ICE Business Times October 2017 by ICE Media Ltd.

Contents TIMES

From the Editor

WORD OF MOUTH 08 State of Affairs 12 Banking Corner 92 Happening 18 Column Shamsul Huq Zahid PHOTO STORY 25 Fallen Angels SPECIAL REPORT 56 Climate Change and the Alarming Water Disasters COVER FOCUS 36 Connecting The Dots 38 Dr. Shahjahan Mahmood 42 46 52

Chairman, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)

Yasir Azman

Deputy CEO and CMO, Grameenphone Ltd.

Matiul Islam Nowshad

Chief Corporate and People Officer, Robi Axiata Limited

Taimur Rahman

Chief Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Officer, Banglalink

a global business magazine from bangladesh

Contents TIMES

TIMES

Vol. 8 No. 02 | October 2017

Publisher & Editor Director, International Publications Executive Director Managing Editor Sub Editor Business Development Manager Designer Business Development Finance & Accounts Sales & Distribution

: : : : : : : : : : :

Abul Khair Zeenat Chowdhury Nawshin Khair Tawhidur Rashid Ishrat Jahan Asaduzzaman Sk. Yeahhia Md. Nizam Uddin Forhad Mohammad Imran Md. Abdul Alim Md. Rubel Khan

This issue’s Photographs by Din M Shibly Kazi Mukul

Editorial & Marketing Queries tawhidur.rashid@ibtbd.net or send us a note at www.facebook.com/icebusinesstimes www.twitter.com/BusinessTimesBD

Be sure to visit our website www.ibtbd.net

INTERVIEWS 64 Shariful Islam Mridha 68 72 76

Head of Human Resources, LankaBangla Finance Limited

Nazmur Rahim

Head of Retail Banking, BRAC Bank Limited

AFM Barkatullah

Deputy Managing Director & Head of Retail Business , IPDC Finance Limited

A.K.M Sadeque Nawaj

GM, Marketing, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited.

FEATURES 20 Telecom Industry: The Driver of Growth 24 Lessons Learned: “What Matters” is What Matters 80 E-Learning: Digital Boon or Bane 86 Tech: Misguided ‘Innovation’ 89 ‘Notorious’ Personal Branding Hack 96 Capital Market Update

Published by Abul Khair on behalf of ICE Media Limited Kushal Centre, Plot 29, Sector 3, Uttara C/A, Dhaka- 1230 and printed at M.K. Printers,189/1, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208 Editorial and Commercial office: 3rd Floor, House: 4, Block: B, Road: 23 A, Banani, Dhaka 1213 Advertising, Sales, Subscription and Distribution: 01812656961, 01615732425, 01759391168, 01850824294, 01611227676 Tel: 02 55035336-8, 09666773313

* Not all the views expressed in the columns and interviews are the views of the magazine.

FROM THE EDITOR Just like the industrial revolution changed the way the world functioned back in the 70s, the telecom revolution in the 90s ignited the lives of humankind by bridging the gap between individuals and countries. The voice and Internet services established by the telecom sector enables us to cross the grey line between imagination and reality from the comforts of our homes and that too at the tip of our fingers. With the dispersion of strong networks provided by the reigning telcos of our country, mothers can easily connect to children living at distance via Skype or Facebook. Deprivation has fled out of the windows of many residing in rural areas, with online education brought at their doorsteps by the emerging telecommunication entities. Our success in mobile financing and thus bringing banking to the doorsteps of tens of thousands of rural people is an example many countries have started noticing. The good news is BTRC is looking forward to arranging 4G/LTE spectrum auction in November, which is very much needed for faster data services. Read our cover focus to know more about the visions the telco stalwarts have to share with us (Connecting the Dots, p. 36). But while we take the time to acknowledge the progression that is happening to our local establishments, we also take the time to observe events happening on a global scale, particularly the bloodshed that was carried out in the Rakhine state of Myanmar throughout September. The ostracism of these minorities from the western coast of Rakhine has shown the world one of the most horrifc ethnic cleansing in human history. The persecution of the Rohingyas have also questioned our faith upon humanity and dismantled every bit of sanity residing within those who fled to the very heart of our Bangladesh. Our special photostory depicting the plight of Rohingya children will definitely strike a chord in your heart (Fallen Angels, p.25). By accepting the responsibility of the refugees from the massacre, our country has once again set an example of empathy and humanity that many affluent nations failed to deliver. Millions of dollars will be needed to provide the basic requirements of living for this Rohingyas. For a country like Bangladesh, arranging that is undoubtedly an uphill battle. What we need now is a clear and transparent strategy so that the burden doesn't become too heavy for us to shoulder. Besides engaging the international development partners, the government needs to engage the local community to sensitize about accommodating the refugees to ensure peace and harmony in the coastal region. Time and again, Bangladeshâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Peace Corps soldiers have set new examples of bravado while ensuring harmony and stability in many war-torn countries of the world. When it comes to our own country, we all need to work together in order to surface above the toughest of tides.

S TAT E O F A F FA I R S

Word of mouth Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivering Statement at the General Debate of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly General Assembly Hall, UNHQ, New York on September 21

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina shaking hands with H.E. Antรณnio Guterres, UN Secretary General during her visit to the UN Secretariat Building, UNHQ, New York

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending the 4th Meeting of the High-level Panel on Water

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the Summit on a Global Pact for the environment hosted by the President of France at UNHQ

W O R D

O F

M O U T H

S T A T E O F A F F A I R S

The First Lady of Turkey H.E. Emine Erdogan and Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Prime Minister Sheikh Haisna at the Gana Bhaban

Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs India called on Prime Minister Sheikh hasina at the UNHQ, New York

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending the passing-out parade of the 34th BCS batch of assistant superintendents of police (ASPs) at the Bangladesh Police Academy at Sarda

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Rohingya refugee camps at Kutupalong of Ukhiya upazila in Cox's Bazar district

BANKING CORNER

Word of mouth Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank delivering his speech as the Chief Guest of the Inaugural Ceremony of 3-Day Workshop on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Development of Liquidity Management Instruments for the Islamic Banks in Bangladeshâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Dhaka Bank launched a specialized product namely 'Dhaka Bank Dairy Loan' for the expansion of Milk and Dairy Business on September 14th, 2017. The service is ceremoniously launched at Bogra district in the presence of Kazi Sayedur Rahman, Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank as Chief Guest and Md. Shakir Amin Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director of Dhaka Bank Limited as Special Guest. Md. Sirajul Hoque, SEVP & Head of SME & Agricultural Division; Sanjib Kumar Dey, Vice President, SME & Agricultural Division; Md. Faruque Ahammed, Vice President & Regional Manager, Northern Region and locally respected people along with a good number of customers were also present in that program. Recently The Jamuna Bank Limited has signed an agreement with Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution Company Limited at Titas Gas Head Office. Under this agreement Titas Gas subscribers can pay their gas bills (meter/non meter) to any branches of Jamuna Bank Limited. A K M Saifuddin Ahmed Deputy Managing Director of The Jamuna Bank Limited and Md. Mustaque Ahmed, Company Secretary of Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution Company Limited signed the agreement. The 39th Senbagh branch of Meghna Bank Limited was inaugurated on 14 September 2017 at Senbagh Bazar, Noakhali. Honorable Chairman of the Bank H. N. Ashequr Rahman MP inaugurated the Branch as Chief Guest. Managing Director & CEO of the Bank Mohammed Nurul Amin presided over the Opening Ceremony. Dr. Jamaluddin Ahmed FCA, Director, Bangladesh Bank & General Secretary, Bangladesh Economic Association, Mrs. Rehana Ashequr Rahman and S M Jahangir Alam Manik, Honorable Directors of the Meghna Bank attended the program as Special Guests.

W O R D

O F

M O U T H

B A N K I N G C O R N E R

ONE Bank’s Chairman Sayeed H. Chowdhury handed over a cheque of Tk. 3.00 crore on September 10, 2017 to the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a donation to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for flood affected people.

Khurshed Alam, SEVP & Head of Retail Finance; Md. Shariar Parves, AVP & Head of Home Loan; Mohammad Mahfujul Islam, SAVP & Head of Banani Branch of Lanka Bangla Finance Ltd. and Tabassum Mostafa, Managing Director; MKA Shahinoor Rahman, Chief Operating Office of GM Holdings Limited along with other senior officials of both organizations were present at an MoU signing ceremony.

Irteza A. Khan has recently been promoted as the CEO & Managing Director of Meridian Finance & Investment Limited (Meridian Finance). Prior to the promotion, he was the acting Managing Director of the Company. He has also served the Company as Deputy Managing Director & Company Secretary since the early stage of the organization. Before joining in Meridian Finance, Mr. Irteza was the General Manager & Head of Consumer Division of IDLC. He served there for more than 10 years.

LankaBangla Finance Ltd (LBFL) recently signed MOU with DHS Motors Limited (HONDA) for its customer privilege. Khurshed Alam– Head of Retail Finance of LBF and Md. Mukhlesur Rahman- GM of DHS Motors signed the MOU for their respective organizations.

Column

By Shamsul Huq Zahid

MOBILE TELEPHONES AS CHANGE AGENTS W

hen mobile telephony made its entry into Bangladesh in a very modest scale in 1989, it was beyond the wildest imagination of anyone that a poor, daily wage earner woman would ever own a mobile phone set and talk to her near and dear ones at distant places. But that is a reality now. Millions of poor men and women now own mobile handsets and use the same at affordable call rates. The fact remains that mobile telephony has transformed the life and living in this country over the last two and a half decades. And as a natural consequence, the economy, too, has been benefited immensely from the process of transformation. The majority of the population, these days, cannot think of a life without mobile phones as the latter have made their life easier. Millions have come out of their homes to take up employments in distant places just because of the fact that they are now able to maintain contacts with the near and dear ones through mobile phones. The world has become truly â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;smallerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in

THE WRITER IS A SENIOR J O U R N A L I S T. H E C A N B E R E A C H E D AT ZAHIDMAR10@GMAIL.COM

this part of the world because of mobile technology. Initially, mobile phones were the tools that could be used only by the affluent section of society because of high cost of handsets and exorbitant call rates. Things have, however, changed radically over the last 20 to 25 years. A feature phone handset now costs less than the price of medium-sized Hilsha fish and smart phones are widely used even by the low-income people. The mobile technology has revolutionized the telecommunications across the globe. But, for millions of poor men and women in Bangladesh, it has come as a blessing. The readymade garment (RMG) industry has emerged as the prime source of earning the livelihood for millions of poor women who also consider the mobile phones as an integral part of their life. The spread of mobile technology in this country, by any count, has been rather fast compared to that of any least developed country. The mobile penetration rate (53%) in

C O L U M N S H A M S U L H U Q Z A H I D

Bangladesh is more than regional average and the mobile internet penetration rate is slightly below (33%) of the regional average of 34%. In areas of 3G connections, it is almost at par with the regional average. According to a report of the GSMA, the global trade body of the mobile phone operators, the mobile phone technologies generated 6.2% of the Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015. In monetary terms, it was worth $13 billion. The mobile industry created employment opportunities for 780,000 people in 2015 and about one-third of the same were of direct ones. According to the GSMA projection, the mobile telephony will be able to generate economic value worth $ 17 billion by 2020 provided the sector gets enough policy support from the government. An additional 70,000 employment opportunities—both direct and indirect--- would also be created, the telecom trade body estimates. The government’s revenue earning from the mobile telephony has been substantial. However, the earning has been declining in recent years. In the fiscal year 2011-12, the

There is no denying that there should be regulatory control over their operations so that subscribers’ interests are better protected. The government should keep strong vigil on them so that they cannot evade tax through transfer pricing or any other mechanism.”

sector fetched more than Tk 42 billion in all types of revenue. But in the immediate past financial year, the amount had come down to only Tk.8.55 billion, according to a recent statement made by state minister for telecom Tarana Halim in the national parliament. The reason for higher revenue earning in 201-12 and the subsequent year could be the revenue earned through the auction of spectrum for introduction of 3G connections by the mobile phone companies. The government would soon earn again a substantial amount through the auction of spectrum for the 4G. But the amount is likely to be far smaller than that was earned earlier through the auction of 3G spectrum. Despite their substantial contribution to social and economic empowerment of a vast majority of the population, the government’s policy support, the mobile operators feel, has not been forthcoming for their further growth. They tend to feel that the government looks at the telecom operators as revenue-churning units, not as economic units having vast potentials to work as change agents. It is least interested to recognize their contributions to society and economy in particular. There is no denying that mobile telephone business, if run efficiently, offers good return on investment. Without a large subscribers’ base, it is quite difficult to earn profit after paying the corporate tax the rate of which is quite high. A section of government policymakers appear to be very hostile to foreign mobile operators as they think that the latter have been making money without any worthwhile investment. They are not ready to acknowledge the fact that these companies are making regular contribution to the national coffer. In fact, the sector is the second largest source of tax revenue for the government. There is no denying that there should be regulatory control over their operations so that subscribers’ interests are better protected. The government should keep strong vigil on them so that they cannot evade tax through transfer pricing or any other mechanism. But the government should extend necessary policy support to the telecom sector that saw some consolidation in the immediate past fiscal year through the merger of the two telecom operators---Robi and Airtel. In the current fiscal, the country is set to witness the launch of the country’s first communication satellite and rollout of the 4th generation mobile services. The two events would add a new chapter to the history of Bangladesh telecom history.

Inside Out

Telecom Industry:

The Driver of Growth

M. Rokonuzzaman PhD

angladeshâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telecom industry has gone through a remarkable growth phase over the last two decades. The access of telecom services has expanded to virtually every doorstep of Bangladesh. More than 95% of geography is now under the coverage of multiple telephone networks. Telephone density has grown from less than 1% in 1990s to more than 70%. This industry is now generating more than $3 billion revenue. The government receives almost 50% of this revenue as taxes, duties and revenue sharing. Moreover, the Government also collects substantial revenue in issuing licenses and auctioning spectrum. For example, the industry paid $21 million dollar for each mega hertz of spectrum to rollout 3G services. The expansion of telecom services has also created a large demand of mobile telephone handsets. By the end of 2016, the import of telephone handsets reached to over 30 million pieces. Among them, 8.2 million handsets are smartphones. To import this huge volume of handsets, Bangladesh had to pay more than $1 billion to foreign manufacturers. The expansion of 3G services and accelerated adoption of smartphones have

also contributed to the rapid increase of Internet subscription, reaching to over 70 million. The consumption of bandwidth has also picked up reaching to almost 400 Gigabit per secondâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which has doubled year-on-year. Such rapid expansion of telecom services in Bangladesh is primarily attributed to market led reform of the industry, and the emergence of mobile telecom services. Once the whole industry used to be state-monopoly. Due to the lack of capital and competition, Bangladesh suffered from extremely low telecom density and poor quality service. The opening of the industry to market forces started to draw capital to benefit from scale, scope and innovations. Although during the first decade of the market led reform, the progress was not significantly noticeable, but the emergence of mobile operators in late 90s triggered a massive change. In the process of market led reform, the industry value

chain has been segmented, both vertically and horizontally. Basically, the state-owned monopoly has disappeared from all major segments. The force of competition has been the driver of growth. The advent of private international connectivity providers through terrestrial cables has not only sharply reduced the wholesale price of bandwidth, but also has increased the reliability through redundancy. The domestic backbone has also benefited from competition through the entry of two private operators. To facilitate competition in access networks, intermediary operators such IIG (international Internet gateway) and ICX (interconnection exchange) have been introduced. The same industry, which had only one operator just 3 decades ago, has now more than 200 operators of different categoriesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including four mobile operators. The vertically integrated industry has now been segmented in more than 7 major segments. Telecom industry is also graduating from voice centric telephone service delivery to data centric diverse service delivery platform. Already the rapid expansion of mobile financial services over the mobile network by taking the advantage from USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service

As a result, despite the rapid fall of wholesale Internet data price from Tk 28,000 to less than Tk 700 per Mbps, there has been virtually insignificant change at the consumer-end price.

Despite the growth of Internet penetration, primarily through mobile Internet subscription, the non-productive usages of Internet has become an issue. It’s being reported that more than 80% of Internet usages is primarily for the purpose of social networking and entertainment. Data) has been a major success in addressing inclusion issues of financial services. It has been reported, “Mobile banking went from strength to strength, with transactions swelling 48.75% year-on-year to Tk 234,691.79 crore in 2016, according to Bangladesh Bank.” Despite achieving remarkable successes, the industry faces many burning issues to address. The underlying competition force, which is attributed to rapid recent success, appears to be now on the path of speedy erosion. In the recent past, the mobile segment of the industry lost two operators. Although the market leader has been reporting record profit, but the remaining 3 operators are failing to bag virtually any profit. Despite growing investment of public fund, the state owned mobile operator is neither progressing to reaching to profit, nor growing as a strong competition force. In business as usual situation, the weakening competition capability of smaller three mobile operators is a cause of concern. It has become imperative to bring policy and regulatory reforms to create possibilities of profitable competition for these smaller operators, and also to encourage new operators. Despite the growth of Internet penetration, primarily through mobile Internet subscription, the non-productive usage of Internet has become an issue. It’s being reported that more than 80% of Internet usages is primarily for the purpose of social networking and entertainment. Such usages pattern is raising serious question about the correlation between Internet penetration and economic growth. On the other hand, the video centric Internet applications, for exploiting opportunities in health, education, and farming, are suffering from unaffordable price of mobile data. Alternate technology options should be created in offering affordable Internet services to exploit growth potentials, particularly residing at the bottom of the pyramid. The tendency of mobile operators to penetrate healthcare, financial or educational service market is also a concern. Due to the expansion of

mobile networks across the nation, and accelerated adoption of smartphones, such essential services are poised to benefit from the opportunity of delivering those services over the mobile network through smartphones. The emergence of network operators to be providers of these services seriously undermines the competition force. The question of allowing mobile network operators and also domestic backbone service providers to be end-user level fiber optics based Internet service provider is also a contentious issue. Although, the fiber optics backbone forms the core component in facilitating competition in the access network and minimizing the cost of services, but the competition force in the segment appears to be weakening. Particularly, the increasing roles of lone two private operators as large-scale contractual service provider in laying state financed backbone network is opening many questions related to the functioning of the market. The role of public finance to address the potential market failure, particularly for rural connectivity, may have justification. But the involvement of private operators as contractors of public financed projects operating in the same industry segment raises concerns, associated with the competition. The lack of correlation between the wholesale international bandwidth price, charged by the international connectivity providers, and the end-user level price, charged by Internet service providers, is a notable concern. As a result, despite the rapid fall of wholesale Internet data price from Tk 28,000 to less than Tk 700 per Mbps, there has been a virtually insignificant change at the consumer-end price. The end-user level mobile data price is several thousand times higher than the amount paid by mobile

operators to international connectivity providers. Such bleak reality does not offer hope to end-users for enjoying tangible benefit from the landing of the 2nd submarine cable. Over the last two decades, although there has been significant growth in foreign direct investment, primarily for network deployment, and import bill payment obligation (reaching to over $1 billion) for increasing number of mobile handsets, but there has not been any progress in local value addition, in producing either telecom equipment or handsets. On the other hand, during 1970-1990, Bangladesh used to produce both telecom switches and telephone handsets. Despite having stated policy of taking steps in adding local value to telecom equipment, Bangladesh consistently suffered from erosion in adding such value—reaching to virtually zero. There is no doubt that Bangladesh’s telecom sector has made significant progress in last two decades. Penetration growth, improvement in ease of access and progress in affordability of basic telecom services are phenomenal. But, weakening competition, non-productive usage driven mobile Internet service expansion, high mobile data price making it unaffordable for productive usages, and virtually zero local value addition in telecom equipment and handset making are major issues to be addressed to exploit underlying potentials of telecommunication industry—making it a stronger driver of growth.

