Telenor Organization Structure and Culture

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report aims to study the organizational design in depth and its various parameters. For this

purpose,

an

organization

from

telecom

industry is being selected. Telenor is a well established organization which started its operations in April 2004. This report is an

in

depth

components

analysis of

of

the

organizational

three design

major that

includes organizational structure, its culture and processes. management

Along and

with its

that

personnel

characteristics

are

discussed in detail. Since strategies resulting variables are use to determine the effectiveness of any organization. The main purpose is to analyze the changing workplace behavior and its effect on the organization itself. Most of the information is gathered from primary research. An interview was conducted with Ms. _______________ who helped us in understanding the organizational design.

i _________________________________ _______________________________________

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We thank Allah Almighty, who is beneficial and merciful, and whose blessings enabled us to complete this activity. We can’t find words to express our gratitude and appreciation to Ms. _______, an employee at Telenor,

who

provided

us

with such

useful

information and for giving us an insight about the workings of corporate world. We admire and respect our parents’ who had faith in us. Their never-ending prayers made us worthy of completing this activity. It is difficult to put in few words our deepest feeling of gratitude and appreciation to our course coordinator Mr. Saulat Hussain for his constant guidance, valuable suggestions and consistent encouragement. We

are

also

participated

in

thankful this

to

activity

our and

friends helped

who us

throughout. Sincere thanks to all.

ii _________________________________ _______________________________________

Letter of Transmittal Sir, Enclosed in this report is what was required by you. We have tried our best to use our knowledge and capabilities to meet your requirement. Kindly excuse us if there is any kind of mistake. Thanks Yours obediently, ALI FAROOQI

iii _________________________________ _______________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................iv BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................1 ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN ................................................................2 Functionally efficient.......................................................................................................2 Economically viable.........................................................................................................2 Environmentally aligned..................................................................................................2 Growth promoting............................................................................................................2 Change responsiveness....................................................................................................3 Individual work................................................................................................................3 Work-organization...........................................................................................................3 Organizational environment.............................................................................................3 CULTURE ...............................................................................................................5 APPARENT CULTURE ..............................................................................................6 Formal .............................................................................................................................6 Official rules....................................................................................................................6 TYPES OF CULTURE ...............................................................................................7 Communal culture............................................................................................................7 Customer service culture..................................................................................................7 Diversity culture...............................................................................................................8 Creativity culture.............................................................................................................9 STATEMENT OF ITS VALUES OR PHILOSOPHY ............................10 Make it easy...................................................................................................................10 Keep promises................................................................................................................10 Be inspiring....................................................................................................................11 Be respectful..................................................................................................................11 ETHICS ...................................................................................................................11 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE ......................................13 Hierarchical levels ........................................................................................................13 Structure of Telenor Pakistan .........................................13 Span of control...............................................................................................................13 Chain of command.........................................................................................................14 Integration......................................................................................................................14 Departmentalization.......................................................................................................14 Standardization..............................................................................................................15 Centralization and decentralization................................................................................16 Empowerment................................................................................................................16 Conflict resolution.........................................................................................................16 Formalization ................................................................................................................17 Flow of information.......................................................................................................17 TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................................................18 EDGE network in Pakistan............................................................................................18 Bill payments through Easy Paisa..................................................................................18 iv _________________________________ _______________________________________

Blackberry Service.........................................................................................................19 Technology and Organizational Effectiveness..................................................................19 Input...............................................................................................................................19 Conversion: ...................................................................................................................19 Output............................................................................................................................20 Technical complexity and Organization Structure............................................................20 High technical complexity.............................................................................................20 Climate-friendly technology and virtual travel..................................................................20 COMPONENTS OF PROCESS ............................................................................................................................................21 RECOMMENDATIONS ...........................................................................................23

