Executive Summary:

Worldcall Telecom is a service provider company and is dealing in telecommunication

services, cable providers, internet service provider, and payphone services. They are operating in

Pakistan since 1996 when First Securities Commission began their operations in Pakistan. They

started their cable service in1998 from Lahore. Then in 2005, they got the license of wireless

loop for 14 major divisions in Pakistan. They are improving their business tactics and planning

as the time passes and become number one in private telecom services. Salman Taseer is the

chairman of the company. The major decision making lies in the hands of executives. For

internal communication they are using LAN. Managing directors are responsible for the projects

management and also for the operations of the business. At operational level, Worldcall needs to

have information about its daily operation like daily sales transactions, No. of orders placed by

the franchises, no of complaints from their customer. Company should be aimed to check the

SWOT analysis to increase the efficiency of company. External environment has a great effect on

the company. The major impact is of technology, because infrastructure and the efficiency of the

company depend on the use of technology. The threat of entrance is high, there are many

suppliers, bargaining power of the buyer is high, but there is no threat of substitutes of the

company. The major competitors of the company are PTCL, WATEEN, CYBERNET, GSM

operators. The main opportunity available to the company is to install fiber cables in company,

they can also tale advantage of internet explosion. The major threat of company is from

instability of economy. Other threats are from the newly launched companies providing the same

services with lower prices. The major strength of company is the size of their network. They also

have some licenses (WLL /LDI /NGN). Privacy is the major weakness of company. Not

emphasize on the marketing is another weakness of the company. Company is normally

operating in the turnaround area. As it is a service based company, the major focus in the value

chain analysis is on sales and marketing, and after sale services.

Company has different strategies and alternatives to be implemented. Customer data base

should be developed a data base system for customer information and should have DecisionEdge

system to divide customer on geographical bases. They should develop an EDI for internal

secure communication which can increase their company’s performance. They should modify

their website and also give an online payment system. They should use ERP in order to combine

their all sectors. It will also connect all the sectors of company. We are conducting some analysis

and we get the detailed about portfolio management and we have done portfolio management

process. After analysis and categorizing each, we found the DecisionEdge system (Oracle 9i), the

best one for the company. The tactical plans of the company are to train employee, implement

system with in a year, etc…etc. Operational plans includes necessary information about current

data base, preparing of a vendor list, evaluate the cost and services offered by the outsource

company. As for as the change management is concerned, we supposed that change should be in

parts, firstly data base should be implemented and then trained people should be hired in order to

increase the efficiency of the business.

2 BUSINESS PURPOSE OF THE COMPANY:

2.1 Mission Statement:

Worldcall Telecom Limited will demonstrate quality in all aspects of its business in a

manner to be seen in as a way of Life.

“They are committed to always remain ahead in delivering quality products and services

conforming to the requirements of their entire internal and external customer.”

2.2 Brief History:

 The concept of telecom has been growing since 1990’s, when commitments were made

by over 70 WTO member countries to open up their value added and basic services sectors.

Telecommunication has been acknowledged as a crucial infrastructure for any modern economy

in the world. Cellular mobile service has been started in Pakistan since 1990’s.

In 1996 First Capital Securities Corporation began a payphone operation called Worldcall

Payphones Limited in Pakistan. Their perception of a changing business environment placed

Worldcall at the lead of a demand-led explosion of payphones all over the country. Worldcall is

the first private sector telecom operator to start Long Distance and international services in

Pakistan. They installed their first payphone in June 1996. Under this license, they can offer

nationwide and international calling facilities to the customers. Today Worldcall has over 47,000

payphones all over the country. They are one of the largest fixed line payphone operator and the

pioneers of “Supervised Payphones” business model in Pakistan. With the expansion in telecom

they have continued to innovate. Over the years they have invested in new technologies and

businesses. In 1998 prepaid calling cards were launched by Worldcall Phone cards under the

brand name "Hello".

