Virtual University of Pakistan Evaluation Sheet for Internship Report
Fall 2013 MKTI619: Internship Report (Marketing) Credit Hours: 3
Company Name: PTCL
Name of Student: NADIA BASHIR
Student’s ID: BC100200574
Supervisor:
Evaluation Criteria Result
Written Work Status
(Internship Report) Pass
Presentation & Viva Voce Pass
Final Result
Evaluation of Report and Presentation Sheets Exams Software Entry of Result
Result Compiled By: Result Verified By: Entered By: Submitted By:
Name:
Signature:
Date:
Dear student,
Your report has been evaluated & you are declared as “pass”
so now you should prepare your PPTs. & submit those once
new assignment (for PPTs) will be opened on LMS. Also be
ready for your viva session for which we will call (via email at
your VUID) you shortly. So, visit your official ID frequently.
Prepare for presentation & viva voce in the light of guidelines
given in lesson #07 on VULMS.
Prepare well your training program, critical analysis, SWOT
analysis, conclusion and recommendations.
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
PAKISTAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SUBMITTED BY: NADIA BASHIR
STUDENT ID: BC100200574
SESSION: 2010-2014
SUBMISSION DATE: 29TH JANUARY 2014
VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY OF PAKISTAN
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Letter of Undertaking
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
Internship Certificate
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
Acknowledgement
First and foremost I would like to thank the All Mighty for bringing me this far in my academic
career and helping me surpass all kinds of road blocks that I experienced. After which I would
like to applaud and thank my family, friends and organizational co-workers for bearing with me
and supporting me throughout my journey. I would especially like to thank those who
contributed to this report and managed to become an important part of it.
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
Executive summary Briefly mention introduction of the company, the crux of your training program, critical analysis, SWOT, conclusion and
recommendations in executive summary.
Do not write that “at the start I have don this at the end I have done this…” It looks like an outline of your report. Write
what the organization is about? What you have done there? What you have concluded by your work experience and
observation.
Executive summary is the micro image of your overall report but not the outline of the report. Conclusion should be also
mentioned herein executive summary in last paragraph but briefly and concisely.
Note: Improve it accordingly before presentation and no need to submit it again because you are declared as pass.
This report is a representation of the time I spent working at PTCL Headquarters, operating as a
regular intern. Aside from the basic history of the organization, the report constitutes of the
thorough organizational structure of PTCL, along with the details and a critical analysis of the
chain of command that flows throughout the organization. It also highlights a detailed account
on each of the 8 individual departments within PTCL and their basic business dealings.
During my internship I operated at PTCL’s headquarters based in Islamabad, in their Human
Resource and Marketing Department. This report provides a summarized description of the HR
department, along with an extremely thorough description of the Marketing department.
The basic purpose of this report is to reflect my understanding of the marketing operations at
PTCL; consequently it highlights the tasks that were assigned to me as well as my personal
observation of the workings of the organization and concludes on a meticulously organized
SWOT analysis. At the end I have designed a few recommendations that PTCL should take in
consideration in order to further prosper in future.
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
Table of Contents
1. Overview of the organization .......................................................................................... 10
a. Brief History ...................................................................................................................... 10
b. Nature of the Organization................................................................................................. 11
c. Product Lines and Brand Portfolio of the Organization .................................................... 11
d. Branding Strategies ............................................................................................................ 13
e. Main Clients ....................................................................................................................... 13
f. Key Competitors ................................................................................................................ 14
2. Organizational Structure ................................................................................................ 16
a. Organizational Hierarchy Chart ......................................................................................... 17
b. Number of Employees ....................................................................................................... 18
c. Introduction of all Departments ......................................................................................... 19
1. Technical Department ................................................................................................. 19
2. IT Department ............................................................................................................. 19
3. HR Department ........................................................................................................... 19
4. Business Zones Operations Department (BZ Ops)..................................................... 19
5. Commercial Department ............................................................................................. 19
6. Business Development Department (BD Department) .............................................. 20
7. Procurement Department ............................................................................................ 20
8. Finance Department .................................................................................................... 20
d. Comments .......................................................................................................................... 20
3. Plan of Internship Program ............................................................................................ 21
a. Introduction of the Head Office ......................................................................................... 21
b. Starting and Ending Dates of Internship ............................................................................ 21
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c. Respective Training Departments ...................................................................................... 21
4. Training Program ............................................................................................................ 22
a. Operations and Activities Performed ................................................................................. 23
b. Tasks Assigned .................................................................................................................. 24
5. Structure of the Marketing Department ........................................................................ 27
a. Department Hierarchy ........................................................................................................ 29
b. Number of Employees Working in the Marketing Department ......................................... 29
c. Marketing Operations ........................................................................................................ 29
6. Functions of the Marketing Department ....................................................................... 31
a. Segmentation strategy ........................................................................................................ 31
b. Target marketing strategy .................................................................................................. 31
c. Product planning, development & management ................................................................ 31
d. Positioning ......................................................................................................................... 32
e. Pricing strategy .................................................................................................................. 32
f. Distribution strategy........................................................................................................... 32
g. Promotional strategy .......................................................................................................... 33
7. Structure of the Sales Department ................................................................................. 34
a. Department Hierarchy ........................................................................................................ 34
b. Number of Employees Working in the Sales Department ................................................. 35
c. Sales operations ................................................................................................................. 35
8. Functions of the Sales Department ................................................................................. 37
a. Sales Methodology............................................................................................................. 37
b. Selling Technique .............................................................................................................. 37
c. Sales returns procedures .................................................................................................... 38
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9. Customer Services Department ...................................................................................... 39
a. Process of Developing Relations with Customers ............................................................. 39
b. Techniques of Retaining Customers .................................................................................. 40
c. Techniques of Attracting New Customers ......................................................................... 42
d. Ways of Handling Different Customers ............................................................................ 43
10. Critical Analysis ............................................................................................................... 44
11. SWOT Analysis of the Organization .............................................................................. 46
a. Strengths ............................................................................................................................ 46
b. Weaknesses ........................................................................................................................ 46
c. Opportunities...................................................................................................................... 47
d. Threats................................................................................................................................ 47
12. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 48
13. Recommendations for Improvement .............................................................................. 49
14. References ......................................................................................................................... 50
15. Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 51
Participation Data 1................................................................................................................... 51
Participation Data 2................................................................................................................... 53
16. Glossary ............................................................................................................................ 54
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Table of Contents (Figures)
Figure 1 –Product Lines ................................................................................................................ 12
Figure 2 - Key Clients ................................................................................................................... 14
Figure 3 – Key Competitors .......................................................................................................... 15
Figure 4 - Organizational Chart .................................................................................................... 17
Figure 5 - Total Number of Employees in PTCL ......................................................................... 18
Figure 6 – Structure of Marketing Department............................................................................. 28
Figure 7 - Marketing Department Hierarchy ................................................................................ 29
Figure 9 - Sales Department Hierarchy ........................................................................................ 34
Figure 8 – Structure of Sales Department ..................................................................................... 34
Figure 10 - PTCL Reconnect Landline Poster .............................................................................. 41
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
1. Overview of the organization
a. Brief History
According to information available over the internet, over the past 20 years, due to its
constant evolution in terms of technology and global relations, the telecom sector in Pakistan has
become almost unrecognizable. The reason that out telecom industry has gone under such drastic
changes is because world over the telecom market is governed by thorough competition
alongside privatization on a huge scale. Similarly, on a national level Pakistan has managed to
compete with the global market because of its thorough growth in the cellular mobile technology
and network communication.