v _________________________________ _______________________________________

BACKGROUND

Telenor Pakistan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telenor ASA, with telecom operations in 14 countries Telenor acquired the license for providing GSM services in Pakistan in April 2004, and had launched its services commercially in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi on 15 March 2005, and on 23 March 2005. Telenor has its corporate headquarters in Islamabad, with regional offices in Karachi and Lahore. On January 28, 2005, Telenor established its first call centre in Lahore. Maintaining a wide coverage in the country, with 500 destinations covered within less than 16 months of the company’s launch, it is the 2nd largest network of Pakistan after Mobilink with a subscriber base of 21.29 million as of July 2009 (PTA figures). Telenor Pakistan considers Mobilink as its major competitor. It is spread across the country with a network of 15 company-owned sales and service centers, more than 200 franchisees and some 100,000 retail outlets selling subscriptions and refills achieving a 200% increase in the subscriber base in 2006 and planning for further expansion of network and services. It is currently providing prepaid, postpaid and value-added services. Its packages include: − TalkShawk − Telenor Persona − Djuice. Telenor Pakistan CEO states:

1 _________________________________ _______________________________________

“Telenor Pakistan is obviously different from the competition. Our culture is different, our values are different and our focus on the fundamentals of business is different. Telenor Pakistan is fully involved with its key stakeholders and trusted as a friend of the community.”

ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN

Organization design is the formal, guided process for integrating the people, information and technology of an organization. Keeping this in view some of important characteristics of Telenor’s organization design are:

Functionally efficient Telenor is a functionally efficient in terms of its input and output as it provides all the required services and products to its customer by fully utilizing its technologies and other resources.

Economically viable Telenor is second largest GSM provider in Pakistan and is generating large profit through effective cost management.

Environmentally aligned Telenor Pakistan is very much environmentally aligned. It is very sensitive to the socio-cultural environment of Pakistan. It ha adopted it to the culture and environment of Pakistan through its advertising and socially responsible behavior.

Growth promoting

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In Telenor Pakistan there are continuous growth and development chances for its members. The company ensures a secure career development for its employees.

Change responsiveness Telenor Pakistan is very sensitive to the changes taking place in its surroundings. It keeps on anticipating and responding to the changes continuously through its unique services. The design of the Telenor Pakistan ensures the congruency among the following subsets.

Individual work From

the

employees

of

Telenor

it

has

been

confirmed

that

organizational design of the company provides them with the opportunities of learning, growth, accomplishment and self-fulfillment. Due to which they work with full commitment to give their best to the organization.

Work-organization The design of the work units and the job are supported by the strategic objectives of the company. They ensure the full motivation of the employees.

Organizational environment Since environment is continuously changing. To compete effectively it is necessary the design of the organization should be able to adjust emerging demand of the changing environment. Telenor organizational

3 _________________________________ _______________________________________

design is flexible which adjust itself with the changes taking place outside the organization to compete effectively.

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CULTURE

The culture at Telenor is top down, the top employees establishes the tone of the organization. The top level employees take good care while performing any task or action, because it will have to be followed by the subordinates. Things are properly informed. There is no means of getting misinformation. The employees are provided with the recreational activities, by sending to hilly areas to get fresh and also perform certain work tasks which are to be completed in normal routine. They get motivated well by having recreational activities. The employees are provided by complete resources that if they move from one place, they move as an office, they are provided with laptops as well. Telenor Pakistan consists of energetic, youthful, and dedicated employees. An appropriate match is required between the culture and employees at recruitment and hiring. If people excellence (human resource department of Telenor) feels that a person will not be unable to adjust into the organization’s environment, even if he/she is performing functionally well, the person is rejected. The dynamic group of people sharing similar mindsets, love being with each other and meet on other occasions if unable to meet during work hours. They employees can be seen roaming around till 9 at night. Primarily culture comes from the top management. CEO of Telenor Pakistan is humble and cooperative. The employees get the message that if the top management is accommodating then the employees should behave similarly. The values of humbleness and free interaction

5 _________________________________ _______________________________________

in

putting

forth

ideas

to

a

harmonious

culture

and

efficient

communication. The management is easily accessible to discuss various issues. It is difficult to distinguish between them as the culture is so homogenous that it keeps everyone at par with others. The Human Resource at Telenor Pakistan is their core competency. The reason is that the employees create a culture and all the achievements of Telenor are attributed to its flexible culture. It is necessary to motivate and retain this asset of the organization. For this purpose, training and compensation is provided to employees along with other motivational techniques.

