Mobilink Telecommunications Pakistan free essay sample

This report is a result of the instructions of our teacher, Ms. Sobia Shokat. Who is conducting the course Principles of Management. This effort by the student team will serve two distinct purposes; the first is to establish a comprehensive working model of the management practices at Mobilink. The second advantage is to evaluate the organization from an independent observer’s point of view; this would result in establishing an impartial but critical analysis of the organization. This analysis would help in isolating any problem areas with in the organization that might have crept into its day to day affairs. The report starts off with a brief profile of the organization. It then looks at Mobilink’s parent firm, Orascom Telecom and what values Mobilink have inherited from this multinational telecommunications company. It then looks at the company mission statement, its vision and its core values. Then the report looks at the key management functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. We will write a custom essay sample on Mobilink Telecommunications Pakistan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then the student team attempts to undertake a SWOT analysis of the organization under the current market and prevalent situation. Then the report looks into the strategic management of the company and how it plans to preserve its position of market leaders in the country by improving on the quality provided to its existing customers and also attracting new consumers so that the company continues to grow in the years to come. Finally the student team has attempted to put forth a list of suggestions to the management of he company so that it helps them not only the current market status of leaders in their field but also to continually grow into the future by providing ongoing value addition improved services and products to its valued customers. Another example is the Karachi to Hyderabad highway. Mobilink commuters that are traveling to and from these cities are able to enjoy the same connectivity standards while on the move. Functions of Management Planning A wise man once said Those who fail to plan, plan to fail Planning involves selecting the mission statement, objectives and the setting of courses of actions to achieves these objectives in the short run and the mission in the long run. Good plans provide a rational approach to achieving pre-selected objectives. It is basically the duty of the senior management to develop plans which if followed in letter and sprit lead to the realization of the objective and goal of the organization. Planning is concerned with the future impact of todays decisions. It is the fundamental function of management from which the other four key function branch out. The organizing, staffing, leading and controlling functions stem from the planning function. The manager is ready to organize and staffs only after goals and plans to reach the goals are in place. Likewise, the leading function, influencing the behavior of people in the organization, depends on the goals to be achieved. Finally, in the controlling function, the determination of whether or not goals are being accomplished and standards met is based on the planning function. The planning function provides the goals and standards that drive the controlling function. In Mobilink, the top management emphasizes a great deal on planning. They spend a lot of time only to plan all the organizational activities and goals and also the methods to achieve them. There are 2 different sets of planning which are done in MOBILINK which are Organizational Planning (Internal recipients) Marketing Planning (External recipients) In organizational planning, the company develops things like the vision, mission statement, the goals, the over all objectives of the organization. This also involves developing a list of alternative strategies on how to achieve these desired results. Then finally the best possible alternative is selected and a course of action is developed to follow. The organizational plans are shared – as per job description and need to know basis – with the internal components of Mobilink. That is the employees – as per their position in the corporate chain – are made aware of what the management wishes to do with the organization and how it plans to go about meeting these objectives. The Marketing plan is something that is more dynamic and market driven. The ultimate recipients of this plan, or the people at which it is directed are the customers of Mobilink. This plan is more of a guideline, a working model which the marketing department uses to come up with newer ways to attract the target audience. Types of Planning Company Mission statement The mission statement broadly identifies what the company is set out to achieve. Our mission is to be the primary telecom operator in the country, providing the best quality services to our customers, value to our shareholders, and a dynamic working environment for our employees. Company Vision This can be called the purpose of the company; it identifies the basic functions of the company Mobilink aims to not only retain its large customer base, but also provide the best possible products and services to its valued customers with continuous innovation and technology. Company Objective These are the activities towards which all the activities are aimed. Be there for you, always We speak your language Aur Sunao! Company Goal The end point of planning, and also the end point of organizing, staffing, leading and controlling Reshaping communications Company Strategy This would be the long term objectives of Mobilink, and the course of action that it takes to achieve these objectives in the short run as well as the long run. To serve the Pakistani telecommunications market effectively Company Policy The general plans or generalized laws or statements that provide a direction to creative thinking. All activities of Mobilink must adhere to the company