On 1st April 1774 the sub-continent experienced the establishment of its very first postal
service under the brand name of the Indian Postal Service. However at the time of independence,
the postal operations were exclusively dealt by the Pakistan Post & Telegraph which had
basically adopted its postal activities and services from the Government of India Telegraph act in
1885. The organization continued its operations up until 1962. Until a time when Pakistan Post
& Telegraph underwent a business take over at the hands of Pakistan Telecommunication
Corporation (PTC).
According to the online report issued regarding the privatization of Pakistan via the
Privatization Commission of Pakistan website, it was in 1990 that under the PTC Ordinance
(issued on December 15, 1990) T&T transformed entirely into a Government corporation
(Commission, n.d.) with the sole purpose to take over operations from the Pakistan Post &
Telegraph Department. After a year of successful operations the government of Pakistan finally
decided to privatize the operations of PTC. The commission also claims that in 1994 while still
in the process of privatization the Government of Pakistan decided to test the domestic and
global viability of the organization and hence under the rules and regulations of the ordinance,
PTCL was created on January 1, 1996 and subsequently took over all operations of PTC
excluding the 5% assets along with the government business that was transferred to National
Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) (Commission, n.d.). In consequence of this the
Government of the country itself owned about 88% of the organization however, the rest of the
12% was governed by private investors. Ever since PTCL has been operating to thoroughly meet
developmental and socio-economic challenges in an attempt to improve the overall economy of
Pakistan.
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
b. Nature of the Organization
PTCL is basically a consumer based organization that focuses on the basic brand strategy of
providing customers with top notch services and products. Hence the basic principles of the
organization are exclusively constructed on the basis of a customer oriented approach. Their key
products and services can be divided as:
Business Services
Carrier Services & Wholesale
Home & Personal Services
PTCL being a consumer durable organization that provides potential customers with
products and services such as telephone lines, EVO tablets, EVO dongles, broadband, landline,
Smart TV and Vfone services.
c. Product Lines and Brand Portfolio of the Organization
As provided by the organization’s official website, PTCL caters to a number of product lines,
in-fact, the organization’s product portfolio is specially tailored in order to help business
corporations achieve the highest possible levels of productivity by making good use of PTCL’s
powerful and presence-enabled applications (PTCL, Business, 2013). And hence PTCL’s
product lines largely constitute of three categories which are further divided into varying
products.
Wireless Services & Products
I. Vfone
II. Calling Cards
III. Payphones
IV. Evo
i. Evo dongle
ii. Nitro
iii. Wingle
iv. Evo Cloud
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
Wireline Services & Products
I. Smart TV (Smart Services)
II. Broad band
III. Landline
Exclusive Corporate Consumer Services
I. Universal Access Number (UAN)
II. Leased Bandwidth and point to point leased lines
III. Call Centers
Figure 1 –Product Lines
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
As part of their brand portfolio, presently PTCL is exclusively looking over operations of
Ufone. Aside from that, off the record, according to one of their vendor’s, Faizan Bokhari, the
organization exclusively owns broadband rights for the only three underwater lines available to
Pakistan, however distributes these services to other telecom organizations such as Nayatel and
Wi-Tribe.
Aside from that, PTCL has a number of varying products that it offers to clients in the
corporate world, small business owners as well as those that simply want to avail their
networking services at home. Consequently to match and cater to each individual need of these
clients. According to their website, PTCL is that one organization that exclusively stands for
“global communication” and “mobilizing the world for the future” (PTCL, PTCL Brand
Philosophy , 2013). PTCL’s logo “Hello to the Future” itself stands for their futuristic approach
towards communication in Pakistan.
d. Branding Strategies
PTCL as of present is the largest and the fastest growing telecommunication brand in
Pakistan. Employing effective marketing techniques since its launch, PTCL has successfully
managed to establish its brand name in our local telecom market. Over the years PTCL has
adapted a number of branding strategies hence there is no one specific branding strategy, but
instead it has tailored together a multitude of strategies. For instance, all of PTCL’s Wire line
products fall under the Umbrella strategy, whereas its wireless products like EVO fall under the
Line Extension strategy.
e. Main Clients
PTCL caters to all major corporate sector organizations, allowing them communication
services not only within their respective organization but also across cities and countries. Aside
from that PTCL also offers its networking services to a massive number of key industries in
Pakistan.
On a consumer level the organization offers thorough networking services to a huge pool of
local civilians that are as many as 500,000 broadband consumers in around about 605 cities via
its home based network services. Aside from that through varying other services it also helps
small business owners to establish and expand their business operations.
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
f. Key Competitors
Irrespective of being the leading telecommunication and networking organization in
Pakistan, PTCL still faces a certain competition at hands of other multinational
telecommunication organizations that have over the years expanded into Pakistani land. PTCL’s
leading competitors involve the following organizations:
China Mobile first established itself in Pakistan in the early days of 2008 and consequently
established its first project under the brand name Zong. According to an article published in the
Tribune magazine, with 15.66 million subscribers the company is posing a serious competition
for PTCL (Desk, 2012).
Similarly, as reported by Mobilink’s Pakistan based homepage, with 36 million subscribers
(MobilinkGSM, 2013) Orascom Telecom's subsidiary Mobilink acts as a strong competition
against PTCL operations.
Telenor a Norwegian multinational telecommunications company started operating in 2005
and of present the company’s website claims that it holds 32.344 million mobile subscriptions
(Telenor, 2013) giving it a slight edge over PTCL as reported by the organizational website.
Figure 2 - Key Clients
Key Clients
Local Consumers Corporate Clients
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With 17 million subscribers and a network coverage of about 6800 destination (WaridTel,
2013), an Abu Dhabi based organization; Warid Telecom’s official website establishes that it is
also acting as an active competition for PTCL.
PTCL
Mobilink
Warid
Telenor
Zong
Figure 3 – Key Competitors
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
2. Organizational Structure
PTCL constitutes of a number of varying diverse, high-performance employees that
constitute as an important part of the basic workforce. However, just like every other
organization PTCL is also divided and sub-divided into a number of organizational levels.
