asian business review (abr)

Asian Business Review, Volume 3, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5) ISSN 2304-2613 (Print); ISSN 2305-8730 (Online) 0

Copyright © 2012, Asian Business Consortium | ABR 1 | P a g e



Asian Business Consortium is a

self supporting organization and

does not receive funding from any

institution/government. Hence, the

operation of the journal is solely

financed by the processing fees

received from authors. The

processing fees are required to meet

operations expenses such as employee

salaries, internet services, electricity

etc. Being an Open Access Journal,

ABR does not receive payment for

online subscription as the journals

are freely accessible over the internet.

It costs money to produce a peer-

reviewed, edited, and formatted

article that is ready for online and

print publication, and to host it on a

server that is freely accessible

without barriers around the clock.



ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW Print ISSN : 2304-2613; Online ISSN: 2305- 8730

Established: 2012

Review Process: Blind peer-review

Vol. 3, 3/2013 (5th Issue)

ABR is included and indexed in Research Bible, Journal listing Directory, Japan;

JOUR Informatics, Journal listing Directory, India; Scribd., An online web-controlled datadase directory

DRJI, Web based Directory of Research Journal Indexing, India; EZB (Electronic Journals Library), University of Regensburg, Germany;

IndexCopernicusTM, Internationally recognized data base, Warsaw, Poland; ASA’s Publishing Options, An Author’s Guide to Journals. Washington, DC 20005, USA;

getCITED, an online, member-controlled academic database directory and discussion forum; &

Publishing 1.com, Business Portals B.V., Ericastraat 19, 5615 BJ Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

We are working closely with many major databases to get ABR indexed, including AcademicOne, EBSCO, EI Compendex, CAS, ProQuest, DOAJ, and etc. We will gradually publish the index information of each journal and try to have a high ISI

impact factor for each journal eventually.

Printed by

Barendra Research Publication (BRP), Bangladesh

Published by Editorial Board of Asian Business Review

All communication should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief, ABR

Email: [email protected]

Asian Business Consortium Bangladesh Chapter, Shyamoli, Dhaka, Bangladesh

www.abcreorg.weebly.com



ASIAN BUSINESS REVIEW www.abrjournal.weebly.com

Vol. 3, 3/2013 (5th Issue)

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Alim Al Ayub Ahmed

Faculty of Business, ASA University Bangladesh

Associate Editors

Irawan Febianto

Department Management and Business, Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia.

Reza Dehghan Change Management Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Muhammad Mohiuddin President, AEDAUL, Laval University, Quebec, Canada.

Consulting Editors

Dr. Bilkis Raihana, Asian University of Bangladesh, Bangladesh (Economics)

Dr. Ataur Rahman, North South University, Bangladesh (Economics)

Dr. Lawrence Arokiasamy, Quest International University Perak, Malaysia (HRM)

Dr. R. Swaroop, University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman (HRM)

Dr. Jagpreet Kaur, Punjabi University, India (Accounting and Finance)

Dr. Mojtaba Moradi, University of Guilan, Iran (Statistics)

Dr. Halenar Igor, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia (Information & Communication Technology)

Dr. Sharad Sharma, Bowie State University, USA (Marketing)

Dr. Gulzar A. Khuwaja, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia (MIS & Business Technology)

Dr. Ekta Sharma, Ahmmedabad University, India (Organizational Behavior)

Dr. Santosh Singh Bais, Gulbarga University, India (Entrepreneurship Development)

Dr. Mohinder Chand, Kurukshetra University, India (Tourism and Hotel Management)

Dr. Ravi Kant Sharma, Charan Singh University, India (Marketing & International Business)

Dr.V.Mahalakshmi, Annamalai University, India (Industrial and Labour Law)

Faisal Jalal, Sinofeng Pakistan Private Limited, Pakistan (Finance)

Md. Tofael Hossain Majumder, Comilla University, Bangladesh (Accounting)

The Editorial Board assumes no responsibility for the content of the published articles.



Content Asian Business Review (ABR) Blind Peer-Reviewed International Journal

Vol. 3, 3/2013 (5th Issue) Print ISSN : 2304-2613; Online ISSN: 2305- 8730

Page No.

1 Talent Management: Three new Perceptions intended for managing and retaining Talent in Bangladesh

Md. Abul Mohaimen

7-15

2 Consumer Attitude Towards the Cell Phone: A study on Young Generations of Chittagong Metropolitan City, Bangladesh

Mrs. Tanzina Chowdhury & Mohammad Toufiqur Rahman

16-20

3 A Comparative Study on Public- Private Partnership (PPP) for Creating Highly Skilled and Productive Business Graduate in Bangladesh

Mohammad Yunus

21-25

4 Problematic Issues of E-Banking Management in Bangladesh

Md. Redwanuzzaman & Md. Amirul Islam

26-30

5 The Effectiveness of Communication Practices with the Customers: A Comparative Study between Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited

Sheikh Abdur Rahim; & Ferdouse Ara Tuli

31-39

6 Perceived Intensity of Stress Stressors: A Study on Commercial Bank in Bangladesh

Md. Hasebur Rahman, Md. Kamruzzaman, Md. Enamul Haque, Md. Abdullah Al Mamun, & Md. Ibrahim Molla

40-43

7 Leadership Approaches and its Impact on Follower Development and Performance

Faria Kabir & Nafiza Islam

44-52

8 Electronic-Banking Services: A Study on Selected Commercial Banks in Bangladesh

Md. Motahar Hossain, Dilara Irin, Md. Shajedul Islam, & Sumi Saha

53-61



ABC Journals

Online Submission Peer Reviewed Open Access Online Archives Paperless Review Prompt Feedback Well Indexed Global Circulation International Authorship



Talent Management: Three new Perceptions intended for managing and retaining Talent in Bangladesh

Md. Abul Mohaimen

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business, ASA University Bangladesh, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This study aims at investigating the methods, importance, process, and present situation of managing talented employees in Corporations. The study revealed that having talented employees helps organizations to drive and be competitive but it is difficult to acquire such people. Thus, some innovative campaigns, for instance, global trainee and management cycle star programs have been created to motivate talented graduates to join the companies and to motivate existing talented employees to being more dedicated and engaged. In the recruitment of new employees, personality and interpersonal skills were more important than educational background because candidates were deemed to be proficient in specific areas, so, what a candidate must have is a personality matching the company’s culture especially the characteristic of working as a good team member. In this study, we suggested some important steps and methods that can be applied in the organizations which are totally running and managing by the HR Department. Moreover, these methods and steps can become successful by managing low rate of star turnover which is quite sensitive case now a day.

Key words: Talent, Motivation, HR

JEL Classification Code: J24

1 INTRODUCTION

he challenges facing profit and non-profit organizations are enormous. One of the most

critical challenges for any organization is finding, recruiting, and retaining talented individuals. In

the next decade, a diminishing pool of qualified candidates for key positions will make talent

management even more essential to business success. Companies worldwide are having trouble filling positions. Forty percent of the employers surveyed reported problems in filling positions because of a lack of talent in their labor markets. Effective talent

management becomes even more important with the forthcoming talent shortage as many experienced leaders approach retirement. In Bangladesh, fewer and fewer managers and professionals are ready to fill these

leadership roles, and companies worldwide find themselves competing for a smaller pool of talent. Businesses must have the ability to identify the most talented individuals, provide them with the necessary training and experiences, and retain valuable employees

long term economic benefits of talent management are demonstrated both at individual and corporate levels. At the corporate level, companies doing the best job of managing their talent also deliver better results for

shareholders. An often-cited study shows that a standard deviation increase in high-performance talent management practices is associated with enormous economic return. However, managing talent cannot be

completed within quarter or a year because it involves integrated planning and is not merely the responsibility

of the human resources department but other factors are included in managing talent. Even though talent management is difficult and time consuming, it is very rewarding. Therefore, in our sense, the suggested

methods and approaches of talent management would be advantageous to all organizations and practitioners who want to become a leader in this competitive arena.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To signify three diversified new ideas for managing talents in Bangladesh.

To familiarize with the talent management methods as a functional toolkit.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Talent management: The term talent management is being used to describe sound and integrated human resources practices with the objectives of attracting and retaining the right

individuals, for the right positions, at the right time. Organizations are run by people, and the talent of these people will determine the organizations’ success, So, talent management is management’s main priority. Today's businesses face increased global competition,

shifting markets, and unforeseen events. No oneder they are finding it more difficult than ever to attract, develop,

T



and retain the skilled workers they need Global talent management is also an organizational development solution that supports the HSBC vision to be the world's

leading financial services company. To help accomplish this, HSBC implemented a global talent management process as one stream of a people strategy aimed at attracting, motivating, and retaining the very best. At

HSBC global business strategy needed aligned people and talent management strategies. The first step was to identify the Senior Business Manager Talent pool, including both general managers and world-class specialists. The next steps were to expand the talent pool

beyond a senior business manager level, implement development programs for future leaders according to levels of experience and seniority in an organization, and ensure the company had a customized solution to retain

our talent through the employee value proposition (Gakovic & Yardley, 2007). Despite the great sums of money companies dedicate to talent management systems, many still struggle to fill key positions-limiting their potential for growth in the

process. Virtually all human resource executives in a 2009 survey of 40 companies around the world said that their pipeline of high-potential employees was insufficient to fill strategic management roles. The

survey revealed two primary reasons for this. First, the formal procedures for identifying and developing next-generation leaders have fallen out of sync with what companies need to grow or expand into new markets. To save money, for example, some firms have eliminated

positions that would expose high-potential employees to a broad range of problems, thus sacrificing future development opportunities that would far outweigh any initial savings from the job cuts. Second, HR executives

often have trouble keeping top leaders' attention on talent issues, despite those leaders' vigorous assertions that obtaining and keeping the best people is a major priority (Crane, 2001). A survey shows that executives do

not know some of the most basic and most important facts about their companies' talent. Companies regularly mismanage talent development tasks. An employee value proposition can help management attract and retain the talent they need (Cliffe, 1998).

3.2 Managing talent Increasingly, companies view the ability to manage talent effectively as a strategic priority. Yet, research finds that senior executives largely blame themselves

and their business line managers for failing to give the issue enough time and attention. Moreover, executives who think that their companies' succession planning efforts are deficient don't, on balance, see talent-management processes and systems as a chief problem.

Results of research suggest that obstacles preventing talent-management programs from delivering business value are all too human. Nearly half of the executives interviewed expressed concern that the senior leadership

of their organizations doesn’t align talent management strategies with business strategies. However, (Heinen,2004) pointed out that talent-

management processes include workforce planning, talent gap analysis, recruiting, staffing, education and development, retention, talent reviews, succession planning, and evaluation. To drive performance, deal

with an increasingly rapid pace of change, and create sustainable success, a company must integrate and align these processes with its business strategies. By assessing available talent and placing the right people in their best roles, organizations can survive and thrive in today's

increasingly competitive markets. Effective talent management becomes even more important with the forthcoming talent shortage as many experienced leaders approach retirement. Internationally, fewer managers

and professionals are ready to fill these leadership roles, and companies worldwide find themselves competing for a smaller pool of talent. Businesses must have the ability to identify the most talented individuals, provide them with the necessary training and experiences, and

retain valuable employee’s long term (William,2000). To become successful, talent management require full participation of the organization’s leaders. HR can’t do the job alone. In short, more effective talent management

is not about better HR processes; it’s about a different mindset. Today's top companies, however, know that a single department's potential effectiveness is limited; the key to a successful program lies with the cooperation of all

departments, with all managers across the breadth of their operations. Every manager, no matter what level, plays a role in strengthening an organization's overall talent. For example, line managers who are accountable

for getting work done are also accountable for developing the people they manage and are fundamental to making overall talent management work.

3.3 Recruiting talent Identifying and attracting qualified candidates helps companies select people who not only possess the skills that are needed but also demonstrate the attitude, personality traits, and behavior that ensure organizational fit and promote commitment. After

determining needs of an organization, high-performance companies develop a profile of the ideal candidate, aimed at hiring only the top 10 to 15 percent of the available talent (Hale, 1998). When a selection process

begins, success factors identified for a job can provide a basis for an interviewing strategy that will assess the candidate's organizational fit. One of the strategies that can be used to determine a level of success is to incorporate behavioral-based questions that are designed

to elicit examples from candidates about their work history and how they behaved in previous job situations. Another significan’t strategy of ensuring the best fit is through competency-based management which can be

described as the organization understanding its needs



and who best fits with the organizations and then aiming to deliver the right outcomes by determining the valued behaviors. As a selection tool, this strategy helps with

recruitment of employees who possess the requisite skills and behaviors to identify the long-term high potential employees (Hale, 1998).

3.4 Motivating talent Motivation can be regarded as the necessary drive or energy towards achievement of some goals (Analoui, 1999). Motivation can also be compared to an engine and steering wheel of a car because at the center of the concept of motivation are the energy, the direction, the

drive or the factors influencing a person's behavior. Initiatives to improve job performance by increasing employee motivation may fail if there is a weak link between performance and employee efforts. Two types

of motivation are commonly identified: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is an internal driver, and extrinsic motivation is an environmental incentive, reward and challenges. Intrinsic motivation means a person engaged in some activity for its own

sake because it is satisfying and no reward is expected. When someone has high intrinsic motivation, this person's feelings are closely related to how well he or she performs. To motivate, the talent the intrinsic motivation

such as career planning and development is one of the effective factors. From an HR perspective, career planning and development focused on ensuring an alignment of individual career planning and organization career

management processes to achieve an optimal match of individual and organizational needs. One of the issues facing organizations is an ability to foster a workforce that creates organizational capabilities. Many human

resource development academicians and practitioners (Abbasi & Hollman, 2000) have suggested and used training and development as a means of accomplishing this critical task. A study conducted by Hale (1998) listed

training and development as one of the top five most effective retention strategies. Employees are more committed to employers who are more committed to employees' long-term career development Dessler (1999, 2000). A rationale behind this thinking is that employees

come to organizations with certain needs, desires, skills, and so forth and expect to find a work environment where they can utilize their abilities and satisfy many of their basic needs,. Therefore, with failing to provide for

these basic needs, the commitment level tends to diminish and it increases the likelihood of the employees choosing to leave an organization. Additionally, coaching is also one aspect of career development that can motivate talent effectively. Since

the organization's success aligns in the talent knowledge of its people and for organizations to survive, they must develop current and future leaders (Blotch, 1995). Coaching has enormous benefits for both individuals

and organizations. The potential implication for an

organization that successfully employs an effective coaching strategy includes increased employee retention and satisfaction, enhanced motivation, morale,

commitment and respect, improved organizational performance, communication and team effectiveness, and leveraged learning and creativity at lower costs.

4. METHODOLOGY

Qualitative research methodology was employed in

order to achieve the objectives of the study. It is necessary to adopt an interpretive methodology to discover the details of the terms. In accordance with this argument, it is necessary to explore the subjective meaning of Talent Management with the ways it can be

done. The human resources managers representing various companies had participated in the study. This work has done through census survey and the total population was 50. The data accuracy was accurate and

costly because all participants took part in this survey program. The sample ages ranged from 42 to 52 years. All the managers who participated played important strategic human resources and personnel development and management roles in their organizations. This was

validated from a pilot study. All managers offered to co-operate fully with the study. Three important ways and methods of managing talent were finally articulated and decorated with diagrams so that it can be applied in a

large scale near future.

4.1 Data collection A semi-structured interview schedule was the main research instrument that used in data collection. Other instruments e.g. schedule of meetings, informal

dialogues with participants’ colleagues statements were used to triangulate data for its factual accuracy. All interviews were conducted in a private place of their choice e.g. at the participant’s workplace or at a

restaurant. A pilot study was carried out with a participant to attest the appropriateness of the questions in the interview. The main aim was to probe participants’ experience in terms of the constructs, premises,

presumptions, presuppositions and practices that drive what and how strategic decisions were made and implemented in their organizations. The questions covered participants’ perceptions on strategic talent management contents, process and context and their

evaluation in terms of talent management program impact on organizational activities and performance. However, before the interview began participants were informed of the tenets of strategic talent management to

ensure that the experiences they described were related to issues of a talent management nature and not confined to day-to-day operational matters. Each interview lasted approximately 2 hours.

5. FINDINGS

Bangladesh is facing a lack of talented employees with

the boom of fast moving consumer goods industries.