The writer is an academic, researcher and activist. He currently works as a Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North South University. He can be reached at zaman.rokon.bd@gmail.com.

Lessons Learned

“WHAT MATTERS” IS WHAT MATTERS DAVE MCCAUGHAN Co-Founder & Chairman Marketing Futures

LESSON 2: THE PROBLEM WITH MOST MARKETERS TODAY IS THE DISTRACTION.

oo much talk of “social media”, “influencer marketing”, storytelling etc etc. All things that are not new. They have all been key to good marketing for literally thousands of years, they are all important considerations for a marketing plan and but they are certainly not new ideas. Like most people marketers are very suseptible to fads and fashion. The marketing media ( yes just like this publication ) need to keep selling “news” and so they like to make things seem amazing breakthroughs. Using modern mediums, and thinking through tactics is important BUT to be effective over time marketers need to focus on building a strategy that will mean something to the people you want to convert and reconvert and reconvert to consumption.

And that means understanding WHAT REALLY MATTERS TO PEOPLE ( and not just to people as they are consumers I.e. consumers … see Lessons Learned no. 1 ) More specifically what matters to the people you want to consume your brand/product/service. What matters to them as people? What matters that makes your category important to them? What matters about your offering that might differentiate it from their other choices ( and there are always multiple choices ) ? What matters about their media choices? The problem is that too many marketers forget their real role : “ to find out what matters to people and then decide how their product/service can meet that need, desire, fear, hope ”. Everything else like price, distribution, media selection, promotion, use of celebrity or influencer

are just tactics. Yes tactics that also rely on knowing “what matters” to those people. I learnt the lesson while doing research in to infant milk products, first in Thailand and later in China, Indonesia and Taiwan. A big multi-national company asked the advertising agency I led to come up with a new campaign to get “good mums” to buy their brand. I asked the obvious … “ how do you define ‘good mums’ ?”. The client’s response was “well any mum is a good mum”. Obviously not true. Not all mums are good mums. Some make many mistakes, some don’t try hard enough, some just don’t want to be mums. And how do you define a good mum? Do mums have different definitions? What matters to mums that help them define they are doing a good job?

WE ENDED UP ASKING 1,000 MUMS THESE QUESTIONS AND WE GOT THREE MAIN VARIATIONS AS TO HOW TO DESCRIBE WHAT MATTERS TO MUMS IN ORDER TO BE “A GOOD MUM” : 1. A mum who sacrifices absolutely everything and cuts back on everything else to afford only the best products for her child 2. A mum who studies every possible piece of information available (asks friends, studies the pack information, reads anything available off-line or on-line) to make a choice 3. A mum who checks what other mums do and buys what she sees them buying Then we asked the 1,000 mums to choose which definition they liked and wanted to be and which one they thought they really were. Over 90% said they wished they were no 1 or no 2 but in reality 70% told

us they were no 3. The first to types of good mum are ideals. Admirable but for most just too difficult. For most mums across all the countries I did this research in it was just too risky not to buy the brands they saw in other mums shopping baskets. What mattered was to follow the popular brands that provided the security that other mothers would not question their judgement. And therefore they would be seen as good mums. So what? Well that led to some basic decisions like making sure we “planted” the clients brand in shopping baskets at stores so mums would see others were buying it. It meant getting word of mouth campaigns started. Yes using Facebook would be an option today but also maybe just good old fashioned tactics like having influencer mothers talk about it and/or giving samples to mums to give to friends. The tactics of course will change depending on “what matters” to the mums you are targeting. More in the next lesson.

LESSON 2 : there is no more important

question you can ask yourself, again and again, than “what matters to the people I want to reach?”

LESSONS LEARNED IS A SERIES FROM MARKETING FUTURES WHERE CO-CHAIRMAN DAVE MCCAUGHAN SHARES SOME OF HIS EXPERIENCE FROM THREE DECADES LEADING THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FOR MAJOR INTERNATIONAL BRANDS ACROSS ASIA. For more information regarding Marketing Futures please email us at marketingfuturesbd@gmail.com follow us at www.facebook.com/marketingfuturesbd Marketing Futures is an Inititaive of Ideamax Creatives Limited

Photo Story

FALLEN ANGELS Photographs & Text by DIN M SHIBLY

SALAMAT ULLAH Age: 2 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Sanjida Father: Rahmat Ullah

Eminent poet and litterateur Hasan Azizul Haque once wrote that people consider their birthplace to be the center of their existence. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to sever their ties from that place in any way. Despite the circumstances, people still cling to their birthplace, as it is a reminder of their being. This bond becomes permanent over the years. With regional change comes behavioral

change; just like nature and everything around us, mankind’s self-esteem evolves, the writer added. According to him, while death is the final chapter for mankind, if there’s anything else in between that affects one’s existence most brutally, it’s becoming a refugee. In fact, death and becoming a refugee might seem almost synonymous to one another. A refugee may live to see another day; however, the days ahead of him or her may not be progressive.

Mohammad Rihan Age: 1 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Morium Khatun Father: Khairut Ullah

NASIMA AKTER Age: 1.5 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Hasina Begum Father: Abul Hossain

NUR KAIDA Age: 1.5 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Mustafa Khatun Father: Mohammad Hojiullah

SOHANA Age: 2.5 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Sajeda, Father: Abdus Samad

Migratory birds fly for hours, days and months to evade the extreme cold and atrocity of nature. But the atrocity of human being upon the same creature is second to none. Nothing is more disgusting than to watch people are fleeing from home leaving everything just to save the lives.

www.ibtbd.net

Since September 2017, Bangladesh rescued almost five lac new Rohingya refugees. In addition to the ones rescued previously, there are now 1 million Rohingya refugees residing in our country. The Rohingya situation isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a result of a war-torn affair; rather itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a ploy that was carried out by the Myanmar military force in the form of a successive slow genocide. Since the late 70s, the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state of Myanmar has been subjected to inhumane torture for centuries. Time and again, the massive exodus has led to the loss of countless lives.

MOHAMMED YEAR Age: 3 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Zaheda Fathre: Mohammad Rofiq

ROBINA KHATUN Age: 1.5 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Rasheda Father: Imam Hossain

RONJIDA Age: 1 year 2 months (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Rohima Father: Salam

CHHOHURA KHATUN Age: 3 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Chhuru Father: Korim Ullah

As a photojournalist, I have witnessed numerous hungry, helpless and fearful refugees that were based in temporary refugee camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf. Their terror-stricken experiences will surely break the hearts of anyone who has even a shred of empathy left for mankind.

Half of the new refugees are made up of children; many mothers have walked into this country in search of shelter, carrying their malnourished children. Fathers have carried their children in baskets like peddlers and sought refuge here. This special photo story captures the innocent faces of those tired, starving, and terrified children. Theirs is the kind of trauma that is sure to leave a gaping hole in the hearts of many. NUR HAFEZ Age: 2 years (on 14.09.2017) Mother: Taiaba Khatun Father: Nur Islam

These wide-eyed angels strike our hearts with numerous questions. Will the world be able to answer those questions? Only time will tell.

RMG Sector

IS BANGLADESH DREAMING TOO BIG?

By Adnan Nafis

angladesh reached its pinnacle of success with the RMG Sector hitting the second largest garment producer mark in the world. The industry flourished significantly over the years, and the revenue generated from it contributed much to the steady +6% GDP growth in the last decade helping the economy to boom. This growth was also accompanied by a significant decline in poverty, an increase in employment, greater access to health and education, and improved basic infrastructure. As a result, the once underdeveloped country is now considered a lower middle-income one.

The country next aims to achieve an upper-middle-income status by 2021 for which favorable economic conditions are much needed. The conditions may require the country to have an annual GDP rate of about 7.5% to 8% and entail overcoming significant obstacles to seize new opportunities brought by the changing global circumstances. However, the current scenario of the RMG export at its lowest growth of 0.20% in last 15 years depicts an entirely different story. The Export Promotion

Bureau shows the total exports in the 12 months (ended June 30, 2017) to be $34.8 billion, or 5.85% below the target of $37 billion. The annual percentage gain was also the smallest since FY 2001-02 year when exports reduced as a result of the global economic downturn. This is a matter of concern as Bangladesh’s export mostly depends on the RMG sector. It is worth mentioning here that our government has set overall export target at $41 billion, with a growth target of 7.87%, riding on apparel

IT IS WORTH MENTIONING HERE THAT OUR GOVERNMENT HAS SET OVERALL EXPORT TARGET AT $41 BILLION, WITH A GROWTH TARGET OF 7.87%, RIDING ON APPAREL PRODUCTS, FOR THE FY2017-18. THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO EARN $30.16 BILLION FROM THE RMG SECTOR WITH AN 8.12% GROWTH.

products, for the FY2017-18. The government wants to earn $30.16 billion from the RMG sector with an 8.12% growth. A very significant question that arises at the moment is that whether the goals set have a proper analysis behind them or not. Also, addressing the root of our export growth failure is very necessary before such targets are set. With USA being the number one destination for the RMG sector, Bangladesh’s export to the USA has declined drastically over the past few years. The RMG leaders state that factors such as compliance, investment, strong currency, and lower global demand are behind such export rate failures and strongly propose government’s devaluation of the currency, more incentives, and reduction of www.ibtbd.net

Bangladesh's RMG Export to USA (value in $ million) Fiscal Year 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Total RMG Export 5141.38 5288.12 5624.92 Growth rate% 2.85 6.37

Source: EPB

the source at tax which is currently 0.7% while corporate tax is 15%. However, how realistic is it for the government to do so? Bangladesh is heavily dependent on imports, so devaluating the currency will have a catastrophic impact on the economy. 93% of our required cotton is imported whereas all types of machinery, chemicals, and yarn are imported. The knit has a strong backward linkage; however, the woven sector does not. The sector is solely dependent on the import of fabrics which makes the demands of the RMG leaders quite irrelevant. As international trade is a competitive market where many different factors come into play, the government cannot solely focus on the RMG sector. The buyers are always on the lookout for attractive opportunities to do business. Thus, the country requires new ways

to attract them to stop exports from declining gradually. The industry essentially needs to shift its focus towards differentiation as providing the very basics will not do much to attract new opportunities. Including higher value-added products to the portfolio such as lingerie, sportswear, jackets, business suits, fashionable tops, etc. along with the basic T-shirts, shirts, and pants might result in a significant growth in exports. According to a 2017 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study by the United States Fashion Industry Association, Bangladesh was termed as the riskiest destination even though it offers the best competitive price. The report further explains the factors that have the most significant impact on US companies’ sourcing decisions, such as:

2016-17 5204.01 -7.48

• The speed of outsourcing: It isn’t much surprising, that the United States, Mexico and members of the Dominican Republic of Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), have been outperforming other Asian suppliers because of their geographic location. The respondents of the study mention that shorter lead time while sourcing from China and Vietnam was behind this success. • The cost of outsourcing: The responses followed by members of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and several other Asian suppliers, state that

Bangladesh offers the most competitive price in comparison, to that of the United States, Mexico, and CAFTA-DR. Should Bangladesh follow Vietnam? Recently a number of claims have been made that Vietnam offers more incentives to its RMG Sector in different forms such as the no tax policy for businesses during the first five years and 10% tax imposed for the next nine years. However, such benefits are only enjoyed by investors from abroad, and not by the local manufacturers. Here’s how Vietnam doesn’t qualify as a typical example in the context of Bangladesh. 1. The applicable Corporate Income Tax (CIT) in Vietnam is 25%. However, a preferential tax treatment of 10% and 20%, including tax exemption, tax reduction, and preferential tax rates is available for investments in encouraged sectors such as health, education, high-tech, infrastructure development, and software. Encouraged economic zones or areas with difficult socio-economic conditions also made it to the list. As a part of the same policy, investments attract a corporate income tax exemption for the first four years of operations. Moreover, the income tax in Vietnam is charged at 50% of the preferential rate for the nine subsequent years, and at the preferential rate

Sources: * www.vietnamdpep.com/about-vietnam-whyinvest.asp?lk=vaitnam3 * www.textileexcellence.com/news/details/1736/sun-shines-on-vietnam%27s-textile-and-garment-industrydespite-rece... * www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_534289.pdf * www.ids.trade/files/actif_report_on_vietnam_textile_and_garment_industry.pdf

for two consecutive years whereas the corporate income tax rate remains at 25% throughout. Also, as a part of the same tax regime, losses are allowed to be carried forward for five years. (http://www.vietnamdpep.co m/about-vietnam-whyinvest. asp?lk=vaitnam3) 2. Vietnam fixed its export target at $188 billion followed by a highly diversified export basket, whereas, Bangladesh is only aiming for $50 billion. 3. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) dominates most of the Vietnam's RMG sector, where FDI driven firms account for 60% of Vietnam’s total garment and textile export revenue. According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, there are 3,000 garment and textile firms in the country, 25% of which are FDI funded. Whereas as a matter of fact, Bangladesh has just approved of FDI in its RMG sector outside the Economic Processing Zone (EPZ) area. 4. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) is making full-fledged efforts to coerce the government into enabling more foreign direct investment in the textile sector with a view of revising the development plan for the year 2020. They have also charted out a futuristic vision document for the progress of the sector by 2030. 5. Despite being a developing country member of WTO, the Vietnamese government is prohibited from providing any subsidies or incentives, neither directly or indirectly to the textile and garment manufacturers. Similarly, no special low-cost financing scheme is available for the garments and textile industries.

FIGURE 6. LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY IN SELECTED INDUSTRIES (CURRENT $), LATEST AVAILABLE YEAR Viet Nam 2013p

$1,741 $8,178

Thailand 2013

$4,646

Philippines 2013 Pakistan 2013p

$2,282 $4,149

Indonesia 2014 India 2011/12

$1,783

Cambodia 2012

$1,848

Bangladesh 2013p

$991

Agriculture Manufacturing of GTF Manufacturing

Note: Labour Productivity is defined as gross value added in current prices per employed person, with official nominal exchange rates applied; ‘p’ = projections; GTF = garments, textiles and footwear. Source: Estimates based on official data from national accounts and national labour force surveys (various years); World Bank, op. cit.

PRODUCTIVITY Across the region, productivity gaps remain considerable, reflecting the low-value nature of the industry (figure above). In Bangladesh, garment sector productivity is defined as the gross value added to current prices per employed person which were less than $1,000. In Cambodia, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam, productivity levels in garments, textiles, and footwear ranging from $1,700 to $2,300. In contrast, Thailand’s labor productivity exceeded $8,000 and was more than $4,000 in Indonesia and the Philippines. Therefore, Bangladesh has the lowest productivity in this region comparatively. (Source: ILO report)

SKILL DEVELOPMENT As per a report called “Lack of expertise in Bangladesh’s laborer market” by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) only 8% of RMG workers are trained while the rest of the 92% remain unskilled. The report also stated that the RMG sector is short of 119,479 skilled workers, 48,130 semi-skilled and 8,577 unskilled laborers. With very few institutions for skill development and no long-term plans for building more the country still remains devoid of skilled human resources in spite of being, in the RMG business for 30 years. Furthermore, no steps have been taken in this regard by the private sector. Thus, the government shouldn’t be held solely responsible for this.

The writer is an Investment & Marketing Consultant and can be reached at adnannafis@hotmail.com.

LONG TERM VS. SHORT TERM STRATEGY Bangladesh never played the long term strategy goal and is good at defensive strategy. As export to Europe is doing good, we should really concentrate on EU market. This means organizing trade delegation to Europe, attending all exhibitions held in Europe would be of commendable significance. Just like many other RMG experts, I also think it is high time to host a sustainability or Made in Bangladesh conference either in China or Europe. We should definitely focus on China as Chinese companies are relocating. Chinese companies are used to working in environments similar to our country so they are more suited to set up factories in Bangladesh. Finance Asia (Haymarket) has a done a good job for the last five years organizing “Investment Bangladesh” events in Singapore and Hong Kong. Professional organizations should be hired to promote Bangladesh. We have proven that we are not good at marketing and branding so let the professionals do it and get rid of that problem.