According to the AM Saleem Khan Swati, the organization can essentially be divided according
to three basic managerial levels: Top Management (CEO, EVP, and SEVP’s), Middle
Management (GM, SM, Operational Manager, and AM) and The Non-Managerial Staff
Members. (Swati, 2014)
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
a. Organizational Hierarchy Chart
President/CEO
Chief Technical Officer
EVPs (IP & MMBB, Network Ops, Technical, Network Plg & Strategy)
Chief Information Officer
Chief HR Officer
Chief Business Operations Officer
Chief Marketing Officer Chief Business Development Officer
Chief Digital & Corporate Services Officer Chief Customer Care Officer
Chief Procurement Officer
Chief Financial Officer
EVP BSS & ESS Applications
EVPs (Leadership & OD, HRO, Talent Mngt & Learning, HR Services) EVP (Business
Zone)
EVPs (Accounts Services, Financial Plg & Treasury,
Revenue, Revenue Assurance)
GMs (IT Governance Planning & Strategy, IT
Demand Planning and Management)
EVPs (Wireless Business, Marketing & Comm, Commercial, Wire line
Business)
EVPs ((CS & WS), IBR, Chief Strategy Officer,
Legal)
EVP (Corporate Sales)
GMs (Corporate Sales, Terminal Sales, Digital Services & Portals,
Business Development Corporate Services, Corporate Services &
Business Division, Corporate Business Analysis, (IPTV & VAS)
EVP (Quality Assurance)
EVPs (Procurement, Supplies & Logistics)
Chief Internal Auditor
GM Product Innovation
GM (Access Network)
GM International Network Service
GMs (Coordination, Network Rehabilitation)
GMs (Legal, Corporate Strategy, Regulatory
Affairs, International Carrier Relations)
GMs (Customer Care, Quality Assurance)
GMs (Accounts and Financial, Budgetary
Control, Revenue Accounts, Purchase, Casting
and Regulatory Services) GMs (Supplies, Contracts)
GMs (Commercial, Consumer Sales, Wireless Services)
GMs (Recruitment, PTCL Academy, Corporate Admin Coordination)
GM’s (Technical, Network Ops, System Engineering, Wireless)
Figure 4 - Organizational Chart
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
b. Number of Employees
As reported by PTCL’s HR Specialist, Saqib Idrisi claims that the workforce of the
organization can be divided as per the following categorization:
CEO 01
Senior Executive Vice President 07
Executive Vice President 22
General Managers 128
System Analysts, Managers, CS, SE, DE, SAO, DM, SRO etc 21,842
Total Employees
*Including permanent and contract based employees 22,000 (approx)
Figure 5 - Total Number of Employees in PTCL
(Idrisi, 2014)
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Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL)
c. Introduction of all Departments
PTCL’s Islamabad headquarters comprise of a number of departments that are exclusively
operating according to their each individual function. Because of its massive organizational
structure, the company is thoroughly departmentalized. Saleem Khan reports that the key leading
departments and their functions can be described as following:
1. Technical Department
The technical department at PTCL is basically responsible for the development and
upgrading of the organization’s basic media which includes the primary wire line core
infrastructure all across Pakistan along with all sorts of network operations. Hence it is this
department’s responsibility to fix any particular problem or fault that there might be in the
primary core network.
2. IT Department
The IT department is exclusively deals with the internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, Metropolitan
Networking technologies which run practically all across the organization itself as well as
throughout the country. Aside from that the department is also responsible for purchasing and
customizing off-shelf softwares for future use within the organization.
3. HR Department
The Human Resource department at PTCL provides comprehensive human resource
management to the organization. The HR department considers employees an important asset
and hence provides them with all sorts of facilities as well as organizational help that they might
need.
4. Business Zones Operations Department (BZ Ops)
The department is basically accountable for establishing and maintaining Business to
Consumer communication. The BZ department practically delivers the final product to end
consumers. It delivers the product from the exchange directly to the end consumer.
5. Commercial Department
Responsible for generating most of the company’s revenues, the Commercial department is
basically accountable for advertising PTCL products and services and hence securing a sufficient
number of loyal consumers. In a manner of saying it is thoroughly responsible for creating and
administrating a product right up from its conception, down until its final completion.
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6. Business Development Department (BD Department)
The department deals with all sorts of bilateral relations with other varying telecom
organizations and international business relations. It is also responsible for all cross border tariff
decisions and dealings. The department is also exclusively responsible for individual customer
services and wholesale dealings.
7. Procurement Department
The department is responsible for dealing with all system biddings such as computer
hardware as well as for managing all sorts of varying technical contracts. Only recently through
this very department PTCL has signed laptop contracts with Toshiba and Fjitsu.
8. Finance Department
The department is responsible for all budgetary functions such as assets, liabilities, loans, debts,
etc. It also deals with all sorts of accounts and financial operations in the long run.
(Swati, 2014)
d. Comments
Departmentalization
The departmentalization at the organization is very detailed and well defined. Each
individual employee works within his respective department according to his/her assigned list of
responsibilities and duties as per the job description.
Chain of Command
With their successive line of managers, PTCL offers a flawless chain of command.
Though the communication at the company is thoroughly free flowing, and every individual is
required to follow a certain level of communication protocol, to an extent some people do tend to
ignore the basic protocol.
Positional Authority
With their massive line of managers, PTCL bestows decision making authority to project
manager of each individual department. However, if a certain problem cannot be resolved at a
lower level it is then referred to the senior most authority.
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3. Plan of Internship Program
I initiated my internship at PTCL’s headquarter based in Islamabad during fall. My working
duration lasted for around 6 weeks during which time I managed to gain and learn a whole lot
about organizational operations and the key fundamentals of their Marketing and Human
Resource departments.
a. Introduction of the Head Office
Situated at the heart of Islamabad, I did my internship at PTCL Headquarters situated
between the National Book Foundation and AGPR head office.
PTCL Headquarters,
Block-E, Sector G-8/4,
Islamabad-44000, Pakistan.
Fax: +92-51-2263733
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.ptcl.com.pk
b. Starting and Ending Dates of Internship
My internship was scheduled to occur over a period of six weeks. My internship initiated on
the 16th
December, 2013 and continued up until the 27th
January, 2014.
c. Respective Training Departments
Every intern that enters into PTCL’s internship plan is first introduced into the HR
department; hence I initiated my internship by working in the Human Resource Department.
Here I managed to circulate the entire cycle of hiring, managing and separation of potential
employees. However, after spending some time in the HR department, I was later transferred to
PTCL’s Market Communication department as according to my major in Bachelors in Business
Administration. Hence I concluded my internship operating in PTCL’s Market Communication
Department.
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4. Training Program
I received my selection for internship letter on 13th
December, 2013 through e-mail. It was
forwarded to me by Mian Iftikhar Ahmad, who is also Manager Training Foreign at PTCL.
According to my selection letter, I was requested to report at the head office on Monday 16th
December, 2013.
Upon my arrival on the said date, I was interviewed and questioned by Mr. Imran Qayyum
who is basically the Senior Manager of the HR Department at PTCL HQ. After verbally going
through my academic qualifications and skills set, he described me my role as an intern and the
key responsibilities I will be taking care of. He then instructed Mr. Saqib Idrisi to teach me basic
office protocol and assign me my respective tasks.
For the first few days I sat alongside Mr. Syed Imran (Manager HR, HQ PTCL) thoroughly
observing basic office protocol. However, once I was introduced to the basic chain of commands
and employees according to their each individual functionality I was assigned my respective
tasks within the HR department over the first three weeks of my internship.
However being a marketing major, at the end of the first three weeks I was transferred to the
Market Communication department, which is also based within the premises of PTCL
Headquarters. There I was primarily introduced to Mr. Aqeel Shigri who is the Senior Manager
Marketing Department. He updated me on the basic operations of the Marketing department.
After which he further introduced me to Mr. Ather Waseem who had only recently started
operating as the Management Trainee. Thereon Mr. Waseem handed me various tasks and group
activities to perform during the concluding three weeks of my internship.