APPARENT CULTURE Formal The culture at Telenor is quite flexible, which is most suitable for the employees on the other hand ensuring all the targets is met. Employees are not bound to follow a dress code unless they are to attend a formal meeting. This culture has been set by the CEO himself and the new employees coming into the organization have no difficulties in adjusting into it.

Official rules At

Telenor

Pakistan,

the

level

of

standardization

and

mutual

adjustment varies across functions. Generally strict obedience to rules is not required as long as results are not affected. As long as individual responsibilities and deadlines are met, there are flexible hours of work. Work is important instead of the number of hours worked. Employees can select their work timings which can even be from afternoon to evening. Instead of being bound by office hours, a sense of

6 _________________________________ _______________________________________

responsibility is inculcated in them to achieve self assigned goals. This brings a sense of comfort in working in such organizational structure. Rules and procedures are present to control the behavior of employees and to facilitate smooth working of the organization. A level of standardization is required to be maintained in certain vital functions such as Budget Control. SOPs are documented in the case of the financial control or HR related policies.

TYPES OF CULTURE

A blend of different type of culture is practiced at Telenor. Since they believe every type has its own advantages and disadvantages. They try to use the right ones in the right manner and at the right time to improve efficiency.

Communal culture The culture at Telenor is communal. Everyone is integrated in decision making. Employees are empowered. The employees are friendly to one another. Employees are being empowered to carry out the task they way they like to. The only concern is the accomplishment of required goals. Being empowered, employees feel part of Telenor. As a result they work hard since they consider organization’s success to be their success. Whenever an employee has a new idea, he/she is encouraged to approach the management and share it with them. Idea drop boxes are also placed at various locations where employees leave their suggestions

Customer service culture

7 _________________________________ _______________________________________

Telenor believes that its success mainly depends on the level of satisfaction of customers. The more the customers are satisfied, the more customers they will be able to attract and retain. As a result, their profits and market share will increase. Telenor’s aim is to keep the customers satisfied as much as it can. For this reason they have Customer Relation Department or Customer Service Centre the different customer queries and complaints are raised daily by number of customers which are dealt by this department. Sometimes, the employee’s frustration increases as the workload or customer queries increases. This issue is dealt with care at Telenor. Since the management believes that in service industry, customer delight can only be achieved if the employees are satisfied. Only a satisfied employee can handle the customer with care.

Diversity culture Telenor Pakistan is keen to promote diversity and has achieved good results in this area. Telenor has developed requirements for diversity in both recruitment and management development programs. There is an appropriate blend of less seasoned and experienced employees. No quota has been assigned; the best-fit candidate (according to the job requirements) is employed. At the office level or call centers, even fresh graduates are apt but the director level requires a masters degree and preferably some work experience. Telenor Pakistan has a large proportion of females who are recruited for internal leadership development programs and executive positions on the basis of past performance. The organization is working on Day Care Centers to help 8 _________________________________ _______________________________________

female employees manage their responsibilities after settling down. Relocation issues are dealt cooperatively when female individuals move out of the city after marriage and wish to continue working. They are relocated and facilitated in the new city. There is an effective hiring process. Only those people are hired which the HR department would believe can easily blend into the culture of the organization. This ensures harmony within the whole culture effectively manages diversity.

Creativity culture Innovation and novelty, mainly in the areas of business processes, customer satisfaction and goal setting, is highly encouraged at Telenor. Employees are also motivated to come up with innovative ideas and to convey them to the upper management. If the ideas are feasible enough to be implemented then they are applied to respective areas and the employees are duly rewarded for their contributions. For example the sales personnel have a greater interaction with customers and knowledge of their needs. They can convey this information to the management who can use it to design better consumer packages. Efficiency is achieved through maximum utilization of resources and also through adherence to goals set by the top management. Telenor introduced the Six Sigma program for the improvement of its business operations in the very first year of its operations in Pakistan. This has helped the organization in maintaining its quality standards and also in the up gradation of its business processes. Telenor Pakistan is a young and progressive organization which has a multitude of strengths in its existing organizational design. There are still a few weaknesses which can affect the organization in the long-

