Corporate Culture in Bangladesh

Acknowledgement

I have incurred many debts of gratitude over the last three months while preparing this report. First and foremost, we would like to pay my gratitude to the almighty Allah for giving me ability to work hard.

I would like to thank Mr. Md. Waliul Islam, Manager Branding, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, for giving me required information.

I would like to thank Mr. Md. Mostafa Jamal Galib, Head of Inbound Call Management Center, Grameen Phone Limited, for giving me required information.

I also like to thank Mr. H. A. Z. M. Mahegir, Vice President Dhanmondi Branch of Standard Bank Ltd. for giving me for giving me required information.

Finally I express my earnest gratitude to my course instructor of International Business Mr. ..his guidance, suggestions to prepare this report.

The responsibilities of errors and omission on this report, if any, are mine alone.

Executive Summary

Basically corporate culture can identify & influence corporate agility and financial success in the organization. If corporate culture can establish truly in the organization it can contribute a lot for organization success. On the other hand misunderstanding or misuse the corporate culture can bring to disaster for the company. Corporate cultures have both gross and subtle manifestations that provide clues to the underlying norms and beliefs. Give attention to the working environment, communication paths, and even the level of humor in a company can give hint of the dominant organizational culture. Actually Identification & understanding the culture is necessary to affect the large scale changes in response to market imperatives. In the Business society corporate culture is significantly important to identify norms, values and principles in the mean time of doing business. So it strongly influences in the corporate environment in the office. In Bangladesh the corporate culture concept is a newly established in the office environment which has enlightens our business environment with different cultures of different corporations. In our country we have rich cultural norms, values, tradition and festival. So it is totally influenced by the cultural adore. Now a days maximum company both domestic and multinational (MNC) is trying to maintain and reconcile with the common culture & corporate culture. So they are following which type of corporate strategies to maintain a rich working environment which will be productive and overall healthy for the corporation or company.

Introduction to the Report:

Rationale of the Study:
Corporate culture concept is a newly established in Bangladesh in the office environment which has enlightens our business environment. We have rich cultural norms, values, tradition and festival. Now a days maximum company both domestic and multinational (MNC) is trying to maintain and reconcile with the common culture & corporate culture. So they are following which type of corporate strategies to maintain a rich working environment which will be productive and overall healthy for the corporation or company.

Statement of the Problems:

An Evaluation of Corporate Culture of different types of company in Bangladesh.

Scope of the Study:

Actually there has lot of scope for the study this topic like British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Grameen Phone Ltd., Standard Bank Ltd. websites has huge collective information also branches has lot of documents, articles, journals to know about this topic.

Limitations of the Study:

Time limitation Availability of data. Code of conduct of the company.

Objective:
To analyze corporate culture practices of British American Tobacco

Bangladesh, Grameen Phone Ltd., Standard Bank Ltd. in Bangladesh.

To find out the problems regarding corporate culture practices of British

American Tobacco Bangladesh, Grameen Phone Ltd., Standard Bank Ltd.

 To visionary recommendations that may be necessary to redesign the

corporate culture practices of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Grameen Phone Ltd., Standard Bank Ltd.

Methodology of the Report:

Both primary and secondary data will be used for the research purpose. Primary data will be collected through personal interviews and surveys. The survey will include questionnaire containing open-ended and close-ended questions. The secondary data will include Internet browsing, bank prospectus, annual business plan, annual report, annual managers conference, news clips, article, journal etc. Questionnaire Survey: Questionnaire is developed in order to explore findings supporting the abovementioned topic. The questionnaire is made with simple, direct and familiar words, keeping the respondents in mind. Personal interviews of some employees in British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Grameen Phone Ltd., Standard Bank Ltd. For sampling purpose I sampling randomly & took 20 respondents. Data Analysis: For the data analysis I use computer Microsoft Office.

Introduction: Definition of Organizational Culture:

Organizational culture is an idea in the field of organizational studies and management which describes the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization. It can be defined as "the specific collection of values and norms which shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.

Strong culture: Strong culture help firms operate like well-oiled machines, cruising along with outstanding execution and perhaps minor tweaking of existing procedures here and there. Weak culture: Weak culture has little alignment with organizational values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy.