Offering a higher salary is not the only important factor motivating talented employees working with an organization but other kinds of motivation such as career

path, career development, and open communication are important factors as well. This is proved by the turnover rate of the company at merely 1% of total employees worldwide. The main reason for leaving a job is family

condition, for instance, employees have to move to other countries with their husband or wife. So, it is difficult to find potential graduates to work with the company but to retain them is more difficult. The ex human resources director of Unilever told in the interview that that they

try every way to keep talented and high potential employees with them because they know that by having this people the company can grow stably and sustainably in global market.

5.1 Recruitment of suitable people Selection interview is the only method used in the recruitment of new employees. Potential applicants are invited to interview by a HR manager, and then a head of department or a team leader. However, HR People

always looks at the experience of applicant’s rather than their degree since experience is the most important factor that lead to success. Experience is also concentrated because they need experienced employees in some hi-

tech projects.

5.2 Talent management: Suggested Methods Method 1: Organizations need to encourage “open communication” .Employees have the right to communicate what they

need in order to increase productivity. Thus, talented employees can demonstrate their ability, skill, and knowledge as much as they can, and then their superior will be asked to evaluate performance of subordinates.

This method is highly subjective and proper reasons for suggesting this method are: Assessment centers are best to justify whether a new incumbent possess ample amount of talent or not?

Supervisors usually evaluate performance and conductivity of the subordinates. Potential candidates are offered with a great training program. Assessments centers send their reviews about the

candidates further. This method has a EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) considerations. Online performance appraisal can be possible.

The talent management process can begin with following stages:

(1) Superiors in every department can be asked to evaluate performance and productivity of their subordinate every six month;

(2) Superiors needed to provide total right to judge in sending potential subordinates to the training programs organized by both the group HR department and external training programs,

However, employees can also apply for any training programs but HR department will select potential people with recommendation of head of department or team manager as the first priority.

(3) In case of people who are very talented ones can be

sent to the assessment center with the external examiner which is a 3-day program.

(4) Management appraisal, however, need to be organize in every 2 years. Every manager can be

asked to fill in evaluation form about working knowledge, technical, managerial, social, and leadership skills of his or her subordinates. While, subordinates were required to describe their strengths and weaknesses including experiences in

that form.HR officers then evaluate information and select talented employees and young potential staff to take part in the process. Selected employees will be sent to the program called “management

development circle star”. Employees who take part in this program will be trained both on the job and off the job in order to prepare them to be promoted in managing positions on the next two years.

(5) As every position, each employee needs to get equal

importance. However, employees can share ideas with the company by sending online recommendations and suggestions to HR department. In addition, every appraisal system

needs to be conducted in online so that employees can express all things without any stress. Online appraisal makes employees more comfortable than a paper-based one because they

can do an appraisal anywhere and anytime they want.

(6) Finally a competitive salary scheme with a challenging job or responsibility can be given to talented or potential employees. Challenging

responsibility can be offered to those who demonstrate good working performance with the recommendation of their supervisors. The salary level can be divided into different levels. Employees,

who are assigned to work in additional challenging jobs, can be paid salary in higher level.



Method 2: Today many people apply for jobs but organizations

really need those people who are proficient in their field of study and can work as a good team member. 1) Employees can be offered to join in a program but seats must be limited. Participation will be allowed

according to recommendation of head of team or department. For example, British American Tobacco is offering potential students through campus recruitment by their “Battle of Mind” program. 2) In this method, Potential candidates can be invited to

the interviews that are differently organized according to

position applied. New employees will be trained and work in a department for three months, and then will be

rotated to another. At the end of the third month, new employees and their heads of teams or departments need to be required to fill questionnaires. The boss of teams or department will be asked to evaluate new employees in 3

areas; (1) professional skill; (2) potential skill; and (3) personal skill. In addition, a mentor can be a key factor to help a new employee work effectively and smoothly as a team member. 3) After that, every employee needs to be promoted and

succeeded in his or her career. It is difficult to motivate



these talented people even though offering excessive higher salary than others in average. Thus, effective career path can be crucial motivating factor. In this case,

a talented employee who performs a job that fit with his or her competence does not need to work in another position or department. 4) Training program designs, however, are always

effective. All training programs must be matched with goal, vision, mission, and strategy of the company in case of both short and long term. 5) Finally, a structured questionnaire is required to prepare so that an employee can rank his or her ability, competence,

attitude toward jobs, projects, department, and company including problems, and barriers at workplace. An

employee can demonstrate all things that he or she needs to be done. While, a supervisor will also be required to evaluate an employee about professional, practical or

technical, personal, leadership, and social skills. A supervisor or a department manager can be the key successful factor of performance evaluation and potential searching process because he or she realizes and sees an

employee every day. A supervisor would be a person who knows an employee best. However, in order to avoid bias of performance evaluation, three to four supervisors including a human resource staff need to judge of an employee. This method might work as an effective toolkit to find

potential team or project talented leaders in the long run.

The proper reason for suggesting this method:



Campus recruitment is less costly than any other recruitment process.

This method works with unique mission, vision, strategy and goals from the very first insight.

This method proposes a questionnaire for an employee as well as team where Delphi or Nominal

group technique can be applied.

It’s a total skill/competency based approach.

This method heavily focused on succession planning.

After selection, it came with a divergent benefit options.

Method 3: 1) Online application is utilized as a recruiting instrument as it consumes less screening and working time.



2) Then shortlisted need to conduct assessment tests such as aptitude and attitude tests as well as personality, leadership, managerial, language, interpersonal

communication and presentation skills. The test covers all corporate needs because an organization would like those candidates who fit with the competencies and corporate culture that base on four basic values: (1)

teamwork, (2) integrity, (3) excellence, and (4) innovation. The final decision will be judged by the management executives or appointed teams.

3) In this method, Pre-employment training can be a vital factor. Pre-training helps to acquire talented

employees and finally arrange them with suitable jobs. 12-15 candidates can be anticipated and accepted into this program due to budget constrain.

4) In the mid career period a Global Trainee Program

can be offered to develop qualified graduates to become excellent global managers. This program will enable those working in a multi-cultural environment that increasingly crosses geographical and organizational boundaries.

5) During the course of the Trainee Program trainees will learn more about the different opportunities. The program needs to manage in such a way so that it can enable trainees to gain insight within and beyond

trainees’ field of expertise without being specialized. 6) After that they can be used directly in company

activities through their work on projects for different business units across the boundaries.

The proper reason for suggesting this method:

Online application system can be applied here.

A Viva Board can be formed in order to judge personality, leadership, aptitude test to judge the core knowledge of the employees.

Teamwork is highly encouraged in this method which

can ultimately helps to judge a person’s introvertness.

Pre-training and post-training both can be applied.

Specialization got preference during the transitional phase.

Successful employees can be capable enough to work across the boundaries and direct the company

activities outside the territory.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

1) Talent management should be encouraged by an executive or managing board as one of urgent corporate agendas in every department it involved.

2) Obvious trainee program should be promoted in a

recruitment of graduated talents. 3) Active Talent relationship management should be

employed in a recruitment of graduated talents in various kinds of universities in order to acquire

many choices. For example, British American Tobacco Bangladesh employs active talent relationship management in advertising, searching, and promoting its reputation among academic arena. A lot of talents from different fields and

reputable universities around the world are applied and it selects only the best ones.

4) Personality including attitude toward teamwork and

a corporate should be strictly concentrated in an assessment process since those are talents but working in a multinational corporation or intercultural environment personality is more

important factor than knowledge. 5) Success of a project does not merely depend on

personal ability but personality and positive attitude toward a team as a member as well.

6) Obvious career path and development should be

announced as one of major corporate polices in order to motivate talents and potential employees to contribute their resources for a company and their future.

7) Training and development program should be based

on a corporate strategy in order to manage budget and employees efficiency and effectively.

8) Democracy in terms of open communication should be encouraged in order to decrease employees’ stress and increase creativity. But employees should only

be permitted to communicate with supervisors. 9) A feedback meeting after each stage with coach

might reflect strengths and enables candidates to develop their individual plan.

10) To prepare talents in high tech projects, several topics such as Project Management, Conflict Management, Change Management, Communication and Teambuilding need to be given high priority.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Regarding the need of talented people, every company

agrees that having talented employees helps them drive

competitiveness but it is difficult to acquire this kind of

people since the recruiting competition of talented people in

the same industries is fierce, besides, the booming of some

industries such as telecommunication, automotive, and

financial industries is catching talented graduates and

employees from them as well. Thus, some talented

campaigns, for instance, global trainee program and

management cycle star program need to be created in order

to motivate talented graduates to join the companies and to

motivate existing potential or talented employees for

dedicating and engaging more with the firms. Tools such as

online application, screening of applications, interview,

invitation to assessment center, presentation of managerial

and language skills, personality, attitude toward the

companies, job, and society can do a remarkable job in this

case. The main purpose of recruitment will be searching

talented people who fit with the core competencies and

corporate culture. All interviewed corporations pointed that

personality and interpersonal skills are more important

than educational background because they believe that

every candidate is to be proficient in a specific science, so,



what talented candidate must have is personality that

matches the companies’ culture especially characteristic of

working as a good team member. In the trainee program,

candidates will be trained and assigned projects both

individual and team projects as well as a mentor and a

coach who advise about works, disciplines, rules, and

corporate culture. During midlevel candidates will also

needs to be rotated to international offices as intercultural

skill is the important factor in leading competitiveness both

individuals and corporate. Talented people who can work

in intercultural environment are merely desired. This

competency is always concentrated by all companies. For

current employees, talented or high potential employees

need to be searched by self assessment and supervisor

assessment methods. Many companies offer the chance of

speaking to employees that can be called “open

communication” in terms of online and interpersonal

communication. An annual discussion of supervisors and

subordinates needs to be always encourage. HR should

know the nature of subordinate best. While, subordinate

also need to evaluate themselves about knowledge,

technical, attitude toward job, leadership, social, and

interpersonal skills as well as strengths and weaknesses. In

addition, an online assessment is also employed as an

evaluating instrument since it is easy and high confidential

to assessors. To avoid bias of evaluation some companies

will use a committee to judge the result. Another method is

to use an autonomy project in order to search a potential

leader is like a team will be formed but it should not assign

a team leader. All members must have equal power and

responsibility. A person who lead a team can obtain an

ultimate goal should have good interpersonal and decision

making skills, be motivate people, and systematic thinking.

Many talented ones can be promoted to higher positions by

using this method. Moreover, challenging responsibilities

can be offered to talented and high potential employees

because the challenges are desired and can always motivate

talented employees continually. Due to the companies

realize that high skill employees need to prove their

competence constantly. All these approaches will lead

successful motivation of talented employees by ensuring

the low rate of turnover.

REFERENCES

[1] Abbasi, S. & Hollman, K. 2000, “Turnover: the real

bottom-line”, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 19 - 28.

[2] Analoui, F. 1999, “What motivates senior manager? The

case of Romania”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol.

15, No. 4, pp. 324 - 340.

[3] Appleton, J. 2002, “Coaching process meets development

needs of three types of leaders”, The Right Communique, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 3 - 5.

[4] Armstrong, M. 2001, “A Handbook of Human Resources Management Practice (8th ed.)”, Milford: Kogan Page, US.

[5] Argyris, C. & Schon, D. A. 1996, “Organisational

Learning 2, Theory, Method and Practice”, Addison-Wesley, New York.

[6] Blotch, S. 1995, “Coaching tomorrow's top managers”,

Executive Development, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 20 - 22. [7] Bolch, M. 2000, “The changing face of the workforce”, Bill

Communications, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 73 - 78. [8] Bowerman, J. & Collins, G. 1999, “The coaching network: A

program for individual and organizational development”,

Journal of Workplace Learning: Employee Counselling Today, Vol. 11, No. 8, pp. 291 - 297.

[9] Cliffe, S. 1998, “Human resources: Winning the war for talent”,

Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76, No. 5, pp. 18 - 19. [10] Covey, S. R. 2000, “Teaching Organizations”, Executive

Excellence, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 20.

[11] Crane, T. G. 2001, “The heart of coaching: using transformational coaching to create a high-performance culture”. FTA Press, San Diego, CA.

[12] Desseler, G. 1999, “How to earn your employees' commitment”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol.

13, No. 2, pp. 58 - 67. [13] Desseler, G. 2000, “Human Resource Management (8 ed.)”,

Prentice Hall, NJ. [14] Eccles, J. S. & Wigfield, A 2002, “Motivational beliefs,

values, and goals”, Annual reviews of Psychology, Vol.

53, pp. 109 - 132. [15] Frank, F. D. & Taylor, C. R. 2004, “Talent Management:

Trends that Will Shape the Future”, HR. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 33 - 41.

[16] Gakovic, A. & Yardley, K. 2007, “Global Talent

Management at HSBC”, Organization Development Journal, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 201 - 205.

[17] Hale, J. 1998, “Strategic Rewards: Keeping your best talent

from walking out the door”, Compensation and Benefit

Management, Vol.14, No. 3, pp. 39 - 50. [18] Heinen, J. S., & O'Neill, C. (2004). “Managing talent to

maximize performance”. Employment Relations Today,

Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 67 - 82. [19] Hunter, J. E., Schmidt, F. L. & Judiesch, M. K. 1990, “Individual

differences in output variability as a function of job complexity”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 75, No. 1, pp. 28 - 42.

[20] Sandler, S. 2003, “The changing face of talent management”, HR Focus, Vol. 80, No. 5, pp.1-4.

[21] Silverman, D. 2001, “Interpreting Qualitative Data, Methods of

Analysing, Talk, Text and Interaction”, SAGE, London. [22] Whitworth, L., Kimsey-House, H. & Sandahl, P. 1998, “Co-

active coaching: New skills for coaching people toward succes in

work and life”, Davies-Black Publishing, Palo Alto, CA.

[23] Wiley, C. 1995, “What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys”, International Journal

of Manpower, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 263 – 280. [24] Williams, M. 2000, “The war for talent: Getting the best

from the best”, CIPD House, London.

[25] Yin, R. K. 1994, “Case Study Research: Design and Methods

(2nd ediion)”, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA.



Consumer Attitude Towards the Cell Phone: A study on Young Generations of Chittagong Metropolitan City, Bangladesh

Mrs. Tanzina Chowdhury & Mohammad Toufiqur Rahman

Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Due to increased competition, locally as well as internationally, organizations need a distinguishing element that

will keep consumers identifying and buying their product. This study employs to analyze the relationship between demographic variables on the brand preference and is identifying the attributes that affect the choice behavior of mobile hand set as well as why the young consumers give special emphasis to some particular factors in Chittagong metropolitan city. From the study we see that though both male and female respondents now using Nokia (57.92%) hand set but about 50.61% of male & 59.85% of female respondent choices Samsung mobile set as their most favorite brand to next purchase because of android operating system. We also see that both newspaper (39.82%) and television (36.18%) has a great influence over the respondents to choose the above mentioned mobile hand set as their favorite brand. About 67.16 % of respondents are willing to spend money more than Tk. 10,000 to get the test of latest features provided by the various mobile set companies.

Keywords: Choice Behavior, Brand preference, Mobile hand set, Young consumers

JEL Classification Code: L63

1 INTRODUCTION

n a competitive country like Bangladesh, mobile handset

companies make an optimistic effect in the consumer mind. Today like other developed and developing

countries, Bangladesh has moved into the fast moving communication technologies with the help of mobile

handset companies and mobile operators. Now every businessman, every job holders, most of the students, parents, most of the housewives need mobile for communication. It is impossible to move ahead without

mobile handset. A mobile phone (also known as a cellular phone, cell phone, and a hand phone) is a device that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area. First and foremost it is used for – Personal Communication (Voice call, SMS &

MMS), – Business Communication (Voice call, SMS & MMS), – Multimedia Media Applications (Radio & MP3 Player), – Clock, Scheduler, Calculator, etc – Imaging & internet surfing. (Rashid & Elder 2009) Mobile handset is a

highly differentiated and durable shopping product. Once upon a time, it was very rare in our country and even also in the world. It became a part of social fabric and symbol of status of upper class people in our country in the 20th Century. But now it has become progressively cheaper,

affordable and part of culture for the most people in Bangladesh. In our country there are lots of mobile companies like Nokia, Samsung, SonyErricson, Motorola, Symphony, LG, Maximus, Micromax, Siemens, HTC, etc

distribute their mobile handsets. Non urban and semi urban are hard core users followed by urban population. Usage of

Cell Phone amongst urban population with higher disposable income are using the product less compared to semi urban population The first hand-held mobile handset was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Dr Martin

Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing around 2.2 pounds (1 kg).And at last, In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first to be commercially available. In tandem with the growing subscription base, sales of

mobile handsets has increased at a phenomenal pace. According to BIS Shrapnel research, Bangladesh’s mobile handset market is dominated by first-time users (nearly 85%), as the country is still in its infancy in terms of mobile

phone usage. Further, 80% of the handset market is dominated by ultra-low to low-end handsets, available for less than US$68, due to the country’s low per capita income levels (Priyam Shah, 2005). The current study is aimed to explore the selected aspects of

young consumers’ attitude and brand choice behavior for mobile handset and also find out which factors influence the purchase decision of them as well as their overall satisfaction level Chittagong metropolitan city. Given the

scope of the study, broad treatment of every aspects of brand choice behavior and their satisfaction is impossible, rather the treatment has been selective. The result of the study must be viewed more in a quantitative focus than absolute qualitative terms.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study the demographic profiles (age, gender,

I

Asian Business Review, Volume 3, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5)

ISSN 2304-2613 (Print); ISSN 2305-8730 (Online)

Copyright © 2012, Asian Business Consortium |

education and amount spent) of the respondents of mobile handset in Chittagong metropolitan city.