Doing my internship at PTCL allowed me to thoroughly grow at a professional level. It
taught me a whole lot about organizational operations along with effective application of the
concepts I embraced all through my years at university.
Although I worked at PTCL for a mere 6 weeks, nonetheless I managed to grasp concepts
and learn operational activities that are likely to have a lasting impact on me as a professional.
Being such a huge organization, through their internship program I learned the organizational
secrets that give PTCL the edge over all other telecommunication organizations.
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a. Operations and Activities Performed
HR Department
Syed Imran explained that the HR department at PTCL is basically responsible for
effective people management at work. The department takes care of forecasting basic human
resource requirements, along with employee recruitments as well as selection. Aside from that
the department is also responsible for job postings for future recruitments as well as employee
postings around the country. Employee screening prior to hiring, promotion, performance
evaluation, training and dealing with employee separation from the organization are also vital
parts of the department’s responsibilities. From basic motivation to achieving a certain level of
inter-employee coordination, people operating in the HR department deal with all sorts of
employee management tasks. The department is also accountable for effectively organizing and
employing human capital for individuals operating within PTCL.
MarComm Department
Similarly, Aqeel Shigri explained that the MarComm Department is responsible for
generating a massive chunk of PTCL’s revenues, the Commercial Department, more commonly
recognized as the Market Communication department is essentially an important part of the
organization. In charge for basic market research and development, the department is thoroughly
responsible for presenting organizational products and services to the end consumer. More
specifically the department is responsible for national as well as international communication
along with promotional activities around the country.
After collecting sufficient information regarding consumer needs and demands, the
MarComm department respectively forwards the concerned feedback to the organization’s
management who then develops products and positions them such that not only are they
thoroughly viable to the customer but also fulfils their basic needs hence giving value to
consumer needs and demands. The MarComm department at PTCL plays an important role in
business development, long term growth as well as future expansion in the respective industry.
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b. Tasks Assigned
File Scanning
PTCL is presently in a transitional phase where on the organization is transferring all its
paper documentation into electronic systems. Though all recent hires and layoffs have been
thoroughly recorded onto the SAP software, however, PTCL being such a huge organization, it
has track records of employees who have been working with the organization for the past 10 – 20
years. Consequently, soon after my confirmation as an internee, I was assigned to scan these age
old files with state of the art scanners and then transfer the documentation on to computerized
databases. I managed to scan at least 6 files which individually constituted of about a 100 pages
before I was transferred onto the next task.
E-Filling
SAP is a customized German based software allowing organizations to manage their
basic employee data. My second assignment was to collect hard copy files of all new hiring’s,
and transform them into softcopies on the SAP (Systems, Applications and Products) software.
As per software requirement I had to specifically locate joining dates within personal files,
calculate probationary periods and categorize employees according to their respective
organizational ranking. The basic head count was approximately 50 files of new hires that
occurred during late 2013. I primarily assigned each file with an individual EPI (employee
personal identification) number and subsequently entered employee data into the system. I also
had to report back to my supervisor for important documentation that might be missing from the
personal files, such as degree certificates and interview evaluations This e-based employee
information system is further fruitful when the respective authority is trying to extract
information on a certain employee, by converting paper documentation into computerized data
not only is PTCL employing efficiency but also saving on a whole lot of potential time that could
be used taking care of other more important tasks.
File Management
With the beginning of the New Year, each employee at PTCL is entitled to an annual
increment to their basic salary. Subsequently, while each employee is individually e-mailed with
the news of their increment, at the same time their personal files at the EDBMC (employee
database management cell) is updated with paper documentation. Our job was to maintain and
categorize employees according to their respective entitlement to the annual increment. We
updated files for Management Trainee’s (MT), Assistant Managers (AM) and Senior Managers
(SM). After which along with the help of other internees, individually I was responsible for
updating a total approximate of about 250 employee files with annual increment documentation,
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however, collectively we managed to achieve our set target of around 1000 increment letters that
were .
Out-Processing
Each employee that resigns at PTCL goes through a process of thorough out-processing.
This is where on PTCL confirms that the said employee has resigned and puts his/her resignation
under the proper processing protocol. Aside from updating files for people that had resigned in
the past month, individually I was responsible for calculating Final Settlements through Gratuity
and Leave Encashment as well as Service Records that were extracted from personal files and
SAP. The out-processing process also constituted of updating Notifications, Resignations as well
as Clearance Settlements into each individual employee file.
Clearance Documentation
While working at PTCL each individual employee is entitled to attain work necessities
such as technical hardware and softwares. However, upon separation from the organization each
employee is obligated to return all facilities and hardware products back to the company that he
had acquired during his tenure. After preparing a list of all the hardware devices that were
returned by resigning employees, my job was to up-date clearance forms in personal files that
stated that everything has been returned by the employee and he/she can leave.
Social Media Trends
With the progressive development and increasing popularity of social networking, more
and more organizations are shifting their marketing practices over the internet. Similarly, PTCL
as an organization also manages a facebook page as well as a YouTube channel. However,
because of the recent ban on YouTube, I could not get thoroughly acquainted with their channel;
however, I was required to devise social media report based on the company’s facebook page.
The report basically included the total number and types of users that had liked the page along
with the response rate on posts by the page. In conclusion the report discussed strategies
regarding how PTCL could increase page activity and attract more users.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
By law every organization is required to maintain a social stature, where on it does not
violate any ethical or legal laws. Similarly, PTCL is also required to thoroughly follow a code of
conduct that does not allow the organization to violate any of the laws that might harm the
environment or its consumers at large. I was required to write a paper on the basics of social
corporate responsibility along with what strategies PTCL uses when designing their basic
framework of CSR towards its consumers. The report also included an in-depth review of how
PTCL keeps in line CSR protocol when advertising its products and how it could further improve
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campaigning practices. It was basically a proposal which was later checked and remarked by the
general manager of the marketing department.
Press Releases
I was assigned by my assistant manager to extract at least 10-15 press releases published
in newspapers off the internet. I was required to arrange them date wise along with the
newspaper’s name. Moreover, he wanted me to thoroughly go through them and analyze the
basic structure and theme that PTCL used when publishing in newspapers. From which I
concluded that aside from most of their advertisements being thoroughly green, all
advertisements carried the PTCL logo, were easy to comprehend and promoted PTCL products
proficiently.
Article Writing
My last task was to write articles for PTCL. Primarily I was assigned to research and
compare mobile rates vs. PTCL rates and note them down in article form. Then I devised an
article that basically revolved around the early days of privatization at PTCL, taking into account
numerous accounts from regular and contractual employees. Lastly, I wrote an article on the
importance of PTCL’s reconnecting campaign, and how it could further be promoted in the
market.
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5. Structure of the Marketing Department
Like all other departments at PTCL, the structure of the Marketing Department is somewhat
similar to that of all the other organizational departments. For instance the department is head by
the Chief Marketing Product Innovation directly reports to the CMO, the rest of the GM’s report
to their respective EVP’s.
There are essentially four EVP’s in the department: Wireless Business, Marketing and
Communication, Wire-line Business, Public Outreach and Corporate Communication,
Commercial. There are essentially 4 GM’s, however, GM product innovation reports directly to
CMO. The rest of the three GM’s (Wireless, Commercial, Consumer Sales, Public Outreach and
Corporate Department) report directly to their respective EVPs.