In 2000 Worldcall Multimedia established a Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) scalable

network in Lahore thus becoming the first Multi-service operator in the country, providing cable

television and Internet-over-cable. In cable TV in Lahore, Worldcall was the last entrant and by

far the largest. In 2003 they launched a state of the art HFC network operation in Karachi under

Worldcall Broadband Limited. These are the largest and only national networks capable of triple

play (cable TV, high speed internet/data and telephony). These companies are also offering metro

fiber lease to a number of other telecom / cellular operators as well as corporate.

 Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL) acquired Wireless Local Loop (WLL)

licenses/spectrum in the post deregulation auction to provide WLL telephony in all 14 telecom

regions of Pakistan primarily in the 1900 MHz band. It has partnered with Samsung for a CDMA

2000 1x solution (with EVDO option). WTL started service from Lahore in June 2005 which is

now available in 14 cities. WTL also acquired an LDI license and service commenced at the end

of 2004.

In line with its vision, Worldcall Telecom division has been integrated into a single

corporate entity to realize maximum synergies from its diverse and extensive

operations/infrastructure deployments in the telecom sector and offer a total telecom solution.

Worldcall Communications Limited, Worldcall Multimedia Limited and Worldcall Broadband

have been merged with Worldcall Telecom Limited.

Source :( www.worldcall.com.pk)

2.3 Past and Present Performance:

The company is focusing on its aim of becoming the number one national alternative

telecoms provider and a leading multi service operator in the region.

Worldcall Telecommunications Group began life in 1996 when First Capital Securities

Corporation Ltd. started Worldcall Payphones, now Worldcall Telecom Limited. The next few

years were spent in expanding its payphone network nationally, creating new telecoms

businesses and drawing investor attention to the value of Worldcall as the number one alternative
national telecoms operator post deregulation. Today Worldcall Group has the most extensive and

diversified telecom deployments by a private operator in Pakistan. Worldcall is part of a larger

corporation and along with First Capital Securities Corporation Ltd. owns a mix of telecom, print

& media, technology, financial services, retail and property development businesses with both

national and international coverage. Worldcall has achieved another landmark by shifting Hello

calling card traffic into LDI network. At the same time a NGN (Next Generation Network)

powered plate form installation is also complete, which help the company to handle call traffic

even more economically. In the subsequent year, they launched WLL payphone under the name

“Free Phone”. Public response to it was really great and encouraging. The management is well

aware of the facts that their will be a great immense of pressure on prices, so they are mostly

focusing on the quality services, and proper customer care which help them in achieving their

target of maximizing their customer base. Worldcall has a National distribution network across

220 cities and 50 Regional offices encompassing with a wide network of more than 59,000

points-of-sale.

Business Plus is one of the Pakistan’s one of the leading business channels is running by

Worldcall. Worldcall deployed the first ever HFC broadband infrastructure in Pakistan to provide

interactive multimedia services.

2.4 Structure Analysis:

Worldcall telecom is a service based industry. Currently the company is operating in

telecommunication, internet services, and cable services. Salman Taseer is the chairman of the

company and the decision of the company is centralized. The major decision making of the

company lies in the hand of the board of directors which include Kamil Aziz, Naveed Tariq,
Effan ibne Riaz, and Farooq Ahmed. The major purpose of the business is to find the potential

buyers and also they are focusing on the best services to the users.

For the internal communication (within department) they are currently using Local Area

Networking, and for the communication with other heads of departments they are using simple

internet.

The managing director of the finance department is responsible for the forecasting of new

projects and also for the costing of the current departments. They are maintaining the database

for every department which is being updated on the daily basis.

The director of information technology is Shahid Mahmood which is responsible for the use of

technology in the organization by departments and between other departments.

Under these there are chief operating officers, whose duty is to check and run day to day

operating activities of the business.

Company has more than 59000 franchises, so it is a great task for the business managers to

collect data from all the places and than put it into a single data base.

2.5 Strategic Vision:

“To become the number one national alternative telecoms provider and a leading multi-

services operator with regional and international footprint.”

3 INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE COMPANY

In the organization, the information flow is from top to bottom and then bottom to top.

