services i.e. they promise their customers to help them in every way if there is any problem with the connection. They even provide a guarantee that the SIM can be blocked in case if it is stolen. This all is done to make the customer satisfied. For customer service they have a special department, which is located in or near the main office were people can go with their problems and get the best of solutions.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

The environment of any organization plays a very vital role in bringing out the inner qualities and talents of people. Both Ufone & Mobilink have almost same environment analysis. On entering the Mobilink office, what strikes a person most is their atmosphere and decor. The atmosphere of the Mobilink head office is a very pleasant one, with a large impressive lobby welcoming the distinguish customers. The decor includes glass and steel walls. This communicates that Mobilink has effectively dealt with its most toughest and delicate issues with care.

To make the atmosphere more pleasant, in both the organization a touch of greenery has been added, to communicate that Ufone & Mobilink are an eco-friendly organizations. The security check on entering the majestic hall gives the customer a sense of security. It requires the person visiting the office to sign an entry form and wear a badge.

All these things made the office informally communicate that it welcomed customers and guests, but the most important element that makes this backdrop complete is the employees, all formally dressed, communicating that the organization strictly adheres to dress code.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND ANALYSISERROR: REFERENCE SOURCE NOT FOUND

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Mobilink also looks from the organizational hierarchy point of view. There are 7 different departments each headed by a General Manager. They report directly to the CEO. Then there are three BUMs (Business Unit Managers) who report directly to the CEO but they are also directed and responsible to report to all the GMs of the 7 other departments. BUMs are divided geographically into three divisions

BUM North (Islamabad, Peshawar, Jehlum) BUM Central (Lahore till South of Punjab) BUM South (Entire Sindh)

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GM Customer care

GMHR & Admin

GMFinance

GMInformation Systems

GM Marketing

GM Engineering

GMQuality Assurance

Business Unit Manager (BUM) North

BUM South

BUM Central NOTE: Similar Lines for the other two BUMS


DEPARTMENTS

As shown in the organizational structures there are 7 departments, which are prevailing in Ufone.

Human Resource & Admin Marketing Customer Care Information System Engineering Finance Quality Assurance

EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS

Mobilink too has a very comprehensive and distinctive procedure of requirement, selection, hiring and placement of the employee. The have an active incentive program. They tend to test people skills by assigning to them challenging tasks that fulfills their achievements needs.

POSITIONING STRATEGY

Mobilink position itself as the premium company providing the best value for money. It has been able to get away with its premium pricing because is has built the perception of being a better company. However, with PTML's launch, its sole edge of being technologically superior will be washed ashore, because the dynamics of the industry are changing, and the newer lot of customers are more price sensitive and expect more bang for the buck!” It will be positioned as a product providing a more affordable solution to the customers and later picking up on the premium price, thus having different strategies for different segments of the market.Currently, Mobilink's Value added services (VAS) are the main attraction of the high end users. The high end users are more concerned about the services, rather than the price. The second most important reason for the companies’ current popularity is its Value Added Services, first being the GSM technology.

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PRODUCT FEATURES:

MOBILINK is basically dealing in two products and both of them are although same because they aim at providing connection to people but at the same time they do have different features. Now we shall consider these features in brief:

JAZZ No daily charges Low outgoing rates 180 days validity of Jazz Scratch Cards.

These features are provided while keeping in mind the customers, which use JAZZ cards.

MOBILINK STAR

Low upfront cost Hour of free calls Best connectivity speed True International Roaming

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION

Mobilink is providing coverage in most major cities of Pakistan.

WAP (WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL)

Mobilink has provided WAP services for its customers that enable them to gather information from the net. Thus connecting the people to the Internet.

In simple words Mobile Internet! WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is the standard way for a mobile phone to access and receive content from the Internet. You can browse thousands of WAP enabled pages, get information like news, weather etc. entertain yourself with jokes, and games, communicate using email, actually the way internet is, its impossible to give a whole list of things you can do with WAP.

SMS (SHORT MESSAGING SERVICE)

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Mobilink SMS provides you the option to stay in touch with other customers in an economical way, and you don’t even have to talk. They have also started MMS (multimedia messaging service). Now they have provided a new service of messaging to the ufone number.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES

MOBILINK GSM has always been the market leader when it comes to introducing state-of-the-art communication services and solutions for its customers. Mobilinks Value Added Services makes their existing package more attractive, all for our convenience. We can now benefit from the services, which will give us all the freedom we need, making mobile communications more exciting, convenient and enjoyable. This section will walk us through services, which are not only useful but also cost-effective for both business as well as personal use. These include the very basic yet indispensable services like V- Mail to the more innovative and sophisticated ones like G-Mail, Internet Chat, Logo Composer etc. Mobilink is confident that their innovative and exciting new services will bring about a revolution in the way we look at mobile communications.