To know the attributes that young using in their mobile hand set.

To know the attributes that young consumers prefer in choosing a particular brand for their next purchase.

METHODOLOGY

A survey was conducted over 500 respondents, all the respondents are studying in colleges and universities in

graduation and post graduation levels but 8 respondents from them are not taking into consideration because of insufficient data filled up by them. Out of 492 respondents, 243 are male and rests 249 respondents are female who are aged between 18-26. Chittagong region

was selected as research area because researchers’ working place is Chittagong and it was convenient for the researchers because data were collected by self financing. Data were collected from January to March,

2013. CDMA handsets are not included in this survey.The present study is based on primary and secondary data as well as the primary data has been collected through self constructed questionnaire considering the

objective of the study consisting of questions on multipchoice and close ended type. Data collected through questionnaire survey was checked and edited properly and finally frequency distribution, percentage of frequency of each variable was estimated.

Figure 1: Mobile Handset used by the respondents at preFrom the survey it is observed that both male and female

respondents preferred more to Nokia (about 57.92%) as their mobile hand set. Out of 132 are male (54.32%) and 152 are female (61.44%). After Nokia, male respondents use Symphony (19.75%) & then Samsu

mobile set and female respondent use Samsung (15.66%)

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Male

Female

Total

, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5)

(Online)

Asian Business Consortium | ABR

education and amount spent) of the respondents of mobile handset in Chittagong metropolitan city.

To know the attributes that young consumers are

To know the attributes that young consumers prefer in choosing a particular brand for their next

A survey was conducted over 500 respondents, all the and universities in

graduation and post graduation levels but 8 respondents from them are not taking into consideration because of insufficient data filled up by them. Out of 492 respondents, 243 are male and rests 249 respondents are

26. Chittagong region

was selected as research area because researchers’ working place is Chittagong and it was convenient for the researchers because data were collected by self financing. Data were collected from January to March,

andsets are not included in this survey. The present study is based on primary and secondary data as well as the primary data has been collected through self constructed questionnaire considering the

objective of the study consisting of questions on multiple choice and close ended type. Data collected through questionnaire survey was checked and edited properly and finally frequency distribution, percentage of frequency of each variable was estimated.

LIMITATIONS

Every research has some limitations. In condresearch the following limitations are faced.

One limitation of this study is the use of a relatively small sample, only the young generations are considered here.

This study being restricted to city of Chittagong metropolitan area which may npicture of Bangladesh.

Another limitation is that some mobile handsets (Walton, Huawei Tecno, and some Chinese handsets) are not considered here.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Age and Gender of Respondents: Gender Range of Age No of

Respondents

Male 19-26 243

Female 18-25 249

Total 18-26 492

Table 1: Age and gender of respondents Table-1 exhibited that the entire respondents are between 18 to 26 years of age where male respondents are 243

(49.39%) and female respondents are 249 (50.61%). The age of the respondent shows that the survey has conducted over young generations only.Current mobile set uses by the respondent:

Figure 1: Mobile Handset used by the respondents at present From the survey it is observed that both male and female

respondents preferred more to Nokia (about 57.92%) as their mobile hand set. Out of 132 are male (54.32%) and 152 are female (61.44%). After Nokia, male respondents use Symphony (19.75%) & then Samsung (13.58%)

mobile set and female respondent use Samsung (15.66%)

& then Symphony (13.25%) as their mobile hand set. So

Samsung users are together 72(14.63%) and Symphony’s total users are 80(16.46%). Finally 28 respondents (5.89%) use another brand SonyErricson and rest another 5.89% uses by others likely Motorola, LG, Maximus, Micromax,

Siemens, HTC, etc.

Nokia Samsung Symphony Sony Erricson

Others

54.32% 13.58% 19.75% 6.17% 6.17%

Female 61.44% 15.66% 13.25% 4.82% 4.82%

57.92% 14.63% 16.46% 5.89% 5.89%

, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5) (Online) 0

17 | P a g e

Every research has some limitations. In conducting this research the following limitations are faced.

One limitation of this study is the use of a relatively small sample, only the young generations are

This study being restricted to city of Chittagong metropolitan area which may not reflect the whole

Another limitation is that some mobile handsets (Walton, Huawei Tecno, and some Chinese handsets) are not considered here.

Age and Gender of Respondents: No of

Respondents Percent

49.39%

50.61%

100%

Table 1: Age and gender of respondents

1 exhibited that the entire respondents are between 18 to 26 years of age where male respondents are 243

female respondents are 249 (50.61%). The age of the respondent shows that the survey has conducted over young generations only. Current mobile set uses by the respondent:

& then Symphony (13.25%) as their mobile hand set. So

Samsung users are together 72(14.63%) and Symphony’s total users are 80(16.46%). Finally 28 respondents (5.89%)

ricson and rest another 5.89% Motorola, LG, Maximus, Micromax,




Reasons behind the using of existing brands:

Reasons Male Respondents

Price of the handset

Durability of the handset

Brand value

Just for communicating

GPRS

Send or receive email

As a modem

Fast download

Huge storage

Taking picture and video

Playing games

Battery charging Capacity

Table 2: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) according to the reasons behind using of existing mobile hand set

Among the different reasons in (Table-2), GPRS (88.61%) is the main reason for choosing the above mentioned mobile handset followed by Just for communicating

(87.80%).Brand value(78.65%), price of the handset(72.15%), Huge storage capacity (70.73%),

Accessories in existing handset used by the respondent:

Figure 2: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) using different accessories

Figure 2 shows that most of the respondents both male

and female are frequently used the accessories like earphone (89.63%) and memory card (87.80%). It

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Blutooth (out of 100%)

Data Cable (out of 100%)

Memory Card (out of 100%)

Earphone (out of 100%)


(Online)


Reasons behind the using of existing brands:

Male Respondents Female Respondents Total

f % f % f

170 70.19% 185 74.28% 355

136 56.16% 170 68.20% 306

204 84.17% 183 73.53% 387

208 85.60% 224 89.78% 432

211 86.78% 225 90.45% 436

99 40.58% 82 32.79% 181

141 58.37% 162 65.15% 303

110 45.49% 125 50.33% 235

167 68.73% 181 72.84% 348

135 55.49% 163 65.33% 298

37 15.22% 33 13.17% 70

91 37.40% 101 40.43% 192

Table 2: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) according to the reasons behind using of existing mobile hand set

2), GPRS (88.61%)

is the main reason for choosing the above mentioned mobile handset followed by Just for communicating

(87.80%).Brand value(78.65%), price of the handset(72.15%), Huge storage capacity (70.73%),

durability of the handset(62.19%), as a modem (61.58%), taking picture and video (60.57%), fast download (47.76%), battery charging Capacity (39.02%), send or

receive email(36.79%), playing games(14.22%) are other important reasons for preferring mobile handset.

Accessories in existing handset used by the respondent:

Figure 2: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) using different accessories in the existing mobile handset.

Figure 2 shows that most of the respondents both male

and female are frequently used the accessories like earphone (89.63%) and memory card (87.80%). It

indicates their tendency to listening the songs, radio etc.

Data cable and Bluetooth head set are alsoaccessories for their using.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Male Female Total

78.60% 73.49% 76.01%

Data Cable (out of 100%) 61.31% 47.79% 54.47%

Memory Card (out of 100%) 85.18% 86.74% 87.80%

90.12% 89.15% 89.63%

, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5) 0

18 | P a g e

Total

%

72.15%

62.19%

78.65%

87.80%

88.61%

36.79%

61.58%

47.76%

70.73%

60.57%

14.22%

39.02%

Table 2: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) according to the reasons

lity of the handset(62.19%), as a modem (61.58%), taking picture and video (60.57%), fast download (47.76%), battery charging Capacity (39.02%), send or

receive email(36.79%), playing games(14.22%) are other important reasons for preferring mobile handset.

Figure 2: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) using different accessories

indicates their tendency to listening the songs, radio etc.

Data cable and Bluetooth head set are also important

76.01%

54.47%

87.80%

89.63%




Latest mobile facilities using by the consumer with their respective handset:

Mobile Facilities

GPRS

3G

MMS

Bluetooth

Video Call

Design and appearance

Brand image

Table 3: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) expressing their latest mobile facilities by their respective handset.

From the above table-3 we see that both male and female respondents are using GPRS (74.12%), Bluetooth device (76.01%) as their latest mobile facilities. It indicates their interest on internet facilities to chat, networking, video call, (through Bluetooth device) internet browsing in

their desktop computer or laptop as well as design and

From the above figure-3 we see that about 50.61% of male respondents choice Samsung mobile hand set as their most favorite brand to purchase because of their

newly introduced high-end products, then Nokia (12.34%), iphone (12.16%) and Symphony (8.64%) as their

Media Influencing Respondent to Prefer Particular Brand

From the above figure we see that both newspaper (39.82%) and television (36.18%) advertisement has a

Samsung Nokia Symphony

Male 50.61% 12.34% 8.64%

Female 59.85% 8.43% 4.81%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Figure 3: Favorite brand choices for next purchase by male & female respondent

39.82%

17.07%

2.85%

Figure 4: Media influencing respondent to prefer particular brand


(Online)


Latest mobile facilities using by the consumer with their respective handset:

Male Respondents Female Respondents

f % f % f

175 72.09% 190 76.14% 365

28 11.52% 12 4.81% 40

51 20.98% 108 43.37% 159

191 78.60% 182 73.49% 373

117 48.14% 93 37.34% 210

176 72.56% 199 79.88% 375

178 73.49% 180 72.19% 358

Table 3: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) expressing their latest mobile facilities by their respective handset.

3 we see that both male and female respondents are using GPRS (74.12%), Bluetooth device (76.01%) as their latest mobile facilities. It indicates their interest on internet facilities to chat, networking, video

device) internet browsing in

their desktop computer or laptop as well as design and

appearance (76.21%) carrying the great importance followed by brand image (72.76%).

Favorite brand in mobile set Favorite brand choices for next purchase by male and female respondent:

3 we see that about 50.61% of male respondents choice Samsung mobile hand set as their most favorite brand to purchase because of their

end products, then Nokia (12.34%), iphone (12.16%) and Symphony (8.64%) as their

favorite brand. About 59.85% of female respondents choice Samsung mobile set as their most favorite brand and then iphone (19.32%) as their favorite brand to

purchase This is because of android smart phone set is the main reason to choose their favorite brand.

Media Influencing Respondent to Prefer Particular Brand

From the above figure we see that both newspaper dvertisement has a

great influence over the respondents to choose the above mentioned mobile hand set as their favorite brand.

SymphonySonyericsonMotorola iphone Blackberry Micromax htc

0% 0% 12.16% 8.64% 1.23% 6.36%

0% 0% 19.32% 1.20% 3.52% 2.84%

Figure 3: Favorite brand choices for next purchase by male & female respondent

36.18%

4.06%

2.85% 0.00%

Figure 4: Media influencing respondent to prefer particular brand

Television

Magazine

Newspaper

Online

Display and Posters

Leaflets

, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5) (Online) 0

19 | P a g e

Total

%

74.12%

8.13%

32.31%

76.01%

42.68%

76.21%

72.76%

Table 3: Frequency distribution of respondents both male and female (in percentage) expressing their latest

appearance (76.21%) carrying the great importance followed by brand image (72.76%).

Favorite brand choices for next purchase by male and

favorite brand. About 59.85% of female respondents choice Samsung mobile set as their most favorite brand and then iphone (19.32%) as their favorite brand to

his is because of android smart phone set is the main reason to choose their favorite brand.

great influence over the respondents to choose the above mentioned mobile hand set as their favorite brand.

Siemens

6.36% 0%

2.84% 0%




Willing to pay for Mobile Phone Set by the Respondent

From the above figure we see that about 46.82% are willing to spend money between TK. 10,000about 20.34% of respondent are willing to spend money more than 20,000 to purchase their favorite mobile hand

set. It indicates that they are willing to spend more money to get the test of latest features provided by the various mobile hand set companies.

CONCLUSION

Bangladesh is emerging as one of the fastest growing

mobile hand set market across the globe. Respective of the age between 18-26, from the survey it is observed that both male and female respondents use Nokia (about 57.92%) as their mobile hand set becaus(88.61%), Just for communicating (87.80%), Brand value

(78.65%), price of the handset (72.15%), Huge storage capacity (70.73%), durability of the handset (62.19%), as a modem (61.58%), taking picture and video (60.57%). But now Samsung is found to be the most favorite brand

(50.61% of male and 59.85% of female respondents) among the mobile handsets for their next purchase decision because of their introducing features

REFERENCES

[1] Rashid, A. T., & Elder, L. (2009), Mobile Phones and

Development: an Analysis of IDRC-Supported Projects, The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, vol. 36, no. 2, 1-16. Retrieved

October 20, 2011, [2] Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory

Commission. (2011). Mobile Phone

Bangladesh [Data file]. Retrieved October 24, 2011, [3] Chinese cell phone brands, a growing threat to

international titans. (2010, June 12). GLOBAL TIMES

46.82%

20.34%

Figure 5 : Willing to pay for mobile phone set by the respondent

Asian Business Consortium realizes the meaning of fast publication to researchers,

particularly to those working in competitive and dynamic fields. Hence, we offer an

exceptionally fast publication schedule including prompt peer

the field and immediate publication upon acceptance.


(Online)


Willing to pay for Mobile Phone Set by the Respondent

that about 46.82% are willing to spend money between TK. 10,000-20,000 and about 20.34% of respondent are willing to spend money more than 20,000 to purchase their favorite mobile hand

set. It indicates that they are willing to spend more test of latest features provided by the

Bangladesh is emerging as one of the fastest growing

mobile hand set market across the globe. Respective of 26, from the survey it is observed

that both male and female respondents use Nokia (about 57.92%) as their mobile hand set because of GPRS (88.61%), Just for communicating (87.80%), Brand value

(78.65%), price of the handset (72.15%), Huge storage capacity (70.73%), durability of the handset (62.19%), as a modem (61.58%), taking picture and video (60.57%).

to be the most favorite brand

(50.61% of male and 59.85% of female respondents) among the mobile handsets for their next purchase decision because of their introducing features-android

operating system and high-end products. Young respondents are ready to spend more money (near about to Tk. 20000 and more than Tk. 20000) to enjoy the different latest features. Android operating system,

GPRS, Bluetooth device, Brand value, lucrative design, video calling system and respectively newspaper and television advertisement as the important attributes for preferring a specific mobile handset.

However, young respondents emphasize less importance on durability, price, others advice and opinion because of their swift switching attitude. As a whole, Samsung is competing with industry leader Nokia, Symphony, SonyErricson and other brands to grab a share of the

youth market. The findings of the study may be used as an index for improving their products and formulating marketing strategy accordingly. Future research on mob

market in Bangladesh, its problems and prospects could examine a wider respondents base across other cities of Bangladesh. A large sample size would also enable separate analysis across different income groups, gender and age categories.

Rashid, A. T., & Elder, L. (2009), Mobile Phones and

Supported , The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in

16. Retrieved

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Subscribers in

[Data file]. Retrieved October 24, 2011, Chinese cell phone brands, a growing threat to

GLOBAL TIMES

DISCOVER CHINA, DISCOVER THE WORLD

Retrieved October 20, 2011, [4] http://www.bd.airtel.com [5] http://www.banglalinkgsm.com[6] http://www.grameenphone.com[7] http://robi.com.bd [8] http://www.teletalk.com.bd [9] http://www.mobileteleco.com/2010/07/micromax

launches-in-bangladesh-with-12.html [10] http://www.assignmentpoint.com/science/assign

nt-on-telecommunication-industry

32.84%

46.82%

20.34%

Figure 5 : Willing to pay for mobile phone set by the respondent

Below TK.10000

Tk.10000-Tk.20000

More than Tk. 20000



exceptionally fast publication schedule including prompt peer-review by the experts in

the field and immediate publication upon acceptance.