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CEO
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
EVP Wireless Business GM Product Innovation
EVP (Marketing & Comm)
EVP (Commercial)
EVP (Wireline Business) GM (Wireless Services)
GM (Public Outreach &
Corporate Comm.)
GM (Consumer Sales)
GM (Commercial)
SM
SM
SM
SM
Manager
AM
Manager
AM
Manager
AM
Manager
AM
Figure 6 – Structure of Marketing Department
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a. Department Hierarchy
According to information obtained from the SM Aqeel Shigri, in the MarComm department
all key important decisions come from the Chief Officer Marketing, which are further carried out
by EVP marketing, General Manager Marketing, Senior Manager, Manager and at the end of the
chain of command are the assistant managers.
b. Number of Employees Working in the Marketing
Department
As reported by Ather Waseem, there are approximately 10 individuals who are exclusively
operating in the marketing department (Waseem, 2014).
c. Marketing Operations
The marketing department at PTCL is basically responsible for forwarding
consumer demand to top management. It is according to the feedback received from the
Chief Officer
Marketing
EVP Marketing
(MarComm)
General Manager (MarComm)
SM
AM
Manager
Figure 7 - Marketing Department Hierarchy
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marketing department that the organization is finally able to develop products and services
in accordance with consumer needs.
The MarComm department is specifically responsible for developing and
executing specific incentives and benefits that are thoroughly consumer oriented.
However, aside from that it is also accountable for all sorts of communication whether it
be national or at an international scale; promotional activities, outdoor commercialization,
media and public relations, performance measurements, campaign planning and
budgeting, and persistent development of marketing systems and data. Aside from that the
department also recommends respective development and maintenance policies for the
organizational products and services. The department also caters to an effectively
operating research and development program which is largely responsible for corporate
and consumer needs and demands.
The department is also responsible for researching target markets, segmenting
them according to demand, developing strategies for their respective focus groups, testing
potential products within the focus group, advertising their products and eventually
placing their product within the segment market. This also involves pricing the product
according to the consumers purchasing ability. Once the product has been successfully
placed, the department is responsible for taking note of purchase and return rates along
with potential products complaints and such. This department basically reports directly to
the business development department at PTCL. Lastly it is answerable for generating a
final report on product success or failure in their said target market.
Faizan Bokhari told me that though PTCL does not conduct business with any
other outside entity, however, as part of the marketing operations it does to an extent cater
to vendor management (Bokhari, 2014).
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6. Functions of the Marketing Department
a. Segmentation strategy
PTCL basically segments its market based on Consumer Sales and Corporate Sales. Where
certain campaigns and products are developed keeping in line their everyday consumers, while
others are designed and introduced into the market as according to the needs of their corporate
clients.
b. Target marketing strategy
Target market defines the basic group of customers towards which an organization aims to
market its end products and merchandise. However, PTCL has no particular target market
strategy; instead all of their promotions and product advertisements are based according to the
needs and wants of their respective focus group. Irrespective of that, according to their Sales and
Distribution manager, Salman Ali Bajwa, PTCL essentially targets users who basically want to
connect with the rest of the world while still being able to avail high speed internet whilst being
on the move (Bajwa, 2013).
c. Product planning, development & management
Once PTCL has thoroughly settled on a specific target market, it then goes on to designing its
final product. For instance only recently PTCL has begun planning for introducing their CDMA
based phones.
After the planning phase, PTCL is going to develop this new technology by effective
marketing at the hands of their CSR (customer services representatives), in which they will
highlight key important features of the phones, such as how these phones are cheaper as
compared to landlines as well as how they don’t require any sort of underline wiring.
After development and successful introduction of their product into their segmented focus
group, PTCL manages its products through effective problem solving techniques. After which,
representatives from the organization are likely to return to consumers for feedback and solve
any technical issues that they might be facing at the time.
(Bokhari, 2014)
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d. Positioning
Being an organization that is highly risk averse, PTCL does not position its final products
into the market without assessing future returns. Hence, in order to sell their product PTCL
primarily targets its respective focus group, consequently prior to positioning their final product
into the market, PTCL takes into consideration potential outcome depending on the results and
feedback received from the said focus groups and hence eventually positions its final product
into the market. However, Salman Ali Bajwa also said that the basis for their final positioning
largely relies on the availability of high speed broadband network in Pakistan (Bajwa, 2013).
e. Pricing strategy
Being a monopoly, in order to successfully establish its products and services into the
market, PTCL needs to adapt a pricing strategy that agrees with its general consumers.
Consequently, as of present PTCL makes good use of the price skimming strategy and the
market penetration strategy (Bajwa, 2013). That is, while some of its products are exclusive for
their corporate clients, such as exclusive rights to broadband services, however, there are other
services that are basically introduced in an attempt to gain a competitive edge over other service
providers and hence secure a strong market position, such as student packages offered at
penetration pricing. Aside from that for its basic consumers that simply cannot afford most of
PTCL services, PTCL has an installment plan for paying service charges.
f. Distribution strategy
PTCL primarily distributes its products through Mega National Distributors while
encouraging National Distributors for lifting bulk stocks through Bulk sales discounts. Aside
from that it distributes its end products to consumers through retail outlets established
nationwide (Bajwa, 2013).
However, since PTCL cannot open a service shop at every other locality, consequently, it
distributes its services and products through district partners. It has certified distributors through
whom PTCL distributes its final products to reach end consumers in remote localities and such
(Bokhari, 2014).
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g. Promotional strategy
For effective promotion, PTCL has managed to employ a number of promotional strategies.
For instance it has effectively managed to print and distribute flyers and brochures while
effectively promoting new promotional offers and products. Moreover within the market PTCL
has also managed to set up experience zones like kiosks at local markets. Aside from it also uses
the following strategies:
• It offers Slab Based Upfront commission in an attempt to encourage bulk lifting
of stocks by potential consumers.
• Aside from that it also offers a separate Slab based backend commission to
encourage National Distributors for maximum consumption of stock.
• PTCL also offers Time to time Trade Promotions to consumers.
• Along with Sales Team Incentives.
• As well as Sales Competitions to achieve a maximum number of sales.
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7. Structure of the Sales Department
The Sales Department basically constitutes of SEVP Commercial who has the absolute
authority to make final decisions. Under the SEVP and Director is the EVP Sales. EVP Sales is
then responsible for delegating tasks between GM Commercial and GM Consumer Sales.
a. Department Hierarchy
Just like all other respective departments of PTCL, the chain of command in the Sales
Department also constitutes of a very similar hierarchal structure. Where the final decisions
come from the EVP Sales, he delegates work to the General Manager who then hands
responsibility to the Senior Manager who subsequently hands over work to the Manager and the
AM, and who if need be hands it over to the Non-Managerial Staff.
Figure 9 - Sales Department Hierarchy
EVP Sales
GM Marketing
SM AM
Non-Management
Staff
Manager
SEVP and Director
EVP Sales
GM (Commercial) GM (Consumer
Sales)
Figure 8 – Structure of Sales Department
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b. Number of Employees Working in the Sales Department
According to PTCL’s HR Specialist, Saqib Idrisi, there are approximately 125 employees
operating in the Sales department at PTCL (Idrisi, 2014).
c. Sales operations
The Sales Department at PTCL is responsible for a number of vital operations; however its
basic job is to ensure effective maximum sales of varying consumer packages and devices.