These information are very important to the company for operating in their operational activities

and also for the development of the new strategies of the company. These information are used

by all level of managers to perform their business activities.

3.1 Operational needs:

As a service providing company, Worldcall needs to have information about its daily

operation like daily sales transactions, No. of orders placed by the franchises, no of complaints

from their customer (franchise and consumer), quantity of telephone set to be ordered. They also

need customer information for the interaction with their customers daily. They also need to know

how many connections available in the particular area so that they can assign the free ports to the

demanding users. They also need complete information about the packages of the company on

their products.

3.2 Managerial Needs:

Managers need information about the customer changing demands. Management should

know about the technological developments in the world. They also need to have information

about the channel in the world which is creating their demand. Which areas really need more

BTS? They also need to have information about the installation of new BTS. They should know

about price fluctuations in the market and the stock exchange status. Management need to know

about the complete profile, past record in the business of the customer/supplier. Managers should

know about the no of customers and no of the supplier in the market. Management should know

about the competitors and about their strategies. They should also know that which hand set is

better for which package in wireless service. From whom the set should be purchased. Etc… etc.

3.3 Strategic needs:

At strategic level the top management should know about the SWOT. They should know

about the strengths and weakness of the company and also about the up coming threats and

opportunities in the industry. And also the potential of the company to take advantage of new

coming opportunity and the ability of the company to fight against any threat posed by the
environment. The information of external and internal environment and the possible alternative

strategic options available to the company has to be known. How company can get the

competitive advantages and how the company will sustain itself in today’s competitive

environment.

4.0 ANALYSIS

4.1 Industry Analysis:

4.1.1 External Environment

4.1.1.1 Pest Analysis:

A PEST analysis is an analysis of the external macro environment that affects all firms.

PEST analysis consists of P.E.S.T.

These factors are often out of control of the company. Sometime these factors are threats

for the company. But with the passage of the time or in the current situation these can become

the opportunities.

Political Factors:

The political factors have a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses. The

Pakistan is at that time has a quiet stable political environment. Worldcall has no particular effect

of political factors. They are a licensed company and operating since 1995 and continuously

improving and expanding their business although in that period Pakistan political environment

has very dramatic changes. Current government has made some better policies for the expansion

of the telecommunication industry. Recently Pakistan has given operating licenses to some new
companies e.g. Al-Warid, Telenor. Worldcall started its wireless telephonic services in that arena.

They have some legal issues. Some licenses are also issued to local companies for some local

loops.

The government’s policy on the economy is also good. The overall GDP is growing

rapidly. Recently Government has privatized the PTCL thus finishing the monopoly of the

government. So the ground for the telecommunication is established and the chances of overall

growth are assure.

Further more the government is involved in trading agreements with some Asia countries

and some other countries as well. These agreements helped Worldcall to enhance their business

in other part of the world. Currently they are operating in Sri Lanka.

Economic Factors

The economic factors also have a major impact on the companies operating in the country

or for those companies who actually want to open their operation in that country.

Pakistan, an impecunious and underdeveloped country, has suffered from decades of

internal political disputes, low levels of foreign investment, and a costly, ongoing confrontation

with neighboring India. Since the major supplier of Worldcall of the handsets and desktop are

from china, Japan and Germany so economical changes in the prices of electronics make the

supplier to increase the price of their products. Thus the price of all the products is very dynamic.

The economic crisis of the supplier’s country may also affect the prices of their product.

Socio cultural Factors

 The social and cultural influences on business vary from country to country. It is very

important that such factors are considered. The company is involved in the services providing

sector. Change in the lifestyle trend will affect the profitability of the company. As the Islam is

dominant religion in Pakistan so if people shift from cable it will hurt the company. Worldcall

has a very good strategy for expansion of the business. They started with pay phones but as they

realized that customer are shifting to wireless technology; they came up with wireless phone.

Now they are introducing internet cable to full fill the changing needs of the customers.