, Number 3/2013 (Issue 5) 0

20 | P a g e

end products. Young

spend more money (near about to Tk. 20000 and more than Tk. 20000) to enjoy the different latest features. Android operating system,

GPRS, Bluetooth device, Brand value, lucrative design, video calling system and respectively newspaper and

tisement as the important attributes for preferring a specific mobile handset.

However, young respondents emphasize less importance on durability, price, others advice and opinion because of their swift switching attitude. As a whole, Samsung is

with industry leader Nokia, Symphony, SonyErricson and other brands to grab a share of the

The findings of the study may be used as an index for improving their products and formulating marketing strategy accordingly. Future research on mobile handset

market in Bangladesh, its problems and prospects could examine a wider respondents base across other cities of Bangladesh. A large sample size would also enable separate analysis across different income groups, gender

DISCOVER CHINA, DISCOVER THE WORLD.

http://www.banglalinkgsm.com http://www.grameenphone.com

http://www.mobileteleco.com/2010/07/micromax-12.html

http://www.assignmentpoint.com/science/assignmeindustry-in-bangladesh.html



review by the experts in



A Comparative Study on Public- Private Partnership (PPP) for Creating Highly Skilled and Productive Business Graduate in Bangladesh

Mohammad Yunus

Associate Professor & Coordinator, Department of Business Administration, International Islamic University Chittagong. Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a recent phenomenon in Bangladesh to upgrade quality education and create potential managerial manpower for smooth and sustainable economic development of this county which although, highly overpopulated, but lack skilled and worthwhile & effective managerial manpower. The course curriculum of both public and private universities especially BBA and MBA programs should be well designed and well patterned to satisfy needs of the county. The faculty of Business Administration of a Private university i.e BGC Trust University Chittagong and Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) of a public university, i.e University of Chittagong (CU), are trying to upgrade and improve syllabuses of both BBA and MBA in line with local North South University (Private University market leader) and other universities of North America, South East Asia and India. The rules, regulation, enactments etc must be made logical and attractive to fit accountability of teachers and others concerned. Training and development Programs must be befitting to enhance skills of teachers & other related human resources.

Key words: Public-Private Partnership, Private University, Public University, Programs

JEL Classification Code: P42

1 INTRODUCTION

ublic Public Private Partnership (PPP) is considered as a cooperative venture between public and private

sectors because it is built on the expertise of each partner that best meets the clearly defined public

needs through appropriate allocation of resources, risks and rewards (Canadian council for PPP: 1998). PPPs are geared

toward improvement of existing services provided by both sectors with an emphasis directed on system efficiency, effectiveness, quality, equity and accountability (Wang: 1999). PPP’s aim is to promote improvements in the financing and provision of services both from the public

and from the private sectors, but not to increase the role of one over the other.. PPP also offers value for money, radical opportunity to return for modernization, reduced cost over the whole life of a project, improved transparency of costs,

gains from innovation, service improvements, better allocation of risks and a better chance of delivering projects on time and on budget. Further, PPP may offer new focus of accountability and a degree of democratic potential (Mayo and Moove 2001). Thus, PPP refers to an outcome focusing

long term formal contractual partnership between public and private agencies on the basis of shared revenue-risk-reward-responsibility approach. Everyday business trends are becoming more

unconventional and unusual due to accelerated paces in technological changes, management practices and cultural

diversities. So, business education is the only weapon an organization can depend on for success. Unfortunately,

business education in South Asia is still at an infant stage. This situation is more intense in Bangladesh, in particular. Avery little emphasis has been given to promote this business education in Bangladesh since independence. It is

now widely admitted that, if this country is to benefit from the emerging globalized economy and pro-market policies, it must professionalize its business education and improve the existing business management programs and facilities. Further, globalization and liberalization policies of world

economy opened up new business opportunities in different levels of markets. As a result, there is a growing demand of productive business graduates in successive years in the world in general and in Bangladesh in

particular. The review of the early works in the same subject in Bangladesh revealed that quality enhancement through PPP as a whole or various aspects of quality enhancement in higher education in context of business

education were not examined in detail through research project. This research gap induced the author to undertake this study on “A Comparative Study on Public- Private- Partnership (PPP) for Creating Highly

Skilled and Productive Business Graduates in Bangladesh”.

P



2 OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this study is to highlight the role and potential of PPP in education for creating highly skilled business graduates for meeting the need of globalization, knowledge economy, job market both

at home and abroad and higher productivity , better economic growth in Bangladesh. The specific objectives of this study are as follows:

To analyze the role, framework of PPP and identify the available existing services for higher education quality enhancement.

To identify the training needs and analyze the framework of PPP for training of higher education institution actors.

To find out the relevance of curricula to meet the market demand and analyze the framework of PPP for curriculum update.

To analyze the framework of PPP for modernization of business teaching methodology and explain the nature of PPP between FBA (C.U) and FBA( BGC Trust) for maximum utilization of expertise of each university.

To study post learning utilization, analyze research findings and suggest some policy strategies for the improvement of existing education services of both universities with an emphasis on system efficiency, effectiveness, quality, equity and accountability.

3 METHODOLOGY

Both primary and secondary data have been used in the present research work. Primary data have been collected from sample responded through pre –tested questionnaire prepared in the light of the objective of the

study. The size of sample respondents consists of 2 (1+1) Vice Chancellors, 2 (1+1) Deans, 20 (10+10) teachers, 20 (10+10) officials , 10 (5+5) policymakers,10(5+5) staffs and 100 (50+50) Students Both quantitative and qualitative research instruments

have been used in the study. Participant observations, group discussions, focus group study, in-depth interview and workshops have been used to collect qualitative data for research purpose. Attitudes of the sample students

have been evaluated through Likert type five points scale. In order to present the fact in logical format, the supporting and relevant secondary data have been collected through desk research. The desk study has covered research works, conference proceedings, World

Bank reports, and policies of Ministry of Education, text books, internet, website and the like. The collected data have been analyzed and processed with care in order to make the study more informative and useful to the

policymakers and other stakeholders.

Methodology Matrix

Objectives Indicators Data Needed Data sources Methods of data collection

1

*Attendance Result * Co-curricular activities * Teacher’s qualification * Curriculum structure * Curriculum contents * Teacher student ratio * Educational program * Teaching methods * Curriculum structure * Teaching aid * Teacher’s qualification * Staff’s qualification

*Student’s attendance * Student’s result’s * Student’s participation in co-curricular activities * Teacher student ratio * Curriculum content * Teaching aid *Teacher’s qualification * Program * Syllabus * Teacher- student interaction * Course combination * Teacher-student contact hour * Staff’s work load * Staffs support * Availability of teaching aid

* Institution’s records * Documents * Inventory * Official documents * Teacher * Student * Staff

* Survey method * Peer interview * Survey method * Observation method * Interview method

2 * Scholarship * Fellowship * Research grant * Nomination * Participation * Faculty exchange * Interdisciplinary project

* Completion of training * Completion of degree * Completion of research work * Faculty data * Program data * Institutional data

* Official document * Faculty * Program * Institution

* Survey method * Survey method

3

* Course design * Technological content * Structure of curriculum * Contents of curriculum

* No. of applicant seeking admission * No. of seats available * Nature of courses * Technical courses * Market demand

* Official document * Trained faculty * Leading professionals

* Survey method * Peer interview * Depth interview



4 * Application of IT * Faculty exchange * Student’s participation

* Software Programming * Participant’s information

* IT expert * Prospective participant

* Peer interview * Interview

5 * Co-curricular activities * Collaborative research * Joint publication * Credit transfer * Training of faculties * Training of students

* Research grant * Sponsorship * Program data * Faculty information * Student information

* Faculty * Students * Dean office * Personal file * Student file

* Interview * Survey method * Desk research * Desk research

4 KEY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ON KEY

FINDINGS

The study highlighted the sample private university run

by the part-time teachers of the public university. It is evident that the academic program of sample public university is suffering due to involvement of teachers of public university in the academic program of private university. It appears that the model of the Public Private

Partnership (PPP) may be advocated for better academic management of both sample universities. Thus, the junior teachers of sample private university will get opportunity to learn from the teachers of sample public

university. As such, the junior teachers will be trained by learning through interaction with teachers of public university. Further, the ratio of professor and lecturer in sample private university is 1:24. It is also interesting that there is no full-time associate professor in the

sample private university. (Table-1 in appendix). Again, the academic program of private university has been hampered due to the lack of skilled, experienced and talented teachers. Moreover, the internationally

standard set-up of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor and Lecturer is 1:2:4:8. Table-2 in appendix depicts that the ratio of Ph.D holder teachers in sample public and private universities are 29.1% and 22.2% respectively. But the international

standard of Ph.D holder teacher at university level is 40% of total teachers. The survey data evidence that both sample public and private universities consequently adversely affecting the quality education in sample

universities. The second degree holder teachers of sample public and private universities are 28% and 6.67% respectively. It has been further identified that without second degree holder teachers are 41.8% and 71.1% respectively in sample Public and Private

Universities. This is alarming for quality assurance as well as quality enhancement of the higher education in Bangladesh. It seems that training is a must for the teachers of the universities either in public or private

sector. In the sample public university, there is a committee of courses for reviewing the syllabus of the department yearly. In this committee, there are three external senior

faculty members of three universities are involved for quality control in the preparation and review of the

curriculum of the departments. Again, one third of the faculty members of the department based on seniority will be involved in the review and inclusion of new

courses in the curriculum for meeting the need of market demand, knowledge economy and revolution of information technology of the world. The proposed curriculum and syllabus will be reviewed in the faculty

meeting of the public university. Finally, the syllabus and curriculum will be approved in the ‘Academic Council’ of the sample pubic university. But, it has been reported that the curriculum and syllabus of sample Private University has been approved by the University

Grants Commission (UGC), Dhaka. It has been learnt that expert opinions have been taken by the UGC on syllabus and curriculum of the concerned private university. In the light of the suggestions of experts on

syllabus and curriculum, necessary corrections, modifications and improvements have been made by the sample private university, and this revised syllabus and curriculum have been submitted to the UGC for the final approval of the curriculum. The UGC, then, sent the

revised copy of syllabus and curriculum to the concerned experts for verification, confirmation and finalization of the curriculum and syllabus of the ‘Faculty of Business Administration’ of sample Private University.

It appears that curriculum and syllabus will be revised and updated periodically to meet the requirements of job market at home and abroad, knowledge economy and creating competitive human resources to meet the requirement of globalization and liberalization of world

economy. The training of institutional actors may open opportunities to enrich the teaching skills of junior faculty; and senior faculty will participate in seminars

and organize workshop to update business curricula and to share experiences, skills, knowledge in teaching methods with corporate managers in order to build up valid teaching methodology in sample universities. The junior teachers of both universities will interact with

senior teachers of sample universities for developing common idea of thinking, identifying potential research areas for higher studies like M.Phil, Ph.D. and focusing common action of agenda for further collaboration and

cooperation through PPP among the institutional actors of the sample universities. Further, the teachers of sample universities can interact with each other for prioritizing their research agenda, identifying areas of



research interest through mutuality model for sharing of ideas, experiences and learning by win-win strategy. Faculty development is a continuous process of

improvement for meeting the requirements of quality education in higher studies. These methods are (i) learning by performing (ii) mentoring (iii) workshops (v) seminars (vi) case studies (vii) role playing (viii)

simulations (ix) problem-solving etc. The respondents significantly differ in their responses to the statement regarding application of prescribe curriculum in their respective business education program. In the case of 58% respondents of public

university believed that prescribed curriculum is essential for quality business education where-as only 27% respondents of private university agreed the statement. It appears that content and structure of the

curriculum may be updated to meet the requirement of clientele services. Table-3 It reveals that 41% respondents of the public university favor of updated curriculum in every year, followed by 3% in every two years and rest 22% in more

than two years. The same sort of data have been collected from that sample Private University. It portrays that 40%, 31% and 29% respondents are in favor of every two years, more than two years and in every one year

respectively. Research evidences that out of 50 sample students of public university interviewed, 20% or 40% opined in favor of lectures by teachers as a teaching method. It is apparent from the table that 36%, 25%, 20% of the students of sample public university opined in favor of group discussion and presentation, case study, individual presentation and assignment respectively. Table-4 reveals that out of 50 sample students of sample the private university interviewed, 20 or 40% opined in favor of group discussion as a teaching method. The table, further, evidences that 30%, 25%, 20% and 17% of the sample students of sample private university opined in favor of assignment, individual presentation, case study and lecture method respectively. The sample students of public university rated lectures method as the best teaching method. Their arguments in favor of lecture method are (i) it is time saving method; (ii) students listen lecture attentively; (iii) teachers provide the knowledge related to the subject; (iv) students can interact with teachers; (v) students can prepare notes based on deliveration of the lectures of the teachers. In the case of sample students of private university, group discussion was rated as the best teaching method. The arguments in favour of group discussion are (i) it involves more participation of students in learning process; (ii) it develops creativity among students; (iii) participatory method opens more learning opportunities for the students. It appears that other teaching methods are brainstorming, conference, role play, workshop, seminars and so on. This student’s perception and rating about business teaching methods is a way of suggesting

improvements in teaching as well as in learning process for preparing productive business graduates to meet the expectations of knowledge economy and job market demand at home and abroad.

5 POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Rules, regulations, policies and performance indicators

are set in a way so that appropriate levels of accountability may be ensured in the processes of PPP between sample universities. Thus, the procedure may be free of corruption and may ensure the integrity between the public and private university taking

effective measures in different stages of organization, operation and management of PPPs.

PROMOTING PPP High standards of corporate governance, transparency,

rule of law including protection of property and contractual rights will be established and maintained in order to ensure successful operation of PPP in the concerned universities.

Quality Assurance and Incentives Enabling regulatory environment, providing clear and streamlined registration processes, setting up effective quality assurance system and providing incentives for partners may ensure the efficient and effective operation

of successful PPP in the sample universities.

Competitive Fairness The process of awarding PPP contracts may be competitive and rewarding. The whole mechanism will be characterized by fairness, transparency and non-

discrimination.

Good Faith Private University may observe the principles and standards for responsible business conducts that have

been agreed on with the public university and that will participate in such projects in good faith. Both partners may work on the basis of agreed principles and rules of game for better management of PPP.

Risk Sharing PPP contracts can achieve an increased level of risk-sharing between the public and private universities. This risk-sharing strategy is likely to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of education services in both

sectors i.e. government and private.

Matching Supply and Demand In practice, the sample public university has less autonomy in hiring teachers in different levels of

education structure due to government’s regulatory mechanism and influence of ruling party of the country. Research indicates that the private sector fails to attract experienced and talented teachers for the university. In the social status, the teachers of public university enjoy

higher dignity, honor, and recognition and so on. To overcome this paradox, PPP can be a strategy between the supply of and demand for quality education in general and business education in particular.



Competition in Education Market In education market, there are two actors playing significant role to attract students, teachers and

supportive staffs for their concerned institutions. These components are (i) Public universities (ii) Private universities. The new element in education industry will emerge as Universities in Public-Private-Partnerships.

Thus, the three types of universities may create perfect competition in the education sector by providing facilities, rewards and incentives to the teachers, students, supportive staffs and other stakeholders. The PPP may open up new opportunities both for public and

private universities.

6 CONCLUDING OBSERVATION

In a country like Bangladesh, there is no existence of any university operating PPP Model. Like public and private universities, a new act may be enacted for starting

universities in PPP model. The government may create an enabling framework that includes (i) defining the partners in the national education strategy for starting universities in PPP (ii) setting clear objectives, procedures and criteria that the partners must meet to

operate universities in PPP model. (iii) introducing fund management system that integrate public and private universities based on criteria e.g. responsive, targeted

and impartiality (iv) establishing an effective quality assurance and quality enhancement system for creating productive graduates. Further, there are several different

aspects to a policy framework that encourage the growth of universities on PPP model in Bangladesh. These include quality indicators that will encourage improvements in the performance of both public and

private universities. They must follow operating requirements; performance standards meet performance benchmarks, reward innovation and quality improvements by creating universities on PPP model in Bangladesh.

REFERENCES

[1] Wang, yidan(1999),Public-Private-Partnerships in Health and Education: Conceptual issues and options, paper prepared for Manila Social policy Forum: The New Social Agenda for East, Southeast and Central Asia, Joint ADB-World Bank Conference,9-12 November, pp 6-7.