Elements of Organizational Culture:

1) Organizational Values:
Values reflect what we feel is important. Organizations may have core values that reflect what is important in the organization. These values may be guiding principles of behavior for all members in the organization.

2) Organizational Beliefs:
Beliefs that are part of an organization's culture may include beliefs about the best ways to achieve certain goals such as increasing productivity and job motivation.

3) Organizational Norms:
Norms reflect the typical and accepted behaviors in an organization. They may reflect the values and beliefs of the organization. They may reflect how certain tasks are generally expected to be accomplished, the attributes of the work environment, the typical ways that people communicate in the organization, and the typical leadership styles in the organization.

Characteristics of organizational culture:

Strong communication with all employees regarding policies and company issues.

Equal opportunity for each employee to realize their full potential within the company. Acceptance and appreciation for diversity. Regard for and fair treatment of each employee as well as respect for each employees contribution to the company. Employee pride and enthusiasm for the organization and the work performed.

Definition of Corporate Culture:

Basically corporate culture is the collective behavior of people using common corporate vision, goals, shared values, beliefs, habits, working language, systems & symbols. Actually it is the collective beliefs, value systems, and processes that provide a company with its own unique flavor and attitude. Businesses of all sizes posses some type of corporate culture, in that every company has a set of values and goals that help to define what the business is all about.

Incubator:

Existence precedes organization Aim at self-expression and self-fulfillment Personal and egalitarian Minimal hierarchy. Creative, innovative.

Guided Missile:

Highly egalitarian Task-oriented, impersonal Team approach emphasized Performance emphasized. Loyalty to professions. Motivation intrinsic.

Family

Personal, close face-to-face relationship. Power-oriented. Home-like work atmosphere. Long-term relationships of employee to company.

Eiffel Tower

Structure more important than function. Leader is boss. Relationships specific. Highly bureaucratic. Rules dominate. Careers depend upon professional qualifications.

Difference

between

Corporate

Culture

and

Organizational Culture:
Corporate culture and organizational culture have very little difference; they are used somewhat interchangeably in describing accepted norms in companies and organizations. Just as different countries value different lifestyles and social behaviors, the acceptable code of conduct may vary greatly depending on the organization. This basic organizational culture makes it possible to develop other layers of corporate culture based on these foundational factors. Above and beyond organizational and procedural factors, corporate culture is further informed by the attitude of everyone involved with the organization.

Corporate Culture and Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is a developing country with numerous numbers of populations. So our corporate market is big and has the interest of the business organization in this country is tremendous. Mainly MNCs (Multinational Corporation) has a tremendous interest of making profits from this market. So many of MNCs has entered into Bangladeshi market in Different industries. Beside MNCs our domestic companys corporate performance & profit maximizatio is also well. After the reincarnation of privatization in Bangladeshi economy, the private business organizations spread rapidly and changed the working environment. Government organizations are far behind in maintaining a good working environment than the private companies. The reason for this success of maintaining good trend of environment is: Efficient management body. Good skilled employee. Well working environment

 Strong organizational tree. Efficient recruitment policy and more. Strong and friendly working environment is the outcome of a strong corporate culture in Bangladesh. MNCs are the pathfinder of practicing unique corporate cultures with different corporations. Bangladesh has many industries and every industry maintain some common characteristics in their day to day corporate cultural practice. In Bangladeshi corporate culture one factor is clear, that is the CSR (Corporate Social responsibility). Every corporation in Bangladesh has some CSR achievements to develop the economy and social system in Bangladesh. To Contribute in CSR sector MNCs are far more ahead then our domestic corporations.

I- Part

Overview Bangladesh:

of

British

American

Tobacco

in

British American Tobacco in this part of the world can be traced back to 1910. The Company set up its first sales depot at Armanitola in Dhaka. After the partition of India in 1947 the company was established in 1949. It then became Bangladesh Tobacco Company Limited in 1972 immediately after Bangladeshs independence. In 1998, the Company changed its name and identity to British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Ltd.

Shareholders:
It is one of the first companies listed on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges. The British American Tobacco Group holds 65.91% of the shares in British American Tobacco Bangladesh. Other shareholders are the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Shadharan Bima Corporation, Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Shangstha, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, Sena Kalyan Shangstha and other members of the public.