policy. This policy is stated below Maximize profits staying the cellular phone services business of the country Company Procedure Any plan that handles the future activity of the company. These are chronological sequences of required actions that the management enforces so that the goals are met. The hiring procedures The operations procedures The way in which clients are handled The product development procedure The employee training procedure Company Rules Rules are strict actions that need to be done or avoided. They allow no discretion. Mobilink follows certain rules like no new connections will be provided to those persons that do not have the latest computerized national identity cards. This rule is very strictly enforced and if any employee is found to be in violation of this rule then this bears serious consequences. Company Budget A budget is simple a statement of expected results stated in numbers and figures. The creation or development of such a number is a very tiresome and tedious procedure at Mobilink. The top brass of the company in consultation with the parent firm of Orascom is responsible for the budget creation of Mobilink. Management by Objectives The company is very much managed objectively. This is evident in the fact that all promotions are based on results, and target achievements. The promotions from the post of associate level 2 to associate level 1 is done after complete and through evaluation of the employees performance over a period of two years where he is judged not only on how much business he has brought into the company but also how he has managed to satisfy both internal and external customers on the assigned tasks. His over all outlook towards his job responsibilities are also a good bench mark as to the direction senior management sees him taking. Over all the level of enthusiasm is seen in the individual who is considered for promotion. For motivation, the company engages different professionals who develop leadership skills and team building and trust relationship amongst the many departments of the company. The company is renowned for the many training seminars and motivational workshops that it conducts for its employees. It is not very uncommon for Mobilink employees to travel not other countries, especially those countries where Orascom Telcom has a presence for the training and development needs of its key personnel. Also the company makes use of the various training institutes that exist in the country for professional trainings and employee development. Management is also very flexible towards those employees that want to pursue advanced or higher education during evenings and weekends. In fact certain departmental heads have been know to encourage their sub-ordinates to enroll in masters program and further their careers. Compensation Planning for Employees Compensation is basically what the company pays someone to entice them to continue to do work for the company – it is a critical facet of any managers job. Compensation includes many things beyond straight salary. It also includes benefits, perks, stock options, etc. The company has to balance what these cost against what the employees perceives as their value, and that varies by employee. Mobilink is well known in the corporate world for its very competitive remuneration and fringe benefits. These go a long way in keeping the employees loyal as well as motivated toward achievement of group and individual goals. This ultimately helps the organization grow ten fold. Mobilink measures compensation levels against other employees in the company, against other employees in other companies in similar positions, and against performances It then reevaluates the pay scale and if need be, a revision is carried out. Also Mobilink determines salary ranges for existing positions and adjusts those periodically to compensate for economic factors (cost of living changes, inflation) and competitive pressures (industry demand for that type of employee, profit margins, and of course the employee performance). Finally Mobilink complies with government regulations regarding discrimination, contractor versus employee determinations, and union and other contractual obligations. Organizing Organizing is the second function in the management cycle. Once strategic planning and management planning are implemented, organizing to get the job done is carried out. Organizing can be defined as the act of deploying the resources needed to achieve an identified goal or attain a desired result, including human resources. Principles of Organizing Organizing is based on the following five principles: Unity of command Span of control Delegation of authority Homogeneous assignment Flexibility Organizing Process The organizing process involves these five steps: Determining the tasks to be accomplished Subdividing major tasks into individual activities Assigning specific activities to individuals Providing necessary resources Designing the organizational relationships needed. In MOBILINK, these organizing activities flow from the top of the organization. The top management is concerned about how their plans are formally organized and every effort is made to maintain a strategic control in the organization. Qualities of a good organizer Management thinks strategically about their work while always keeping the final goal in mind and continually making contributions to the goal. This is especially important in the over all growth of the individual employees and ultimately of the company. A qualities working atmosphere include: Imagination Sense of Humor Blurred vision of a better world An organized personality Strong ego/sense of oneself A free, open mind, and political relativity Ability to create the new out of the old Organizational Structure The organizational structure of the company is that there is a board of directors. This board consist of the CEO and other top ranking officials of the Orascom Telecom group of companies in the world. Then Mobilink has the CEO, After him