[2] The Canadian Council for PPPs (1998), Retrieved November 30, 2001 from http://home:inforamp.nef/-partner/awardfaq.htm

[3] Mayo, and Moove, H.(2001), The Mutual State: How Local Communities can run Public Services: London: New Economic Foundation.

Why Open Access ???

“In the traditional publishing model, readers have limited access to scientific papers; authors do not have copyright for their own papers, and cannot post their papers on their own websites, which presents a significant

barrier to the sharing of knowledge, as well as being unfair to authors. Open access can overcome the drawbacks of the traditional publishing model and help scholars build on the findings of their colleagues without restriction”

Submit your next manuscript at- www.abcjournals.net

ABC Journals is a unique forum to offer open access to all of its articles.

Now ABC Journal’s portfolio is over nine journals, which publish both online and in print.



Problematic Issues of E-Banking Management in Bangladesh

Md. Redwanuzzaman1 & Md. Amirul Islam2

1Lecturer, Dept. of Business Administration, Pabna University of Science & Technology 2Assistant Professor, Dept. of Business Administration, Pabna University of Science & Technology.

ABSTRACT

In Bangladesh, banking industry is getting mature to a great extent than earlier period. With the launching of internet the world has become a smaller one. Remarkable development in ICT has introduced a global revolution in banking sectors. Beside the every sector in social life it has rendered enormous impacts on banking sector. Internet together with other information and communication technologies are not only driving financial global economies but also transforming societies into knowledge-based economies around the world. As a third world developing country, Bangladesh is far behind to reach the expected level in global banking system. So it is our urgent need to upgrade its banking system. The main focus of this study is to examine the performance, problems and prospects of E-banking in Bangladesh. This paper is also aimed at to determine the present scenario of e-banking and banking sectors in Bangladesh and at the same time it demonstrated the scope and benefits of e-banking compared with the existing sector. The study is descriptive in nature. So this study has been done mainly based on secondary sources of data or

information which sources included different published articles, books, newspaper, and websites.

Keywords: Electronic Banking, Bank, Bangladesh

JEL Classification Code: G29

1 INTRODUCTION

he banking sector occupies an important position in

the global economy. The sector has been subject to many external and internal forces. Of the external forces, technological change is likely to have the most

far-reaching impact on the sector. Technology, in particular

the Internet, is a key driver of these changes. The emerging technology has made an exponential growth of the Internet which has changed the pattern of organizations performing their business with customers. The banking industry is no exception. Internet technology has brought a revolution in

our conventional banking system. E-banking can offer speedier, quicker and dependable services to the customers for which they may be relatively satisfied than that of conventional system of banking. In order to gain

competitiveness, banks have been introducing more internet banking services. The concept of e-banking includes all types of banking activities performed through electronic networks. It is the most recent delivery channel of banking services which is used for both business-to-

business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) transactions. However, in true sense, e-banking includes activities like payment of bills and invoices, transfer of funds between accounts, applying for a loan, payment of loan installments,

sending funds to third parties via emails or internet connections regardless of where the client is located. The definition of e-banking varies amongst researchers partially because electronic banking refers to several types of services

through which a bank customer can request information

and carry out most retail banking services via computer, television or mobile phone (Daniel 1999; Molls 1998; Sathye 1999). On the other hand, Burr (1996) describes e-banking as an electronic connection between the bank and customer in

order to prepare, manage and control financial transactions. In brief, e-banking is not a banking product or service; rather it explains the way transactions are conducted. Leow, Hock Bee (1999) state that the terms PC banking, online banking, Internet banking, telephone banking or mobile

banking refers to a number of ways in which customer can access their banks without having to be physically present at the bank branch. Therefore, e-banking covers all these ways of banking business electronically.

2 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

E-banking is becoming an indispensable part in a global competitive free market. Only satisfying present need of customer cannot ensure the sustainability and expansion of banking business. Because a number of competitors may also work for satisfying the same customer need with

superior customer value. Customers are increasingly demanding more value, with goods customized to their exact needs, at less cost, and as quickly as possible. Those who are giving much more services rather than others are

giving; he will be well ahead of competition because of getting better competitive advantages. There are different

T



banks working together in Bangladesh. The competition is going up day by day by giving better services and they are trying to develop their own services every now and then.

To meet these demands, businesses need to develop innovative ways of creating value which often require different enterprise architectures, different IT infrastructures and different way of thinking about doing

business. This transformation of business from an old company to a new agile electronic corporation is not easy and requires a lot of innovative thinking, planning and investment. Many banks and other organizations have already implemented or are planning to implement e-

banking because of the numerous potential benefits associated with it. So, Electronic banking has got tremendous importance in banking sector and banking customer as well. This is why, it finds some interest to

explore many of these issues regarding e-banking in some extent.

3 METHODOLOGY

The study is descriptive in nature. Data used in this study are collected basically from the secondary sources. For this purpose, different recognized journals, government rules

and regulations, policies have been discussed. Various seminar papers and summary of discussions in those seminars, taskforce report of research organizations and some periodicals, national and international journals,

newspapers, magazines, Bangladesh Bank publications, published articles, books, newspaper, and websites have been surveyed. Some primary data are also collected through personal interview method conducting the persons who are supposed to have knowledge about the problem.

Some bank specialists have also been personally interviewed in order to collect some primary information used in this study. Besides this, internet has been used as another source of information.

4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To examine the scope and prospects enabling E-banking in Bangladesh. 2. To demonstrate the benefits and problematic issues of E-

banking 3. To present the possible services rendered by E-banking 4. To overview the managerial challenges of E-banking in Bangladesh. 5. To suggest measures for growth of E-banking in

Bangladesh.

5 SCOPE OF ELECTRONIC BANKING IN BANGLADESH

The infrastructure of a country is very important for implementing electronic banking. For electronic banking major cost is to set up backbone network. Fortunately

Bangladesh Railway has a high-speed optical fiber network parallel to the railway path owned by Bangladesh

Railway. Its total capacity is about 2.5 gigabits per second. This fiber optic network covers almost every important parts of the country (Islam, 2005). Bangladesh has been

connected with the information superhighway on 20th May, 2006. It is a landmark of ICT sector of Bangladesh. The cable network covering some 786 miles across the country from the Bay of Bengal will provide a fiber-optic link with a

data transfer capacity of 10 gigabits per second compared to the 150 megabits per second bandwidth now used by the state owned BTTB and dozens of private Internet Providers. The growth of Internet users of our country is rapidly increasing day by day in Bangladesh.

6 PROSPECTS OF ELECTRONIC BANKING IN

BANGLADESH

The Bangladesh railway owned a high-speed optical fiber network (1,800 km) parallel to the railway path that covered most of the important parts of Bangladesh. This optical fiber

network can be used as the backbone network of e-banking in Bangladesh. For example, mobile phone operators such as Grameen Phone and Ranks ITT of Bangladesh used this optical fiber network through which they reached even in

rural areas with their services (Islam 2005). It is encouraging that some of the FCBs and PCBs are already used this optical fiber network for conducting online transactions, ATM and POS services. In addition, Bangladesh Bank was implementing the

different projects for modernizing national payment and settlement system started from 2009 followed by the development of inter-bank online network. It made mandatory for all head offices of the scheduled banks to be

connected with Bangladesh Bank. These efforts would allow the scheduled banks to be connected to each other for conducting inter-bank online transactions in near future and this would smooth the introduction of e banking in Bangladesh. Internet services came to Bangladesh with

connectivity in 1996. Digital telephone exchanges established in 389 upazilas and 17 growth centers. Work was underway to cover the rest of the upazilas under digital exchange system. Meanwhile, Bangladesh joined the

information super-highway by connecting itself with international submarine cable system in 2006. A total of 159 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) now connected with this system of which 64 are actively providing services. Internet

connection was slow with bandwidth range 32 - 56 kbps for dial up and 64 - 8 Mbps for broadband. Under this scenario, as a part of government decision of building digital Bangladesh, the existing capabilities of ICT sector was likely to increase rapidly in bringing all upazilas under internet

services and this will contribute in widening the scope of e-banking throughout the country. The overall computer density in the banking sector was 1.64. For foreign commercial banks (FCBs) the computer density was 45.34,

where as for NCBs the ratio was only 0.41. The specialized bank scenario was almost same as the NCBs, 0.43. On the other hand, private commercial banks had comparatively



higher ratio, 4.94. As a whole 81.81 percent bank did not have any local area network (LAN), 30 percent had WAN (Wide Area Network) but for some banks many branches

were outside of WAN connectivity. At present, all foreign banks of our country were using online banking system; they were invested a lot for their automation banking services. For this reason, they were increasing market share

every year. They were the pioneer of implementing electronic banking systems in Bangladesh, but now most of the private banks of our country used electronic banking systems. In our country different banks were offering electronic banking services in different ways, some were

offering ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) services, some were tele-banking and some were electronic fund transfer, debit card, credit card, etc. Recently, the government’s emphasis on building a digital Bangladesh, setting up ICT

park, raising allocation for developing ICT infrastructure, waiving taxes on computer peripherals and other measures including the automation program of banking sector led by the Bangladesh Bank and competition among the scheduled banks in improving customer services accelerated the

prospects of e-banking in Bangladesh.

7 BENEFITS OF E-BANKING

E-banking is a significant investment, so the question must be answered as to what motivates banks to participate and deal with the associated problems and risk. This article

summarizes some of the benefits often associated by banks to be their primary motive for implementing e-banking. E-banking has helped many banks to realize benefits, which are summarized bellows:

Choice and Convenience for Customers

Attracting High Value Customers

Accounts Aggregation

Enhanced Image

Increased Revenues

Easier Expansion

Load Reduction on Other Channels

Cost Reduction

Organizational Efficiency

E-Marketing The nature of e-banking means that personal contact between customers and banks are eroded. Harden (2002) suggests that e-channels erode a direct relationship with

customers as compared with traditional over-the-counter banking: e-banking does not offer face-to-face contact in what is essentially a one-to-one service relationship. To compensate, e-banks must deliver higher quality services in order to compete with other service delivery channels (Liao

& Cheung, 2005). Another factor in the loss of personal relationships is the convenience of Internet shopping: it is much easier now to compare products and switch between different providers. This creates the need for offering high

value products and to cut operational costs to remain competitive, which in turn may further erode the avenues

for building personal relationships with customers. The solution to these problems appears to be offering a multi channel experience which is better than direct competitors.

E-banking often attracts high profit customers with higher than average income and education levels, which helps to increase the size of revenue streams. For a retail bank, e-banking customers are therefore of particular interest, and

such customers are likely to have a higher demand for banking products and an interest in more complex (and even riskier) products. Another benefit of e-banking from a customer’s point of view is that most banks provide accounts aggregation services, at

least internally. Accounts aggregation enables a consumer to be presented with all his or her account details (current account, saving account, mortgage account) on a single page. E-banking helps to enhance the image of the organization as

a customer focused innovative organization. This was especially true in the early days when only the most innovative organizations were implementing this channel. Despite its common availability today, an attractive banking website with a large portfolio of innovative products still

enhances a bank’s image. This image also helps in becoming effective at e-marketing and attracting a young/professional customer base. Increased revenues as a result of offering e-channels are

often reported, because of possible increases in the number of customers, retention of existing customers, and cross selling opportunities. Traditionally, when a bank wanted to expand geographically it had to open new branches, thereby

incurring high start up and maintenance costs. E-channels, such as the Internet, have made this unnecessary in many circumstances. Now banks with a traditional customer base in one part of the country or world can attract customers

from other parts, as most of the financial transaction does not require a physical presence near a customer living/working place. E-Channels are largely automatic, and most of the routine

activity such as account checking or bill payment may be carried out using these channels. This usually results in load reduction on other delivery channels, such as branches or call centers. The main economic argument of e-banking so far has been

reduction of overhead costs of other channels such as branches, which require expensive buildings and a staff presence. It also seems that the cost per transaction of e-banking often falls more rapidly than that of traditional

banks once a critical mass of customers is achieved. To implement e-banking, organizations often have to re-engineer their business processes, integrate systems and promote agile working practices. These steps, which are often pushed to the top of the agenda by the desire to

achieve e-banking, often result in greater efficiency and agility in organizations. However, radical organizational changes are also often linked to risks such as low employee morale, or the collapse of traditional services or the



customer base. E-marketing in the financial services sector (which is covered later) was made possible by the arrival of e-banking. E-

marketing builds on the e-channel’s ability to provide detailed data about customers’ financial profiles and purchasing behavior. Detailed understanding of customers enables customized advertising, customized products (called

mass customization) and enrichment of the relationship with customers through such activities as cross selling.

8 PROBLEMATIC ISSUES RELATED E-BANKING

The implementation of a successful e-banking strategy in Bangladesh is far from being straight forward, as there are numerous inherent difficulties/barriers. The Internet as a

channel for services delivery is fundamentally different from other channels such as branch networks or telephone banking. Therefore, it brings up its own unique challenges that Bangladeshi banks require innovative solutions. Thus, a

logical step for the management of banking related organizations may be to fully understand the organizational barriers inherent in e-banking. The Internet has not only created previously non-existent opportunities for cost effective, all time available financial services, it has also

increased the significance of a number of risks which did not exist or were not significant in the past. Furthermore, a number of change management issues usually associated with any new technology implementation are compounded

simply because some applications such as e-banking have a greater and more immediate impact on the organization. This article has viewed some of the most common problematic issues of Bangladesh in e-banking implementation and management. The main focus will be on those issues which

pose considerable risks to e-banking projects and may prevent banks from achieving their desired e-banking related goals. These include: traditional structures which some banks still have and which are unable to respond to agility required

for e-banking, resistance from employees, legacy systems which are an obstacle to the integration of systems, security issues, new and complex regulatory issues, and project management problems.

9 POSSIBLE SERVICES RENDERED BY E-BANKING

In its very basic form, e-banking can mean the provision of information about a bank and its services via a home page on the World Wide Web (WWW). A more sophisticated Internet based service provides the customer with access to their accounts, the ability to move money between different

accounts, make payment or apply for loans and other financial products. The term e-banking has been used in this article to describe all types of provision of financial services rendered by an organization to its customers. Such customers

may be an individual or another business. In the context of e-banking, electronic delivery of services means a customer conducting his transactions from a remote location (e.g. home) rather than visiting a local branch. Internet only banking may also become more viable as the functionality of

e-banking systems grows, and customers adapt to the new ways of conducting their financial activities. E-banking largely came into being as a result of technological

developments in the field of computing and communications but there have been a number of different types of possible availed e-banking services like account access, balance transfer, bill payment, bill presentment, mortgage/credit

card/ misc. lending, business banking services, customer service & administration, cross-selling, personalized content and tools, accounts aggregation and electronic funds transfer which played an important role in its development.

Figure 1: Types of E-banking

10 MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES

The management challenges for Bangladeshi banks are

mainly fourfold. First, they need to satisfy customer requirements that are complex and ever changing. Second, they need to deal with increased competition from old as well as new entrants coming into the market. Third, they need to address the pressures on the supply chain to deliver

their services quickly. Finally, they must continually develop new and innovative services to differentiate themselves from the competition, as having a large branch network is no longer seen as a main source of competitive advantage. So,

these challenges for banks surround increased customers expectations, security problems, technological challenges, E-channels specific marketing, change management, project management, winning customer trust, human resources management, managing external relationships marketing &

sales and regulations management. E-banking is seen by many Bangladeshi banks as a key tool to address these challenges. Other reasons for the adoption of e-banking by banks may include achieving competitive

advantage (at least in short term), creating new distribution channels, improving image, and reducing costs. It is widely acknowledged that complexity in the managerial environment has increased because e-services often require decisions that focus on integration of internal/external

systems, adoption of new business models and frequent



restructuring of existing business processes and structures. The Internet also impacts market structure, and affects competitive advantage in the banking sector.

11 RECOMMENDATIONS

In order to ensure a successful practice of e-banking in Bangladesh, it recommends the following.

To develop Strategy in order to fully utilize opportunities and minimize threats.

To design integrated channels this will enable to achieve the operational efficiencies.

To establish flexible management system to examine new processes designed specifically for e-Commerce.

To adapt flexible organizational model so that it compete with Start-Ups.

To promote innovation culture as to encourage individuals as well as teams to innovate.

To leverage existing brand to deliver new services to perceive lack of security and fraud threats.

To reinforce “Trust Relationships” to construct involving security and privacy issues on the Internet.

To offer universal product (not just own products) to have access to a wider range of financial services.