9 _________________________________ _______________________________________

run. Beginning with the strengths, there are no communication barriers. There are seven layers in the organization so one would believe that there would be a lot of communication barriers between the employees and their superiors but that is not the case. The policies adopted ensure that there are no communication barriers present. They include an open door policy and open work environment where the managers sit with their sub-ordinates and do not have separate offices. Also employees of the same level have no cubicles so it helps in enhancing the communication amongst them. Employees are encouraged to take initiatives and come up with new ideas. Empowerment exists. Also these ideas can easily be communicated to their superiors. Employees are free to express themselves. The span of control also suggests that not all powers rest with any particular individual. In projects people are encouraged to come up with the best possible solutions and the manager just oversees the performance of employees. The SOPs and guidelines have to be followed in order to ensure smooth functioning of all departments.

STATEMENT OF ITS VALUES OR PHILOSOPHY

The statement of values or philosophy which is commonly known as to be the core values of Telenor has been made. It includes four points n which Telenor operates worldwide:

Make it easy We are practical. We don’t complicate things. Everything we produce should be easy to understand and use. Because we never forget we’re trying to make customers’ lives easier.

Keep promises

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Everything we set out to do should work, or if it doesn’t, we are here to help. We are about delivery, not over promising, actions not words.

Be inspiring We are creative. We strive to bring energy to the things we do. Everything we produce should look good, modern and fresh. We are passionate about our business and customers.

Be respectful We acknowledge and respect local cultures. We do not impose one formula worldwide. We want to be a part of local communities whenever we operate. We believe loyalty has to be earned.

ETHICS While making any decision, Telenor Pakistan has been ethically conscious. Since Telenor (the parent company) has its origin in Norway, a society with a soft-oriented and feminine culture, Telenor Pakistan acknowledged its moral and ethical duty towards its stakeholders and society. Telenor Pakistan will not resort to bribery or illegal offers to accept any decision, values will not be compromised. If the organization believes it is not ethically right, it will never take that decision. In most of the advertisement, they project themselves as the care taker of the values of Pakistani people, so they claim to cherish the core cultural norms and values of the Pakistani people. When the cartoon controversy arose, Telenor condemned such action mocking religious beliefs and portrayed this on their building.

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12 _________________________________ _______________________________________

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Hierarchical levels The organic structure of Telenor Pakistan promotes cultural values that result in integration and coordination. Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined at the time of joining the organization; employees are selected against defined criteria. Roles can be added later but employees have a fair idea about their job responsibilities from the beginning.

Structure

of

Telenor

Pakistan

Span of control Span of Control is determined by the role and job responsibilities of managers. It varies from department to department. On average, the

13 _________________________________ _______________________________________

span of control is 4-5 people under a manager. There are two types of span of control: − Wide span of control − Narrow span of control The HR and finance department have a narrow span of control but marketing and customer relation have a wide span of control.

Chain of command Chain of command means a continuous line of authority extending from top to bottom. Telenor Pakistan has a clear chain of command which helps in getting good results for Telenor.

Integration Cross-functional teams are a major integrating mechanism. Further there are temporary project teams. Team-building is enhanced by Away Days when members of different divisions and departments take some days away from work to meet other geographically spread employees of Telenor. Sometimes the whole department goes away from work for 2-3 days to have fun. Employees get to know those with whom they have communicated before but not met in person. Formal team evaluation does not exist. Employees on teams are rewarded individually.

Departmentalization Telenor Pakistan has several departments in its organization. Each department has its own importance. Some of the departments are as follows:

14 _________________________________ _______________________________________

− Customer Relation Department − Human Resource Department − Marketing Department − Finance Department − Information Technology Department

Standardization At

Telenor

Pakistan,

the

level

of

standardization

and

mutual

adjustment varies across functions. Generally strict obedience to rules is not required as long as results are not affected. As long as individual responsibilities and deadlines are met, there are flexible hours of work. Work is important instead of the number of hours worked. Employees can select their work timings which can even be from afternoon to evening. Instead of being bound by office hours, a sense of responsibility is inculcated in them to achieve self assigned goals. This brings a sense of comfort in working in such organizational structure. Rules and procedures are present to control the behavior of employees and to facilitate smooth working of the organization. A level of standardization is required to be maintained in certain vital functions such as Budget Control. SOPs (standard operating procedures) are documented in the case of the financial control or HR related policies. Genuine requests from external customers are taken into account by the CRO (Customer Relationship Officer) at Service Centers. The CRO does all they can or is possible within authority to process the request or complaint. If the customer’s request is beyond the authority of the CRO, then managers are there to aid the customer or provide some sort of non monetary compensation to appease him.

