1

Research Proposal

Topic:
To identify the customers satisfaction of Aarong:
A study on Aarong.



Submitted To
Md. Moniruzzaman Khan
Senior Lectruer
Faculty of Business Administration
Eastern University


Submitted By
Nasir Uddin
ID: 122200005
Section: 02



June 22, 2014
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Letter of Transmittal

June 22, 2014
Md. Moniruzzaman Khan
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Business Administration,
Eastern university

Subject: Submission of research proposal for BBA

Dear Sir,
A proposal for the research titled To identify the customers satisfaction of Aarong: A study
on aarong. Is here by submitted for your kind consideration. The research proposal is
submitted as the requirements to complete the course for Faculty of Business Administration
(BBA) program under your supervision.
It will be a great experience for me to work in aarong, which will provide me a chance to relate
the theoretical context with empirical evidence.
I hope that you will kindly go through my proposal, evaluate its probability and allow me to
execute the research. I expect your valuable guidance and information for the successful
completion of the study.
I take this opportunity to thank you to give me scope to submit the proposal and eagerly look
forward to perform my research activities under your guidance.

Yours sincerely
Nasiruddin
ID: 122200005
Sec: 2




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No. Content
Page
number
1.0
Phase 1: Feasibility study/ Exploratory research


Introduction 04

Background of the study 05

Logo 06

Scope of study & Limitation 06

Research aim and objectives 06

Hypotheses 07
2.0 Phase 2: Methodology
08

Data collection method 08

Conclusion and Inference 08

Research Question 10-13
3.0 Phase 3: Tentative work plan
09
Abstract 09
4.0 Phase 4: References
13


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Introduction
To provide a stable and gainful source of employment for the under privileged rural artisans, lift up
the traditional identity and the commitment of quality service
On the basis of these principal Aarong started its journey in Bangladesh. Aarong is an organization
that is dedicated to change the lives of disadvantages, promoting traditional products from
Bangladesh and opening the doors so their products can be exported. Throughout Bangladesh and in
international destinations, the name of Aarong is the synonym of quality originality and uniqueness.
The designer and the creators of the product range offered by Aarong, have not only established the
organization as leaders in deshi handicraft, but have also reignited interest and popularity for styles
and traditional crafts that are native to the country. It is the gracious blend of contemporary and
customary that ensures that each product is original and saleable in modern society. Aarong therefore
has thousands of artisans producing pottery work, jewelry, woven baskets, silk, leather items, brass
pieces and magnificent wood cravings. Today, few urban consumers will argue that Aarong is the
local Mecca for deshi handicraft. Aarongs product designs has brought consumer attention back to
the products and styles that are indigenous to Bangladesh, its designers blending the traditional with
the contemporary in a manner that has won instant consumer appeal, starting a revolution in trends
that has now been taken up by countless other boutiques and stores. Aarongs product designs focus
on the diverse types and textures of crafts and patterns that have been passed along from generation
to generation among weavers and artisans in craft hubs around the country.
The name of the organization Aarong is a Bangla word. It means a village fair or market. The
village fair provides craftsmen of all trades a marketplace to display and sell their traditional
handicrafts. The naming of Aarong as such upholds the organizations commitment to promote the
indigenous goods of our country, which are a part of our rich cultural and artistic heritage.
It is the handicraft marketing arm of BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement committee), the largest
NGO in Bangladesh. Aarong has created a village fair for the craftsmen of all trades come together to
exhibit and sale their traditional handicrafts.it helps vitalize the traditional craftsmanship and find a
wider market for their products nationally and internationally.
Established in 1978, Aarong is a fair trade organization dedicated to bring about positive changes in
the lives of disadvantaged artisans and underprivileged rural women by reviving and promoting
their skills and craft. Reaching out to weavers, potters, brass workers, jewelers, jute workers, basket
weavers, wood carvers, leather workers and more, Aarong embraces and nurtures a diverse
representation of 65,000 artisans, 85% of whom are women. Today, Aarong has become the
foundation upon which independent cooperative groups and family-based artisans market their
craft, in an effort to position the nations handicraft industry on a world platform of appreciation
and acknowledgement. Over the years, Aarong has earned a name as one of the finest rural craft
producers and marketer in home and abroad