Contributions:
British American Tobacco Bangladesh is one of the largest multinational companies in Bangladesh. Consequently, we are also the largest private sector tax payer in Bangladesh. In 2010, it contributed Tk. 46.27 billion in the form of Supplementary Duty, Value Added Tax (VAT) and other taxes to the national exchequer. Over time, they have successfully established the company contributing to economic, social and human resource development. It continues to move forward to deliver higher promises.

Corporate Culture of British American Tobacco Bangladesh:

Beliefs: British American Tobacco Bangladesh strives to be responsible companies wherever operate - that may be shareholders, employees, business partners or any other relevant internal and external stakeholders. To take responsibility is a way of life and that is why they believe success and responsibility go together. About Employees: British American Tobacco Bangladesh, difference is advantage and diversity is their strength. Employees more than 1,186 people directly and about 50,000 people indirectly as farmers, distributors and local suppliers. Moreover, around 900,000 retailers in the country sell our brands to earn their living. They take great pride in saying that they are one of the most preferred employers in the country. Having people from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds who support each others success makes us unique. It is their pool of talented people who give this place the wonderful and pleasant working environment that takes their forward every day.

Mutual Benefit:
The principle of Mutual Benefit is the basis on which we build relationships with stakeholders. Primarily in business to build long term shareholder value and believe the best way to do this is to seek to understand and take account of the needs of all stakeholders.

Good Corporate Conduct:

Good Corporate Conduct is the basis on which all businesses should be managed. Business success brings with it an obligation for high standards of behavior and integrity in everything do and wherever operate. These standards shall not be compromised for the sake of results.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of British American Tobacco in Bangladesh:

Afforestation:
They started afforestation programme in 1980 to conserve the forests and combat the negative impacts of climate change. Till now, they contributed around 67.5 million saplings throughout Bangladesh. This probably makes imitative the largest private sector driven afforestation programme in the country. Their endeavors have received several awards both at the National and Local Government levels. They will distribute four million saplings in 2011.

Safe Drinking Water Probaho:

Millions of people in Bangladesh, the only available drinking water are laced with arsenic and therefore extremely hazardous to health. Having recognised the gravity of the issue, they have stepped forward with the Probaho, Bangla for flow, project. Through Probaho, is aim to provide rural communities with safe drinking water. This initiative is also aligned with the Governments aim to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). Using Government approved community based water filtration technology, our 18 water filtration plants in Manikganj, Satkhira, Meherpur, Kushtia, Jhenidah, Tangail, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Chuadanga districts provide approximately 95,000 litres of pure drinking water for 47,000 people every day.

Sustainable Agriculture:
Supply chain starts with the hard work of around 34,000 registered farmers within the village community. Therefore, they try best to ensure that sources are sustainable and responsible. They aim to do this by proactively setting high standards for agricultural practices. Their initiatives include Green Manuring with Dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata) - an effective approach in enriching soil health and fertility. Dhaincha is also promoted as alternate fuel in leaf growing areas. Moreover, they have introduced Integrated Pest Management Clubs and Farmer Field Schools in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture Extension to educate of farmers about the adoption of Good Agriculture Practices.

Questionnaire Analysis:
Do you agree that corporate environment is very effective for company success?

Here 16 respondents agree that corporate environment is very effective for company
success. On the other hand 2 are disagreed & 3 are neutral. Do you think that corporate environment gives more pressure to work?

Here 8 respondents agree that corporate environment gives more pressure to work. On
the other hand 5 are disagreed & 7 are neutral.

Do you think that to survive corporate environment & promotion is being very competitive?

Here 18 respondents agree that to survive corporate environment & promotion is being
very competitive. On the other hand 0 are disagreed & 2 are neutral.

Recommendations:
British American Tobacco Bangladesh is well-established multinational

company in our country. Therefore, it is very tough to recommend on any aspect of the company. However, it is the requirement of the report so I have come up with few recommendations, after conducting the primary & secondary research. It as follows:

1. There should be a comprehensive policy for service holder & remove the obstacles that hinder their performance. 2. There should be Flexible working time.
3. The promotion should be based on performance and which preserved for

them.