To make highly secure, robust environment for developing suitable business continuity plan.

To manage resistance to change to minimize complex issues for acceptance.

To Manage technological issues with care for unified messaging system.

To establish e-channels specific marketing to decline switching barriers.

To identify employees with skills different from those found in more traditional organizations.

12 CONCLUDING REMARKS

Modern electronic banking concept in the banking services is new for Bangladeshi people. Most of our bank has not

any marketing or sales forces to execute the raw and cold business of electronic banking for their own organization. People are not also conscious about the advantages of the technology. Some multinational banks are already

introduced their marketing activities over their targeted customers for specialized products like electronic products which is found very effective. The multinationals are coming up towards people with variety of highly technical products, which can solve people’s problem and can able to

modernize their lifestyle. The growth of electronic banking users increasing is a significant manner. However, last 10 years it has got tremendous importance over the bank customer and hopefully it will increase day by day after

nurture the product by the professional bankers.

REFERENCES

[1] Avkiran, N. K. (1999). Quality Customer Service Demands Human Contacts. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 17(2), 61-71.

[2] Clarke, A., Ensor, B., & Camus, L. (2008, April 15) Investors Don’t Understand The Importance Of Online Advice Tools. Retrieved on November, 12, 2008 from www.forester.com

[3] Abdullah S.Al Mudimigh (2007) E- Business strategy in an online banking services, A case study, vol-12,No-1,pp-1-6.

[4] Chai, Lee Goi (2006) Factors Influence Development of E-Banking in Malaysia, , Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, vol. 11, no.2

[5] Islam, Anwarul, et.al(2006) Growth and development of information and communication technologies in Bangladesh, The electronic library,Vol.24,no.-2, pp-135-136

[6] Daniel, E. (1999), Provision of electronic banking in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, International Journal of bank marketing, Vol. 17, No. 2.

[7] Islam, M. (2005), Proposed IBT infrastructure for E-banking in Bangladesh, Master of Science Thesis, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.

[8] Mia, Rahman and Uddin, (2007), E-banking: Evolution, Status and Prospects, The Cost and Management, Vol.35, No.1, January-February 2007, pp. 36-48.

[9] Amato-McCoy, D.M. (2006, February 27). Planning for continuity. Bank Systems & Technology.

[10] Adamides, E. D., & Karacapilidis, N. (2006, January). Information technology support for the knowledge and social processes of innovation management. Technovation, 26(1), 50-59.

[11] Adcock, K., Helms, M. M., et al. (1993). Information

Technology: Can it provide a sustainable competitive advantage? Information Strategy: The Executive’s Journal, 9(3), 10-15.

[12] Bareil, C. (2002). Managing Resistance to Change or Readiness to Change? http://web.hec.ca/sites/ceto/fichiers/04_02.pdf

[13] E-banking in India – major development and issues, by S. S. Debashish and B.P. Mishra- Pranjana, vol. 6, no.1, Jan – July 2003, pg 19

[14] Aladwani, A. (2001). Online banking: a field study of drivers, development challenges and expectations.” International Journal of Information Management, 21(3),213-25.

[15] Beer, M., & Nohria, N. (2000). Cracking the Code of Change. Harvard Business Review, (3), 133-141.

[16] Adamides, E. D., & Karacapilidis, N. (2006, January). Information technology support for the knowledge and social processes of innovation management. Technovation, 26(1), 50-59.



The Effectiveness of Communication Practices with the Customers: A Comparative Study between Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited

Sheikh Abdur Rahim1; & Ferdouse Ara Tuli2

1Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business and Economics, Daffodil International University 2Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business, ASA University Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Communication has been considered as the lifeblood of every business organization. In case of banking business in Bangladesh, the effective communication is a must for convincing the customers. The reason behind that, the number of banks is increasing day-bay-day. Thus, the competition of banking business in Bangladesh is going to be severely critical for the bankers. So, this paper attempts to explore the tools and techniques used by the bankers of Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited to communicate with their customers. This paper also attempts to reveal the opinion of bankers and customers regarding the effectiveness of communication practices by the authority of Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Bank Limited and prescribed some possible courses of actions to make the communication more effective with their customers.

Keywords: Business, Communication, Customer, Banker, Effectiveness, Bangladesh

JEL Classification Code: D83

1 INTRODUCTION

ommunication is the key for interaction and

interference with the diversified customers in the present competitive banking business in Bangladesh. The objectives of business as well as

individual can be fulfilled by practicing effective communication with the customers. There are 51

scheduled banks (www.bangladeshbank.org) operating their banking business activities in Bangladesh at present. In addition to that, there are many foreign and local banks, financial institutions, insurance companies

and cooperative societies conducting their activities at present in Bangladesh. The number of banks and other financial institutions will be increasing gradually in the future. Thus, the competition among the banks of Bangladesh will be increasing drastically in the

upcoming days to attract customers towards their banks. There are two main functions of a bank. First, is to collect money in the form of deposits from customers at lower rate of interest. Second, is to disburse this money in the

form of loans among the customers at high rate of interest. In such a way a bank makes profit. As a result, effective communication must be practiced by the banks with their customers. But the effectiveness of communication depends on some commandants.

According to American Management Association (AMA), “a communication is said to be effective because of the following ten commandants”. These are as follows:

Clean idea regarding topics and receiver of communication

Determination of purpose

Understanding the environment of communication

Planning for communication with consulting others

Consider the content of the message

To make receiver aware regarding the value of communication

There must be feedback from the receiver

To define properly, whether communication messages are of short run or long run importance

All actions must be suitable with communication

Good listening The effectiveness of communication has been defined by different authors in different ways. But the comprehensive

definition of effectiveness communication was given by Griffin (1995). He quoted as ‘Effectiveness communication is the process of sending a message in such a way that the message received is as close in meaning as possible to the message intended.’

2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The present research study has been carried out with the following specific objectives:

To investigate and find out the existing communication practices of Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited with their customers;

C



To find out the tools & techniques used by both banks to make the communication effective with their customers;

To explore the current problems (if any) relating to the communication practices by both banks with

their customers;

To recommend some suggestions for overcoming the existing problems of communication practices by both banks with their customers and also to develop a model of effective communication.

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology for the study has been developed in the following way:

Sample Size: There are 51 scheduled banks (www.bangladeshbank.org) currently operating their business activities in Bangladesh. Among these 51

scheduled banks, the researchers have selected two scheduled banks such as Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited to conduct the present research study. The researchers have also taken 25 bankers and 25 customers from Eastern Bank Limited

operating in Dhaka City and 25 bankers and 25 customers have taken from Mutual Trust Bank Limited operating in Dhaka City randomly to collect relevant information for this research study.

Data Collection Methods: The structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data and information from the respondents. The secondary information were collected from different published A-Ranked Articles, Journals, Books, Magazines, Newspapers, etc.

Data Analysis Procedure: The data and information has been analyzed through the statistical tools such Adobe Illustrator®, SPSS, Microsoft Office Package. The percentage has been calculated to find out the opinion of bankers and customers regarding the

business communication practices by both the banks.

4 MEANING OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Business communication is a process of flowing information occurring within the business environment with a specific legal objective. Business communication is not a new concept. But it carries some special value

because it is a specialized branch of general communication. The process, types, methods, approaches and so on are the same with those of general communication. But the only difference between business

communication and general communication are the way of application on the basis of the needs and demands of the organization and the individual. Business has been operating with a wide variety of economic activities for the purpose of making maximum profit and minimum

cost through effective management. That is why, organizations produce more products and services and sell these products and services for earning profit. Some

experts have been defined business communication in different ways. Simon (1987) states that “without business communication there can be no organization and there is

no possibility of the group that influences individual behavior.” Scott (1997) tells that “Business communication is the transmission and accurate imitation of ideas ensured by feedback for the purpose of accomplishing

organizational goals.” Lesikar and Pettit (1995) point out that “Business communication is the ingredient that makes organization possible. It is the vehicle through which the basic management functions are carried out.” Brennan (1988) identifies that “Business communication is

the expression channeling, receiving and interchanging of ideas in commerce and industry.” Gow and Bethy (1988) explain that “Business communication is a link that allows organization to function as a system.”

Why Banking Business Needs to Communicate? There are 51 scheduled banks operating their business activities in Bangladesh. Besides 51 scheduled banks, there are many foreign and local banks, financial

institutions, venture capitalist and cooperative societies conducting their business activities in Bangladesh. The number of these financial organizations will be increasing radically in the future. That is why; these

financial institutions will be involving in tremendous competition with each other for attracting customers towards their business organizations. For these reasons, these organizations need to recruit employees who have good communication skills and they must be enabling to

communicate efficiently with the customers both in oral and written communication.

Major Types of Communication in Banking Business There are three major types of communication in business. These are as follows:

I) Internal-Operational Communication: The internal-

operational communication is one of the important communications that occurs in conducting work within a business. The operation plan of the business has done to implement through this communication.

There are many forms of internal-operational communication. The supervisors’ orders & instructions to the subordinates, oral exchanges among workers about work matters include into this communication. It includes reports that employees

prepare concerning accounts opening, deposits collection, investment, bills collection and payment, cash receipt and payment, locker services, maintenance, and so on. It also includes e-mail

messages that employees write in carrying out their assignment within organization.

II) External-Operational Communication: The work-

relation communication that a business does with people and groups outside the business is external-operational communication (Lesiker and Pettit, 2008).



This communication includes all of the organization endeavors at direct selling, such as salespeople “spiel”, descriptive brochures, leaflet, prospectus, telephone

callback, follow-up service calls, and so on. It also includes advertising for the purpose of attracting customers in one hand but in other hand, to be familiarizing organization and its activities to the

customers. The authority of the banks can give advertisement in radio, television, newspaper, magazine, internet so that the customers may get information about the banks and its activities, products, services and so on. Sometimes, the authority of the

banks may participate in various national and international trade fairs that will help the bank’s to establish direct relationship with the customers.

III) Personal Communication: All communications are

not operational that occurs in the organization. Indeed, this communication has been occurred most of the cases in the organization to fulfill the personal

satisfaction. This communication affects employee attitudes and attitudes affect employee performance. Thus, the authority of an organization should create a very congenial environment where each and every

employee may freely exchange his or her views with others. As a result, the employees can provide their full concentration to establish the good relationship with the customers. Therefore, the organization can sell more products or services to the customers that

will help the organization to earn more profit. In addition to these three types of communication, there are other types of communication in banking business such as oral or written communication, formal or

informal communication, upward, downward and parallel communication. The organization is required all

types of communication for attracting the customers towards the products and services of the organization.

Factors of Effective Communication in Banking Business The following factors are required to make the communication more effective in banking business (Rahman, Mia and Hossian, 2005 a).

Definite Purpose

Study the Customer

Good Idea or Thoughts

Proper Transmission of Message

Personal Touch

Mutual Understanding

Awareness of the need for effective communication

Provision for feedback

Selection of a good Channel

Active Listening

Necessity of Two-way Communication in Banking Business Now -a- days, there are many reasons for which two-way communication is badly of needed in banking business. These are as follows:

To complete the communication process with more effectively and efficiently by the active involvement of sender and receiver.

To implement the direction.

To create good communication environment between employees and customers.

To develop good relationship with the customers.

To acknowledge information.

To know the reaction of customers.

To verify the accuracy of information. The process of two-way communication can be shown in

the following figure:

Figure-1: Two-Way Communication Process.

[Source: Ivanchief et. al. 1993, “Business Communication: Global Perspective”, 3rd edition, IRWIN, P. 40.]

Barriers to Effective Communication Effective communication is highly essential to convince

diversified customers and also to make the business more successful. But there are some barriers in banking business that are creating obstacles to make effectiveness

communication with the customers (Rahman, Mia, and Hossain, 2005 b). These are as follows:

i) Organizational Barriers: The organizational barriers may arise in the communication process because of

the following reasons.

Develop an Idea

Encode Transmit Receive Decode Accept Use

Message

Feedback for two-way communication

Steps: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Barriers

Bridge ofMeaning



Complex organizational structure

Excessive layering of administration

Lack of effective policies

Conservativeness of supervisors

Improper delegation of authority and responsibility

ii) Individual Barriers: The individual barriers may

arise in the communication process because of the following causes:

Personality

Wrong Explanation

Individual Conflict

Fear

Pre-idea

Insincerity and lack of confidence

iii) Language/ Semantic Barriers: It arises in the

communication process because of the following reasons:

Use of vague or ambiguous word

Use of local language

Use of different languages

Use of technical words

iv) Barriers due to Status: It happens in the

communication process due to the following reasons:

Status/ Position

Mental State

v) Barriers due to resistance to change: It occurs due to the following reasons in the communication process:

Following the ‘ old one’

Lack of attention

Own interpretation or assumption

vi) Other Barriers: It occurs in the communication

process because of the following reasons:

Geographical Barrier

Lack of Harmony

Faulty Expression

Cultural Difference

Absence of Feedback

5 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

The researchers have used structured questionnaire to find out the opinion of bankers and customers regarding the business communication practices by the Eastern

Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited with their customers.

A. Questionnaire for Bankers The following questions have been asked by the

researchers to the Bankers of the Eastern Bank Limited and the Mutual Trust Bank Limited for finding the business communication practices with their customers:

Table: 1

Question Choices Scores Percentage

EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

Do you communicate with

the customers effectively?

Yes 25 25 100% 100%

No 0 0 00% 00%

The above table shows that 100 percent employees in both the banks have provided positive answer and 0

(Zero) percent employees in both the banks have provided negative answer. It means that the employees in both the banks have got the opportunity to communicate effectively with the customers.

Table: 2


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

Do you think that the working

environment in

this Bank is favorable when

you communicate with the

customers?

Satisfac tory

15 10 60% 40%

Fairly Satisfactory

10 15 40% 60%

Dissatis factory

0 0 00% 00%

The above table shows that 60 percent employees in Eastern Bank Limited and 40 percent employees in Mutual Trust Bank Limited are satisfied with the

working environment of the banks while they are communicating with the customers. The table also shows that 40 percent employees in Eastern Bank Limited and 60 percent employees in Mutual Trust Bank Limited are fairly satisfied with the working environment of the

banks while they are communicating with the customers. But 0 (Zero) percent employees are dissatisfied with the working environment in both the banks while they are communicating with the customers. Although any

employee has not shown any dissatisfaction regarding the working environment of both the banks but the authority of both the banks should take necessary initiatives to make the working environment more

congenial for the employees while they are communicating with the customers because 100 percent employees of both the banks are not satisfied with the working environment while they are communicating with the customers.

Table: 3


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

What type of customers mainly

transact in this Bank?

Business men

10 15 40% 60%

Service Holders

10 10 40% 40%

Others 5 0 20% 00%



The above table shows that 40 percent customers are businessmen, 40 percent customers are service holders and 20 percent customers are other professions in the Eastern

Bank Limited. Whereas, 60 percent customers are businessmen, 40 percent customers are service holders and 0 (Zero) percent customers are other professions in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited. These statistics indicate that the

employees of Eastern Bank Limited are taken more pressures than the employees of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited to deal with the customers because the customers of the Eastern Bank Limited are more diversified than the customers of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited.

Table: 4

QuestionChoices Scores Percentage

EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

When do you respond to the

customers’ letter?

Within 3 days

25 15 100% 60%

Within a week

0 0 00% 00%

Within

15 days

0 10 00% 40%

More than 15 days

0 0 00% 00%

The above question is relating to the duration of responding the customers’ letter. All of the respondents in the Eastern Bank Limited answered that they have responded to the customers’ letter within 3 days. Whereas, only 60 percent of the respondents in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited

answered that they have responded to the customers’ letter within 3 days and rest of the 40 percent respondents answered that they have responded to the customers’ letter within 15 days. But fortunately, no respondent answered

that they responded to the customers’ letter more than 15 days. It indicates that the employees of both the banks are more concerned to provide quick response to the customers’ letter.

Table: 5


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

How do you respond to the

customers’ letter?

Face- to- face

conversation

0 15 00% 60%

Phone call 5 0 20% 00%

E-mail 5 5 20% 20%

Letter 10 0 40% 00%

Service Quality Unit

5 5 20% 20%

The above question is relating to the way of responding

to the customers’ letter. In this regard, zero (0) percent employees used face to face conversation, 20 percent employees used phone call, 20 percent employees used e-mail, 40 percent employees used letter and 20 percent

employees used service quality unit to respond to the customers’ letter in the Eastern Bank Limited. Whereas,

in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 60 percent employees used face to face conversation 0 (zero) percent employees used phone call, 20 percent employees used e-mail, o

(zero) percent employees used letter and 20 percent employees used service quality unit to respond to the customers’ letter in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited. These statistics indicate that the authority of the Eastern

Bank Limited should take necessary initiatives so that the employees of this bank can respond to the customers’ letter through face-to-face conversation. These statistics also indicate that the authority of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited should take necessary initiatives so that the

employees of this bank can respond to the customers’ letter through phone call and letter.