Technological Factors

Technology is vital for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. The

past decade has seen major increases in the complexity of IT systems and infrastructures,

spawning inefficiency, inflexibility, and mounting costs. However, all this is set to change. We

are now on the threshold of a new wave of innovation that will roll across the IT industry. At the

forefront is a new generation of IT designed to provide efficient, high-performance information

creation and delivery that effectively supports the rapid pace of business

Technology has also impact on the cost structure in terms of time and money. The

technology threat is always there for Worldcall. Many companies are operating with GSM

technology but Worldcall has CDMA technology in their wireless network. Further cyber net is

coming with high speed internet which will threaten the Worldcall cable.

4.1.2 Competitive Force Model:

The Competitive force model helps the company to know the business situation of

the particular industry. It also helps the marketer to contrast a competitive environment.
Worldcall telecom is working all over the country and is the one of the largest

telecommunication provider, largest cable internet service provider and one of the largest internet

service provider in big cities. Since the company is formed, they are continuously improving

their operations and quality and continuously extended their business operations. The

competitive force model normally looks at the four basic areas such as the threat of entry,

bargaining power of buyer, bargaining power of customer, threats of substitutes.

Threat of Entry:

The resolution of telecom industry began in 1990 when 70 countries of WTO have

commitment on the telecom industry. The threat of entry in the telecom industry in Pakistan is

held by PTA till 2003. After 2003, New Telecom policy was unveiled in July with an objective to

attract investment, increase telecom density and sector development. After this policy, the threat

of entrance in this industry is very large. Since this policy is unveiling, the PTA is giving the

licenses to four telecom companies and now in Pakistan, there are nine telecom industries

operating in Pakistan. So the threat of entrance in this industry is huge. On the other hand, higher

cost will be the factor of restriction of entrance, so according to this factor, there is no threat to

entrance.

Bargaining Power of Supplier:

The bargaining power of the supplier is low with respect to the software. There are many

software companies operating in the world, they can buy and implement the software from any

software company. Fiber optic cable which is used for high speed internet facility has been

provided by many companies, so bargaining power of the supplier is low. The bargaining power

of supplier regarding the telecom industry is also low, because they are buying their handsets
from Samsung, Motorola, and Wastech/NeoLeadertel. There are many other suppliers regarding

the purchase of hand sets.

Bargaining Power of buyer:

Bargaining power of buyer is higher regarding all the facilities provided by Worldcall

telecom. Buyer has many other choices to take the services from other telecommunication

companies ISPs, and cable service. There are many others telecom service provider like PTCL

Wireless, Go CDMA, certain mobile companies. Regarding the services of cable, there are many

cable operators in the country who are providing almost the same services like Worldcall.

Threat of Substitute:

Telecommunication is the largest and the fastest growing industry in the current times. It

is also the fastest way of communicating with the business world people. Now a day, business is

running very fast and there is no time available for any business to do business with out the help

of IT. Another big advantage of the telecommunication media is that it has less cost and high

performance. There is no substitute of taking the information from world wide very vastly and so

quickly. It is only possible through internet and multimedia. So the threat of substitute is no more

in that area of the business.

WORLDCALL MAJOR COMPETITORS:

PTCL:

PTCL is operating in Pakistan from the earliest stages of Pakistan. It the first

telecommunication company in the country. It holds its monopoly since 2003, but after the

investment policy is unveiled, it has no more monopoly in the country. It is also providing its

customer the calling card options.

Go CDMA:
 This is a newly operated company in Pakistan. It is being worked in the country after

2003 and has enhanced its business operations in country very fast and very effectively. Like

other telecom companies its major business is to provide the telecommunication services and the

internet services to the customer.

Cybernet:

Cyber net is one of the competitors of the Worldcall by providing the ISP services to

many organizations. Currently they are coming up with a high speed fiber optic internet (DSL) in

Lahore. They are testing the response and the quality of this service in Lahore.

GSM Operators:

Another large competitor of the Worldcall is the GSM services provided by the GSM or

cellular companies. They have also established a wide area coverage mobile phones network in

Pakistan.