Employees within the department are in charge of indentifying potential markets and hence
informing the rightful authority for product distribution. A sales employee will primarily
indentify the market and then investigate loopholes that might result in a sufficient increase in
the total number of sales. With the help of this information the sales department establishes a
distribution channel and makes good use of varying media vehicles in an attempt to maximize
sales.
Business Development
The business development sector of the sales department is responsible for developing
corporate products. They basically make sales presentations to buyers that are thoroughly
interested in purchasing from PTCL. At the same time they are also responsible for strategy
development and provide business solutions to corporate clients.
Business Intelligence
Sales operations at PTCL also constitute of executing business development. They
basically take note of everyday sales, keep a check on trends and sales traffic in the market and
assess the impact a competitor is likely to have on the organizational product. The department is
also responsible for analyzing the basic warehouse environment, hence ensuring that the
operations are running smoothly. One of the key sales operations that fall under business
intelligence is that the department generates every day sales report for sales analysis in future.
Effective Data Collection
In order to give feedback to the product development department, it is part of the sales
operation’s duty to collect sufficient data regarding customer wants and needs. These things
basically involve product purchase details, customer preferences and statistics on the number of
sales per product.
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Training
Training the existing sales team is a thoroughly important part of everyday sales
operations. Every staff member and employee needs to be made well aware of company products
and services in order to convince customers for product purchase. Each employee undergoes
training presentations which basically describe product prices, product value, specifications and
numerous other aspects which are directly relatable to product knowledge at large.
For effective employee output, every now and then the sales department arranges for
respective training sessions as well. Aside from a presentation, this session also involves a
thorough practice and instructions on how the staff is required to handle and deal with everyday
customers.
Sales Plan
Sales Operations are also essentially responsible for effective execution of sales plan.
Primarily developed and initiated in outreach and distribution department, however carried out
through the sales department.
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8. Functions of the Sales Department
A sales department at any organization has a number of functions that they are exclusively
responsible for. They primarily identify and select respective distribution channels, training
potential sales persons in selling techniques and product knowledge as per the goods they are
selling is also the responsibility of the sales department and lastly the sales department is
essentially responsible for supervising respective sales operations all through the organization.
The sales department also holds sufficient responsibility of taking care of all salesmen
operating in the field, which are primarily responsible for pursuing potential customers and
persuading them to purchase their respective organizational product.
a. Sales Methodology
With the company vision of maintaining and further growing as the leading ICT service provider
in the telecom industry, PTCL thoroughly strives to achieve absolute consumer satisfaction along
with thorough maximization of shareholder values. Hence as narrated by Mr. Bajwa the basic
sales methodology at PTCL is to distribute their products while employing a multitude of sales
methodologies. Sales are done through multiple sales channels of PTCL listed below:
• Distributor channel (Local and International Distributors)
• OSS (One Stop Shop) channel
• Direct sales channel (Stalls/Kiosk)
• Telesales (Customer Sales Representatives personally call potential consumers on their
contact numbers)
• Field Sales Force
b. Selling Technique
In order to successfully achieve their sales target, PTCL employs a number of techniques.
Consequently, PTCL does not employ a singular selling technique. But instead it sells its final
products through Franchise/Distribution channels, Retail channel development, Engagement of
FSA (Sales Field Force for Door to Door Sales), Tele Sales through PTCL Call Center,
ATL/BTL Activities (Advertisement, Press Adds, and Banners), Product Visibility through
Hoardings, Shop Fascias, Availability Flags and eventually through Corporate Sales.
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c. Sales returns procedures
When purchasing from PTCL, on request customer sales representatives personally come to
your house prior to purchase. For instance when I wanted to purchase my WIFI broadband
device, I was not certain whether I will be able to receive enough signals at my residence or not,
consequently, I requested the customer sales person to come and check prior to installation. He
informed me that if my device refused to get signals I will be able to return it on the spot.
Where postpaid devices are refundable, prepaid devices on the other hand once bought
cannot be returned. But if a customer faces any problem after purchase, if within the warranty,
both prepaid and postpaid devices can be replaced. Where for postpaid devices a customer can
simply register a complain at the organization and wait for a service man to come take care of it,
for prepaid devices on the other hand one needs to personally visit one of the PTCL franchises or
its One Stop Shop (OSS).
At the organization PTCL has an individual office which exclusively deals with complaints.
With a customized complaints management system, PTCL is able to receive and sort problems as
according to their category and or priority.
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9. Customer Services Department
The key responsibility of the Customer Service department involves thoroughly investigating
and resolving consumer hardware or software problems.
With approximately 154 customer service centers, the specific responsibility of this particular
department within the PTCL authority is to:
a. Accommodate System Billing
b. Act as Sales Outlets
c. Take note of Complaints and Enquiries
d. Take care of Regional Level Operations
a. Process of Developing Relations with Customers
As per my observation and market research over the internet, being a market monopoly
PTCL does not have to worry about developing new relations. However, because of increasing
competition in the past years, in order to persistently maintain an edge over all other
organizations their website has published a number of projects initiated by PTCL that can also be
interpreted as successful attempts to develop relationships with potential consumers through
varying techniques:
Tele-Presence
An innovative new technology introduced by PTCL, allows consumers to experience a
rich audio as well as high definition video “in person” virtual experience. Primarily targeting
their corporate clients with this strategy, PTCL has managed to provide potential consumers with
cutting edge business solutions hence developing lasting relationships with the corporate world.
Sponsoring Events
In order to thoroughly make consumers aware of their services as well as with frequent
promotional offers PTCL often indulges in sponsoring well organized events. In 2008 PTCL
sponsored the first ever Business School Competition in Pakistan organized by LUMS (PTCL,
2013).
Charities
PTCL frequently indulges in charity campaigns such as cash donations to the SOS,
scholarships for the disabled, the Benazir Income Support Program, etc.
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Environmental Friendly Operations
In February 2009, PTCL adapted new environmental friendly techniques and persisted
that other organizations in Pakistan go green as well; ever since project initiation, PTCL has been
working thoroughly hard in an attempt to becoming a paperless enterprise.
PTCL Established IT Center
The brainchild of Mr. Walid Irshaid (PTCL, 2013), PTCL is setting a state of the art Center
of Excellence for Internet Technologies at NUST Islamabad. It is developing new relations not
only with NUST, instead with every single individual that steps into the university campus.
b. Techniques of Retaining Customers
Like all other organizations PTCL also indulges its consumers in techniques that allow the
organization to retain old customers. For this very purpose, PTCL is obligated to initiate
techniques that will help satisfy age old loyal customers, such as:
Low Cost Packages
PTCL tries to accommodate the basic needs of all of its consumers. Consequently, where
one consumer who is interested fast internet along with unlimited downloading, can avail EVO
3G’s unlimited package for Rs. 2100; but another person who is more interested in the basic
unlimited downloading can avail the very same package for Rs. 1199 with a slightly reduced
downloading speed.