15 _________________________________ _______________________________________

Centralization and decentralization Apart from strategy, all other functions are de-centralized. People at Telenor Pakistan are motivated to take their responsibilities especially in cross functional projects. Managers in each department oversee that the employees take up their roles and duties and their performance is monitored accordingly.

Empowerment The level of empowerment differs across departments and divisions, depending on the nature of work. It varies according to the style of management of functions. IT increases the level of empowerment. Within the network service of the Telenor in Pakistan, there is a (inter and intra net) portal system used to communicate information efficiently. An online HR MS System is being used internally. This locally built system was launched last year but is still not well integrated at present.

Conflict resolution When different departments work together in an organization, their interests may differ due to functional and structural differences. Due to these variations, conflicts among departments are inevitable. The issues are not taken to the top management and there is no coordination

post

in

the

organization

which

can

facilitate

the

departments to increase coordination with each other. Whenever a conflict arises among functions, the heads or managers from those functions sit together and discuss the source of conflict. They try to resolve all their differences amicably. If, however, a major issue arises which they are unable to resolve themselves then it is taken to a level higher. The management then discusses the reason for the conflict,

16 _________________________________ _______________________________________

addresses the concerns of both the parties and then arrives at a conclusion which is in the interest of all departments.

Formalization There is no formalization at Telenor Pakistan. High level and lower administration work together as a team.

Flow of information Telenor has very liberal and free flowing information unless it is not private. This helps in breaking the communication barriers and generation of new and innovative ideas from employees. The free flow of information also helps them in understanding the current situation to act accordingly.

17 _________________________________ _______________________________________

TECHNOLOGY

Telenor Pakistan for further enhancements in technology especially in data capability over the core GPRS / GSM network will be provided in both networks with the installation of Enhanced Data for Global (GSM) Evolution technology. This component of the two systems will be installed after the initial roll-outs and will allow the subscribers to have the use of advanced mobile services such as downloading video and music clips, full multimedia messaging, high-speed color Internet access and email on the move.

EDGE network in Pakistan EDGE is a 3G technology that can delivers broadband-like data speeds to mobile devices. It allows subscribers to send and receive data, including digital images, web pages and photographs, three times faster than that possible with an ordinary GSM / GPRS network. Using EDGE, operators can handle three times more subscribers than GPRS, triple their data rate per subscriber, or add extra capacity to their voice communications.

Bill payments through Easy Paisa The way the organization converts its Like, Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank together have announced the launch of Easypaisa, a uniquely convenient and safe way for everyone to carry out financial transactions. Easypaisa users will have the freedom to make bill payments and send and receive money at thousands of outlets and in addition manage their bank accounts over their mobile phones. Easypaisa combines the best from the financial and mobile

18 _________________________________ _______________________________________

sectors, offering the first branchless banking solution of its kind in Pakistan

and

neighboring

countries.

The

Telenor

Group

is

an

international provider of high quality telecommunication, data and media communication services.

Blackberry Service Telenor and Research In Motion (RIM) announced the launch of the BlackBerry solution in Pakistan. This technology smartphones, software and services to allow easy wireless access to email, messaging, phone, organiser, web and multimedia applications, as well as thousands of other business and lifestyle applications. Telenor customers in Pakistan will now be able to enjoy the freedom and productivity benefits of using BlackBerry®smartphones to stay connected to people and information on the go. All this shows that technology exist al all the levels of Telenor And they are using state of the art technology. Telenor is pioneer in many things They were also the first ones to reach remote areas where no other telecom company had courage to Go.

Technology and Organizational Effectiveness Technology usage at Telenor is for creating high value for the firm by making sure its presence in all the organizational activities of Telenor.

Input By the use of technology at input level enables the each organizational function of Telenor to handle relationships with outside stakeholders so that the Telenor can effectively manage its specific environment.