4.1.3 SWOT ANALYSIS: (Opportunities & Threat Portion)

Opportunities:

New Telecom policy was unveiled in July 2003 with an objective to attract investment,

increase telecom density and sector development, so it is a big opportunity for the telecom

industry to enter in the country and take advantage of this policy. The main opportunity available

to the telecom industry is that they can install new networks, fiber cables, etc…etc. they can also

take advantage of Global and domestic internet explosion and give opportunities to the

intelligent people to come and develop the organization infrastructure. They also have the

opportunity to create customer awareness and empowerment through IT and internet. Another

big opportunity for the telecom industry is that Pakistan is relatively less develop and the
developing cost in Pakistan is very low, so they can develop new networks with low cost.

Another opportunity available to the telecom industry is that they can give quality training to the

people and can hire them after giving them training. Another opportunity available to the

Worldcall is that it is a develop industry in Pakistan, they can through out the newly develop

telecom industry and enjoy the higher profits. Another opportunity available to the company is

that through effective promotion, they are able to attract more customers.

Threats:

The big threat to the Worldcall telecom is that there is no restriction to entry because PTA

is now operating on the investment policy, so there is always a threat that any company can enter

into the market and do the same business with lower cost. Another big threat to the Worldcall is

that Pakistan economy is very unstable. Continued instability in the country can affect their

business because they are operating on the basis of the contracts given to them; if there are no

more licenses available to them they are going to be struck at this stage. High taxation to the

information technology industry is one of the greatest threats to the telecom industry to extend

their business. The lack of the understanding of the IT is also a threat to the company, that they

are not able to hire the competent people for their job; it can also decrease their development.

Newly setup companies are also the threat to the Worldcall telecom, because new companies are

going to be installed on new an advanced technology, which is not available at the time of

installation of the developed companies. Lack of Government support to the telecom industry or

the information industry is also the threat to the company that any one can disturb their business

and damage their business or try to loose their customer.

4.2 COMPANY ANALYSIS:

4.2.1 SWOT ANALYSIS: (Strengths and Weaknesses)

 Strengths:

The major business strength of the Worldcall is that they are the largest cable operator in

the country. Their network size of the cable is 200,000 house pass scalable broadband FC

network. Their network is deployed in the middle and high income residential areas. They have

setup the first hybrid fiber coaxial network in Pakistan. Their network is based on the 175 km of

the optic fiber cable. Another big strength of the Worldcall telecom is that they are the only multi

service operator in Pakistan. They have been awarded by the license for local loop (LL/WLL)

long distance and international telephony. Another big Strength is that they have 21 point of

presence nationwide and they want to grow it to above 40 in a year. Another big strength of

Worldcall telecom is that they have control of significant amount of traffic through existing

services such as calling cards & payphone.

“Worldcall’s HFC networks face competition in each of their product lines; however

there is no single competitor who provides a “Bundle” of services like we do which makes us

technologically superior, cost effective and user friendly.”

(Chairman Salman Taseer)

Weaknesses:

The main weakness of the Worldcall telecom is that they are currently using E-Mail to

communicate with in the organization; it is not a good way to communicate in an organization

because company has its own secrets which has to remain with the company. Company new

strategies may be hacked from the internet. Another main weakness of Worldcall telecom is that

their system is not up to mark of the current requirements of the people. People want high speed

communication network, their system has some problems that sometime their system is getting

down. Sometime call is not connected to their network because their network is too busy, some
times call is being disconnected. Another weakness of the Worldcall is that they don’t emphasize

on the advertisement of their company, that’s why they are loosing their customers or they are

unable to attract their customers.

4.2.2 Strategic Grid Matrix:

According to the strategic grid matrix, the company is currently operating in the

turnaround area. The company is currently implementing new technologies, changing the

standards of their business. They also made gross roots experimentation by introducing the fiber

cable of 750km. Recently they merged their four sectors of business into a single department.