RATIONALITY OF THE AIMED TARGET In the end, alongside the general blame being placed on strong currency, investment in the safety of factories and Accord Alliance, the rationality of Bangladesh’s aim remains questionable. Having the lowest wage rate in Asia, lowest productivity among the competitors, low percentage of skilled workers, and the worst safety records make the country more prone to criticism for setting such high targets. www.ibtbd.net

COVER STORY

Connecting The Dots As we continue to be a part of the tech-savvy generation, all basic interactions between human-to-human and business-to-business, have now converged into a platform that is connectivity-driven. The veering winds of development initially brought by telecom sector of the country in the 90s now connect 95 percent of the users to the internet. Including people from all walks of life, technology has eased our dilemmas of reaching out near and dear ones residing in geographically dispersed areas and have brought education within the dimensions of the deprived. Farmers have found their way out of the middle-men led exploitation and into a market of direct communication. Back in the time when our country was hit by the soaring rates of inflation, a drop in the charges cell phones year after year made survival a little easier. The main beneficiary of this unique trend was primarily the lower income group of the society who enjoyed the cheapest voice service and the second cheapest data service rates in the world provided by telecom operators in Bangladesh. Although it meant that the mobile operatorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; earnings were going down on an average per user, this has resulted in the industry unilaterally taking the telecom penetration rate to 82.91 percent of the population with 135.98 million active mobile phone subscribers. Moreover, the internet penetration was further raised to 44.72 percent at the end of June 2017, which depicted that the indicators as mentioned earlier were integral to the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision of growing into a Digital Bangladesh. Today, as the industry stands at crossroads, waiting for the next technological leap to catapult its growth, we wait for its impact to digitalize our future. The combined forces of the Telco are laying a foundation for the digital economy by facilitating faster payment over digital medium through mobile banking, a facility that uses mobile telecom infrastructure to provide banking services to the unbanked. This is something that has already entered into the mainstream of the economy and awaits further innovation to pave the way for improving lifestyle through the application of the Internet of Things (IoT)

technology at personal, business enterprise and even at the state level. Social media, on the other hand, is redefining the way social engagement works. The digitalization spark further requires governmental support, to be fully ignited and dispersed into the society. It will not be long, that the industry can deliver the national vision much earlier than stipulated with the reduction in tax burden. However, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a sustainable approach to depend on a handful of mobile phone companies to single-handedly provide 10 percent of government revenue to regulate the industry. A broader fiscal space is needed to innovate into future technologies like 4G, which once ensured, will raise the contribution to GDP far beyond the 6.2 percent recorded in 2015. To further highlight the current scenario of the telecom industry, ICE Business Times, in this issue dug deep into the state of the affairs of its major players who have been immensely contributing towards the national vision of a Digital Bangladesh, over the years of their inception. www.ibtbd.net

Interview CONNECTING THE DOTS

Dr. Shahjahan Mahmood Chairman, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)

Dr. Shahjahan Mahmood joined Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) as the Chairman on the third week of October 2015 with an experience of 20 years in the field of Corporate Governance, Communication Engineering, Acquisition Process, Technical Management, Policy Formulation, and Implementation. Previously, he served the US Marine Corps at Quantico Marine Base, VA; first as the Program Office Software Lead and then as a Systems Engineer for the Acquisition and Modernization of a Surveillance System from 2012 onwards. He also performed several tasks during the years 2004 to 2012 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Indian Head, MD, the USA, such as safety analysis of weapons, health monitoring of solid propellant rockets, information assurance of computer networks, etc. Before joining the Indian head of NSWC, he worked as a Systems Engineer in Electronic Warfare Branch Washington, DC of the Naval Research Lab for four years, and gained another four years of experience at the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), and Patuxent River. He also acted as the Lead Engineer in the Simulation and Stimulation Branch developing software for simulating IR and UAV sensors on aircraft. After completing his undergrad in B.Sc. Eng. (Elect.) from BUET, Dr. Shahjahan obtained an M.S degree in Operations Research from MIT. Later on, he finished his EEE degree majoring in Communication Engineering and obtained a Ph.D. Degree in Systems Engineering from the same school. Furthermore, he taught graduate level courses in Stochastic Processes as an Adjunct Faculty for three years at the Florida Institute of Technology, Patuxent River MD Campus. He has presented research papers and led many sessions on Structural Health Monitoring Conferences held at Stanford University, USA and also in other countries such as Japan, Australia, Spain, Italy, and the UK. Recently in an interview with ICE Business Times, he shared the development and present state of the telecommunication industry in Bangladesh and BTRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution in the overall process.

associated with such services. We have also collaborated with A2i for a project where they would render various services, while BTRC provides them back-end support. Thus, BTRC is also playing a pivotal role in implementing the vision of Digital Bangladesh, and achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Are the issues pertaining to speed and bandwidth persisting?

Tackling the Telco Challenges With significant contribution from BTRC, the telecommunication sector has played a major role in the development of communication grounds in the society over the past decade. What is your view on the expanding role of BTRC?

The definition of cyberspace which was previously confined up to desktop and emails only, has now changed widely to include high speed internet and smart mobile phone communication. The mobile phone network has greatly contributed in sectors like Mobile Financial Banking, Medical Health (MH), Education, e-Governance and e-Commerce etc. Among these, mobile banking’s success is readily palpable as it has successfully introduced and ushered inclusiveness in the financial system by introducing an

alternative way to the traditional banking system. As a result of the mobile banking revolution, a lot of ‘unbanked’ people are now actively part of the mainstream financial system. Besides, the agricultural sector has also been benefitted as the farmers can now be updated about the weather, plant diseases conditions and find solutions and take measures of damages caused by disasters. BTRC furthermore, plans to launch triple play service, mobile interactive television through launching 4G/LTE and expansion of high speed broadband -- where one can stream episodes of their favorite series anytime they want and also provide other services like, HDTV, 3D TV, IP Telephony, Interactive Gaming, Cloud Computing, etc. In addition, the introduction of mobile governance for all sorts of government services will do a great deal to reduce bureaucratic tangles

Earlier there were issues regarding the speed; however, the problem was significantly reduced after the second submarine cable was inaugurated. The second cable has a capacity of 1500 GBPS whereas the first one only had about 300 GBPS. Similarly, the Nationwide Telecommunication Transmission Network (NTTN) service is yet to reach out to people like the way it did in South Korea. Thus, a lot more still needs to be done for the development of such services.

Tell us something about the key tasks of BTRC at this point of operation.

BTRC is not only working with the telephone companies. Rather our main focus now is on rendering reliable, affordable and quality telecom and internet services to all. The Commission is also attached

The definition of cyberspace which was previously confined up to desktop and emails only, has now changed widely with the advent of high speed internet and smart mobile phone communication.” www.ibtbd.net

priority in controlling the illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Spectrum monitoring is moreover one of the key tasks here at BTRC. We monitor the country wide broadcasts from six of our stations at Rangpur, Bogra, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna and Dhaka. A few days earlier when the customers of Robi Axiata Ltd. were facing problems like call drop and frequency issues, we figured out the existence of a similar interface by Reliance Geo, after they launched their 4G network. The interface overlapping was also troubling the operation of the Indian company. Therefore, I visited India to have a meeting with the TRAI and DOT and find out the solution for such interference. Furthermore, BTRC is also going to inaugurate the first ever satellite â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bangabandhu Satelliteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in Bangladesh. It is a communication satellite which will be brought forward by a company called Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited. It will indeed help to bridge digital divide, enhance business development, create new job market and flourish space technology in other country. BTRC is also going to select a company for launching mobile number portability services (MNP) in the country soon. Commencement of MNP service would allow mobile subscribers to switch from one operator to another with just Tk. 30 as charge without changing their existing

number. The Commission has finalized a guideline on Tower sharing to use tower resources more efficiently and reduce radiation as well as health hazards. It will help mobile operator in reducing costs thus support to divert their investment for improvement of quality of services (QoS). BTRC has also a target to organize the 4G/LTE spectrum auction by November and by the end of this year benefit of the fastest data services. Besides, it will provide spectrum neutrality facility to mobile phone operators.

The mobile phone which was first introduced as a mean voice transfer is now regarded as a tool of ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services). What would you like to comment on the changing role of this device? The inclusion of the data services in the mobile phones is what primarily ignited the change. The existence of both 2G and 3G services has greatly minimized the geographical barriers across countries and brought tons of services at our fingertips. Furthermore, we shall soon introduce the license for 4G service which will ensure the data transfer speed to be 100 times faster than that of the existing one. A new technology called the Internet of Things (IoT) has also been launched in other parts of the world. Availability of this technology around the world will result in a more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems by allowing objects to be sensed or

our main focus now is on rendering reliable, affordable and quality telecom and internet services to all.â&#x20AC;? 40

controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure. IoT will also contribute to improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit in addition to reduce human intervention if run properly.

What sort of measures is BTRC taking against cybercrimes?

As you all know, the Government of Bangladesh, with the active support of BTRC and in collaboration with the mobile operators and relevant agencies conducted one of the most comprehensive mobile registration schemes in the world between December 2015 to June 2016. To cut down mobile based crimes, and ensure safer use of mobile technology, nearly 130 million SIM cards were registered biometrically with the National ID cards of the users. All new SIM cards have to be registered in such manner. This has increased our ability to take prior actions against the possible cybercrimes done using mobile phones, which were nearly impossible two decades ago. Thus, with the contribution from the communication sector, we have ensured a better idea of digital security in the society. Initially, we plan on complying with a cyber-security act introduced by the government and perform a security audit at every important government institution where there is a possibility of heist or data hacking. This will ensure that all the systems are properly aligned with the cyber-security measures. Government and the social media sites can further come into negotiation using a precautionary measure against cybercrimes without violating the personal space of the social media users. We provide the Vulnerability Scanning Service to other organizations on a regular basis. BTRC blocks links, URL of anti-state, anti-religion, anti-social contents raised by law enforcement and intelligence agencies through IIG and deep pack inspection. BTRC also helps people to block objectionable & offensive items and contents upon their request through proper investigation.

Interview CONNECTING THE DOTS

Yasir Azman

Deputy CEO and CMO, Grameenphone Ltd

Pioneering the Telecom revolution Yasir Azman was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) effective from May 7, 2017. He has been working as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) since June 15. Mr. Azman is an experienced professional with vast international experience in multiple countries and cultures. Before joining as CMO Grameenphone, Mr. Azman served as Telenor Group's Head of Distribution & e-business and worked for across all Telenor Operations. He has also worked in Telenor India operations as EVP & Circle Business Head for Orissa and Karnataka circles during 2010-2012. In his previous tenure in Grameenphone, Mr. Azman played leading role to set up Grameenphone sales and distribution organization and to transform Grameenphone distribution structure. Throughout his career, Mr. Azman has proven track record as a leader of transformation, change management and business development. He has an MBA from Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University, and also attended several executive educational programs in the London Business School and INSEAD France.

What impact does digitalization have on the Telecom Sector?

Digitalization can be referred to connectivity and in our country where we have very limited infrastructure for fixed broadband,telecom sector can be held the prime source behind it. The sector started off with very basic mobile connectivity when GrameenPhone first launched its service back in 1996. Since then the country observed a great evolution in technology. The introduction of 3G in 2013 has driven forward massive digitalization in Bangladesh, where today Grameenphone alone has more than 29 million internet users. However, to get the full benefit of digitalization and its related services the nation needs to have high-speed internet connectivity which we can expect

to have in the foreseeable future with the imminent introduction of 4G/LTE. which is another example of how this sector is making an immense contribution towards the digitalization of Bangladesh. Secondly, our business model is being adopted to cater to the needs of digitalization. Customer behavior is changing and there is a growing demand for data, moreover more and more people are using Over the Top (OTT) content and other relevant digital services in their digital life. Clearly, communication is no longer dependent on voice connectivity only, even in the personal sphere. Moreover, machines are connected to machines or Individuals. We are entering a completely new era in communication in a digitalized world. The vernacular is changing to include the concept to â&#x20AC;&#x153;internet of Thingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or IoT. Given changing customer demands, the telecom sector is having to invest in new generation technology in order to serve customers better. Operators are asking themselves how they can provide the right customer experience, how to make their services relevant to individual customers and create an experience that will encourage them to recommend those services to their peers. It is essential to create some intrinsic value for customers in their lives so that

The introduction of 3G in 2013 has driven forward massive digitalization in Bangladesh, where today Grameenphone alone has more than 29 million internet users.â&#x20AC;? www.ibtbd.net

they are ready to pay for the service. Digitalization drives efficiency but if the business model is not efficient enough to drive the best value for the customer it can be challenging for the telecom sector to sustain its business. Digitalization demands transformation and changes not only in technology but more importantly on how do we think, it requires adjusting mindset to serve customers better in a completely different environment, where customer have easy alternatives within their reach. Hence, I would say digitalization is changing the telecom sector, as it is other sectors, immensely. The telecom sector, as a whole needs, to find its role in digitalization and at the same time adopt a new business model. The operators have to find relevance in their customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives as a connectivity provider or a digital service provider through with own services or through local and global partnerships.

The telecommunication sector has totally changed our communication paradigm and helped the economy progress as well. How do you evaluate the economic impact of this industry? The telecom sector has impacted both the personal lives of our citizens, as well as contributing towards the growth of the private and public sectors. The efficiency introduced has led to a considerable GDP growth. Grameenphone generated approximately $1,504m of Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2015, which is equivalent to 0.8% of the total GVA

generated by the Bangladesh economy and 30.8% of the GVA generated by the ICT sector. Grameenphone is the number one contributor to the government exchequer where a little over 52% of the total revenue earned by the company is paid out as direct and indirect operational and supplementary duties. Cumulatively the telecom sector in Bangladesh contributed 6.2% of GDP in 2015 (GSMA Intelligence). Inarguably the telecom sector has been extremely successful in enabling people to stay connected with each other on the go. Connectivity has enabled people to move from one part of the country to another and take part in economic activities. Today, most of the people of Bangladesh have been able to leverage on this paradigm shift and complete tasks more efficiently â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ultimately leading to greater productivity. With the advancement of digitalization, the telecoms operators have not only been able to empower people to stay connected online, but also made their lives easier through the introduction of new and disruptive digital services that are making a meaningful impact on varied aspects of their lives. These shifts have significantly helped in global economic progress, with first-movers gaining the most benefit. The telecom industry in Bangladesh has been a catalyst for the creation of many new occupations and businesses, like retailing recharge or new industries like mobile financial services (MFS). Development and growth of the content provider industry are closely tied to the rise of the telecom sector. Distribution and advertising sectors have also seen huge developments due to mobile phone operations. In fact, the entire device industry and, in the coming

To drive the digitalization journey forward, we have been supporting local technology startups through our GP Accelerator and Digital Winners platform to innovate and come up with more digital services and solutions.â&#x20AC;?

days, IoT, will be sectors in which telecom services will play a large role and hence contribute to the national economy as well.

What are the positive changes you've seen in our country through the growth of the Telecom industry?

On an individual level, people are far better connected and are able to enjoy free flow of communication. While important, however, the benefits are far more than just the associated emotional benefits. Ease of connectivity has enabled people to push outside their comfort zone and work across the country and beyond our national boundary. I have personally seen that because of this connectivity people have access to labor and major manufacturing industries like the garment industry and others are growing. We have an increasing migrant population who are capitalizing on opportunities to get jobs abroad and staying connected with their near and dear ones thanks increasing penetration of mobile connectivity to their local areas. The telecom sector has tangible direct and indirect contribution to these two very big industries. Our contribution goes beyond personal life benefits, every enterprise, be it a big corporation or a small business, have found immense benefits from mobile communication. Speed in execution and access to resources and connected communities has helped enterprise prosper. It is now unimaginable to run a business without mobile connectivity. We have seen how, riding on the platform created by the telecom sector, Mobile Financial Services (MFS) has flourished in this country. There is now a shared economy. People sending money from one corner of the country to another; moreover, big economic activities are being transacted because of facilitation from the telecom sector. Farmers are finding access to valuable information on how to handle their crops. Students in remote areas are finding access to quality educational materials. The health sector has found digitalization through initiatives like Tonic. People are finding access to government information. The entertainment industry is being

Ease of connectivity has enabled people to push outside their comfort zone and work across the country and beyond our national boundary.”

digitalized, more and more artists are being encouraged to work for and with the telecom industry. Most importantly, because of connectivity, in recent days we have seen how are the youth are being engaged in the IT sector – they are developing of different apps, working for global companies remotely from their homes all across the country. Many of these youth are successfully exploring the start-up culture and building apps and digital solutions that are revolutionizing how things are being done.

What are your thoughts on the manpower in this sector?

The telecom sector in Bangladesh is one of the biggest industries in the country. This unprecedented industry growth was only possible because of dedication and commitment of a highly skilled workforce. Two decades of operations in Bangladesh has placed us in a position where we have been able to develop a specialized workforce. The sector continues to attract some of the most talented members of the country’s workforce pool. The employees of Grameenphone are highly efficient. The direct GVA generated by each full-time employee for Grameenphone in Bangladesh was $169,623 in 2015, almost 23 times higher than the national average labor productivity per full-time employee in Bangladesh ($7,492). As the sector matures, however, the skillset of the workers have to evolve with the change in business

opportunities. I am happy to say that the Bangladesh workforce has managed to evolve with the industry needs with new and existing workers gaining the necessary skillset to remain relevant in the industry. Today the skillset of coders, data scientists, user experience analysts, and digital marketers etc. are in demand and telecom sector in Bangladesh is contributing to the development of such resources in these areas, in parallel to developing what is already needed to succeed.

What is the next step for your Telecom company?

Grameenphone has played a pioneering role in facilitating the digital transformation process in Bangladesh, to attain both the government’s and the people’s visions of a ‘Digital Bangladesh’. Over the years, the organization has clearly established its reputation and credentials as a leading digital services provider in addition to being a telecom operator. Going forward, we want to continue making a positive impact on the lives of the people of Bangladesh by not only providing them with new and innovative digital services but also ensuring access to a greater range of affordable smartphones. Grameenphone is working to establish an overall eco-system that compliments the digital lifestyle of our customers. To drive the digitalization journey forward, we have been supporting local technology startups through our GP Accelerator and Digital Winners platform to innovate and come up with more digital services and solutions. Our, White Board and

Telenor Youth forum platforms are also actively promoting innovation among the youth. We are delighted to be able to support young, passionate and energetic individuals that aspire to Go Beyond.

How are you helping other industries in Bangladesh through the work you're doing in your own industry?