Conversion: 19 _________________________________ _______________________________________

Technology helps to transforms inputs into outputs (high valued services).

Output Use of technology at output level allows the Telenor to effectively dispose of services to external stakeholders

Technical

complexity

and

Organization

Structure As far as technical complexity of Telenor is concern it governs:

High technical complexity The conversion processes at Telenor for providing out in the form of services can be programmed in advance and it is fully automated. An organic structure is the appropriate structure for this type of technology as we know that the Telenor Pakistan is more inclined towards the organic structure.

Climate-friendly technology and virtual travel As part of the climate change strategy, Telenor aims to increase awareness of climate-friendly technology. In several of the markets they offer mobile music stores. Downloading music instead of purchasing CDs helps to reduce CO2 emissions. Products and services also include alternatives to physical travel, such as holding virtual meetings, video conferences and phone conferences.

20 _________________________________ _______________________________________

COMPONENTS

OF

PROCESS

Innovation mainly in the areas of business processes, customer satisfaction and goal setting, is highly encouraged at Telenor. Employees are also motivated to come up with innovative ideas and to convey them to the upper management. If the ideas are feasible enough to be implemented then they are applied to respective areas and the employees are duly rewarded for their contributions. Efficiency is achieved through maximum utilization of resources and also through obedience to goals set by the top management. Telenor introduced the Six Sigma program for the improvement of its business operations in the very first year of its operations in Pakistan. This has helped the organization in maintaining its quality standards and also in the up gradation of its business processes. Telenor Pakistan is a young and progressive organization which has a multitude of strengths in its existing organizational design. There are still a few weaknesses which can affect the organization in the long-run. There are no communication barriers. There are seven layers in the organization so one would believe that there would be a lot of communication barriers between the employees and their superiors but that is not the case. The policies adopted ensure that there are no communication barriers present. They include an open door policy and open work environment where the managers sit with their subordinates and do not have separate offices. Also employees of the same

level

have

no

cubicles

so

it

helps

in

enhancing

the

communication amongst them.

21 _________________________________ _______________________________________

Employees are encouraged to take initiatives and come up with new ideas:

empowerment

exists.

Also

these

ideas

can

easily

be

communicated to their superiors. Employees are free to express themselves. The span of control also suggests that not all powers rest with any particular individual. In projects people are encouraged to come up with the best possible solutions and the manager just oversees the performance of employees. The SOPs and guidelines have to be followed in order to ensure smooth functioning of all departments Strong integration with in the organization has been a key success

factor. All conflicts are managed by the concerning departments and if not they are taken one level above but there have been no such cases which have been reported to the CEO. The managers of the concerned departments sit and come up with a solution which is acceptable to both the departments. Social gatherings also help in enhancing the integrating capabilities of the organization. Employees are evaluated on the basis of individual evaluation. Even when they are working in a group this ensures that there are no free riders. Underperforming employees are provided with counseling sessions or shifted to another position where they can perform in a more effective manner. All employees are assigned specific roles and responsibilities for which they are held accountable. There are no specific work hours but employees are supposed to meet the specific deadline. This also increases the motivation level of the employees as they are not bound yet increases their level of productivity as they are motivated. This results in effective evaluation. Similarly there is an effective hiring process. Only those people are hired which the HR

department would believe can easily blend into the culture of the 22 _________________________________ _______________________________________

organization. This ensures harmony within the whole culture effectively manages diversity. All the point discussed above lead to a flexible culture which is most suitable for the employees on the other hand ensuring all the targets is met. Employees are not bound to follow a dress code unless they are to attend a formal meeting. This culture has been set by the CEO himself and the new employees coming into the organization have no difficulties in adjusting into it.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Dealing with challenges requires a coordinated effort so that the company is able to sustain itself in the ever-changing competitive environment and continues to provide superior value to the customers. The group recommends the following: − There should be an effective employee exchange program even at the level of middle management so the organization can share the level of skill and expertise at all levels with the parent company −

Introduction of employees stock options would further enhance the motivation level because then the employees too would have a stake in the organization.

− ·In their workforce there should be a quota for the disabled people. This is currently being practiced in the parent company.

23 _________________________________ _______________________________________

This would enhance the image of the organization being socially responsible

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