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Background of the Organization
Aarong began as a cause a means to an end for a quiet organization fighting to uphold the dignity
of the marginalized. In 1976, when BRAC- a Bangladeshi NGO dedicated to alleviating poverty and
empowering the poor, first began encouraging sericulture for women in Manikganj, their only buyers
were a few scattered retailers in Dhaka. Weeks, even months would pass between supply and
payment, until BRAC intervened. Aarong was born out of a need to ensure that the penniless silk
farmers of Manikganj were paid for their goods upon delivery, so that they could feed their families.
Today, Aarong's reach has spread beyond Manikganj to the rest of the country. It has grown into a
thriving international enterprise showcasing ethnic wear to beautiful crafts from silks, handloom
cotton, endi to terracotta, bamboo, jute and much more. From a single shop, Aarong has grown into
one of Bangladesh's biggest retail chains, with eight stores spread across the major metropolitan
areas of the country - in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Sylhet and one in London, UK.
Aarong symbolizes fairness in the global village. The organization has identified three basic
constraints for gainful employment of the low income and marginalized people in the rural areas:
lack of working capital, marketing support and opportunity for skills development. In order to bridge
these gaps, Aarong provides a wide range of services to its workers and suppliers:
Spot payment on product delivery to encourage efficiency and productivity
Reach out to producers in remote areas to ensure fair value for their efforts
Marketing communication and information for artisans
Advances against purchase orders where necessary
Training & Education in skills development to raise product quality and marketability
Product Design and Support in Product Development
Quality Control to increase producer awareness of the importance of quality

These values reflect fair trade principles which have been developed by registered Fair Trade
Organizations. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to,
and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers in Bangladesh.
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Logo: The logo of Aarong is an image of peacock.it is
spectacularly beautiful because of the brilliant, iridescent,
diversified colorful pattern in its tail. The color of the peacock in
the logo is orange because it represents energy. By this logo
Aarong communicates that its products are as stunning and as
unique as a peacock. Moreover it wants to emphasize its natural,
eco-friendly products through the emblem.



Scope: To conduct this research I did not visit different outlets of Aarong. I just gather
information from employees of Aarong Head Office. Furthermore I did not sit with all employees of
Aarong Head Office.


Limitations: For preparing this report some difficulties have been faced. These difficulties can
be considered as limitations. The limitations are as follows:

Unavailability of Updated Information: The organogram presented in this report is as of
2008. They are working on creating new organogram. And they were still working on it till my
internship ended up.

Restriction on Publishing Information: There is some financial data presented in this report.
These data are not accurately published. The amounts are changed by the organization. So there was
restriction on publishing confidential data.

Objective of the project:
There are two objectives of internship program. These are broad objective and specific objective.
These two types of objectives are as follows:

Broad Objective The broad objective of this report is familiarizing with the practical professional
world. To gain a practical experience related to major concentrated area is the broad objective of
internship program.

Specific Objectives Except the broad objective there are some other objectives. These objectives are
specific objectives. This paper was designed to accomplish some specific objectives. From my point
of view, these issues are very important to find out the gap between expectation and perception of the
employees to eliminate dissatisfaction. Through this study, I tried to attain the following specific
objectives: The specific objectives of internship program are given below:

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To accomplish the educational requirement.
To have knowledge about the organization that means Aarong.
To know about Aarongs overall human resource related operations.
To know about employee benefits of Aarong.
To know about compensation benefits of Aarong.
To know about satisfaction level of Aarongs employee.
To know about specific areas of dissatisfaction of the Staffs.
To know about the reasons of dissatisfaction.

Research Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis
Ho: Employees of Aarong are satisfied with their compensation Alternative Hypothesis
H1: Employees of Aarong are not satisfied with their compensation To know about employee
satisfaction of Aarong on compensation these are chosen as hypothesis.

Sample Sample is a subgroup of elements of the population that selected for participation in
the study. To conduct research on employee satisfaction on Aarongs compensation sample size is
40. In Aarong Head Office the total no. of employee is all around 700. It is quite impossible to select
all of them as sample size. For this reason employees of Aarong are considered as group of clusters
based on their departments. Total 40 employees of Aarong head office are selected as sample size
from each and every department. From different department 2-4 employees are chosen based on
no. of employees.







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Methodology:

The data I have presented in this internship report are collected from various sources. The sources are
mentioned below:

Primary Data Source Primary data are those data which is originated by the author for the specific
purpose of describing or analyzing something. I collected information by doing face to face
conversation with the employees Aarong. Besides, I developed a set of questionnaire which was
filled up by employees of Aarong.

Secondary Data Source Secondary data are data collected for some purpose other than the main
facts. Secondary data are quick source of background information. I also collected information from
secondary data sources. The sources are:

Internet
Financial statements
Interview with the HR (Human Resource) personnel
HRPP of Aarong
Previous reports on HR of Aarong



Conclusion:
Since 1978 Aarong is operating business in the fashion industry and they are now the leading fashion
brand in Bangladesh. At present Aarong provides the local and international public opportunity of
owning a Bangladeshi handcrafted product. It is playing the role of representative of Bangladeshi
culture to the outside world. As a result of the valuable contribution of artisans and handicraft
producers and the administrative staffs, Aarong has come so far. The qualified human resources of
Aarong keep the business running and foster the growth of business. The HR department of Aarong
ensures attract, attain and retain of talent staffs within the organization and helps in placing right
people, at the right place, at the right time doing the right job. Talent and qualified staffs are loyal to
the Aarong for its best compensation package. Staffs of this organization are satisfied with their
overall compensation benefits. However competitors can attract talents of Aarong through offering
more attractive salaries and other benefits. For this reason Aarong should be more concern about it
and should increase salary of staffs. It can introduce performance bonus, profit sharing, and lunch
facility to the staffs. However the recruitment and selection of staffs is the main responsibility of HR
department. Except this they have some other responsibilities such as transfer of staffs, maintaining
attendance of staffs, leave management, performance appraisal related activities, confirmation of
staffs, job separation, grievance management etc. so HR of Aarong can take initiatives as competitors
cannot attract talent staffs of Aarong. As Aarong is growing and spreading its outlets throughout the
whole country, this organization will require lots of qualified human resources. Human Resource
department of Aarong will ensure hiring pool of qualified, talented human recourses for Aarong.
Through attract, attain, and retaining talent staffs by offering excellent compensation package to the
talents HR department will encourage Aarong to move forward.