Grameenphone has the widest network coverage in Bangladesh, with 99% of Bangladesh under the purview of the GP network. Our strong, resilient network has facilitated our customers across and within industries to stay connected. This benefit alone has enabled industries to increase their overall productivity. We have various services for people in different industries, including agriculture, health, and education, that enables them to be more productive in their respective fields. By transforming digitally and having digital friendly policies, we are supporting many companies to offer digital solutions through our network. For example, ride-sharing app Uber relies on our mobile internet connection to operate. Many companies use our vehicle tracking service to effectively operate their transport fleet. Tonic is delivering much-needed health and wellness services to customers who need it the most. As businesses in Bangladesh are becoming more aware of the benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT), there will be a greater focus on using mobile connectivity to increase efficiency and reduce costs. Digitalization is not only limited to private enterprise and will ultimately change the dynamics of all types of organizations. Union Parishad’s in Chittagong are using our services to facilitate the availability of teachers in schools in rural areas on-time and on-site, through location-based services. The Dhaka City Corporation is using our service to ensure better and effective management and accountability of its sanitation workforce. Finally, we continue to introduce greater innovation digitally by collaborating with different industries and supporting young innovators to add positive value across industries. www.ibtbd.net

Interview CONNECTING THE DOTS

Matiul Islam Nowshad Chief Corporate and People Officer, Robi Axiata Limited

Recipe for success in the technology-led future to be different We understand that the merger between Robi and Airtel was the biggest ever in the country. How did you approach the Human Resource integration of these two companies? Could you share your experience with us?

Robi and Airtel merger was not only the biggest merger of the country, but also was a new phenomenon in the industry. Wiser by the experience- the Merger Steering Committee members with support from Axiata Group who had already completed a number of mergers in the South and South East Asian markets had made it easier for us to complete the merger, upholding the global best practices. Along with the Merger Steering Committee members, all the divisions and departments of the

merging companies played a crucial role. Our regulatory team played an excellent part along with our corporate affairs team since non conclusive merger agreement was announced. Our corporate Communication team made sure relevant stakeholders were made aware of the entire merger process to make it transparent to people in general and our customers in particular through effective engagement with the journalists. Even before concerns were raised, our Communication team proactively provided our position on various critical matters of merger. This had helped us to gain the confidence of all our stakeholders on the merger. We would like to thank the Telecom Regulator under the leadership of Dr. Shahjahan Mahmood, Chairman

BTRC and the Posts and Telecommunications Division under the leadership of Hon’ble State Minister, Begum Tarana Halim, MP. Thanks to their patronage, we managed to find solutions for integrating the employees of both the companies as well as various other commercial settlements. We may belong to a developing country, but I believe, we’ve managed to complete a world-class merger. With the announcement of the merger we were focused on to making the best of both worlds and leverage maximum synergy. The first thing we did was freeze all hiring in both companies as soon as the merger was announced. Although this meant that the existing employees had to take on greater responsibility, we could avoid the painful exercise of letting employees to be made redundant from the merged enterprise. We’re very proud to have been able to make offer and accommodate all our colleagues from Airtel in the merged entity, Robi. The merger encompassed the integration of not only the two companies’ network and processes but also the integration of human capital. This was of utmost priority for us as we strongly believe in being a company of exceptional performance and uncompromising integrity driven by the most important asset, our human capital. We’re well aware of the fact that in many cases, mergers don’t succeed due to lack of focus on the people and cultural integration. In order to address this potential risk, our human resources team had prepared a people and cultural integration plan in light of the global best practices, who guided us along the entire process. The core of any merger is to achieve synergy of business operations to ensure a better outcome. Hence, proper resource planning was very critical to deliver on the business objectives of the merger. To this effect, our first task was to carefully assess the organization structure and culture of both companies and derive a structure for the merged entity that would suffice to meet the expectation from the merged company. Once the merged company structure was www.ibtbd.net

conceived, a job evaluation exercise based on the Hay methodology was conducted for all positions that would populate the new organization. We felt that in order to deliver on the needs of the business for the merged entity, we needed to create new roles in the merged company structure. Having identified the roles, we conducted a thorough job evaluation exercise using three job evaluation criteria of Hay, namely: know-how, accountability and ability to solve problems. We then mapped Airtel employees into these roles considering their years of service, relevant experience, skills and past performance tracks. The key to assigning people to these roles was the compatibility of the employee in relation to the demands of the job role. The job description of each role determined who deserves what position in the merged company. The job evaluation exercise was conducted by independent consultants, who further moderated the calibration session that took place with the relevant divisional heads along with the HR functional heads of both companies for ensuring fairness and transparency in assigning the people to various roles. The Management Council (MC) of Robi and the Executive Committee (EC) of Airtel have reviewed the structure several times. The finalized employee fitment data was endorsed and signed off by the CEOs of the merging companies. A specialized international HR consulting firm, then helped us to harmonize the compensation and benefits for each and every role of the merged company.

Telecom industry is the largest contributor in implementing the vision of Digital Bangladesh. Do you think, we are producing enough skilled human resources to sustain the growth of the industry? I think as a country, as companies and as parents we need to address the changing dynamics of the market. The graduates being produced by universities are joining us but we are never consulted while designing the curriculum they study; we could rethink this. We are going to require engineers, data scientists with new skill set for the future. Since we need students with thorough understanding on Quantitative Business Analytics, the business schools need to focus on it. I believe there is noticeable gaps in alliance between the industry and the academia, in this regard; this needs to be addressed. Five to ten years back, the top graduates used to look for joining the big organizations. These days, the top 1 per cent of the graduates prefer to have something of their own. Even before completing their graduation, they scan the market to look for gaps where nothing is currently being offered to the consumers. By the time they graduate, they already have their business ideas ready to start their own venture. Going forward, this trend is only going to increase. The telecom industry still attracts the best quality students, but to sustain this, we need to change the way we operate. We can sustain this trend, only if we can transform the industry to become the hub of creating digital entrepreneurs of the future- that is what our future colleagues would like us to do if they are to choose us as their employer.

We felt that in order to deliver on the needs of the business for the merged entity, we needed to create new roles in the merged company structure. Having identified the roles, we conducted a thorough job evaluation exercise using three job evaluation criteria of Hay, namely: know-how, accountability and ability to solve problems. We then mapped Airtel employees into these roles considering their years of service, relevant experience, skills and past performance tracks.â&#x20AC;?

Mobile operators across the world are transforming into digital companies. What steps have you taken to prepare Robi for this digital transformation?

Robi is a forward-looking, efficient and energetic company. It has a dynamic organizational structure to address the market needs. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision is to become the Next Generation Digital Company by 2020. In this regard, we have taken a number of initiatives to support the company vision. First of all, we are stressing on the need for adopting a digital mindset. Let me give you an idea; we used to consider strategic thinking, as of the key competence of an employee. In view of the digitalization agenda, we have adapted it to include strategic thinking with a digital mindset. I am sure you realize that we are making a fundamental difference to our existing set of our core competence. Similarly, we are re-skilling our employees; we are fortunate to have the top 1-2 per cent of the graduates still keen on joining us, so it is very easy to re-skill this highly talented workforce. We are also relooking at our core values to accommodate the drive towards digitalization. We have developed a strong competence development program and a center of excellence to ensure proper management of our talents. We believe, such world class facility will also help Bangladesh to achieve its digital vision. A Professor from INSEAD, some years back, asked me: what was the core problem of the industry? I told him that we were missing out on diversified academic knowledge in our industry. Almost all the employees come from either Business Administration or Engineering background. Students with background in traditional subjects such as Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Anthropology etc., were not attracted by the industry. Even though we kept it open for them, they were not even applying because they thought they were not on demand in the industry. Later on, we reached out to the universities and encouraged the students to apply for such positions when they are advertised. As a result, we managed to recruit a handful of fresh graduates from

some of these disciplines in our organization. We made this change of approach to remain relevant with the changing market dynamics. As you know, the consumers are becoming more accustomed to digital lifestyle. This requires us to rethink our marketing approach, for which, we need people with diversified academic backgrounds. The biggest digitalization initiative we embarked on, this year, was the launch of our employee entrepreneurship development programme: r-ventures. It is designed to give opportunity to our employees to pursue their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. The response received from our employees have been truly amazing. We are now grooming the shortlisted ideas. All the employees whose ideas have been shortlisted have already been trained on Lean Start-up Training to educate them about the right approach to their future digital business. We are also inviting successful digital entrepreneurs of the country to share their success stories with our prospective in-house entrepreneurs. In this context, we believe the role of leaders is not limited to create business leaders of the future; rather, it also involves creating entrepreneurs of digital ventures. Our survival as a next generation digital company will also have some dependence on this. I am very confident that we are on the right track.

Many fear that technology will make many jobs redundant in the future. In this context, could you please give us an idea about how t jobs are going to evolve in the future?

As long as an individual is adapting to the changes, s/he will never be redundant. Change in technology is nothing new. It has always made certain jobs redundant while creating a lot of new ones. HR and talent managers have a major responsibility in this regard. Their primary role would be to manage the fear of uncertainty of employees, brought about by the innovation in science and technology. Thanks to continued innovation, we might face a situation where the mobile device will create a massive number of jobs for which we may not have enough human resources. The HR managers would need to arrange basic skills training for the general type of jobs while the existing high-profile employees can be adapted for the high-end jobs. In such a situation, the HR managers’ main

What advice would you give to the students who are going to join the job market in five years’ time?

Five to ten years back, the top graduates used to look for joining the big organizations. These days, the top 1 per cent of the graduates prefer to have something of their own. Even before completing their graduation, they scan the market to look for gaps where nothing is currently being offered to the consumers.”

concern would be to retain them as these high-end jobs will be of global standards meaning that these people can be employable anywhere within our industry and our CoEs. Two decades ago, organizational structures used to be static for even three to five years; but these days, we see the structures being changed almost every six months to a year. The intense market competition is forcing the companies to rethink their organizational structure frequently to remain competitive. Going forward, the nature of jobs are going to change. We are going to approach the traditional functions like marketing from a different perspective, we will need to go back to the traditional subjects in order to bring about fundamental changes to our industry which is essential to its survival.

Back in 1995, in my previous place of work, I used to ask people to specialize in Supply Chain Management and Operations Management. Because, I could see that due to the evolving nature of the global supply chain, Bangladesh would need skilled professionals in this area. Considering this change, I had run a Management Trainee programme, especially for this purpose. I am very proud that all the people we then trained are now the most respected Supply Chain professionals of the country. Back then, all the graduates used to concentrate on brand and marketing but the opportunity was opening up in Supply Chain. Unfortunately, the universities were not offering specialized courses those days. Right now, my advice to the students would be to concentrate on the subjects of the bygone era, such as: Economics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Anthropology. In future, we would be needing data scientists for the business to grow, and without diverse academic background, the data scientists of the future won’t be able to serve the industry adequately. The marketing professionals of the future will need to have deeper understanding on the socio-economic fabric of the consumers that we serve. We need to come up with unique insights on consumer behavior and apply them to the data being generated by the consumers through their digital lifestyle and come up with marketing campaigns and price propositions to win their hearts and minds. If a student is already in the middle of his/ her graduation program, but hasn’t yet completed these courses should seriously consider doing them before completing their graduation. If someone has already graduated, s/he may consider going back to the university and do some specialized courses on these topics to be fit for employment for future jobs. Doing what everyone else are doing will not be enough for the kind of technology-led future we are heading towards.

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CONNECTING THE DOTS

Interview

Taimur Rahman

Chief Corporate & Regulatory Affairs Officer Banglalink

for the operators. Also a study by GSMA and World Bank suggests that 1% increase in penetration in mobile could lead to increase in GDP growth rate of 0.28% and 1% increase in internet penetration can increase GDP growth rate by 0.077%.

What are the positive changes that you've seen in our country through the growth of the Telecom industry?

En-Route to a Digital World Taimur Rahman gained his MBA from Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University in 2001, and his B.Sc. in electronics engineering from Assumption University, Thailand in 1995. Before joining Banglalink, Taimur held the role of Regulatory Affairs Director at Grameenphone and before that he held senior positions in Strategy, Account Management and Technical roles in companies such as Ericsson, Motorola and Alcatel. While working in these multinational organizations, he has obtained various technical and leadership related training. In Motorola, Taimur had also been posted for some time in Swindon, UK for a particular project related to 3G sales support.On 16 February 2014, Taimur became a part of the Banglalink team. The telephone companies have brought a significant change in the way society operates now. With the rise of the Telco we are now taking a better step towards digitalization and enjoying the benefits of their far-reaching impact on social and economic changes. To discuss further about the prospects of this industry, ICE Business Times talked to Taimur Rahman, Head of GRA, Banglalink who gave us some valuable aspects of the industry that we should look forward to.

of the country’s total tax revenues. Besides these prime contributions, according to “Economic Impact: Bangladesh Mobile Industry – GSMA” published in 2017, the industry can contribute up to $17bn and create direct or indirect job opportunity for more than 820,000 people by2020 if enabling policies are adopted

Voice and eventually internet connectivity has redefined the lives of many. It has from the very beginning changed the way we connect, learn, and share and in overall the everyday livelihood of people. Banglalink has over time reached the bottom of the pyramid population with mobile connectivity by making it affordable for all, something that was not achieved by the leading innovators in the industry. The dream of Digital Bangladesh is deeply embedded into the telecom industry as mobile internet

A simple internet connection on a smartphone does not just connect people over a great distance; it also empowers a farmer with crucial knowledge on how to save his crops.” www.ibtbd.net

serves 93.6% of all internet users as reported by BTRC in June 2017. There is an immense social impact of that. A simple internet connection on a smartphone does not just connect people over a great distance; it also empowers a farmer with crucial knowledge on how to save his crops. It has a profound effect on education, healthcare agriculture, information services and financial inclusion.

What are your thoughts on the manpower in this sector?

From grooming the next generation of tech-savvy, ethical and socially responsible corporates to developing technical skills of on-site engineers, the telecom industry is immensely contributing to the development and the empowerment of country’s thriving workforce. As I mentioned earlier according to the GSMA report, the industry can create direct or indirect job opportunities for 820,000 people by2020 if a supportive environment is created for the industry.

What is the next step for Banglalink?

Banglalink believes the future is digital and it is always catering its customers to provide superior services as they step in the digital world. Technology has transformed our lifestyle and ultimately has made everything much easier and faster. As our mobile markets are shifting from voice to data, we believe many lifestyle services also have to move on to a digital dimension as well. Banglalink aims to enable its customers to get the best out of the digital future and to create a true digital ecosystem in providing products that suit the demands of customers.

How are you helping other industries in Bangladesh through the work you're doing in your industry? Telecom has wide-ranging impacts with spill over effects on other industries. From infrastructure to content creation for direct consumption, telecom lies in a grand ecosystem. We have been pursuing the digital frontier head-on with people-centric ideas that also promote micro-entrepreneurship, self-empowerment, and

the industry can create direct or indirect job opportunities for 820,000 people by2020 if a supportive environment is created for the industry.”

creativity. Eventually, our contribution is having a greater impact on the overall economy, particularly on GDP.

What is your plan?

Society is getting more and more digitalized every day, and people are gradually adapting to this form of life. There is an organic shift towards a more enabling digital life where healthcare, education and financial inclusion will be brought into the palm of everyone’s hands. This organic demand’s needs will bring customers to the doors of 4G. Banglalink has always been on the forefront, regarding the introduction of latest technologies and serving the needs of our customers. We believe that offering digital services is the path to the future and 4G technology is the key to enable us to offer these services. Thus we are preparing ourselves for the digital age where we can provide customers the best of ground-breaking services. We are not binding ourselves to digital services only, but we are expanding our footprints to more inclusive digital areas. We have recently launched e-shop for the convenience of our customers and also launched the country’s first ever digital reality show “The Next Tuber.” These are the few samples of what is to come next. We are committed to offering the best in 4G to ensure digital inclusion and a meaningful digital life for all. We look forward to launching 4G as we continue to transform our networks to make it affordable for our customers and help reduce the digital divide.

special report

Climate Change and the Alarming Water Disasters By Monowarul Islam

INTRODUCTION

Water is one of the most crucial elements of human civilization and indeed the other name of life. As much as it is needed for humans to survive, water is also a threat to all forms of life alongside. The growing occurrences of extreme weather conditions have increased the risks of water-related disasters, both regarding their frequency and severity which led to the loss of a uncountable number of lives and assets in countries across the world. Societies and economies have also been exposed to vulnerability from the damaging effects of the disasters. Natural hazards are inevitable; but unsustainable consumption, ill-advised human activity, and human greed can both create and accelerate the impact of water-related calamities. These water threats have been increasing over the years with climate change and human

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As more impacts of climate change-related disasters become evident, huge populations are facing enormous challenges including the threat of displacement and being transformed into climate refugees.

GLOBAL SCENARIO

activities, in all parts of the world. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that 60%-70% of the global impacts of climate change could be reflected via these water-led disasters. The World Water Development Report (2015) stated, “The world will face a 40 percent ‘Global Water Deficit’ by 2030”.