They are trying to improve the local performance of the business by offering low prices for the

same services offered by the competitors. The ways they are not able to attract their customer

because they are new in the market as compared to their competitors; their main competitor is

PTCL, which is operating in Pakistan since 1947. they are trying to implement the user friendly

systems for their employees in order to increase the efficiency of the business and improve the

day by day performance of the business. They are trying to implement new standards of business

by introducing new business. They are still lacking in some areas which are related to the

customer relation management and systems they are using. They also invest more money in new

ventures and especially the areas which are not being targeted by the business.

4.2.3 Value Chain Analysis:

Value chain analysis is a systematic way through which company can attain competitive

advantage from their competitors.

Inbound Logistics:

The purchase department handles the purchasing of the goods. Here goods are being

purchased according to the requirements of the company and the goods in excess are being
stored in the warehouses. Worldcall has its own warehouses and their own vehicles, and they are

storing their inventory in their ware houses until it is not being used.

Operations:

The major purpose of the Wordcall Telecom is to provide the services to the customers.

Their operations are to implement the system where it is needed. For example, if at any point

there is a need of implementing new amplifiers in order to strengthen the signals, they will

implement it, where the BTS should be needed in order to increase the wireless signals.

Sales and Marketing:

Sales managers and Marketing directors are responsible for the sale and marketing of the

product. Marketing managers are required to choose the way of marketing their products or new

offers of their products. Marketing department is also required to tell the potential customers and

they are also required to find out the target people for their product. Sales department is required

to find the authorized dealers who can sell their products, giving them licensing. The major focus

of marketing department is on the promotion of services offered by Worldcall. Sales department

is also focus on the promotion because their sale depends on the promotion of services offered.

After Sales Services:

The major success of the company depends on the after sales services provided by the

company. Worldcall has its own 59000 franchises or point of sale in the country, so they are

doing very well in providing after sales services. They have their separate customer relation

management department whose unique function is to check where the customer is having

problems and after identifying the problem they resolve the problem as quickly as possible. They

also have a separate customer care department, whose function is to record the customer problem

and inform the technical department to fix it.

5 STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVES AND OPTIONS

An advance customer information database (Oracle 9i) should be developed which

should contain all the information about the customer. Customer ID should be assigned so that

company knows that which kind of facility their customer is using (wireless facility, TV cable,

internet Cable). The address and other important information about the customer will be mention

in the data base. They should buy a decision support system like DecisionEdge system. It will

help them to divide the customers on the geographical bases. The company will know that how

many connections of internet cable, TV cable and wireless telephone customer in different areas

of the city. In addition to this, there would be another MIS which would also be centralized and

would be attached to the customer information database. These systems would keep track of all

the orders from their customer (franchises) and also consumer of their products and also keep

track of the supplier. The company will able to know that in which city they have less connection

of their wireless telephone. So they could emphasize on that city to increase the number of

connections and to increase market share. They will able to know that which area of the cities

having more connection so company should increase the capacity of the connection by having

more BTS station their.

Worldcall should establish an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) system with its supplier

and customer (franchises). It will help to update the Database after the sale of every connection.

Also it will provide flexibility of ordering only at demand. The system will automatically order

supplier of the telecom sector, when demand of telephones increases (handset, Desktop) .Even

they can manage the inventory of cable related items such as fiber optic, coaxial, connectors,

poles etc. This would reduce the haphazard of placing orders again and again with reducing

inventory stocking costs and depreciation costs. On the other hand they will able to get the
figures out the demand of their services. This will help them to fulfill the required demand and

also they will able to get the data for forecasting and for future strategy.

Although the Worldcall has a website but it needs a lot of modifications. Firstly all the

services of Worldcall should be merged on one site. Secondly online payment option. Thirdly

FAQ should be there on the site. Fourth the website should be updated on regular intervals. It

should be more detailed having information about all the packages, future plans and details about

the franchises and telephone numbers of CRM and other customer related departments. The

addresses of the head office and also about regional offices. Online payment options could be

provided by obtaining a secure SSL encryption connection. So customer can pay their bills of

both the telephone and cable through net. This would facilitate customers to pay online while at

home. Payment options is another area where IT/IS can be used for competitive advantage.