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Abstract:
The retail enterprise Aarong is the handicraft marketing arm of BRAC (Bangladesh Rural
Advancement Committee). Established in 1978, Aarong is a fair trade organization dedicated to
bring about positive changes in the lives of disadvantaged artisans and underprivileged rural
women by reviving and promoting their skills and craft. Reaching out to weavers, potters, brass
workers, jewelers, jute workers, basket weavers, wood carvers, leather workers and more,
Aarong embraces and nurtures a diverse representation of 65,000 artisans, 85% of whom are
women. Today, Aarong has become the foundation upon which independent cooperative groups
and family-based artisans market their craft, in an effort to position the nations handicraft
industry on a world platform of appreciation and acknowledgement The Ayesha Abed
Foundation (AAF) is an organization that aims to provide avenues for employment and income
generation for underprivileged rural women. It is an enclave for women, formed to uplift them
economically, through their work as producers, and also socially, through their development into
entrepreneurs. The Foundation provides an appropriate working environment, financial and
technical assistance, and training to develop the womens skills in various crafts. This report tries
modestly to uphold Aarong & AAFs recent changes in that it has undergone in its HR practice.
As the reader flips through the pages of this report they will come across changes that have been
brought into the staffing, performance appraisal, HRIS, and a respective compilation of general
HR activities. In addition to that the report also gives a sneak peek into Aarong & AAFs history,
vision; mission its products and marketing strategies it follows. There are some very important
issues like employees compensation management, HR budgeting etc. which could not be
included in the report for confidential issue. But I have tried my level best to work with the most
important Human Resource activities, which I have illustrated through the report













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Appendix

Survey questionnaire on Employee satisfaction on Aarongs Compensation Compensation is a
systematic approach to provide extrinsic and intrinsic benefits, monetary and non monetary benefits
to the employees. It is also considered as measurement how employees are being treated in an
organization. For your kind information, salary, house rent, medical allowance, convenience
allowance, food allowance, night haltage allowance, travelling allowance, loan facility, transfer
allowance, distance allowance, special allowance for recruitment, consultancy fee, entertainment
allowance, telephone facility, festival bonus, cost of living adjustments, incentives/sales commission,
extra ordinary leave, transfer leave, compulsory leave, maternity leave, paternity leave earned leave,
overtime, provident fund, gratuity, staff security benefit, etc. staff benefits of Aarong falls under
compensation.


This survey is going to conduct due
to successfully completion of my internship program. My major area of concern is to know
about employee satisfaction on Aarongs compensation. There is no any other objective related
with this survey. You are requested to fill up the set of questionnaire carefully. The information
provided by you will remain confidential.


Gender: Department: .. Level/Grade:
1. How long have you been with this organization?

-5 years
-10 years
-15years
15 years


..
2. What type of employee are you?






3. How often you get increment?



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Not at all

4. The performance appraisal is linked with increment




5. What do you think about the Aarongs festival bonus?




6. How much do you know about Aarongs compensation benefit?



t know anything

7. Please write down any four Compensation benefits of Aarong you like most?





8. What is your salary range?

a) Below 10,000 b) 10,000 - 25,000 c) 25,001 - 40,000

d) 40,001-70,000 e) Above 70,000


9. Are you satisfied with your salary?




If no, Why? (Please give your specific reason)



10. What types of salary increases are practiced in Aarong? (check all that apply)


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11. Do you think Aarong should add performance bonus/incentive to their procedure?




12. How Aarongs salary structure is compared to other same category organizations?



t know


13. Are you satisfied with your leave procedure?




14. What is your perception about over all Compensation benefits of Aarong?







15. What would you suggest Aarong to improve?

ary




(If you chose other benefits please specify)
..


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16. What other compensation benefit should be added to Aarongs compensation package?

. Any suggestion regarding Aarongs
compensation:


References:

Marketing Research, Naresh K. Malhotra, Satyabhusan Dash, 6th Edition
Management, George T. Milkovich, Jerry M. Newman, 8th Edition
Human Resource Policy and Procedure (HRPP) of Aarong
http://aarong.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarong
http://www.facebook.com/BRAC.AARONG
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Gov-Inc/Human-Resource-Management-
HRM.html#b
Financial statements and other statements of Aarong