P H O T O G R A P H B Y D I N M S H I B LY

It has been observed that the climate change induced, water-related catastrophes include various forms of floods, cyclones, tidal surge, droughts, erratic rainfall, snowfall, river bank erosion, landslides, rapid melting of glaciers, polar ice caps and, ice sheets in Greenland. All of these are frequently happening all over the world with cumulative intensity. Water bodies have also changed their size and shape with due course of time. On the other hand, the human-made water disasters, i.e., over-extraction of groundwater, pollution of rivers, lakes, wetlands and groundwater, loss of water-based ecosystem services, the flow of debris are also increasing rapidly. Earthquake-induced Tsunami is a natural calamity, which has no relation to climate change but it could create a devastating impact on lives something

similar to what was witnessed during 2011 in Japan. Such examples of water-related climate extreme events are many and widespread across different countries in the world. The recent unpredictable flooding of Uttarakhand in India (named also as the Himalayan Tsunami in 2013), severe floods in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indian Kashmir, Arunachal, Darjeeling, Assam, Punjab, West Bengal, Chennai, Myanmar, Vietnam, Nepal, China, England and France, Queensland and Brisbane of Australia, Brazil and Thailand; are also few examples to be noted. In 2017, the Ganges –Brahmaputra – Meghna basin experienced devastating floods due to heavy rainfall. Severe monsoon flooding has killed nearly 700 people across India in recent weeks as monsoon rain submerged roads, damaged electricity networks and

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triggered lethal lightning storms. The rainfall had caused “the worst flood of the century,” according to the experts. The recent floods in Germany and Southern Europe, droughts and floods in different regions of Australia, thermal stress in France; a deluge of flooding in New Zealand, tornado in Washington are also few instances of climatic impacts on the progressing world. While typhoon Yolanda, hitting the Philippines and most recent cyclone Pam in Vanuatu Islands in the Pacific were of the highest velocity (over 250 km/hour) experienced by the communities in their history. Hurricane Sandy affected the east coast of USA in 2012, and the damage estimate ranged from $60b to $100b for this single event. Hurricane Katrina affecting the gulf coast of USA exposed the social vulnerability, lack of preparedness and discriminating approaches to social governance of the most powerful and richest country in the world - USA. The recent Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Max in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Jose in US East Coast also caused severe devastation. All these hurricanes happened within a month. The mega cyclones Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009) in Bangladesh and Nargis (2008) in Myanmar and the severe Cyclonic Storm Mora (May 2017) are examples of a few strong tropical ones that caused widespread impacts across Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Northeast India. Typhoon in the Philippines in 2012, Hurricane Mathu in Haiti in 2016 are also examples of cyclone and storm surge. The disaster of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan was initiated primarily by the tsunami following the Tōhoku earthquake on 11 March 2011, which created a severe nuclear contamination of groundwater across the coast of Japan. As a result, more than 36% of the children in Fukushima prefec-

ture were exposed to abnormal growths in their thyroid glands and other cancers. In addition, this Tsunami brought destruction and killed 15,894, injured 6,152 and 2,562 people went missing. In the recent years, a severe drought affected the entire East African region and was said to be the worst in 60 years. It caused a severe food crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya that threatened the livelihood of 9.5 million people. Many refugees from southern Somalia fled to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where crowded, unsanitary conditions together with severe malnutrition led to a large number of deaths. Other countries in East Africa, including Sudan, South Sudan and parts of Uganda, were also affected by another food crisis. Lately, western and southern states of India are also facing severe and prolonged drought and severe problems in food production, which has increased the suicidal rate to the highest in their history. Probably the greatest tragedy of climate change is that the magnitude of the impact of climate-related extreme events is stacked against the poor and vulnerable societies.

BANGLADESH SCENARIO

It can be inferred that the water-related disasters in Bangladesh can be categorized into four broader categories, i.e. (a) too much water, (b) too little water, (c) wrong types of water (d) wrong timing of water. (A) TOO MUCH WATER Floods, cyclones, and tidal surges, landslides, etc. falls into the category of too much water.

FLOODS

Heavy rainfall during the tropical rainy season can lead to monsoon floods, which affect rivers and occur as flash flooding. In the 19th century, six major floods were recorded in 1842, 1858, 1871, 1875, 1885 and 1892. Another 18 major floods occurred in the 20th century among which the ones in 1951, 1987 and 1988 were of catastrophic nature. The frequency, severity, and intensity of floods have been enhanced rapidly in the recent years. In 2004, Bangladesh experienced another severe flood as similar to those in 1988 and 1998 when two-thirds of the country went under water. In 2005, non-stop rainfall and water from upstream of India caused flash floods in

the north and north-western districts of Bangladesh. In 2007, major flooding occurred across wider South Asia, affecting not only Bangladesh but also parts of India, Bhutan, and Pakistan. In 2008, it affected many areas of the 20 northern and central districts out of the 64 ones in the country. In 2009, Cyclone Aila hit the southern parts of Bangladesh and caused a huge tidal surge and flooding. In 2010, landslides and floods were triggered by heavy rainfall in south-eastern part of the country. In 2011, total 17 districts were affected due to flooding. Moreover, in 2012, flash floods and landslides in Bangladesh were set off by the heaviest five-day torrential downpour in years. 2013’s flood was not a severe one, but its duration in the southwest, particularly in the districts of Satkhira and Khulna was prolonged, due to slow drainage or very low carrying capacity of rivers. In 2014, continuous rainfall in north and northeastern districts of Bangladesh included Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Sunamjong and Sylhet. The scenario was no less in 2015, and torrential rains have set off flash floods and landslides in the low-lying areas in the south-eastern districts of Cox’ Bazar, Bandarban, and Chittagong. During that of 2016, seven districts were affected namely Kurigram, Bogra, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, and Sunamganj. In 2017, almost 154 Upazilas and 27 districts came under the influence of

the flood, gradually inundating new areas. Furthermore, 60 lakh people were victimized, and death tolls reached over 100, with 5.5 lakh housing lost and 5000 hectors of cropland damaged. This appears as one of the most devastating floods in near history. Such disasters also result in riverbank erosion, which has a severe impact on human lives and livelihoods. Along with death and loss of assets, scarcity of clean water, food, medicine, and fuel can also be observed in the economy.

CYCLONES AND TIDAL SURGES

At present day Bangladesh, due to the rapid change in climate and its unique geographic location, frequently suffers from devastating tropical cyclones. The funnel-shaped northern portion of the Bay of Bengal amplifies the storm surge resulting tropical cyclones that affects thousands of people. Some of the most devastating natural disasters in the recorded history with high casualties were tropical cyclones that hit the region now comprising present-day Bangladesh. The flashback of cyclone history reveals that Bangladesh has experienced about 54 mega cyclones in the past 400 years during 1582 to 1990. Surprisingly, in the next 25 years from 1991 to 2017, another 18 mega cyclones took place, which revealed an alarming threat over Bangladesh in the form of rapidly increasing frequency of such disasters. The 1991 cyclone was among the deadliest tropical ones on record. On the night of April 29, 1991, it struck the

Chittagong district of the country’s southeastern region with winds of around 250 km/h (155 mph). The storm forced a 6-metre (20 ft) surge inland over a wide area, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless. In 1994, a severe cyclonic storm hit the coastal islands near Cox's Bazar and killed 400 people and 8,000 cattle. In 1995, another one of a similar magnitude hit the coastal islands near Cox's Bazar and the death toll reached to 650 people and 17,000 cattle as a whole. In 1997, two cyclones hit the coastal islands and chars near the districts of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali and Bhola and 126 lives were lost. In 2007, Cyclone Akash hit the south of Chittagong, and 14 people were killed with damages amounting

In 2017, almost 154 Upazilas and 27 districts came under the influence of the flood, gradually inundating new areas. Furthermore, 60 lakh people were victimized, and death tolls reached over 100, with 5.5 lakh housing lost and 5000 hectors of cropland damaged.” www.ibtbd.net

to $982 million. Also, Cyclone Sidr made landfall on southern Bangladesh, causing over 3,500 deaths and severe damage. In 2008, Cyclone Rashmi ruined the coast of Bangladesh and killed 15 people and damaged thousands of homes. In 2009, Cyclone Bijli had a minor influence on the country causing very little damage apart from the loss of some houses and crop fields. A major cyclone Aila also attacked 15 districts of the southwestern part of Bangladesh offshore killed about 150 persons and destroyed 2 lacs houses and 3 lacs acres of cultivated land and crops. In 2013, Cyclone Viyaru, formerly known as Cyclonic Storm Mahasen, hit near Chittagong which resulted in the death of 17 people died and affected nearly 1.3 million across the country. Losses to crops exceeded $5.14 million. In 2015, Cyclone Komen led to landfall near Chittagong where 510,000 houses got destroyed, and many residents lost their source of income as 667,221 acres (270,000 ha) of crop fields were drowned. The floods killed 132 people, of which at least 39 were directly related to Komen. In 2016, Cyclone Roanu resulted in the landslide near Chittagong, killing around 26 people. About 40,000 homesteads and business houses along with food storage and seasonal crops were also damaged. Livestock, including fish and shrimp firms, were swept away. Also, the remnants of Tropical Storm Dianmu affected Bangladesh, with not much damage or deaths being reported. In 2017, Cyclone Mora made heavy rainfall, which led a massive landslide on Bandarban, Rangamai, Khagrachari and Chittagong districts with 152 death tolls. A multitude of tropical cyclone warnings and watches were issued for much of southern Bangladesh and the districts of Northeast India. Strong winds and storm surge battered buildings and destroyed farmlands across Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, and Rangamati, with at least 20,000 houses damaged in refugee camps for Rohingya Muslims who were displaced by conflict in neighboring Myanmar.

HEAVY RAINFALL AND LANDSLIDE

Landslide is a regular geologic hazard in Bangladesh, mainly in Chittagong division, the southeastern part of the country. The landslide caused death to more than 700 people in Bangladesh until 2017, including a loss of hundreds of houses and millions of dollars of properties. Most of the landslides happened after heavy rainfall. Heavy monsoon rainfall intensified by strong storm from the Bay of Bengal (BOB) caused an abnormal precipitation in the area caused the referred landslide. The combined effect of rainfall and hill cutting induced slope instability that triggered the landslide in Chittagong. On 12 June 2017, heavy monsoon rain generated a series of landslides and floods in Rangamati, Chittagong, and Bandarban - three hilly districts of Bangladesh - and killed at least 152 people. In 2014, at least 23 people were killed in and around the port city of Chittagong, 36 in Bandarban, 38 in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar near the Myanmar border and leaving roughly 100 missing. In 2008, a landslide took place in the early morning killing 11 people of the Lalkhan Bazaar of Chittagong district. The landslide of 11 June 2007 in Chittagong caused deaths of 135 people, affecting 1.5million people of the region. In 2000, at least 13 people were killed and 20 injured in landslide incidents on the Chittagong University campus and other parts of Chittagong city. The incident was caused due to the deluge of mud and water that swamped various part of the port city amid torrential rain. In 1999, two big landslides happened, one in Bandarban and the other one in Chittagong respectively claiming the lives of 17 people. Heavy and incessant rainfall at that time was one of the main causes of sliding.

Some of the most devastating natural disasters in the recorded history with high casualties were tropical cyclones that hit the region now comprising present-day Bangladesh.â&#x20AC;?

(B) TOO LITTLE WATER Too little water causes drought which creates an acute crisis of drinking water and negative impacts on crop production, biodiversity, human and animal health, etc. Drought is the most formidable disaster frequently reoccurring in most regions of Bangladesh. It is a natural slow onset hazard, which is unnoticeable and enhanced due to the onslaught of global climate change. It is characterized by the long periods of dryness and shortage of water supply cumulatively affecting adversely on the socioeconomic development of the people and their properties. This drought-prone region consists of broader areas of the Barind Tract, which covers most parts of the greater Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabna, Rajshahi, Chapai Nawabganj, Bogra, Joypurhat, and Naogaon districts. After the Northwestern region being severe drought affected, Southwestern part of Bangladesh is also facing drought impacts. Rainfall is comparatively less in Barind Tract than the other parts of the country.

P H O T O G R A P H B Y D I N M S H I B LY

Almost every five years, Bangladesh is affected by the major countrywide droughts, but the frequency is shortening recently. However, local droughts occur regularly and affect crop production. The agricultural drought, linked to soil moisture scarcity, occurs at different stages of crop growth, development, and reproduction. Monsoon failure often brings famine to the affected regions, and as a result, crop production reduces drastically. Chronology of droughts of historical significance reveals that within the history of 200 years from 1791 to 1991, Bangladesh experienced 24 severe droughts. These affected different parts of Bangladesh including Jessore, Dhaka, Bogra, Sundarbans, northern and northwestern Bangladesh. The 1973 drought, one of the severest in the present century was responsible for the 1974 famine in northern Bangladesh.

(C) WRONG TYPES OF WATER Wrong types of water include water pollution, sea level rise, deeper penetration of saline water and

Arsenic; which are also the example of some of the slow onset water disasters in Bangladesh. These do not destruct the infrastructure or housing like Cyclones, flood or riverbank erosion immensely, but create a significant threat to lives and livelihoods including health and environmental hazards.

WATER POLLUTION

Water pollution is a manmade slow on set disaster. Surface water occurs in oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, and floodplains. It has been the source of water supply since the dawn of civilization. However, intense human activities have been polluting these readily available sources. Surface water used to be the primary source of water supply in Bangladesh, but it is no longer the case. Surface water in Bangladesh is extensively polluted by sources such as industrial and urban wastes, agrochemicals and sewerage wastes and seawater intrusion. The Buriganga River is a typical example of serious surface water contamination. Agrochemicals are extensively used in the country causing surface water pollution. Due

to the withdrawal of water from the Ganges by the Farakka Dam, seawater intrudes a long way inside the coastline, which causes river water pollution by salinity. Although groundwater is not directly exposed to surface polluting activities, numerous natural and anthropogenic activities cause groundwater pollution. Some physical, chemical and biochemical (and microbiological) processes cause alteration of groundwater properties either by addition of new elements, ions, compounds or by increasing the existing concentrations. Before the discovery of arsenic contamination in Bangladesh, groundwater used to be considered a safer source of drinking water. Many anthropogenic and natural sources also pollute groundwater in Bangladesh. The most widespread anthropogenic sources are the infiltration of industrial and urban wastes disposed on the ground or in surface water bodies. In addition, intrusion or infiltration of saline water contaminates groundwater. Extensive use of agrochemicals can lead to groundwater pollution. Leaking sewers, septic tanks, pit latrines, etc. also cause groundwater pollution.

SEA LEVEL RISE AND DEEPER PENETRATION OF SALINE WATER

The coastal area of the Ganges delta in Bangladesh is characterized by tides and salinity from the Bay of Bengal. Salinity intrusion due to a reduction of freshwater flow from upstream, salinization of groundwater and fluctuation of soil salinity are the major concerns of the coastal areas in the country. The higher salinity levels have adverse impacts on agriculture, aquaculture, and domestic and industrial use of water and so. The present temporal and spatial variation of salinity is likely to deteriorate further as a consequence of the external drivers of change. River salinity, groundwater salinity and soil salinity of coastal areas of Bangladesh including Khulna, Barisal, and Chittagong divisions are also increasing gradually. Almost 13 districts are already severely affected www.ibtbd.net

by salinity intuition. It is damaging the soil fertility, declining crop production, creating an acute crisis of drinking water and having a rigorous and adverse effect on biodiversity and livelihood respectively. As a result, a large number of population form the affected area are gradually shifting their habitation into the other areas including the mega cities. Forced migration and displacements are occurring due to sea level rise and salinity intrusion, as a slow onset water disaster in Bangladesh.

ARSENIC CONTAMINATION

Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh is now considered the world's largest case of water pollution. Recent findings show that about 20 million people in Bangladesh are using tube-wells contaminated with arsenic over the permissible level (>50 ppb). Total 61 districts are affected out of 64 and 270 Upazilas out of 464. The contaminated tube wells are roughly 1.5 million.

(D) WRONG TIMING OF WATER Erratic rainfall and flash floods are the examples of wrong timing of water. This year in 2017 the monsoon comes earlier than as usual, and as a result, Haor crops and fishes demolished instantly due to flash flood. Long monsoon this year and heavy rainfall cause floods in majority parts of Bangladesh. Late monsoon or less rainfall causes drought and heat waves which affect crop production, food, and livelihoods; results in losses of life, etc.

FLASH FLOODS

Heavy rainfalls, as well as the onrush of water from the upstream Meghalaya hills in India, have led to the inundation of vast areas of croplands of Haors and low-lying areas of the northeast in 2017. This affected six districts (Sylhet, Moulavibazar, Sunamganj, Habiganj, Netrokona, and Kishoreganj) in the northeast region. It caused the rising water to overflow, breached embankment in many places, inundated vast areas of croplands, and destroyed nearly-ready-for-harvesting

Boro rice in about 160,170 hectors areas, which caused huge damage to crop production. According to Ministry of Agriculture, the loss of Boro rice is estimated to be about 800,000 tons.

CONCLUSION

Although these events occurred in very different parts of the planet and each had unique causes and circumstances. Nevertheless, their severity can now credibly be linked to human-induced climate change. Nonetheless, climate change is a reality, and the sign is mostly visible in and every aspect of Bangladesh as well as different parts of the world. It reveals that the intensity and frequency of cyclones and floods have increased and the riverbank erosion enhanced. Drought is spreading at a slow pace and gradually changing the rainfall pattern and increasing salinity, resulting in deeper penetration of saline water and sea level rise. Such slow onset disaster and rapid and gigantic landslide are some of the alarming signs of climate change. The progress in the science of climate change has been significant but rather limited while taking actions to support the reduction of greenhouse gases, given the urgency, available technology options and the call from the global communities. We have often been the victim of poor global governance mechanism and lack of decision-making short-sightedness of political leadership, particularly of the rich countries. There is no doubt that many obstacles continue to exist along our way. However, we should bear in mind that global issues like water-induced disasters cannot be addressed by a single nation’s or a single government’s effort. The growing stress on water resources faced by us today can be solved only when every habitat on our planet is fully aware of the gravity of such issues and tries to join the global efforts to combat it. The two broad strategies for addressing climate change that has been agreed upon so far are: (a) Mitigation, i.e., reduction of emissions and absorption of GHGs;

and (b) Adaptation, i.e., actions to reduce vulnerability, risks, and impacts and enhance the resilience of societies, ecosystems, communities, their capacities, and governance systems. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction have to be addressed using integrated, harmonized, collaborative, participatory and scientific ways. However, these require (i) Finance, (ii) Technologies, (iii) Knowledge of both science and the communities itself; and (iv) Good governance, mobilization and preparedness. Many adaptation activities, particularly by the disadvantaged communities are evident and observed. Nevertheless, this stands as a minuscule effort compared to the needs. As more impacts of climate change-related disasters become evident, huge populations are facing enormous challenges including the threat of displacement and being transformed into climate refugees. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated that the total number of climate displaced population is expected to cross 300 million by the end of this century. Fighting and destructive capabilities of this displacement on stability, peace, and functioning of future societies and its significance is one of the greatest future challenges the world is about to face. It is to be noted that adaptation has limits, some of which will be met in the near future. Hence, mitigation will be the best form of adaptation. Demand for compensation will become evident. Nevertheless, the framework of the most critical issue that will be faced by the planetary governance so far is emerging by what will be known as “Climate Justice.”