are the chiefs, below them are the directors for individual functional areas of the company. Below these there are the senior managers that look into coordination of overlapping activities and functions of the organization. Then there exist the managers, below these are the assistant managers, the associate levels one and two report to the assistant managers and finally there are field staff in the sales and marketing department. Mobilink consist of more then 650 franchise based distributors through out the country. The number of these distributions is growing with each passing quarter as newer locations and cities are brought into the Mobilink network. Organizational Chart Levels of Management The levels of management and supervisors as defined and developed at Mobilink is as follow. The directors act as direct supervisors for the middle and lower level managers. Above the directors there exist the chiefs that are highly specialized in their functions and demand through compliance of practices and procedures from their employees. Above the chiefs is the CEO who is steering the direction of Mobilink. Structures: Centralized versus Decentralized, Line versus Staff In MOBILINK, working productively and developing feelings of cooperation and effectiveness is one of the key most aspects of the staff functions. This means that not only right people for the right jobs are hired but also developing staff with in the organization so that they can become better managers and grow in their respective fields. In MOBILINK, There are four primary elements in designing an organizational structure: 1. Job specifications what each division/office/unit is responsible for 2. Departmentalization the grouping of jobs and responsibilities in common sectors with the objective of achieving coordination 3. Span of control a definition of how many job roles should be in each unit and which roles require coordination by a unit manager 4. Delegation of authority assigning the right to make decisions without having to obtain approval from a supervisor The resulting organizational structure will vary according to these four elements. An organization with decentralized authority and very heterogeneous departments will appear very different from one with centralized authority and a very homogeneous product. Practical Aspects of Directing Teams When directing a small team it is important to structure the tasks to be performed. Goals should be easily understood by everyone and tasks broken down so that they appear achievable. Nothing will be more demoralizing for ther team than setting them a task which seems impossible. Therefore it is important to define a task as a series of small but significant steps which seem realistic. As the person performs these broken-down steps he/she will still feel that something tangible has been accomplished, and the next step toward finishing will become clear. Goal analysis It is probable that the team leader will want to set goals for the team or project. One such goal may be to improve communications amongst the team. Clearly there will be many different interpretations of this goal by different team members. Goal analysis seeks to remove this ambiguity. Goal analysis should define an abstract goal in terms of concrete criteria, which when met will clearly demonstrate that the goal has been achieved. The criteria should be expressed in terms of actions or results rather than abstractions (which may be ambiguous). There are 5 steps: Write down the goal. At this stage the goal is an abstract thing, and it is important not to worry too much about how the goal is written down a rough definition or idea will suffice. Without editing or judging describe the goal. Get team members to quickly describe what they understand by the goal. At this stage all suggestions should be noted down no ideas are wrong or stupid. This is similar to the technique of brainstorming. Sort. Sort out the ideas generated by 2 into an ordered or prioritised list which defines the goal. At this stage it may become apparent that some ideas are abstractions but are still important. If this is the case use steps 1 and 2 to clearly define these. State each action or result obtained from the step above Make the team read and try to understand the list from step just above this. Test the statements. Ask the question When these all statements have been demonstrated to be true, will the goal have been achieved? Test each statement in turn for relevance. If the answer is yes then the goal has been defined. Factors in Leadership There are many factors involved with good leadership. We view how each of these factors is involved with the way a leader leads. Motivation The key to holding the team together is motivation. In simple terms, motivation can be considered as the amount of effort an individual is willing to put into their work. Therefore, it is important to ensure that any team is highly motivated towards their work. A lack of motivation in any member of a team can have a negative affect, reducing the groups effectiveness and possibly leading to the de-motivation of others. Given the fact that different people are motivated in different ways, the problem facing someone in the role of leader is to create an environment in which each individual fulfils their potential. It is important to highlight the major influences in the motivation of people. According to the influential motivator-hygiene theory, motivation occurs when people have job satisfaction. Job satisfaction can be improved by increasing opportunities for: Achievement Recognition Responsibility Career advancement While not increasing job satisfaction, improvements in the following areas can lessen job dissatisfaction: Supervision Salary Working conditions Six Steps to Motivation Utilized by Mobilink The following steps can be taken to help achieve and maintain group motivation: Provide opportunities for group members to become acquainted. Indicate the importance/value of the group. Make people feel they are important.