Student Packages
Students don’t have the kind of affordability like corporate clients or business employees,
hence in order to retain the student segment PTCL has begun offering student packages which
are low budgeted with similar services to their everyday packages.
Bundle Offers
To retain its Smart TV viewers, PTCL has started offering bundle services such as three
in one services at a limited cost.
Seasonal Discounts
Previously the EVO wingle cost consumers about Rs. 2,500; however at their recent
discounted price it costs customers a mere Rs. 1,250.
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Helpline Numbers
With helpline numbers operating 24/7 PTCL is able to accommodate existing customers
by solving their problems over a simple phone call.
Customer Service Centers/ One Stop Shops
However, when the organization is not able to accommodate consumers over a telephone
line, they have exclusively set up service centers and one-stop shops which customers can
conveniently visit when facing a problem.
Reconnect Campaign
Only last year PTCL launched its reconnect campaign. Initiated in an attempt to invite
customers, those who had previously discontinued usage of PTCL products and services, in order
to return back and reconnect with the PTCL family.
Figure 10 - PTCL Reconnect Landline Poster
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c. Techniques of Attracting New Customers
In an attempt to attract potential new customers, PTCL thoroughly indulges in effective
campaigning, such as:
Double Edge Promotion
For Vfone, PTCL has started offering double edge promotion in an attempt to attract new
customers and consequently benefit their business partners.
New Packages
Every now and then PTCL introduces to its clients new and improved internet as well as
call packages at lowered rates and better quality standards. Not only does this attract a huge pool
of new clients, but at the same time it keeps happy all of their existing clients.
Service Expansion
In collaboration with Microsoft Windows, PTCL has managed to expand its existing
services and deliver shared web hosting on the MS Windows Server System.
New Campaigns
Every now and then PTCL launches a new campaign to attract potential customers. Due to
the law and order situation in Pakistan, a huge pool of customers have been subjected to cellular
blockades in the past, consequently, last year PTCL launched their Landline Link campaign in an
attempt to streamline individuals to use landline connections instead of cell phones.
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d. Ways of Handling Different Customers
Being a commercial entity, PTCL needs to maintain a proper stature in the industry.
Consequently when faced with difficult customers employees are instructed to treat potential
customers with utter respect. As according to company policy they are required to:
Listen
Each CS representative is required to patiently listen to what the customer has to say.
They need to thoroughly hear the consumer out without getting into an argument.
Build Rapport
Once the representative has heard the customer out, he is required to build rapport with
the consumer by showing sufficient empathy; the representative is required to put himself in the
customer’s shoes.
Calm Communication
Even when faced a difficult customer who might resort to yelling or screaming, the
representative is required to maintain his calm stature and while the customer might raise his
voice, the representative is required to reply ever more calmly.
Remaining Pleasant
The customer might be having a bad day. The representative is required to make the
customer feel better in any way possible consequently, he is required to remain and respond as
pleasantly as he can manage.
Never Take Things Personally
Representatives at the CS department of PTCL are instructed to not take anything
personally. No matter what the customer might say the representative is required to remain calm
and respectful as instructed by the company policy.
Fulfill Promises
When a representative makes a promise, he is required to fulfill it to his fullest capacity.
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10. Critical Analysis
PTCL is an organization that presently enjoys market monopoly in the
telecommunications market. It is essentially the first organization that has managed to already
develop and establish a 3G network for its loyal consumers. It was absolutely overwhelming to
work for an organization established on such a vast scale with such a massive workforce. It did
not come as a surprise that with so many efficient departments PTCL is able to so conveniently
able to manage all of its organizational functions so smoothly. I feel that the only reasons PTCL
has been able to govern the political market for so long is because of their persistently struggling,
competent and thoroughly experienced workforce. I have thoroughly experienced multitasking
first hand while working at PTCL, and hence I believe that employees at PTCL essentially excel
the art of being able to do more than a singular thing at a time.
Each of my degree courses contributed to my internship to a certain level. However, in
particular I could thoroughly relate to the following courses and their elements:
International Marketing
Ethical and Moral Standards
Pricing for International Markets
Introducing Services into International Markets
Marketing Management
Market Competition
Distribution Channels
Quality of Goods and Services
Advertising and Promotion
Focus Groups
Promotional Offers (Discounts & Bundle Offers)
Effective Advertisement
Aside from these I felt that business communication also contributed to my understanding
of basic office jargon along with the protocol being followed throughout official communication
channels. I believe that our university has rightly taught us these subjects to specifically be able
to conveniently adjust in the business market to better comprehend organizational structures.
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I believe that all the courses that I studied throughout my four years have managed to
help me in one way or another. Even subjects like CS101 contributed to my internship and
played a thoroughly vital role in helping me complete my internship, especially since I was able
to better handle organizational operations due to this thorough knowledge as compared to if I had
not studied all these courses. I tried my level best to implement all that I have learned,
throughout my degree, to my practical life.
However, I do feel that had I taken regular classes at university or interacted with fellow
students on a daily basis, or even if there was a larger batch of interns to compete against I would
have been able to more thoroughly grasp organizational operations as well as further polish my
individual understanding as well as knowledge of the practical world.
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11. SWOT Analysis of the Organization
Over the years PTCL has managed to secure itself a steady number of loyal consumers hence
making it one of Pakistan’s leading organizations that basically established the basis of our
telecommunication sector. However, irrespective of the fact that throughout Pakistan the
organization is thoroughly recognized and the services extensively used, at the same time the
organization suffers certain lacks and hence can be subjected to competitive threats and
weaknesses. The SWOT analysis of the organization can be summed as under:
a. Strengths
PTCL enjoys market monopoly.
PTCL is operated by a string of thoroughly skilled workforce.
The organization effectively operates at thoroughly low labor costs.
Because of its successful services over the years the organization is responsible for high
profitability and revenues.
PTCL has state of the art distribution and sales networks.
At present PTCL is the largest operating landline network in Pakistan.
Thoroughly invests in its research and development sector.
b. Weaknesses
The organization suffers from extra employee overhead due to excessive hiring practices.
PTCL faces a certain level of difficulty when trying to foster professionalism due to the diversity
of cadres.
Everything at PTCL is campaign based; there is not one basic strategy for product sales and
distribution.
Lacks the effective training needs analysis resulting in a lack of motivation amongst employees
The organization is likely to stick to old legacies.
Lacks retention policies hence many senior officials are forced to leave the organization taking
with them a whole lot of valuable experience.
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c. Opportunities
PTCL has the opportunity to form new partnerships with other telecommunication companies in
today’s deregulated market.
With the introduction of global marketing, PTCL is able to reach consumers beyond national
boundaries along with establishing long distance infrastructure.
PTCL supports vast infrastructure and real estate assets which can be leveraged even further.
Due to reduced tele-density PTCL has the opportunity to work on consumer demand.
With the help of effective ICT measures PTCL has managed to produce multitude lines of new
products gaining a competitive edge over other telecommunication organizations.
d. Threats
Due to very quickly climbing inflation rates, PTCL is thoroughly experiencing reducing demand
for its services.
The instable political situation in our country is resulting in a distressed situation for PTCL.
Because of the energy crisis situation in our country, PTCL is unable to perform to its absolute
functional capacity.