W The writer is the Senior Research and Communications Officer at the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and the Treasurer of IUCN Bangladesh National Committee.

Interview

Shariful Islam Mridha

Head of Human Resources, LankaBangla Finance Limited

Tapping into the HR potential of tomorrow As we emerge into a growing economy, the aggressive competition in the financial industry gives rise to the need for skilled human resources whose capabilities are accounted for leading the companies to their next level. Several vital aspects of the human resource department make it one of the most important ones for an organization to function at its best. In search of answers to how particularly the HR function operates in our country and its overall effectiveness, Team IBT came upon Shariful Islam Mridha, Head of Human Resources, LankaBangla Finance Limited, who disclosed us the details about how his team works in collaboration to tackle the possible challenges. Mr. Mridha has been working in LankaBangla Finance since 2014. Prior to joining LankaBangla Finance, he was the Head of Recruitment, Performance Management and HR Relationships of BRAC Bank Limited. He started off his career in 2005 with a renowned law firm ‘Sadat and Sarwar Associates’ and later switched to Human Resources Division of GrameenPhone Limited in 2006. With almost eleven years of professional experience in the Human Resources arena, Mr. Mridha now stands one of the most important HR officials in Bangladesh.

By Ishrat Jahan

Q What are the HR practices that set Lanka Bangla apart from other institutions in Bangladesh?

As we set out our expertise in numbers, our employees alongside define it to be one of the best working environments they have been in. We believe employee satisfaction is at the core of functionality for any organization. Thus, most of

our HR practices are employee-driven compared to those institutions whose work practices are designed from the company’s viewpoint. Regardless of various backgrounds, every individual at LankaBangla is exposed to various situations which helps them to know their strengths and weaknesses.

What can you tell us about the working culture at your organization? Our institution always encourages participation of employees even in the most trivial matters. This gives them a sense of motivation and helps to increase their efficiency. As they say, “It is always in the best interest of an organization to have happy employees.” Moreover, we also promote a learning culture where every

day the employees learn something new in their course of work. Our friendly working environment has resulted in employee satisfaction and therefore, proved to be the best when it comes to meeting deadlines or solving bottleneck situations.

What KPI’s do you use to measure the effectiveness of your employees?

Everyone who works in our organization has a specific job description, through which their performance is assessed. For example - The sales team is dedicated to meet targets and the number of files they process within the given time frame speaks a lot about their efficiency. Individual competencies in relation to the specific job is another part which we also assess to measure the effectiveness of our employees. Thus, our HR department constantly

Our friendly working environment has resulted in employee satisfaction and therefore, proved to be the best when it comes to meeting deadlines or solving bottleneck situations.” www.ibtbd.net

evaluates such factors based on which incentives such as bonus, increment, and promotion are given to an employee.

What are the main differences between the HR systems in foreign nations and the ones used in our country? How long will it take us to reach a stage where our systems are on par with those abroad?

In Bangladesh, the companies are no doubt exposed to the very basic functions of HR. We are good at creating and using automated solution regarding attendance, payroll processing, etc. But, there is no integrated solution for Human Resources. However, the HR system in many different companies worldwide, have a more integrated approach (like Strategic HR, Performance Management, Succession Planning, Learning & Development etc.). Automated solutions do not work single-handedly but are interlinked with each other to provide a better-integrated way of functioning. Thus, making the systems more efficient. It will not be long, that our systems can come on par with those abroad,

considering proper infrastructural support exists. In fact, we are about to purchase a software called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) that will help us manage our employment life cycle and integrate all our HR solutions with each other and help us to address people issue to the organization.

How does the company’s HR need influence strategic planning?

It is often seen that many companies set huge targets for the coming years from beforehand. However, in our country, a dearth of skilled human resources exists. The unavailability of good quality human resources often makes it unfeasible for the companies to achieve such high targets. Therefore, it is advisable for companies to set objectives based on the existence of right quality of human resources in the market.

What do you do to ensure the HR department’s objectives are aligned with the strategic goals of Lanka Bangla Finance Limited? Regarding HR, we have a strategic plan for four years. All our other departments have their own set of objectives that need to be

It will not be long, that our systems can come on par with those abroad, considering proper infrastructural support exists.” 66

achieved within a given time frame as well. To achieve such goals the right type of human resource planning is much needed. Our, HR department is well aware of the goals of the other departments and based on which the HR strategies are devised. This helps us to bring to establish a system where our HR operations are directly aligned with the strategic goals of our company.

What measures are you taking to improve the quality of human resources at LankaBangla?

Resource development is the key to success for any organization. It is vital to engage employees into a training programme that will help to get the best out of them. In LankaBangla we conduct a programme called Training Needs Assessment (TNA) where our employees are assessed based on their performance. The assessment is then used as a foundation to plan a training program that suits the needs of our employees.

Let’s assume you encounter a problem but there are no official guidelines for solving it. What will be your course of action in that scenario?

We promote a participative approach in our company in such cases. Our top management is a part of the HR committee here. Any unforeseen event that we come across is placed in front of the committee, and a thorough discussion is run through. Anyone from the team is allowed to place their opinions and suggest necessary solutions where required. In this way, employees stay motivated, and we get the best possible solution to that problem.

Interview Tech

Nazmur Rahim

Head of Retail Banking, BRAC Bank Limited

What’s next on Retail Banking in Bangladesh? Over the years of the country’s economic progression, BRAC Bank has played a vital role in taking SME banking to the people of Bangladesh. Today, already with the largest Retail Banking Book in the market, BRAC Bank is set on making its mark with his Retail and Coporate Banking portfolios as well. Team IBT ended up in a discussion with Mr. Nazmur Rahim, Head of Retail Banking, BRAC Bank, to find out more about the prospects of the bank and the industry itself. Mr. Rahim began his career in 1997 as a Management Trainee in ANZ Grindlays Bank where his initial assignment was to develop the Cards Business of the Chittagong Region. After the acquisition of the Grindlays franchisee by Standard Chartered, he was assigned to look after the merchant acquiring business of Bangladesh. During his tenure at SCB, he worked in customer service, sales and portfolio management of Credit Cards and Deposits. He worked as the Head of Cards Business in AB Bank Limited from 2011 until he joined BRAC Bank in 2016.

By Ishrat Jahan

Q What steps are you taking towards your vision of making BRAC Bank, the largest Bank in the country?

Our long term vision specifically requires us to focus on three major components - technology, people, and processes. Gone are the days when adapting to new technologies was just a matter of choice. Innovation has become a necessity to survive in today’s generation. Today, technology is also one of the driving forces that stimulates competition between businesses all over the world. Therefore, at BRAC Bank, we are constantly on the look out for bringing in new technological competencies into our system here at BRAC Bank. Side by side, I think it is also

very important for any bank to produce leaders that will take the business to the next level. Thus, we prefer investing extensively in our human resources. Moreover, the work processes in our bank are being made comparatively swifter which gives us leverage over other banks.

What are the areas of concentration for BRAC Bank at this stage of operation? On the products side, at this point in time, we are emphasizing more on services like credit cards and personal loans. There is a lot that needs to be done to educate the consumers who are still unaware of the benefits of these services; our main focus is the middle-income segment. It is seen that people with a lower socio-economic status are often exposed to vulnerable situations where the need for such services should be highlighted. Thus, we are all set to develop a market wherever there is potential especially in the regions outside Dhaka. Our current reach of 186 branches, 476 ATMs, and 448 SME Unit offices is providing us the necessary infrastructural support required for our operations.

There is a portfolio of banks available in the market, but there is still a portion of the population which remains unbanked. How is BRAC Bank trying to bring these people under the banking net? What are the possible challenges faced by BRAC Bank in such a scenario?

Yes, it is true that we still live in an economy where a lot of people are residing outside the banking net, especially in the rural areas. In such areas, there is a lack of knowledge about the existence of banking services and geographical barriers often discourage people from using them. However, with the help of our subsidiary Bkash, our bank has managed to bring a small portion of this huge segment of unbanked people into the banking net, and we further plan on exploring its potential in the future. Talking about difficulties, our main challenge at the moment is to introduce agent banking. Although our first attempt at gaining a license did not work out, further attempts are continuously being made in this regard. Agent banking will help us to provide limited scale banking and financial services to the underserved population through engaged agents under a valid agency agreement. The banking transactions being conducted by the owner of an outlet on behalf of our bank will help us disseminate our

Our current reach of 186 branches, 476 ATMs, and 448 SME Unit offices is providing us the necessary infrastructural support required for our operations.” www.ibtbd.net

services to geographically dispersed areas. Thus, we are placing much effort to tackle this challenge as soon as possible.

A dearth of the skilled human resource exists in Bangladesh. Is there anything that your bank is doing to develop new skills for the employees?

Our bank’s expertise lies in the Management Trainee Program which is designed to turn the fresh graduates into skilled human resources that will work as valuable assets for the industry. Furthermore, our efficient training programmes and the targets set for each individual, exposes them to a challenging environment that helps to get the best out of them. Constant evaluation and incentives provided for good performance help keep our employees motivated and help them to be more efficient.

As the country is moving towards automation, a lot of change has been observed in the banking system recently. What other innovative banking services, like the non-branch Banking and RTGS shall we look forward to? Apart from services like RTGS and non-branch marketing our country should look forward to services like app-based banking, use of artificial intelligence and biometric banking. However, huge infrastructural support is needed before an individual can pay for anything sitting at home

via his or her app-based banking and get loans sanctioned within a few minutes.

What unique services is BRAC bank planning to introduce next? Tell us about the measures you are taking to reduce the increasing number of nonperforming loans (NPL), as well as to cut down on the rate of interest.

To ensure customer convenience and to improve customer experience, we are now focusing heavily on digital channels namely Call Center, Internet Banking, ATM, CDM etc. In this process, we are upgrading our Call Center, Internet Banking and e-commerce platforms to offer innovative services. Our NPL is currently lower than the industry average. However, to improve more efficiency in collections, we have restructured the collections model by making combined efforts between multiple units, closely monitoring and increasing face to face meeting with the deliquent customers. Interest is completely driven by the market and we manage our Balance Sheet by taking prudent decisions on market re-alignment.

What KPIs do you use to measure the effectiveness of your employees?

Our net figures help us to measure the effectiveness of our employees. Apart from that, we have changed our commission

to esnure acceptability and the success of a product or campaign, we involve the collaborative participation of Product, Marketing, Sales, Branch people right from the initial stage.” 70

pay structure to better motivate employees and track their progress. Our sales teams are provided incentives upon fulfillment of their given targets, and continuous evaluation helps them become more efficient.

How positive are you about the possible changes that the innovative services may bring to the banking environment in our country?

The introduction of the innovative services in our country would contribute much to its economic environment. The initiation of such services would enhance the lifestyle of consumers by reducing wastage of time to a great extent. Automation of service in the industry would also help to reduce the lead time in many cases. Thus, I’m positive towards such changes.

What makes BRAC Bank’s retail marketing approach differ from that of other banks and financial institutions?

Our retail marketing approach which was previously product-centric has now turned consumer-centric. We are now emphasizing more on ensuring customer satisfaction than sales. We will develop and package a product to fit the needs of our customers. Moreover, all our tasks have an integrated approach towards it. For example, to esnure acceptability and the success of a product or campaign, we involve the collaborative participation of Product, Marketing, Sales, Branch people right from the initial stage. Gone are the days when product develops, marketing desingns and Branch and Sales sells and services. It is much more of a concerted and well developed effort. This is one of the main things that make our retail marketing approach differ from that of other banks and financial institutions.

Interview

AFM Barkatullah Deputy Managing Director & Head of Retail Business, IPDC Finance Limited.

Mastering the consumer imperative Leader by instinct, forward looking banker by profession, AFM Barkatullah has been working in the financial industry for the last 16 years. Besides being the Deputy Managing Director of IPDC Finance, he is leading the retail business unit of the organization. His business acumen, people leadership, and ability to challenge the convention have made him an inspirational leader in the industry. He is now involved in transforming the oldest private sector finance institution towards the next generation consumer focus organization. Prior to joining IPDC, Barkatullah has worked with Citi, Standard Chartered, and HSBC in Bangladesh as well as in emerging Asian markets in various cash management, credit risk, treasury operations, project management, and trade products roles.

Please tell us about your journey in IPDC Finance Ltd.?

I joined IPDC back in 2013. It’s been 4 years in calendar, but to me it’s just like yesterday. As the oldest private sector financial institution, IPDC has a strong heritage; at the same time, IPDC is a vibrant organization led by the youngest management team of the industry. Last 4 years have been extremely engaging for me. Keeping customers in mind, we have taken initiatives to rebuild and reorganize IPDC for a sustainable future. We have diversified our business in different new verticals, such as channel financing, medium market enterprise, and retail, with the support of technology and robust end to end operational excellence. I am fortunate to be a part of these transformations. Since January 2017, I am leading the retail business unit of IPDC Finance Ltd. The consumer market is evolving rapidly as the country is progressing; our customers are our inspirations. I am thrilled about the journey till today and ahead.

What are the strategic areas you are focusing on now?

We are a lucky generation. We are living in a time when 50% of country’s population are aged between 20 to 50. This talented and hardworking people are involved in income generating activities. This is the time when consumerism is having exponential growth. We want to build our business based on this. I am

thankful to our board for rightly guiding us to unlock this growth. Our interest is in the areas where our customers demand is. As a result, we have set our vision to be number one consumer brand of the country by 2020. We have keen interest to work on household things such as home loan, bringing convenience to home, with special focus on women.

IPDC seems to get momentum among consumers, what is the secret behind it?

This company is run by passionate people, who put their customers at the heart of everything. Since our rebranding, in just less than a year, we have transformed IPDC in to a more human-centric brand rather than just a colorful visual. Our slogan “Jaago Ucchashe” has been accepted and appreciated by our consumers. We have successfully implanted the same value among our people, who are dedicated to ensure the best service experience for every single customer. As we are evolving, we are becoming a more approachable and persuadable company. The doors of the management team members are always open, which speeds up the swiftness of our deliverables. At the same time, we have successfully improvised our products with relevant value-added services and competitive offerings. Most importantly, we are fortunate to have talents from across the industry and the team is relentlessly delivering excellence in our day-to-day operations.

We want to set new benchmarks in product innovation, services delivery, and customer care in the industry, while remaining to be a humble and learning organization.”

Consumers these days are fast and demanding. How do you plan to serve this group in the future?

Customers are our stimulus to go extra mile. We welcome the evolution of customers’ preferences, and the way they seek new solutions. Customers are more informant than ever before. This trend makes us think and act in an unconventional way. Instead of preparing for a particular plan, we are willing and prepared to be more versatile. We are building platforms instead of straight-forward offerings. Our platforms will enable our customers to seek more from us, and at the same time, we aspire to deliver the same. Our nation is in a highway of development; thus, we are enhancing our capacity to offer home loan across the country. We believe, this will be the most popular product at least for the next decade. I strongly believe, this will make IPDC the most cherished name in every household. We are gearing up for consumer white goods financing. We see a potential of consumer white goods financing beyond credit card based EMIs. Our offerings are targeted for the people and their household. In every life event of our customers, IPDC will be there.

How close is IPDC towards its goal?

The more we are touching milestones, the far we are targeting. It is like a never-ending journey. This year we are going to achieve 3 times growth in retail business than 2016. I doubt if there is any other company with such growth extent. We have been blessed to serve customers who are excellent, and as a result we are having the lowest NPL in the industry. Our productivity per person is the highest in the industry. All these achievements are not limiting our hunger, rather we are aiming even higher. It is difficult to set a goal for a young and spirited team like IPDC team. www.ibtbd.net

We want to expand our presence across the country so that we are accessible to all people across the country. We want to set new benchmarks in products innovation, services delivery, and customer care in the industry, while remaining to be a humble and learning organization. That’s how we are heading towards our goal, you can say.

helping us in this regard too. We are one of the very few organizations in the industry who offer real-time web-chat option. You will be surprised to know that most of the queries we receive are from outside Dhaka and Chittagong. A simple solution has enabled us to respond to customer queries in real-time.

Businesses must face competition to grow. How do you combat the competition you face from other players in the market?

You have put emphasis on talents? What do you look for when you recruit an employee?

Competition benefits customers. Yes, there are competitions in the market and we appreciate our competitors. But I would defer with the term competition in this industry. See, this nation is growing, the people are aspiring for development. We need more consumer-centric offerings, more accessible solutions, and that too beyond megacities. We merely complement each other rather than competing with each other. We all can grow, and eventually that will enable our customers to grow. As you have asked about combating competition, we work to deliver the best value to the customers and stakeholders and we engage to attract and retain the best talents. You can match the market offering but cannot match the people quality. We believe, this way we will be staying ahead of others, and creating a positive impact in the industry.

What are the challenges that can create obstacle towards your goals? How are you preparing to overcome those?

Speed and Distance, these are the two things that I would want to address as challenges. It is extremely important to be big, yet fast and accurate. At the same time, the more we are expanding our network, the more challenging it is to ensure service quality. The customers we deal in metros are symmetrical, predictable. The situation becomes more challenging when we go beyond metros, when we go beyond the comfort zones. We are working on process re-engineering and process automation. We believe, technology along with the right people will keep us on track. I would say customers are

IPDC is an extremely employee friendly organization. People love being here. We help people grow with new challenges, right management support, and learning opportunities. We send our employees overseas for training and development. From the very first interview, we seek the right attitude and passion. We recruit those whose best is yet to come, the candidate who can replace me in next few years. We count more on attitude than experience, that’s why we have emerged as one of the most aspired employer among fresh candidates. It is the same philosophy that top European football managers follow- looking for potentials rather than existing performance.

With adaptation of new technologies, many companies are actually letting a part of their workforce go. How are you managing your workforce being dependent of technology?