Table: 6


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

Do you think that the Bank follows

effective communication

systems to

communicate with the customers successfully?

Yes 15 25 60% 100%

No 5 0 20% 00%

No

idea

5 0 20% 00%

The above table shows that 60 percent employees

answered yes, 20 percent employees’ answered no, and 20 percent employees answered no idea about the communication systems which are followed by the bank’s employee to communicate with the customers’

successfully. Whereas, in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 100 percent employees responded that the bank follows effective communication systems to successfully communicate with the customers. These statistics

indicate that the employees of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited are more satisfied with the bank’s communication systems.

Table: 7


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

What are the limitations of the Bank to effectively

communicate

with the customers?

Lack of effectiveness & efficiency

15 10 60% 40%

Lack of

organized database

5 0 20% 00%

Lack of modern

technology

0 10 00% 40%

Others 5 5 20% 20%

The above table shows that 60 percent employees

responded that they are suffering from the effectiveness & efficiency problem, 20 employees responded that they are suffering from organized database problem, 0 (zero)



percent employees responded that they are not suffering from modern technology problem and 20 percent employees responded that they are suffering from other

problems while they are going to effectively communicate with the customers in the Eastern Bank Limited. Whereas, in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 40 percent employees responded that they are suffering

from the effectiveness & efficiency problem, 0 (zero) percent employees responded that they are not suffering from organized database problem, 40 percent employees responded that they are suffering from modern technology problem, and 20 percent employees

responded that they are suffering from other problems while they are going to effectively communicate with the customers. These statistics indicate that the authority of both the banks should take necessary initiatives to

arrange extensive training & development programs for enhancing the effectiveness & efficiency of the employees so that the employees would be able to successfully communicate with the customers.

Table: 8


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

When the customers are given

any complaint regarding the Bank’s

communicat

ion systems, then how do you handle

the

complaint?

Allow the customer’s to vent his/her

anger

10 10 40% 40%

Apology for the misunderstandin

g

5 0 20% 00%

Respond to the problem

immediately

10 0 40% 00%

State the solution positively

0 15 00% 60%

In the Eastern Bank Limited, 40 percent employees responded that they allow the customer’s to vent his or her anger, 20 percent employees responded that they

apology to the customers for the misunderstanding, 40 percent employees responded that they take immediate action to solve the complaint and 0 (zero) percent employees responded that they do not state the solution

to the customers’ positively. Whereas, in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 40 percent employees responded that they allow the customer’s to vent his or her anger, 0 ( zero) percent employees responded that they do not apology for the misunderstanding they do not take quick

action to solve the problem and 60 percent employees responded that they state the solution positively to the customers. These statistics indicate that the employees of Eastern Bank Limited are more serious to resolve the

customer’s complaint than the employees of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited.

B. Questionnaire for Customers The researchers have also used structured questionnaire to find out the customers opinion regarding the business

communication practices of the Eastern Bank Limited and the Mutual Trust Bank Limited with their customers.

Table: 9


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

What is the level of your monthly

income?

TK. 15,000 – TK. 19,999

10 20 40% 80%

TK. 20,000 – TK.24,999

10 5 40% 20%

TK.25,000 – TK. 29,999

0 0 00% 00%

TK. 30,000

and above

5 0 20% 00%

The above table shows that 40 percent customers income –level is TK. 15,000-TK. 19,999, 40 percent customers income-level is TK. 20,000-TK. 24, 999, 0 percent

customers income-level is TK. 25,000-TK. 29,999 and 20 percent customers income-level is TK. 30,000 and above in the Eastern Bank Limited. Whereas, in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 80 percent customers income-level is

TK. 15,000-TK. 19,999, 20 percent customers income-level is TK. 20,000-TK. 24,999, 0 ( zero) percent customers income-level is TK. 25,000-TK. 29,999 and TK. 30,000 and above respectively. These statistics indicate that the customers of the Eastern Bank Limited income-level are

better than the customers of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited. Thus, the authority of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited should develop a good communication with the customers that will help them to attract the customers

whose income-level is more standard.

Table: 10


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

How frequently do you

communicate with the Bank?

Everyday 5 0 20% 00%

2 – 5 times in a week

0 10 00% 40%

Once in a week

10 5 40% 20%

Less than once in a week

10 10 40% 40%

The above table shows that in the Eastern Bank Limited , only 20 percent customers answered every day, 40 percent customers answered once in a week, 40 percent

answered less than once in a week and 0 ( zero) percent answered 2-5 times in a week to communicate with the bank. Whereas in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 40 percent customers answered 2-5 times in a week, 20

percent answered once in a week, 40 percent answered less than once in a week and 0 ( zero) percent customers answered every day to communicate with the bank.



Table: 11


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

Are you satisfied with the employees’

behavior in this Bank?

Satisfied 15 10 60% 40%

Fairly Satisfied

10 15 40% 60%

Dissa tisfied

0 0 00% 00%

The above table shows that 60 percent customers are satisfied, 40 percent customers are fairly satisfied, and 0 (zero) percent customers are dissatisfied with the behavior of employees in the Eastern Bank Limited.

Whereas, 40 percent customers are satisfied, 60 percent customers are fairly satisfied, and 0 percent customers are dissatisfied with the behavior of employees in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited. These statistics indicate that

the customers of the Eastern Bank Limited are more satisfied than the customers of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited. As a result, the authority of the Mutual Trust Bank Limited should take necessary initiatives to arrange extensive training & development programs so that the

employees can change their attitudes and behavior for effectively communicating with the customers.

Table: 12


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

What types of account do you

have in this Bank?

Savings Account

10 10 40% 40%

Current Account

5 5 20% 20%

DPS 5 5 20% 20%

FDR 5 5 20% 20%

Others 0 0 00% 00% The researchers asked to the customers about the types of account that they are maintaining with the banks. In case of the Eastern Bank Limited, 40 percent customers answered Savings Account, 20 percent customers answered Current Account, 20 percent customers answered DPS, 20 percent customers answered FDR, and 0 ( zero) percent customers answered Others Account. Whereas, in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 40 percent customers answered Savings Account, 20 percent

customers answered Current Account, 20 percent customers answered DPS, 20 percent customers answered FDR, and 0 (zero) percent customers answered Others Account.

Table: 13


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

What is your opinion about the

communication system in this Bank?

Satisfied 10 10 40% 40%

Fairly

Satisfied

5 10 20% 40%

Dissatisfied 10 5 40% 20%

In response to the above question, 40 percent customers

answered satisfied, 20 percent answered fairly satisfied, and 40 percent answered dissatisfied in the Eastern Bank

Limited. On the contrary, in the Mutual Trust Bank Limited, 40 percent customers answered satisfied, 40 percent answered fairly satisfied, and 20 percent

customers answered dissatisfied. The above statistics indicate that the customers are more dissatisfied with the communication system of the Eastern Bank Limited than the Mutual Trust Bank Limited.

Table: 14


EBL MTBL EBL MTBL

Do you face any trouble in getting service from the

Bank?

Yes 5 5 20% 20%

No 20 20 80% 80%

The researchers asked to the customers whether they are facing any problem to get service from the bank. In response to the above question, 20 percent answered yes

and 80 percent answered no in both the banks. Since 20 percent customers are replying yes in responding to the above question so the authority of both the banks should take necessary steps to overcome the problems.

6 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings and analysis of the study, the following suggestions are recommended by the researchers to overcoming the problems relating to business communication practices of Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited with the customers:

i) The authority of Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited should ensure quality of work life for the employees so that the employees can freely exchange their views and develop their skills,

knowledge, attitudes, etc. As a result, they can provide better service to the customers.

ii) The modern sophisticated technology is required to effectively communicate with the customers. Thus,

the manager of both the banks should hire and install sufficient modern sophisticated technology in various branches of the bank so that the employees of these banks can effectively and efficiently communicate with the customers.

iii) The extensive training & development is badly of needed to develop employees’ skills, knowledge, attitudes, behavior, punctuality, discipline and so on. So, the authority of both the banks should

arrange extensive training & development programs so that the employees can change their attitudes & behavior and develop their punctuality, discipline, knowledge, etc. As a result, they can behave more smartly with the customers than past.

iv) The authority of both the banks should take quick decision to establish more ATM Booth through out the country and also to introduce evening banking activities for enhancing effective communication

with the customers.



v) The sufficient branches are essential to provide prompt services to the customers. Thus, the authority of both the banks should establish more branches throughout

the country so that the employees can provide more effective services to the customers.

vi) A quality culture needs to be developed throughout the organization. The manager can play a vital role

in this regard. Thus, the manager of both the banks should develop a quality culture throughout the

organization so that the employees and customers can easily communicate with each other for solving the problems.

In addition to these above recommendations, the researchers are developed an effective communication model for the Eastern Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited to successfully communicate with the

customers. The model is as follows.

Figure-2: Model of Effective Communication

[Source: Field Survey]

7 CONCLUSION

The banking business is one of the fastest growing business sectors in Bangladesh. It is also a very much potential sector in Bangladesh because this sector creates ample job opportunities for the educated unemployed

people. The banking business sector in Bangladesh is becoming very much competitive because the number of banks is increasing day-by-day. Thus, the competition

among these banks is increasing tremendously. The Eastern Bank Limited and the Mutual Trust Bank Limited are new generation banks of Bangladesh. They



are very much committed to provide high quality financial services to the customers. They are also very much committed to contribute to the growth of the GDP

of the country through stimulating trade & commerce, accelerating the pace of industrialization, creating employment for the educated youth, poverty alleviation, etc. To do these social and economic activities, they have

to maintain strong and effective communication systems with the various types of stakeholders and creating quality of work life for the employees.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] American Management Association, New York, USA. [2] Bangladesh Bank Website: www.bangladeshbank.org [3] Brennan, John, H. (1988), “Business Communication”, Low

Price Edition, McGraw-Hill , New York, USA, Pp. 15-20. [4] Cooper, Donald, R. and Schindler, Pamelas ( 2003), “ Business

Research Methods”, 8th Edition, Tata McGraw –Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi, India, Pp. 5-60.

[5] Durham, George () 1984), “Business Communication and Its Application”, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill Company, New York, USA, Pp. 16-20.

[6] Gow, H., and Bethy, J. (1988), “Business Communication Systems and Applications”, 3rd Edition, Bacon, Inc., Boston, USA, Pp. 5-11.

[7] Griffin, Ricky, W. (1995), “Management”, 8th Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, USA, Pp. 25-35.

[8] Ivanchief et. Al. (1993), “Business Communication: Global Perspective”, 3rd Edition, IRWIN, P. 40.

[9] Lesikar, Raymond, V. and Pettit, John, D. (1995), “Business Communication”, McGraw-Hill Company, New York, USA, Pp. 25-30.

[10] Lesikar, Raymond, V. and Pettit, John, D. (2008), “Business Communication”, IRWIN, Chicago, USA, Pp. 25-40.

[11] Lesikar, Raymond, V. and Flatley, Maric, E. ( 2007), “ Basic Business Communication”, 10th Edition, McGraw-Hill Company, Boston, Chicago, USA, Pp. 25-40.

[12] Rahman, M. Ataur, Mia, Abddul, Aziz and Hossain, Md. Tanvir, (2005), “Business Communication”, 1st Edition, Commerce Publications, Dhaka, Pp. 46-53.

[13] Simon, John (1987), “Business Communication”, 3rd Edition, IRWIN, Chicago, USA, Pp. 26-35.

[14] Scott, Robert (1997), “Business Communication”, 2nd Edition,

McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, USA, Pp. 35-50.

ABR!!! “Speedy publication service, Online archives, Paperless, web-based peer

review system, Open access policy, Indexing in world known citation databases, Global circulation, Broad international readership and

authorship, Online submission system, Minimum publication charge”

Important!!!

If the responses and the revised manuscript are not submitted by the deadline, submission is deemed to have been abandoned. The

rejection of the manuscript will be conveyed to the Authors. ABR



Perceived Intensity of Stress Stressors: A Study on Commercial Bank in Bangladesh

Md. Hasebur Rahman1, Md. Kamruzzaman2, Md. Enamul Haque3, Md. Abdullah Al Mamun4, & Md. Ibrahim Molla5 1Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh 2Assistant Professor and Proctor, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh 3Lecturer, Department of Economics, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh 4Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh 5Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Job stress becomes an important agenda for managers and management scholars now a days and it will remain in future. Organizational Stress is receiving increasing attention in the academic literature and has become a salient issue for the organizations. Job life is one of the important parts of our daily lives which cause a great deal of stress. This study is an initiative to explore how does stress stressors influences on work life of employees in contemporary commercial banks in Bangladesh. Study reveals that employees perceived that long working hour and workload have perceived as top most stressors of both public and private commercial banks in Bangladesh. It is statistically significant that there is no perceived difference in stress stressors of public and private commercial bank in Bangladesh.

Key words: Job Stress, Public Commercial Bank, Private Commercial Bank, Employees, Bangladesh

JEL Classification Code: J28

1 INTRODUCTION

tress is something ordinary, unavoidable fact in anyone life, caused by many factors either at work, or

with the family at home, or at the external environment (Jarinto, 2011). According to Wilton (2011) it affects both the human resources and the management at the same time. Job stress is a new old concept, introduced

first by Selye at the beginning of the twenty century and recently became one of the most important contemporary issues in applied research, the factors that lead to stress, its' consequences and the necessary strategies to deal with distress outcomes. It is existed in the life of every

individual, within the family relations, at work and in any career, in any organization, all over the world (Akif Lutfi, AL-Balqa, 2013). There is considerable evidence that most managers and employees report feeling work related

stress (Cavanaugh, Wendy, Boswell, Mark, Roehling, Boudreau, 2000) and resent environment is making things worse. Stress is still one of the most important and serious problems facing the field of organizational behavior. Banking job is now one of the dynamic and challenging

jobs in Bangladesh. Employees of commercial bank serve banking customer at competitive pressure. Due to increasing workload, job insecurity, deadline, long working hour and pressure from management, employees

of commercial bank in Bangladesh perceived high job stress. As a result, there is much concern that stress level are on the rise, which leads to negative organizational outcomes. Employees become distress mentally and

physiologically due to high work related stress.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Stress is still one of the most important and serious problems facing the field of organizational behavior. Stress is usually thought of in negative term applied to the

pressures people feel in life .The presence of stress at work is almost inevitable in many jobs. Although there are numerous definitions and much debate about the meaning of job stress (A. Beehr, 1986). The stress itself will be affected by number of stressors. Nevertheless, Beehr

and Newman (1978) had defined stress as a situation which will force a person to deviate from normal functioning due to the change (i.e. Disrupt or enhance) in his/her psychological and/or physiological condition,

such that the person is forced to deviate from normal functioning. Stress can be comprehensively defined as an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical, psychological, and/ or behavioral deviations for organizational participants (Luthans, 2011).

Employees are exposed to different situations that can lead to stress. These factors of making individuals stressed are called stressors. Either they have bad or good impact; it depends on how the person perceives this stressor and

how much it affects his life (Sen, 2008). Ivancevich et al. (2008) and Kreitner and Kincki (2010) presented four levels of stressors in the individual life:

Individual level which consists of role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload, boredom and routine

under load jobs.

Group levels: lack of cohesiveness inside the same group and groups' conflict.

S



Organizational level: culture, organizational structure, technology, organizational change and the style of leadership.

Non work (Extra organizational) stressors: family, age, quality of life and economic factors.