G- MAIL

This is an added benefit that your friends, family and colleagues can now send you e-mails of up to 160 alphanumeric characters on your mobile from anywhere in the world using their own e-mail accounts. You get your own G-Mail address "0300(your MOBILINK GSM number) @mobilinkgsm.com" which becomes your mobile e-mail "G-mail" account. This service is available for Star subscribers (Post Paid) only.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

It is imperative for the achievement of goals and objectives, that all the workers must have a clear sense of direction towards their objective.This is achieved through an effective internal communication between top executives and employees.

Like Ufone too Mobilink has also maintained open communication channels both downward and upward in the company’s hierarchy. This is quite effective in creating a good working environment for the employees.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT

At Mobilink we found that the working environment was very informal. People were encouraged to participate and they could easily communicate with their co-workers. Few of the things that we noticed about their communication flow were:

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a) Mostly downward communication occurs. However employee suggestions are also welcomed. They can talk to their superiors easily.

b) Employees and workers are encouraged to participate in decision making to some extent. They are asked their opinions in any new package that the company is offering.

c) But mostly at higher level, GM of all the departments interacts with each other for major decisions. And the lower level is informed about the decision.

d) No trend of memos, unless there is a major event or an unexpected holiday announcement. There is not much written communication.

e) They mostly contact through a phone call or email. In a way we see that there is an open communication channel with in the company.

TEAMWORK

Employees are well communicated about the importance for the customers. In any branch of Mobilink they work as a team. Workers are well satisfied with their jobs. They consider their office comfortable and there is a friendly atmosphere.

No file work, everything is done on and through computers. So there were fewer burdens on the employees for keeping the records of important documents.

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

The basic aim of external communication is to run the business smoothly by keeping the same satisfaction level for the costumers, supplier, Dealers etc.

CUSTOMERS

The first step for any business’s success is look forward that what are the needs of your costumers keeping up with their demands. Mobilink encourages their customers to offer different suggestion to improve its services. They respond positively to the desires of the customers.

CUSTOMER CARE

As compare to U-fone, in Mobilink we didn’t found their customer care department as good in terms of customer satisfaction. In U-fone whenever a customer calls in to one of their call centers he feels more than welcome by either their friendly staff. In our own survey we came to the conclusion that U-fone’s customer care department can be ranked good then the Mobilink customer care department.

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MARKETING COMMUNICATION

This subdivision is mainly meant for promotional activities. It includes building an identity for the corporation and brand, managing advertising campaigns, sponsorships (example: the Junoon concert), media relations (newspaper coverage, press releases, press conference before launching etc), point of sale material preparation (brochures, tariffs, flyers etc), website management.

MEDIA

Both Mobilink & Ufone television commercials have received a lot of appreciation from both their valued customers and advertising industry professionals in Pakistan. Mobilink has always tried to deliver truthful and interesting advertising to its viewers. Through there advertisement they are trying to convey the message that Mobilink is meant for their customers benefit and convenience.

PRESS RELEASES

Mobilink is also continuously informing the masses about their latest developments and projects through press releases.

BROCHURES

Like Ufone, Mobilink too has designed attractive brochures for their customers. These brochures contain all the necessary information about their package deals and tariffs. Hence making it easier for the people to know about the general prices and services offered.

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SURVEY FROM COSTUMERS

According to our survey to the customers we asked them: Which company’s product and services do they use?

The above frequency distribution indicate that out of the hundred people, 46% uses the services of Mobilink, 17% uses Paktel, 12 % uses Instaphone and 25% were the customers of Ufone. This shows that the Mobilink is the most popular company amongst the cellular phone users.

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SWOT ANALYSIS OF MOBILINK

What is a SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a tool used to provide a general or detailed snapshot of a company's health. SWOT analysis is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment. It is the first stage of planning and helps marketers to focus on key issues. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By identifying the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, managers can formulate strategies in such a way so that the strengths and opportunities can be utilized and internal weaknesses and environmental threats can be minimized. To fulfill its mission, Mobilink should capitalize on its key strengths, overcome or alleviate its major weaknesses, avoid significant threats, and take advantage of the most promising opportunities.

Why use a SWOT Analysis?

In any business, it is imperative that the business be its own worst critic. A SWOT analysis forces an objective analysis of a company's position and the marketplace. Simultaneously, an effective SWOT analysis will help determine in which areas a company is succeeding, allowing it to allocate resources in such a way as to maintain any dominant positions it may have.

The SWOT analysis of Mobilink is conducted as under: -

STRENGTHS

Following are the vital strengths of Mobilink:

Mobilink is an acknowledged market leader of all the companies of its kind. Being a first GSM company The network service of Mobilink is distributed over a wide area. Mobilink provides good service to its customers. The customers of Mobilink are very much satisfied therefore, therefore it is the

biggest strength Mobilink has a distinctive competence. It has adequate financial resources. The company has good competitive skills. Mobilink has effective product innovation abilities. Increased brand equity Premium brand image

The company has hired well-qualified and able employees in all its departments.