Prepaid Bills cards should be used for the payment of the bills. An online system will be their.

Customer has to put customer ID and than option for the billing means for which services they

want to pay. And after paying bills they can confirm their bills payments and reaming balances in

the prepaid cards.

They can use ERP in their organization. As they have three main sectors in their

organization which made the Worldcall a very complex type of organization. The ERP will help

them to combine their entire sectors and further more all the departments will be connected with

each other. It will help to a have a true financial picture of all the sectors and also all the

departments. Employee in different department c an see the information by using single software

and can update it accordingly. ERP especially help Worldcall in standardize HR information. It
will help Worldcall in managing and tracking employees’ time and communicating with them

about benefits and services. It will also help in managing inventory of the company.

6 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES AND OPTIONS

All strategies mentioned above are best for the company; these strategies can help the

company improving the performance for the company.

Comparing Option 1 and Option 2

For a company which is operating in the information technology arena need the

automation system implementing for their internal work.

Comparing Option 1 and Option 2

If they use an advance type of database like Oracle 9i with DecisionEdge, It will really

help them to know about their weak areas, where they are loosing their share in the market and

where they are doing well. But it has one flaw. How they will update their database. This can

create problems for them as we mentioned above of loosing customer confidence. But if they use

EDI system it will help them to update their existing. Database they can get the information

about the customer orders and information about the supplier. The ordering process will be

simple and convenient. Efficient quantity will be ordered online and company will also cut down

it cost regarding ordering cost and also in inventory.

Comparing Option 1 and Option 3

Only making a website will not work well. Although it will gave some kind of

competitive advantage. But in most areas of Pakistan are with out the facility of internet, so

making this type of strategy will tackle only a segment of market. Same is the case with online

payment but establishing a database system and decision support system will really matter for the

company.
 Comparing Option 1 and Option 4

Managing an ERP system will really help the company in this global environment. ERP

will combine all the department of the organization. All the departments will able to check the

position of other department before processing an order. Wheatear there is any inventory for that

specific item or not. But ERP has some hidden cost and also it will take a lot of time for

implementation. They have to train their employees and wait for two to three years for ROI. But

the first option has its own worth. ERP is a good option but it doesn’t do any thing regarding

customer. But the first option will help company to enhance it share in the market and also make

their operation quiet efficient with having updated information regarding customer all the time.

Comparing Option 2 and Option 3

Again making a website and giving online payment option is good for competitive

advantage but EDI will help a lot in managing the company database and for ordering process to

the supplier. And it is always good to have a connection with your supplier.

Comparing Option 2 and Option 4

EDI will help the company to have correct information about customers and will help to

have a direct connection with the supplier but ERP has its own advantage. Although it will take

time for implementing but after implementation it will really work for a complex organization

like Worldcall.

Comparing Option 3 and Option 4

The idea of having a fully professional looking website is good. The website with

complete information and also on line payment option will really facilitate the customer. More

likely this website is customer oriented and it will really entertain the customer and will help to
increase satisfaction level of the customer. On the other hand ERP is an internal type of strategy;

it would be more beneficial for the company. It has no concern with the customers.

Comparison between current and upcoming strategies:

Currently they used manual system for information about the sale of new connections and

after receiving all the slips from their representatives they put this information into their system.

It happens that the repetitive came with the new connections information after weeks. Updating

period is long for new sales connection and customer information. This create problem for

operational decision. Currently they have their database system for their customers but as

mentioned above it is not updated on the daily bases. Because of that they get some problem at

operational level. When a customer apply for the connection Worldcall staff check the

availability of free connection and come to know that there is a free connection available in that

area. After giving an OK report to customer they come to know that the connection has been

already sold to a customer but it was not updated. At that time they feel embarrassment. But after

the installation of EDI the records will be updated even after a single connection sale and will

provide management a way to make efficient decision.