Due to the rapid increase in the rates of cyber crimes, PTCL frequently suffers from security
issues.
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12. Conclusion
After thorough data analysis and sufficient data collection while working at PTCL, my report
concludes that where the HR department of the organization is essentially responsible for a
motivated and positive work environment, the market communication department on the other
hand is exclusively responsible for attracting, securing and retaining potential consumers with
effective product development and execution. PTCL did not turn into a market monopoly over
night; instead it put in a sufficient amount of investment of time as well as money to secure such
a massive consumer base. However, with increasing market competition as well as consumer
demand, it is likely that PTCL will be forced to alter their age old policies and subsequently
retain their client base.
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13. Recommendations for Improvement
PTCL is presently in the process of converting hard copy files into soft copies, however, even
then there is sufficient need for process improvement especially since every time there is need
for updating a personal file the process needs to be primarily initiated on hardcopy then later
transferred onto the system.
PTCL needs to define proper employee retention strategies as according to individual skill sets.
Needs to improve methods of TNA (training needs assessments) for thorough employee
utilization. Aside from that the company also needs to initiate training courses more frequently.
PTCL is in dire need to foster professionalism in all of its departments.
Employees are professionally stuck in a monotonous state, hence needs to initiate and implement
on-job rotation for better productivity.
In order to enhance their skill sets and to overcome employee grievances proper counseling
mechanism should be defined.
Even though through SAP PTCL is integrating all organizational departments under a singular
umbrella, there is need to automate numerous other manual operations in order to save on
potential costs and time.
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14. References
Commission, P. (n.d.). Telecom. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from Privatisation Commission:
http://privatisation.gov.pk/telecom/history.htm
Desk, W. (2012, May 10). Mobile subscribers in Pakistan cross 118 million mark. Retrieved
January 15, 2014, from Tribune: http://tribune.com.pk/story/376707/mobile-subscribers-in-
pakistan-cross-118-million-mark/
Bajwa, S. A. (2013, January 20). Sales Department at PTCL. (N. Bashir, Interviewer)
Bokhari, F. (2014, January 21). Marketing Operations at PTCL. (N. Bashir, Interviewer)
Haider, M. (2012, July 27). PTCL plans to slash workforce by more than 50pc. Retrieved
December 30, 2013, from The News: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-123014-
PTCL-plans-to-slash-workforce-by-more-than-50pc
Idrisi, S. (2014, January 18). Number of Employees Operating in PTCL. (N. Bashir, Interviewer)
MobilinkGSM. (2013). About Us. Retrieved January 11, 2014, from Mobilink:
http://www.mobilinkgsm.com/about-us/
PTCL. (2013). Business. Retrieved December 30, 2013, from PTCL:
http://www.ptcl.com.pk/page_category.php?pd_id=10
PTCL. (2013). PTCL Brand Philosophy . Retrieved December 30, 2013, from PTCL:
http://www.ptcl.com.pk/pd_content.php?pd_id=216
PTCL. (2013). Corporate Responsibility. Retrieved January 17, 2014, from PTCL:
http://www.ptcl.com.pk/pd_content.php?pd_id=43
Swati, S. K. (2014, January 15). Organizational Structure & Department Introduction. (N.
Bashir, Interviewer)
Telenor. (2013). Telenor Pakistan. Retrieved January 11, 2014, from Telenor:
http://www.telenor.com/about-us/global-presence/pakistan/
WaridTel. (2013). Press Release. Retrieved January 11, 2014, from Warid Telecom:
http://www.waridtel.com/about/media/archive/warid-takes-service-excellence.php
Waseem, A. (2014, January 16). Structure of the Marketing Department. (N. Bashir, Interviewer)
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15. Appendix
Participation Data 1
Organizational Structure & Department Introduction Interview
I arranged a personal interview with Mr. Saleem Khan Swati in order to about the basic
organizational structure of PTCL.
How do you define the basic structure of the organization?
Well, the basic structure starts off from the CEO, moves on to the SEVPs, then there are the
EVPs, GMs, SMs, Managers, Assistant Managers and eventually at the bottom of the
organizational food chain are the non-managerial staff members.
Can the non-managerial staff and assistant managers communicate directly with the
SEVPs and EVPs?
We like to pride ourselves in having an environment more than just friendly. In a manner of
speaking, we define ourselves as more of a family. But needful to say that every individual at the
office is subjected to and is obliged to follow the basic protocol , but you see when it comes
down to verbal communication we like to keep it simple and on good terms hence yes, if need be
we allow free flowing communication.
Do you think it causes a certain level of miscommunication when there are so many chains
of command to report to? Or like there are so many people you have to go through before
finally getting your message across to one of your key seniors does that result in your
message being only partly conveyed?
No. Because you see everything that happens at our organization is communicated through e-
mail or memos, and like everything is in black and white. For future references we print entire e-
mails so that there is sufficient proof of what happened.
Do you think so many levels of authority help in work distribution?
We have people coming in and working for us from all across Pakistan. We support and cater to
diversity at all sorts of level. I believe that with such diversity it is important to have this many
levels of authority. You see it eliminates hostilities; where one person is comfortable talking to
one GM, the other person might be more comfortable with the AM.
How many departments do you cater to? Can you describe each one?
We have a total of around 8 departments.
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The Technical Department deals with the development and upgrading of the organization’s
media. Like the wire line core infrastructure all across Pakistan.
The IT Department handles the internet, intranet, LAN, WAN, Metropolitan Networking
technologies.
The Human Resource department at PTCL provides comprehensive human resource
management to the organization.
The Business Zones Operations Department handles all our B2C communication and delivers
goods from the exchange to the end consumer.
We like to call our marketing department the Commercial Department, largely because aside
from advertising our products it deals with essentially everything that happens to be related to
the consumer market.
Our Business Development Department caters to all our bilateral relations with other telecom
organizations and manages all our international business relations.
Then there is our Procurement Department that basically deals with all the purchasing and selling
of office hardware along with keeping up with technical contracts.
Lastly, our Finance Department deals with all budgetary functions taking place within the
organization.
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Participation Data 2
Number of Employees Operating in PTCL Interview
I arranged an interview with Mr. Saqib Idrisi in an attempt to gain information regarding the
number of employees presently operating at PTCL.
In reference to a recent article published in The News International, is the company in
trouble? More specifically are the employees in trouble?
The company has never done better business as compared to in recent years. The company is
presently one of the key leading telecom organizations in Pakistan. To answer your question, no,
the company is not in any kind of trouble.
What is the total number of employees that you have?
As of present we have approximately 22,000 employees working for us.
According to my research the total number of employees is far more than what you just
defined. Over the internet it says you have around 30-40 thousand employees?
That’s just exaggeration. Who ever published that definitely did not have the right figures.
You see, there’s the one CEO, approximately 7 SEVP, 22 EVP, around about 128 GMs and the
rest of the 21,842 constitute of analysts, managers, CS, etc.
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16. Glossary
EVP – Executive Vice President
SEVP – Senior Executive Vice President
SM – Senior Manager
GM – General Manager
AM – Assistant Manager
EDBMC – Employee Database Management Cell
EPI – Employee Personal Identification
SAP – Systems, Applications and Products
TNA – Training Needs Assessment