People still matter. Technology marches relentlessly forward, and it would be foolish to argue otherwise, however, some things remain fundamental, and people-to-people communication will continue to be one of them. Technology cannot replace the human touch. A service-based organization like IPDC require human interaction, a person who is good at their job and understands when to adjust and the subtleties that are required. As a matter of fact, our workforce has increased 5 times in a year. Modern technologies and process automation like implementation of state of the art Clients’ Relationship Management system have been implemented to ease the lives of our people, and speed up the processes so that we can serve our customers without delay.

Does IPDC have any innovative product now at the pipeline? What are its future plans?

There are many product options, we are working on. However, we follow a simple formula of offering simple products with great love that benefits our life as a whole. “A Home for Every Family” – with this motto in mind, IPDC has started to roll out its Affordable Home Loan for the people beyond the megacities. Breaking the traditional norms, we are reaching out to every person of Bangladesh across the country. They get access to insured loan and can even deposit their hard-earned money in a reliable institution without worry and any hassle. Our sales forces are being spread out all over Bangladesh, from North to South, from East to West. We have special offers for women entrepreneurs and women in general. Women are undoubtedly of supreme power. From taking a company forward to driving their kids to school; from running the country to managing their household – women are capable of multi-tasking graciously. There are so many women that need to be empowered because women empowerment leads to more economic benefits not to the individuals but to the society as well. We are working on Girl Child Deposit at the moment. Daughters are precious, and their education, well-being, and marriage are the top priority for any parents. So, a small initiative by IPDC towards securing their future. We have a full pledged function called Business Transformation, this function continuously drives innovation in our organization. With time, I am sure we will be bringing various new products and services for our customers all over Bangladesh.

Any last thought that you want to share?

As I said earlier, we are in our ride to development. The major catalyst of this is our spirited youth. They inspire me to deliver more. I believe this spirit will be transferred and we will be able to create multiplicity of possibilities. I am sure, together we will contribute to unleash the unbound possibilities of our economy.

Interview

Towards a Colorful Tomorrow Q How have you observed the growth of this industry based on your long career experience?

A.K.M Sadeque Nawaj

GM, Marketing, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited

By Ishrat Jahan Thanks to the coexistence of different paints in the industry, our generation no longer wants to live surrounded by walls dipped in lime wash. The plethora of paints has exposed us to a world where any color that we imagine our house to have can be turned into reality. And, not only home decor but the industrial paints also form a part of the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s canvas now. Berger Paints has a worldwide heritage of 250 years going back as far as 1760, and this heritage has endorsed Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited to have the absolute leadership in the local paint industry backed by diversified product offerings, product innovation, unparalleled customer service, and wide distribution network. The eminence of its name can be sensed with the vibrant images of Bergerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work being reflected through the households and offices of many generations that it has been serving for. Recently on a discussion with Ice Business Times, Mr. A.K.M. Sadeque Nawaj, GM, Marketing, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited, shared various insights about the company from his seventeen years of industry experience.

As our country is going through an economic progression, a boost in the infrastructural development in the last couple of years has contributed much to the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demand. With the rise in disposable income and the increased influx in remittance flow, the industry has also seen a growth due to the improved lifestyle, and development of rural economy. Since housing falls under one of our fundamental needs, the consumers are nowadays spending on paints as a part of their colorful lifestyle. However, recent years have also seen a collapse in the real estate industry. Furthermore, the level of foreign direct investment has not been up to the expected level to fuel the economic progress further, which has a positive correlation with the www.ibtbd.net

paint consumption. Until this year, interest rate was also quite high. But on the other hand, the advantages of using the new methods of painting have outweighed that of the conventional one. Thus, a decent growth in the industry has been noticed in recent years.

What is your observation about the prospect of this industry (regarding innovation and others)? There is no doubt that this industry has more potential to grow regarding innovation. However, the paint industries worldwide have now diversified its focus into various aspects of paints, not just household only. A lot of global brands have already entered the local market. To reach the next level, we now need to focus on industrial coatings along with our existing household segment. The protective coating has far-reaching aspects than that we already know about and is one the most demanded things now. This segment has huge potential, but a sufficient flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) is what we need at the moment. Furthermore, an increase in FDI will help in the rise of more industries, thus increasing the demand for high-performance coating and the paint industry as a whole. Regarding innovation, the industry has been continuously adapting to new measures that are being used worldwide. For instance, Berger back in 2012 was the first company to tap into the needs of a more

health-oriented generation with its idea of lead-free paints, and by introducing the first eco-friendly paint under the brand name of Breathe Easy. Berger also introduced tinting technology in 1998 titled ColorBank for household segment that lets our consumers choose from a wide range of 5000 shades. Innovation has also been done in the arena of wood coating. In propositions where local investment has not been made possible, Berger has taken strides to make alliances with international players in the market, like with Hempel for high protective marine coatings, with PPG for vehicle refinish, with European Technology for Innova Wood Coating, to name a few, so as to bring these new technologies into the local market. Berger has also overseen innovation in the area of high-performance coatings. Thus, it will not be long, that this industry will be a better contributor to our growing GDP.

What were the challenges that you faced in sales/marketing?

Business is all about adversities. Keeping a good relationship with all the stakeholders and bringing them together under one umbrella is quite difficult. Our biggest challenge like all other industries is the legal infrastructure. All government bodies should work in a cohesive manner in ensuring foreign direct investment and supporting the local business to ensure economic prosperity. Especially in the scenarios where we are trying

Berger back in 2012 was the first company to tap into the needs of a more health-oriented generation with its idea of lead-free paints, and by introducing the first eco-friendly paint under the brand name of Breathe Easy.â&#x20AC;?

to bring in technology from overseas, these challenges are our foremost concern. Government should take enhanced steps to ensure governance to create the level playing field for all the companies operating in the industry, and in the step take processes to make the rules and regulations more business-friendly. Making the consumers more knowledgeable about the protective values of paint besides its aesthetics, to protect the value of the asset, is another crucial challenge that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been facing. This will lead to further knowledge-based decision making in their painting process. The industry as a whole needs to ensure proper application of paint using appropriate application tools. Products are also going through a continuous process of innovation, and therefore, there is a need to increase the number of applicators as there is currently a dearth of applicators in the industry. Furthermore, owing to this constant innovation, there is also a need to increase the education of these applicators. A critical challenge in the industry is managing the relationship with all the stakeholders keeping their individual interests in mind. Balancing the individual requirements and interests of all these stakeholders and growing the business is also another important issue.

What are your suggestions for people who want to build a career in this industry?

Irrespective of the industry, aspects like hard work, passion, and knack for learning are a set of common factors that every fresh graduate should focus on to excel. Apart from this if we specifically talk about the paint industry, graduates need to understand that the norms of this industry is quite different from those of mainstream industries. There are different variants of paint, each of which have different shades, made using different technology, and have different stakeholders. Thus, to understand the mindset of consumers one needs to spend more than just a couple of years here. It is also essential for employees to enjoy their work for a greater inflow of innovative ideas. All these things help contribute to the self-development of individuals as they march forward with their careers.

Online Education

n recent times, online classes have been a means of learning for many students around the world. These classes have eliminated the need of a student to be physically present in a classroom to get access to the resources being taught. According to Derek Stockley, E-Learning is the delivery of learning, training or education program by electronic means. It involves the use of a computer or any electronic device to

provide training, educational or learning material for specific users, mostly students. Distance learning was the former form of e-learning before computers became accessible. Some of the other elements involved in E-learning are internet, computers, CD-ROM and DVD. It can also be argued that E-Learning, may help to reduce problems related to attendance, time, schedule, and commutation difficulties. This sort of learning slowly started gaining popularity in the mid-90s.

Efforts were made by large institutions and corporations to change the way education is conducted. This was mostly done by investing a large amount of money into creating and converting content, such as lectures and textbook, into some E-Learning friendly forms. E-Learning can be defined in both a relatively narrow and distinct way. Through the narrower angle, E-Learning is a computer based training, whereas from a broader point of view, E-Learning can be any learning or training that involves the

E-Learning: Digital Boon or Bane? By Mehrin Karim

use of electronic items. Although it experienced relative failure during the beginning of the 1990s, the sector has now started to boom. During its early failures, many firms and institutions which invested heavily in E-Learning development went into bankruptcy and many jobs were lost as firms shut down. Our question here is, what made E-Learning programs fail in the first place and what changes were required for it to head into its current success trajectory? The platform had developed rapidly in the 90s, but consumers had failed to adjust to the shocking change in educational system (Wall and McNamee 2004). In the economic sense, potential customers may have realized the large transaction cost of shifting to E-Learning from traditional methods. The transaction cost may include the cost to buy

computers and install internet, the risk from the lack of knowledge about E-Learning, the time cost to learn and research about E-learning, the psychological cost from adapting into something significantly different, and the high cost of E-Learning itself. Due to these reasons there was a poor take-up rate in E-Learning firms and institutions. Another problem was that even if people decide to be enrolled in E-learning programs, the learning process was ineffective (Wall and McNamee 2004). There was not much of a lesson or a learning process, but instead, consumers had just accesses to pdf/word documents or PowerPoint presentations. And finally, the main problem was that it was overpriced and overhyped (Wall and McNamee 2004). Through its failures, it has “learned” its lesson and slowly adjusted into a more successful story.

E-TRAINING BY FIRMS

In 2002, firms like IBM, Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline, and the U.S. military were able to gain from E-learning by saving cost and increasing productivity to a considerable amount. Other firms and institutions also started to adjust E-learning into a more “blended learning” experience for users, which would enable them to have access to many different forms of learning tools. Some of which are, real-time virtual/ collaborative software, self-placed Web-based courses, electronic performance support system, job task environment and knowledge management systems (Singh 2003). The www.ibtbd.net

LEVELS OF ONLINE USER EXPERIENCE Guerra Scale: Levels of Online User Experience ry sito ith o ep /DB sw b R m n d e s e tio ng ge ie El Fe ed nit ula achi dia ith wl mu m e i w o S Co iz ltim Kn Com Qu Mu ts en

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abobe figure shows a potential experience of an E-learner (Guerra and Heffernan 2004) The rapid development of technologies and the availability of various types of computers brought a change in the needs and methods of education and training at the beginning of the 21st century. E-Learning reached one of its greatest peaks in the year 2000 as the learning experience was made more interesting, interactive, and efficient for the users at affordable costs. In 2003, the E-Learning industry recovered from its previous failure and experienced rapid growth with the inception of about 700 E-Learning companies in the US alone. However, this number did not take into account the colleges, universities, and degree-offering programs that offered some form of E-Learning experiences for their students at that time (Capper 2003). One of the many other reasons was the need for a better and more efficient way for firms to train their employees that influenced the rapid comeback of E-learning at the beginning of the 21st century. According to the May 2000 issue of Fortune Magazine, around 70% of the world’s top tier companies claimed that lack of trained employees was the major hindrance to sustainable growth (Fortune Magazine 2000). The optimistic expectation about the growth was also motivated by an increasing number of institutions and firms that switched to the E-learning way of training and education. Moreover, an increase in the amount of

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investment in the E-learning sector of over $1 billion in private capital and $302 million in public equity investment (Capper 2003) contributed much to its growth. According to firms such as IBM, Casio and much more, E-learning has made training more effective for their employees, and worker productivity has also increased noticeably.

E-EDUCATION IN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

Many academic institutions have also started to implement E-Learning systems to save cost for classrooms and teaching staff, and to improve the

U.S. CORPORATE E-LEARNING REVENUES BY OFFERING ($MM)

Numbers of Questions Asked and Answered in Classrooms vs. One-on-One Tutoring Session - One Hour

Classrm/Teacher Asks

Classrm/Student Asks

Tutor/Student Asks

TutorAsks/Student answers

Source: Woolf and Regain (2000) iv

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quality of teaching (Mendling, Neumann, Pinterits, Simon, Wild) With its rapid expansion in 2003, the E-Learning industry generated a total revenue of $11,415 million. As of 2015, there were 2600 E-Learning firms and institution in the US and the figure was expected to exceed that of the traditional universities in the US by 2020. Although the previous statistics lean towards the rapid growth of the industry, the effectiveness of E-Learning remains questionable. According to Joanne Capper, students who learn using the internet also tend to be more interactive than traditional classroom students due to more individual ways of interacting compared to that in the traditional classrooms. Online “lectures” often include written notes or video podcasts that one can have access to during any time of the week. One can “attend” classes when he or she wants. Also, classes can be done any time of the day during the week according to one’s preferred schedule which leads to greater flexibility which is absent in the traditional method. According to Woolf and Regain, students also tend to ask up to an average of 117 questions per hour in a one-on-one tutoring environment in an E-classroom (Woolf and Regain 2000). This also implies that the question answer sessions reduce the chance of students following incorrect methods of solving problems by increasing their understanding of a concept, which

P H O T O G R A P H B Y Š T E FA N Š T E FA N Č Í K O N U N S P L A S H

makes E-Learning a significant way to learn better for students. There are also other studies which proved that computer-assisted instructional learning increases student performance. According to Woolf and Regain, a student’s performance can go from the 50th percentile to about the 65th percentile (Woolf and Regain 2000). Furthermore, the time needed to reach academic objectives or other academic related materials and assistance reduced with the use of computer and internet. (Woolf and Regain 2000). Communication in the form of group work or group discussion between teachers and peer-students has turned easier via communication systems like

AIM. In addition to internet accessibility, E-Learners can easily find other resources and supports through the internet to enhance his/her learning experience while attending class at the same time. While there are many benefits of E-learning, there are also some major issues that may question its effectiveness. For example, if E-learners are not motivated to learn using this then his or her learning experience would not be as good as other motivated ones. Limitation in course offerings can also occur due to language barriers faced by students. And the continued development of technology may also create confusion amongst those who are new to such technology. (Capper 2003).

Some Effect Sizes Achieved with CAI and Knowledge-Based Tutors

COST EFFECTIVENESS VS. COST EFFICIENCY

As described above, the large investments from firms like IBM, Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline, the U.S. Military, and many academic institutions contributed much to the development of this sector. E-learning has proved to be cost-effective because of the increase in productivity in workers and students. However, it is still under doubts whether it can be cost-efficient or not. According to the article written by Mendling, Neumann, Pinterits, Simon, and Wild, E-learning investments can be regarded as strategic investments for academic institutions and firms that aim to achieve competitive advantage regarding cost and effectiveness structures. After the failure in the 1990s, many new business models for E-learning have been developed which gave air to the optimistic beliefs. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the investing firms and institutions to know whether their investments are cost-efficient or not. Cost efficiency, according to Wentling and Park, is a ratio that tells how much output was obtained from the input in E-Learning. Wentling and Park also mentioned that two costs involved in E-learning are fixed costs and variable costs. Fixed costs are www.ibtbd.net

PHOTOGRAPH BY SERGEY ZOLKIN ON UNSPLASH

IN 2003, THE E-LEARNING INDUSTRY RECOVERED FROM ITS PREVIOUS FAILURE AND EXPERIENCED RAPID GROWTH WITH THE INCEPTION OF ABOUT 700 E-LEARNING COMPANIES IN THE US ALONE.

technology coordination salary, administrative time, equipment, contracted server support, network support, and office communication cost (Wentling and Park). Variable costs are faculty salaries, technology support staff, teaching assistants salary, course materials, and mailing cost (Wentling and Park). Their study on of E-learning only took into direct account costs of E-Learning operation and ignored the other general costs of running a whole institution.

THE HIGH SETUP COST OF E-LEARNING

In a study by Wentling and Park it is shown that the total cost of the program exceeds the total revenue, making E-Learning cost-inefficient. Another thing Wentling and Park pointed out is that revenue of E-Learning programs are based on tuition fees received from enrolled students. However, most costs are fixed, and some enrolled students do not affect those cost. In other words, the increase in students does not increase the total cost, whereas a decrease in students also does not affect the total cost. Therefore, for E-learning to be cost-efficient, the number of students enrolled is very important to justify costs that are the inputs of E-Learning programs. Furthermore, things like the difficulty to measure inputs and outputs regarding ability, effort, environment, and other things cannot be quantified. Therefore, in study, they emphasized that the cost analysis in educational settings do not need to

include all costs, unlike other business cost-analysis models. Similarly, we need to realize that cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness are two different types of economic measures. An E-Learning program may be cost-efficient, but it does not necessarily mean that it is cost-effective if the program is not relevant to learner’s needs, such as human capital and product development. Likewise, it can be cost-inefficient because the cost is higher than the output but could be cost-effective because of its achievement in meeting learner’s needs of human capital and productivity development. In other words, cost efficiency and cost-effectiveness do not necessarily equate, especially not in an educational cost-analysis setting. In the point of view of a learner, it is common to think that he or she would want inputs (costs) to be less than outputs (gains). However, according to Twigg and Ruth, there is often a trade-off between cost and quality, in this case the one between cost and enrollment (Kingma and Schisa). From an E-Learning firm’s point of view, an increase in the amount of enrollment would be better because it increases the possibility to cover the total cost of starting an E-Learning program. However, an increase in enrollment may also mean that the time contributed to each student by an individual instructor would decrease, which in turn may decrease the quality of learning. As a learner takes into account of technologies used in an E-Learning program, the cost-analysis may become easier to understand because output would most likely increase, and cover the cost of enrollment.