Currently they don’t know about segmented information about the customers. For

example they don’t know about the specific areas where the user of their internet cable is more

than other areas. In which area they have most customer of cable. In which area they have more

Worldcall wireless connections. Using decision support system like DecisionEdge they will able

to know about the above mentioned things and will make better decisions. Now they know in

which area they are lacking in internet cable and in which area they have more demand. After

getting information they will increase the number of lines of internet cable in that area. And areas

in which they haven’t much connection the marketing department should come to play.
7 STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL MECHANISMS (AN ACTION

PLAN)

7.1 Portfolio Management:

The numbers of good strategies are available to the Worldcall. All are IT based. These

strategies will help company to brighten up its business and to get competitive advantage in the

market. The implementation of ERP, EDI, a professional looking website or using the

management information system (DecisionEdge) will improve the overall efficiency in its

operations.

Worldcall is committed that they always remain ahead in delivering quality products and

services conforming to the requirements of their entire internal and external customer. So by

empowering their company with IT will make their mission statement true, as they will come up

with ERP or EDI etc. These IT techniques will help Worldcall to have a competitive edge over

the other companies in the market. Providing facilities to the customers like online paying of

their internet cable and telephones, a well positioned website which have all the answers of the

customer’s questions will really bring the customer loyalty. And this is really parallel to the

Worldcall mission.

Gathering All the Information

For having an advance type of database and Decision support system, MIS, EDI or ERP

Company should contact with IBM. For developing a website with some advance options

software developers like Unitech can be hired. Company should outsource these systems to

reduce the cost of hiring the skilled staff and maintenance cost. The outsourcing can be given to

reputed companies like Cognizant Technology Solutions (US), CSC (US), HCL Technologies

(India), or EDS (US).The head of departments and the IT staff should come together to examine
critical issues in the strategies. The finance department can gave comments on the financial

conditions of the company. After having all the quotations from some reputed companies the

market, the Finance department can tell that which strategy is with in the range of the company.

Company should provide PCs to the entire employee with processor speed more than 833

MHz. the company has an IT department but it should be upgraded having more IT

professionals.

Prioritize

The decision about the selection of the strategies is next process it can be done using

following matrix.

10
DecisionEdge and an
Web Site construction and online advance database system,
payment option ERP, EDI
Strategic
Value

0
0
10
Operational Value

Construction of website and online payment system will not really help in operation

value but developing a Decision support system, ERP or EDI will really up grade the company

strategic value but the operational value as well. The company has not sufficient resources to buy

an Expansive system. So ERP and having EDI system which will connect 59,000 POS are more

expansive to use. So best option for the company would be an advance database like Oracle 9i

with Decisions support system like DecisionEdge will gave company a good chance to get

competitive advantage.
 Tactical Plans

Tactical plans consist of development of an advance database (Oracle 9i) by some

software developers like Unitech and DecisionEdge in one year time. During time company

should give program training to handle the database to their employee in two to four months.

This includes the three months training time period for employees. Implementation of MIS

would be done in six months. In that period company should gave training programs to the

management.

Operational Plans

Operational plans would be to get all the necessary information form the existing data

base in two to three weeks. Then all the requirements that should be included in the MIS should

be collected in next two to four weeks. Based on these requirement next steps would be

Development of a request for proposal (RFP) to be sent to some reputed software developers.

This will contain all the requirements of the company. Then company would evaluate, on status

of the software house, cost and time. After that, a company will be selected and system would be

developed by the external company. During the developing process the all the possible end-users

from all the departments would be attached with the software developers to gave him some

direction and to have touch with the upcoming system.

Change management
 Phased change

Change would be in parts. In first part the database would be implemented in the

company head offices. The end users that are already attached with the software developing

company will explain in meeting the basic features of the database. All the employees would be

there for questioning. Extra training programs will be arranged for the end users for efficient

utilization of the database. After four to six months the decision support system should be

implemented in the company, and a complete training program would be arranged to train the IT

departments of the Worldcall and also the users of that MIS. An IT professional would be hired

that would be specialized in decision support system for overlooking the system and to instruct

the employee about the system.