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The services of Mobilink are wide spread such that you can see many small outlets in every market area.

WEAKNESSES

Following weaknesses are identified in Mobilink:

Mobilink provides costly services to customers as compared to other mobile companies.

Sometimes the network is busy and over loaded which results in poor connectivity.

The product line is too narrow.

OPPORTUNITIES Mobilink has the following opportunities:

2.3% of the population of Pakistan is mobile users. Mobilink has the opportunity to expand its services to a larger number of people.

Mobilink can expand its target markets and enter new market segments. This company has faster market growth. Mobilink has the opportunity to add further products to its existing product line.

E.g. Mobilink Star is a new package introduced recently.

THREATS

The threat that Mobilink may faces is the strength of existing competitors. Although Mobilink has competitors in the market but as Mobilink is a market leader so it has no fear from competition but still there are some factors which can affect the sales of Mobilink

Mobilink has two major competitors, U-fone and Instaphone. Under certain circumstances these companies may act as a major threat for the organization.

Change in Government policies can act as a threat for Mobilink. Rising sales of substitute products like U-fone may also act as a threat. If PTCL privatize then it may have implications Wireless local loops can be a threat.

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CHOICE OF PREPAID PACKAGES BY COSTUMERS

There is not much significant difference between the users of prepaid and postpaid packages. However, the number of prepaid packages users is growing rapidly.

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SATISFACTION LEVEL OF COSTUMERS BY THE SERVICE PROVIDED BY THE CELLULER COMPANIES

Frequency PercentValid

PercentCumulative

PercentStrongly satisfied 19 21.0 21.0 21.0

Satisfied 35 35.0 35.0 56.0Dissatisfied 10 10.0 10.0 93.0Extremelydissatisfied 7 7.0 7.0 100.0

Total 100 100.0 100.0

The results showed that majority of the customers are satisfied with the services provided by the cellular phone companies, whereas 27% are neutral in their opinions. Hence it means that the cellular phone companies are needed to improve their services in order to attain more satisfied customer base

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AMONGST TWO CELLULAR

COMPANIES

NAME OF

ORGANIZATIONS

UFONE Mobilink

Coverage Good Good

Quality of Service Fair Good

Distribution Fair Good

Price Mid High

Services Offered Fair Good

Billing Good Fair

Brand Strong Strong

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SOME ADVANTAGES OF MOBILINK & UFONE

a) Digital Technologyb) Unique Smart Card (SIM) Technologyc) Single Access Code 0300d) Secure Communicatione) Incoming and off-peak Ratesf) Great Value Additionsg) True International Roaming

Thus it can be clearly said from all the advantages and the features that Mobilink is the best company and is the market leader. No matter how strong the competition is no one at present can over take the market share of Mobilink. Because Mobilink is a gaint and every one would dream to be at their position. Any one thus looking for the best quality product will definitely go for Mobilink. But now days due to high demand of Mobilink connection there is load on their server & hence their network remains busy all the time so some people give more preference to U-fone instead of Mobilink.

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RECOMMANDATIONS FOR MOBILINK & UFONE

a) The quality of goods offered by Mobilink & Ufone is one the best but it is recommended that both of them should continue to maintain the same quality.

b) From the analysis of questionnaire it was found out that 69 percent of the consumers of Mobilink value the actual product. Therefore Mobilink should focus on the factors related to the actual products. These factors are

c) Packaging of the product

d) Product design

e) Quality

f) Warranties

g) Delivery and credit terms

h) Mobilink should improve their customer satisfaction level both related to product i) and services.

j) The customer should be informed from time to time about the new facilities available to them as being the customer of a specific company.

k) The consumers perceive the issue related to placement/ distribution very important (as indicated by the questionnaire analysis that the buying decision of 91% of consumers is affected by the ease of availability and convenience in getting a company’s product and services). The companies should ensure the availability of their product and services at places where the consumers can get them easily.

l) Most consumers (82%) are satisfied with the promotional activities of the company services. Still the companies should keep in touch with their users to let them know about the latest developments. Some new forms of promotion like sponsorship of various events like concerts; cricket matches etc. will definitely give competitive edge to Mobilink over other companies.

m) A special emphasis should be placed on TQM, because if quality is not maintained then ultimately, it will reflect negatively on the firm’s reputation even though it is the fault of the sales people. To provide better customer service, the retail outlets should be given incentives to, for example, refund the products if it’s not in a proper condition and if the consumer is not satisfied with it. This will eventually create goodwill for the firm.

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Documents

U Fone Mobilink