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

While the benefits and issues of E-Learning may be important for students, the cost and benefits of E-Learning should also be considered. This is true in case of some universities who offer either only campus courses, or only online courses, while others offer both campus and online courses. The inputs of a university are the faculty, staff, network, software, and buildings which are combined to

offer campus or online courses. This university employs a collection of full-time and part-time faculty, and builds campus classrooms, offices, and dormitories in support of a student body. It is highly questionable whether the inputs are likely to be changed if new offerings are made. We will now see a comparison between the brick and mortar institutions and E-Learning institutions. This study compared how much it costs the university to offer a large undergraduate course online versus a traditional classroom format. Using an instructor time log, costs were measured in relation to the time spent: (A) • Working with project staff, • Planning the course, • Preparing the course for online delivery • Delivering the course, • Interacting with the students, • Evaluating student performance, and • Training and supervising TA's. (B) Fixed costs involved setting up the hardware, software, and the content. The findings from this study revealed that the instructor spent more time on the traditional course than the online (112 hours compared to 107 hours, respectively) and that the overall cost per student who passed the course was less for online courses ($99) than those face-to-face ($105). (Tana Bishop, 2007) In a traditional setting, when the number of students increases, there is an added cost of building new classes and even buildings but when it is compared to online education, E-Learners do not need a physical classroom so the incremental cost is less. The diagram below shows the

E-LEARNING IS THE DELIVERY OF LEARNING, TRAINING OR EDUCATION PROGRAM BY ELECTRONIC MEANS. IT INVOLVES THE USE OF A COMPUTER OR ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICE TO PROVIDE TRAINING, EDUCATIONAL OR LEARNING MATERIAL FOR SPECIFIC USERS, MOSTLY STUDENTS. average cost tend to increase with Brick and Mortar education as the number of students increased and with online education the cost tend to decrease so economies of scale is experienced in the latter.

WEAKNESSES OF E-LEARNING

a) Lock in and Switching Costs Involved The teachers may be locked in after using a software for their course material and may incur switching costs like network costs, learning costs, financial costs and searching costs and even some features that could be overlapped technically. b) Equity and Accessibility to Technology Before any online program to flourish, it must have students who can access the online learning environment. Lack of access whether it be for economical or logistics reasons will exclude otherwise eligible students from the course. This is a significant issue in rural and lower socioeconomic

Online

IN CONCLUSION

Brick n Mortar

Cost Cost

# of students

The writer is an independent consultant and can be reached at mehrin.karim07@gmail.com.

neighborhoods. Furthermore, from an administrative point of view, if students cannot afford the technology the institution employs, they are lost as customers. c) Limitations of Technology User-friendly and reliable technology is critical to a successful online program. However, even the most sophisticated technology is not 100% reliable. Unfortunately, it is not a question of if the equipment used in an online program will fail, but when. When everything is running smoothly, technology is intended to be low profile and is used as a tool in the learning process. However, breakdowns can occur at any point along the system, for example, the server which hosts the program could crash and cut all participants off from the class; a participant may access the class through a networked computer which could go down; individual PCs can have numerous problems which could limit students’ access; finally, the Internet connection could fail, or the institution hosting the connection could become bogged down with users and either slow down, or fail altogether. In situations like these, the technology is neither seamless nor reliable, and it can make the learning experience worse. d) Lack of Essential Online Qualities Successful on-ground instruction does not always translate to successful online instruction. If facilitators are not properly trained in online delivery and methodologies, the success of the online program will be compromised. An instructor must be able to communicate well via writing and in the language in which the course is offered. An online program will be weakened if its facilitators are inadequately prepared to function in the virtual classroom.

# of students

The effectiveness of online learning approaches appear quite broad across different content and learner types. Lastly, we would like to say that E-Learning should be a beneficial investment for a country because of the increase in productivity, knowledge, and educational level that it brings for the society. Although there many underlying uncertainties, E-Learning is socially optimal for our society. www.ibtbd.net

Tech

iPhone

MISGUIDED ‘INNOVATION’ By Abhijit Asad

Instead of relying on something as reliable as the fingerprint sensor for security, the iPhone X relies on something new called ‘Face ID'.

www.ibtbd.net

ust as it does on a fairly regular basis, tech monstrosity Apple churned out another tired iteration of the iPhone last month with superficial feature upgrades, in regular and ‘Plus’ variants. They look and feel pretty much like last year’s model, despite having a better processor and a bit more memory at the cost of lower-capacity batteries and a bit of extra thickness and weight. However, Apple also surprised a lot of people with the revelation of a new type of iPhone which appears to be quite a bit different from all other iPhone models, including the regular iteration released alongside it this year. This new iPhone, dubbed the iPhone X (a name celebrating the tenth anniversary of the iPhone), has a few defining characteristics which help it stand apart from other iPhones. The traditional circular ‘Home’ button is gone, along with the trusty old fingerprint sensor housed within it for several generations, managing to make even more room for the larger screen which spans across pretty much the entirety of the front face of the phone. Instead of relying on something as reliable as the fingerprint sensor for security, the iPhone X relies on something new called ‘Face ID,' which involves looking pointedly at the device’s camera for a few seconds, waiting for the device’s software to recognize the user’s face and unlock the display. It should also be noted here that the first attempt by Apple SVP Phil Schiller to demonstrate this feature at Apple’s latest Keynote event didn’t go as planned, which has already cast considerable doubt on the subject. Wait, did that sound familiar? Of course, it did. This is a feature that has been around in Android devices for nearly half a decade now. However, even if we assume that Apple has somehow managed to create a superior version of this feature, thanks to the depth-sensing abilities offered by the new infrared sensor mounted on the little bump on the front of the device, the real reason as to why it is unlikely to catch on is that it requires the user to stare at the phone to unlock it, which is awkward at best and unergonomic at worst, especially compared to the instantaneous response of the nifty and efficient fingerprint sensor which it has supplanted. Combined with various other challenges, such as the growth or removal of facial hair, liberal application of makeup, and accidental damage to the face’s integrity, it remains to be seen how well Face ID works outside the lab and in the real world – provided anyone except the most hardcore Apple devotees start using it. If it fails, it will fail for the same reason as to why touchscreens on desktop computers have failed – they are uncomfortable to use. The next big obvious change brought along GONE ARE THE by the iPhone X is the huge screen. The DAYS WHEN display would have been a beautiful one, APPLE COULD TAKE A CLUNKY had it not been for the unsightly bump PIECE OF that eats up a good part of the top edge of TECHNOLOGY the screen. Not only is this a benchmark WITH POTENTIAL, AND example of terrible design, but it also breaks the symmetry of the screen when it TURN THAT POTENTIAL INTO is being held in landscape mode. The A DAZZLING corners of the display are rounded, which REALITY. means, even more, pixels are lost around them, particularly when watching videos. While the colors look vivid, the resolution of the display is nothing to write home about either, coming in at a bizarre 2436×1125 pixels, which is slightly more than the baseline Full HD resolution of 1920×1080, but considerably lower than 2560×1440 or 4K resolutions, which is rapidly becoming the norm for high-end phones. It should also be noted that the lack of a physical Home button means the user is now forced to learn new touch gestures to substitute for it.

The cameras continue to remain the iPhone X’s sole redeeming feature, as it has been with the iPhone range for quite a while now. While nowhere near the top in terms of megapixel counts, the fantastic image quality, combined with the plethora of additional shooting and enhancement features, makes for a compelling photography experience that is on par with that offered by the most high-end Android phones. The front-facing camera now has its own little flash, which comes as a boon to selfie addicts. Apple’s marketing department has been pulling no punches, attempting to sugarcoat the ‘new’ features which Apple has been conveniently lifting from flagship Android devices, but the tables have turned. Gone are the days when Apple could take a clunky piece of technology with potential, and turn that potential into a dazzling reality. Nowadays, when even budget-grade Android handsets have extraordinary feature sets crammed into them, Apple is failing to put forward anything significantly unique. Even the full-form display concept has been taken from ambitious phones such as the Xiaomi Mi Mix or the Samsung Galaxy S8. Apple has always relied on smoke-and-mirrors marketing, but the gaping absence of the late Steve Jobs as the chief plagiarist has never been more obvious. The battery life, as it tends to be with iPhones, is lackluster. For some reason, this is one feature from higher-end Android phones which Apple has not seen fit to lift just yet, so it would be advisable to carry a charger if one is to last through the day on a single charge. However, on the plus side, it should be noted that the iPhone X (along with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus) supports fast charging as well as wireless charging. These features have also been fashionably late to arrive at the Apple table, but they are welcome indeed. The new A11 Bionic CPU is also quite a performer while being highly efficient, so it is expected that the smaller battery capacity won’t leave much of a negative impact. Perhaps because of its ‘novelty,' Apple has decided to price the iPhone X at an eye-watering price of USB 999 or GBP 999 for the 64 GB base model, with the prices steadily ramping up for ones with more storage. If the phone needed one more feature to turn away all but the most diehard Apple fans, this is it. As with almost all electronic gadgets, the pricing of smartphones is a game of diminishing returns as one goes higher, so it does not make any sense to pay an arm and a leg for an inherently flawed device that is barely more than an overhyped prototype. It will be made available to the public in November 2017. Completely devoid of any form of significantly novel innovation, Apple’s iPhone division has been running on fumes and marketing for quite some time now. Given how long it has taken for Apple to come up with a new design for the iPhone, perhaps the next big change on this front would show up in another 10 years, provided the fumes don’t run out, or another Jobs appears like a much-needed messiah. P H O T O G R A P H F R O M W W W. A P P L E . C O M

Different Perspective

‘Notorious’ Personal Branding Hack By Farhat Chowdhury Zishan

Brand yourself like Conor McGregor You may be an avid fan of the Bangladesh national cricket team, or you may prefer staying up late at night watching the Premier League matches. Regardless of the genre of sport that you are into, you have certainly heard a little bit, if not a lot, about this one Irish Mixed Martial Artist from the UFC. And he is none other than “The Notorious” Conor McGregor. The 29-year-old, from Dublin, has recently been levitated to unprecedented heights of fame and success right after his highly anticipated boxing debut against boxing maestro Floyd “Money” Mayweather. www.ibtbd.net

So how exactly did a foul-mouthed, boisterous and bragging mixed martial artist go beyond his niche circle and position himself as a promising identity in the entire world of sports? 1. IDENTIFY YOUR KEY TRAITS - Know thyself. Dig deep into yourself and analyze all your strengths, weaknesses and what makes you stand out from the crowd. Conor posed as a very humble, hardworking athlete in the early days of his career until he realized his “word game” added an edge to his persona. And once he signed into the UFC, we ended up seeing a more confident, robust version of him, both inside and outside the octagon. 2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – Once you are done identifying what image of yours you will be projecting to the masses, try to segregate and clearly understand who you will be communicating with. If you scroll Conor’s social media accounts, you will see all his content are primarily MMA focused. But no sooner he confirmed the fight with Mayweather, he started integrating boxing content as well. He had understood that the periphery of his audience has grown and he now has to cater to it accordingly. 3. REFLECT IT ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS – Your Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. should all reflect one single story and what you stand for. Keep a clear, consistent and relatable image of yourself on social media. Regardless of which of Conor’s social media accounts you look into, all of them portray a similar message – MMA, family, and a lavish lifestyle. So, makeup videos on Snapchat, artistic quotes on Instagram and hangout pictures on Facebook might help you to project diversified content on the internet but this shrouds the consistent image of what people think of you. Say you are a food aficionado and want to establish this brand image of yours on social media. A proper utilization of social media platforms can be – snippets from restaurant visits on Snapchat, images of mouth-watering dishes and quotes from renowned chefs on Instagram and photos of your hangouts on Facebook. Can you notice the consistency and how one platform reinforces another?

Developing your identity can prove to be a strenuous task, provided that many of us are surrounded by pessimists and ones not open to experimentation. 4. MAINTAIN YOUR PERSONAL BRAND – Do not let sudden occurrences, deviate you from maintaining your personal brand. Say for example, you have worked months to build a brand image of yours, which portrays that you are kind, humble and always there for others. But a dispute with your colleague made you to write this huge rant on Facebook – severely criticizing and badmouthing them, along with all the vicious repercussions of office politics. This will immediately tick off your target audience and will portray an image which is completely contradicting to what you have been striving to achieve. This is indeed a costly mistake and may take months for you to recover from. Therefore, ‘tread’ carefully and ‘type’ more carefully. 5. BE BOLD – Developing your identity can prove to be a strenuous task, provided that many of us are surrounded by pessimists and ones not open to experimentation. But as NBA legend Michael Jordan puts it “Some people want it to happen, some wish it to happen, others make it happen”. So, gather the courage to work past all the giggles, sighs and whines. Develop content, be open to experimentation, and turn yourself into an invincible brand. You are what you make others think you are. Therefore, it is definitely better to put in some effort at this.

6. TRANSLATE YOUR WORD INTO ACTIONS – Make sure the brand that you have crafted on social media is present in all your everyday actions as well. This helps increase your credibility. Conor McGregor has worked tirelessly in projecting an image of a dominant MMA fighter inside the octagon. Right before the UFC 194 fight, the Dubliner boasted

in the minds of others are reflected in all your actions. Are you a copywriter striving to be the next big thing in the advertisement industry? Do not limit yourself into putting David Ogilvy quotes on Facebook. Work tirelessly alongside it to come up with amazing taglines for the brands that you are working with. 7. ALWAYS LEARN AND IMPROVE – Research and gather knowledge about what your peers are doing. Improve your storytelling. Improve your craft and content. If you compare Conor McGregor’s social media posts, you can see that his early tweets as a rookie in 2013 were about post-match comments, rants and candid remarks about trivial things in life. Fast forward 4 years, here he is posting a tweet where he is seen toasting champagne and humbly thanking everyone who came out to see the McGregor-Mayweather fight. There is always room for improvement on the quest to build your personal brand.

“Life is about growing, improving and getting better”. The writer is currently a Business Undergraduate majoring in Marketing; with plans to become a brand geek someday. He can be reached at farhatchowdhury95@gmail.com

that he will finish the fight with a first round knockout. While this seemed next to impossible, he did successfully manage to back his words by finishing with a record 13-second KO and clinched the World Featherweight title from Jose Aldo. Your brand image quadruples in worth when all the image that you have projected on social media or

Now many might disagree and say that personal branding is only for celebrities and attention seekers. But in an age when even interviewers take your social media image into account, crafting a proper image on social media and in real life can give you that competitive edge. So, when you are learning how to put your story out in the open, there cannot possibly be a better teacher than an Irish plumber who has worked his way into becoming the King of the Octagon. As Conor McGregor himself says, “Life is about growing, improving and getting better”. Let his personal branding methods be one of the secret ingredients behind your success in life.

www.ibtbd.net

Word of mouth

HAPPENING

Obaidul Quader, MP Minister Ministry of Road Transport & Bridges along with Mahbubu Alam, President, CCI distributed relief materials among the Rohingya refugees in the port city Chittagong

Konstantinos Vardakis, Acting Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh and Mahbubul Alam, President of CCCI in a meeting at the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry to exchange views on bilateral trades

A gala celebration of ten years of Grameen America “A Decade of Empowerment” was held at Metropolitan Museum of Art (The MET) in New York City on 23 September. It provides micro-credit to underpri

The leading footwear brand of Bangladesh Apex has announced that the renowned US accessory brand Cross, is now available in Bangladesh exclusively at selected APEX outlets. Cross is an iconic brand with global recognition. It has a wide range of high quality, stylish leather accessories, which include – cash/card cases, travel accessories, bags & belts.

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COUNTRY’S FIRST SPORTS BUSINESS CONFERENCE “SPORTS HUB BANGLADESH 2017” TOOK PLACE

Sports Hub Bangladesh, country’s fist business conference was organised by the IMAGO Sports Management Ltd. on Saturday, September 23, 3017. Various notable representatives of Sports voiced their opinions in 6 sessions at the Krishibid Institute auditorium. The Chairman of Comilla Victorians Nafisa Kamal and the Chief Executive of Rangpur Riders Tahmid Azizul Haque discussed about club and franchise management. Besides, former Captain of National Cricket team, Khaled Mahmud brought to light the future prospects and career opportunities in sports. Vice President of Football Federation, Tabith Awal talked about grassroot football.

‘FUTURE MINDS’ INITIATIVE AT INDEPENDENT UNIVERSITY, BANGLADESH

Independent Human Resource Society (IHRC) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) organized a learning session for its students on September 27, 2017 under the initiative ‘Future Minds’. ‘Future Minds’ is an initiative of Unitrend Limited. Its objective is to encourage young minds who are the thinkers of the society, with possible positive impact on the upcoming future.

The special representative of Channel 24, Dilu Khandaker; Sports Editor of NTV, Nasimul Hasan; Sports Reporter of The Daily Star, Mazhar Uddin discussed the prospects of Sports Journalism. The advancement and growth of Sports Marketing were discussed by the Managing Director of ADCOMM, Nazim Farhan Chowdhury; Executive Director of Asiatic 360 Iresh Zaker; and Chief Executive of MACOMM, Rabeth Khan. The day-long event of country’s first Sports Marketing Summit ended with both public and private universities taking part in “Sports Business Idea Competition”. The aim of the conference is to bring various athletes, sports organisations, top investing companies in the sports sector, sports journalists and sports enthusiasts under one roof. The sponsors of Sports Hub’s first initiative are TVS Auto Bangladesh and UK based company Penhill Logistics.

Unitrend CEO Mr. Taslim Ahmed conducted the learning session (topic: Career Building: the Story of a Burger). Dr. A.N.M. Shibly Noman Khan, Associate Professor & Head, Department of Human Resource Management, School of Business; Prof. Sarwar Uddin Ahmed, PhD. Dean, School of Business with others were present at this session with a large number of students. Through this session, students received insights about the required skills to enter into the career life and different aspects in this regard. The Daily Samakal and Ice Business Times were the media partners of this initiative of Unitrend Limited.

Capital Market

BOURSE UPDATE

Fortnightly Report of DSE, 4th September To 14th September 2017 Top 10 securities by turnover value in Tk. Sl. Name of securities No. 1 LankaBangla Finance Ltd. 2 National Bank Ltd. 3 Premier Bank Ltd. 4 Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd. 5 City Bank Ltd. 6 Fortune Shoes Limited 7 IFIC Bank Ltd. 8 Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd. 9 Export Import (Exim) Bank of Bangladesh Ltd. 10 Grameenphone Ltd.

A A A A A N A A A

Total Turnover in shares 72,389,076 163,759,779 134,351,703 6,908,681 44,534,790 32,045,749 82,601,447 69,107,923 101,794,178

Total Turnover Tk. in mn 4,576.77 2,243.17 2,192.22 2,069.06 2,068.87 1,914.99 1,695.40 1,662.80 1,628.60

% of Total Turnover Tk. 4.40 2.16 2.11 1.99 1.99 1.84 1.63 1.60 1.57

3,754,151

1,553.38

1.49