According to Wilton (2011) the job stress is synchronized with bad quality of life at work, low degree of autonomy and control over individual jobs, their decisions and the work processes. Salami et al. (2010) considered instability in the

organizations' policies, rules and procedures due to continuous change, strategic alliances or acquisitions can be major stressors in any organization. According to Rue and Byars (2007), working conditions with unpleasant organizational climate, the physical environment: light,

temperature, noise and the rigidity of rules and regulations are job stressors. Role conflict according to Mansoor (2011) that is caused by multiplicity of roles and the contradictory requirements and duties between these roles, Rao and

Borkar (2012) believed that employees uncertainty of their abilities; if they had sufficient qualifications to fulfill job requirements, lack of knowledge and skills opposite to task demands will end in internal conflict and job stress. Physical

environment and how much it is convenience and fit employees' expectations. Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) and Jaramillo et al. (2011) provide insights on the interpersonal relations inside the organization, coworkers and conflict inside work groups that can range from hidden

behaviors and disagreement up to the physical harm. Applied to the work place, a large study by researchers at Cornell University of 1800 managers identified examples of “bad” stress as office politics, red tape, and a stalled career

and “good “stress as challenges that come with increased job responsibility, time pressure, and high quality assignments (HR Focus, 1999). A recent Meta –analysis found that hindrance stressors (organizational politics, red tape, role ambiguity, and in general those demands unnecessarily

thwarting personal growth and goal attainment) had a negative effect on organizational performance. On the other hand, so called challenge stressors (high workload, time pressure, high responsibility and in general those demands

that viewed as obstacles to be overcome in order to learn and achieve) were found to have effect on motivation and performance (Yerkes, Dodson, 1908).

3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study aims to obtain the following objectives:

To identify the most important factors that lead to stress for employees of commercial bank in Bangladesh.

To investigate perceive difference of stress stressors of public and private commercial bank in Bangladesh.

4 METHODOLOGY

This study mainly based on primary data originating from a survey. On the basis of preliminary questionnaire survey researchers attempt to identify factors responsible for job

stress of employees of commercial bank in Bangladesh. Long

working hour, workload family sympathy, management pressure, mental depression, deadline, poor working conditions, physiological sickness, role ambiguity and job

insecurity are identified as independent variables causing stress in work place in commercial bank in Bangladesh. Survey was investigated through 5 point Brayfield-Rothe Scale (1951) based questions. Questionnaires were served to

70 employees working in commercial bank in sample organization. The scale consists of 10 statements concerning stress stressors of commercial bank. For each statement has five options/ points such as strongly agree/ 5, agree/ 4, undecided/ 3, disagree/ 2, and strongly disagree/ 1. SPSS

Statistics software package was used for statistical analysis. Reliability of data was measured by using the Chronbach’s Alpha (Cornbach, 1951). Chronbach Alpha was 0.567 and 0.685 for public and private commercial banks respectively.

Alpha in both cases were higher than that is suggested by Nunnally (1978) and therefore data collected can be considered reliable. Descriptive statistical technique such as mean and standard deviation were used to measure the mean scores and their variability. One way ANOVA test was

used to compare score of each statement.

5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Intensity of stressors perceived by employees Table 1 represents the relative intensity of stressors perceived by employees.

Table 1 The Relative intensity of stressors

Stress

Stressors

Public Commercial Bank

Private Commercial Bank

Ranking X Ranking X

Long working hour

1 4.40 1.063 1 4.40 1.063

Workload 2 4.20 .901 2 4.20 .901

Family Sympathy

3 4.00 .907 4 3.63 1.140

Management Pressure

4 3.63 1.087 3 3.63 1.003

Mental Depression

5 3.60 1.168 7 3.03 1.098

Deadline 6 3.49 1.222 5 3.57 .917

Poor Working Conditions

7 3.17 1.294 9 2.11 1.323

Physiological sickness

8 2.71 1.426 10 2.11 1.132

Role Ambiguity 9 2.54 1.221 8 2.17 1.150

Job Insecurity 10 2.37 1.285 6 3.06 1.327

Source: Field Survey, 2013.

From the table 1 it reveals that long working hour and workload perceived as top stressors of both public and private commercial bank in Bangladesh. Interestingly mean and standard deviation are same in both cases. It indicates

inconvenient work schedule perceived by employees in commercial bank in Bangladesh Mean value of family



sympathy 4.00 and 3.63 for public and private commercial bank in Bangladesh however high variability observed in private commercial bank in Bangladesh. It indicates they

spend inadequate time for family in both cases. Mean value of management pressure is 3.63 in both type of organization. It indicates management pursue for above average performance for high profitability of business. Mean value of

mental depression are 3.60 and 3.03 for public and private commercial bank. It indicates high level of depression due to high job stress (mean value above 2.5). Mean value of deadline 3.49 and 3.57 perceived as a high stress, indicate urgency to meet deposit target, number of account to be

open, amount of loan to be sanctioned with reference to individual employees for fulfilling promotional requirements. Poor working condition perceived high stress stressors for public low for private mean vale 3.17 and 2.11

respectively. In case of physiological sickness, role Ambiguity public commercial bank is slightly higher than private commercial bank. Mean value of job insecurity is higher for private than public commercial bank 2.37 and 3.06 mean value respectively. It indicates that public commercial

bank has high job autonomy than that of private commercial bank in Bangladesh. Therefore difference in stress intensity observed in commercial bank in Bangladesh.

Perceive differences of stress stressors This section investigates perceive difference of stress stressors of public and private commercial bank in Bangladesh. One way ANOVA test has been used to test difference in perception of employees on stress stressors of commercial bank in Bangladesh. Employees of public and private

commercial significantly of poor working condition issue (F value 11.414, p at 5% level of sig. is .001). Other stressors like workload, long working hour, deadline, job insecurity, physiological sickness, management pressure,

family sympathy, role ambiguity and mental depression alike to be same, therefor there is no significant differences observed in perception of employees of existing stress stressors of public and private commercial

bank in Bangladesh (average value of F is 2.778 and p is 0.338 at 0.05 level of significance).

6 CONCLUSION

The study identifies employees of commercial bank as one the occupational group that functions under conditions of high stress. The variables such as long working hour,

workload, family sympathy, management pressure, mental depression, deadline, poor working conditions, physiological sickness, role ambiguity and job insecurity perceived stress stressors of commercial bank in Bangladesh. There for

variability observed in public and private commercial bank in Bangladesh. Employees wellbeing psychologically and mentally depress if stress prolong over the period of time. Effective job design, healthy working environment, justifiable remuneration should be offered to employees

being motivated in competitive jobs like employees of commercial bank in Bangladesh.

Table:2 One way ANOVA

Sum of Squares df

Mean Square F Sig.

Workload Between Groups .057 1 .057 .075 .785

Within Groups 51.886 68 .763

Total 51.943 69

Long working hour

Between Groups .700 1 .700 .902 .346

Within Groups 52.800 68 .776

Total 53.500 69

Deadline Between Groups .057 1 .057 .057 .813

Within Groups 68.743 68 1.011

Total 68.800 69

Job insecurity

Between Groups 8.229 1 8.229 4.821 .032


Total 124.286 69

Physio logical sickness

Between Groups 6.300 1 6.300 3.802 .055


Total 118.986 69

Poor working conditions

Between Groups 19.557 1 19.557 11.414 .001


Total 136.071 69

Manage ment pressure

Between Groups .014 1 .014 .012 .913


Total 80.586 69

Family sympathy

Between Groups 2.414 1 2.414 2.275 .136


Total 74.586 69

Role ambiguity

Between Groups 2.414 1 2.414 1.716 .195


Total 98.071 69

Mental depression

Between Groups 3.657 1 3.657 2.712 .104


Total 95.371 69

Average: 2.778 0.338

REFERENCE

[1] Jarinto, K., 2011. Understanding Stress in Multinational Companies in Thailand. Int. Bus. Res., 4(4): 153-163

[2] Wilton, N., 2011. An Introduction to Human Resource Management. SAGE, Los Angeles, pp.: 113-419.

[3] Akif Lutfi, AL-Balqa, 2013. The Relationship between Job Stress and Nurses Performance in the Jordanian Hospitals: A Case Study in King Abdullah the Founder Hospital, Asian Journal of Business

Management, 5(2): 267-275,

[4] A. Cavanaugh, Wendy R. Boswell, Mark V.Roehling, and John W. Boudreau, 2000. “An Empirical Examination of Self-Reported Work Stress among U.S. Managers,” Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.85, pp. 65-74.

[5] A. Beehr, “The Current Debate about the Meaning of

Job Stress, 1986.” Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, Fall/Winter, pp. 5-18.



[6] Beehr, T.A. and Newman, J.E. 1978, Job stress, employee health, and organizational effectiveness: a facet analysis, model and literature review, Personnel

Psychology, 31(4), pp. 665-99. [7] Luthans F., Organizational Behavior, 1998, Eighth

Edition, Irwin -McGraw Hill, India, pp.279. [8] Sen, S., Executives and the Stress Factor. The Icfai

University Press, pp.: 39-44. 2008

[9] Ivancevich, J.M., R. Konopaske and M.T. Matteson, 2008. Organizational Behavior and Management. 8th Ed., McGraw Hill Irwin, Boston, New York, pp.: 224-227.

[10] Kreitner, R. and A. Kinicki,. 2010. Organizational Behavior. 9th Ed., McGraw Hill Irwin, Boston, pp.: 556-558.

[11] Wilton, N., 2011. An Introduction to Human Resource Management. SAGE, Los Angeles, pp.: 113-419.

[12] Salami, A.O., R.M. Ojokuku and O.A. Ilesanmi, 2010. Impact of job stress on managers’ performance. Eur. J. Sci. Res., 45(2): 249-260.

[13] Rue, L.W. and L.L. Byars, 2007. Management: Skills and

Application. 12th Ed., McGraw Hill Irwin, Boston, pp.: 348-350.

[14] Mansoor, M., 2011. The impact of job stress on employee job satisfaction: A study on telecommunication sector of Pakistan. J. Bus. Stud. Quart., 2(3): 50-56.

[15] Rao, S. and S. Borkar, 2012. Development of scale for measurement of stress and performance status of public and private sector bank employees. Indian Stream. Res. J., 2(7): 1-7.

[16] Buchanan, D. and A. Huczynski, 2004. Organizational

Behavior: An Introductory Text. 5th Edn., Prentice Hall Financial Times, Harlow, pp: 157.

[17] Jaramillo, F., J.P. Mulki and J.S. Boles, 2011. Workplace stressors, job attitude and job behaviors: Is interpersonal conflict the missing link? J. Pers. Sell. Sales Manag., 31(3): 339-356.

[18] Reported in “HR Focus”, April 1999, p.4.

[19] R. M. Yerkes and J. D. Dodson, (1908): “The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation,” Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18, pp.459-482.

[20] Cronbach L.J (1951) “Coefficient Alpha and Internal

Structure of Test”. Psychometrika. Vol. 16, pp.297-334.

ABC Journal of Advanced Research

ABC Journal of Advanced Research is a blind peer-reviewed international multi-disciplinary research journal which deals with

applied as well as theoretical issues. Paper submissions should be electronically in MS-Word form.

www.abcjar.us

ABC Journal of Advanced Research

adopts a blinded review policy. Authors

are blind to reviewers. Typically, the

review period is within 6 weeks. If

authors do not receive a decision letter

by email in 8 weeks after the

submission, the corresponding author

may send an email to inquire the status

of their submission. If you need a

shorter review period due to special

circumstances, you may request such

along with your explanation of the

situation by email; however, ABC-JAR

cannot guarantee granting the request

because high quality judgment of

scientific work in short time is a

challenge.

www.abcjar.us

Asian Business Consortium is an independent research house committed to publishing and delivering superior, Peer-

reviewed standard research

ABC-JAR? www.abcjar.us

High quality editorial board

Rigorous and rapid peer review

Open Access & high citation rate

Will apply for ISI track in the near future



Leadership Approaches and its Impact on Follower Development and Performance

Faria Kabir & Nafiza Islam

Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Stamford University Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Conceptualization and defining the term leadership as theory is still difficult. To reveal the concept of leadership one common practice can be followed that is describing leaders by using established theories and researches. The current discussion explores two aspects. First, it will show how different theories and researches rise ontological challenges to construct the framework of leadership characteristic and its meaning. Second, in terms of methodological implications whether the selected theories are enough for measuring the role and importance of leadership in Sales Management. The study also determines whether the leadership model can increase sales performance for the organization. Thus the conclusion focuses on the growing importance of positive psychology of leadership concept and its implication in Sales Management.

Keywords: Leadership, Sales Management, Transformational Leadership, Servant Leadership, Trait Approach, Behavior Approach

JEL Classification Code: D72

INTRODUCTION

eadership is one of the oldest preoccupations serving as an important driver of innovation for

thousands of years. The search of particular personal qualities and capabilities of leaders to

generate knowledge about leadership has been common thrust of human civilization. As (Kotterman, 2006) truly

stated that effective leadership remains most misunderstood and important concern of human conditions. Another scholar added that (Wood, 2005) in management studies the nature and roles of leadership

still creates a problem to understand and raised significant debate. So initially in defining leadership existing theories and researches are potential contributors. But according to Dickson, Hartog & Mitchelson (Dickson, Hartog & Mitchelson, 2003)

leadership researches are confusing and complicated because there is no such agreed definition to constrict the boundaries of leadership. Again (Kotterman, 2006) argued that the definition or theory used to define its

traits varies significantly in each study. Definition of leadership has many aspects, yet it argues that the common purpose of leadership is about influencing and creating purpose. In other words leadership is a rational process through which people together attempting to

accomplish change or make a difference to achieve a common good. Meanwhile, a true leader is one whose magnetic personality galvanize people to perform the organization goals effectively and shape the decision for the

greater good of the organization. Again the term sales management refers to the direction of sales force personnel. It is the attainment of an

organization's sales goals in an effective & efficient manner through planning, staffing, training, leading &

controlling organizational resources. Sales management can be defined as the systematic process involving the formulation of sales strategy through development of account management policies, sales force compensation

policies, sales revenue forecasts, and sales plan. Although sales management and leadership are undoubtedly two separate functions, none of them alone can bring the desired success to the organization. So both

the functions are equally important to the achievement of organizational goals successfully. The objectives of this study are,

To define the term leadership and sales management,

To determine the theory that can best define leadership characteristics,

Identify the importance of leadership in sales management,

To determine the barriers to implement leadership in sales management

The first section of this paper will shed the light on different aspects of leadership theories and research; the

second phase will highlight the significance and limitations of various theories; third section will draw the attention on specific theory for understanding the phenomena of leadership and the concluding part will justify whether the selected theory are enough to construct

the framework of leadership characteristic and also define the meaning of leadership effectively. At the later part of this paper the authors try to identify the role of leadership

L



in sales management and how different approaches are used successfully by sales leaders. Finally some recommendations are included to reduce the barriers in

implementing leadership in sales management.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This is an exploratory research about the concept of leadership and its implication in sales management. The design of this study is descriptive in nature. The efforts

have been made to construct the framework of the study is based on secondary source. To explore the concept of leadership and its impact on follower development specifically in Sales Management focused on different international refereed publications and contents of the

websites of different organizations.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Due to the variations the essence of leadership reflects many things. Authors (Wood, 2005) point out that early approaches treated leadership on the basis of individual

personality or traits which is known as the so called ‘great man’ or ‘quality approach’. Some scholars found traits are not only predictor of leadership ability so soon they investigate other variable the behavior or style of leadership as author defined (Castro, Perinan, Bueno,

2008) that leader’s influence on the work attitudes and behaviors of followers. Additionally, researchers asserted that effective leaders change their leadership style to fit the situation. Again Ayman’s contingency

approach focused on leader’s attributes or style and leaders situational favorability (Ayman, Chemers & Fiedler, 1995). The radical critique of mainstream theory and research often loss sight of the social identity and cross-cultural issues which is also focused by many

authors debates. As authors (Dickson, Hartog & Mitchelson, 2003) stressed that the variation of cross-cultural dimensions is another common issue to find differences between cultures on leadership traits,

characteristics and relationships. Consequently, in organizational context most leadership theorists used the term leadership and management interchangeably which creates further confusion. It is

true that leaders and managers both are important for organizations success because managers control and solve the problem while leaders motivate, inspire and produce potential change within organization. But (Kotterman, 2006) the ongoing debate between

leadership and management generally remains unresolved so it is also a barrier for leadership theories. Moreover, some scholars defined leadership as a process and a property. The process focus on what leaders

actually do and as a property leadership is the set of characteristics who are perceived to be a leader. Wood argued that leadership can be best understood as process rather than property or thing (Wood, 2005). The idea of ‘process’ actually conceived from the individual social

identity of leaders because leaders obtain sense from the social process which formed through the past, present events and proceed in future events. Here, the author

stressed that leaders are the outcomes of social process which also influenced the qualities of leaders. So, individual social actor is a perquisite for leadership. In the light of the above discussion it is quite challenging

to define leadership because researchers have produced various opinions regarding leadership. As the author provides a true opinion in this regard that ‘Some see

leadership as situational or contingent upon many factors. Others see leadership as a socially constructed phenomenon – that is, what a leader is, and what a leader does, changes as society changes over time, or as we move from one culture to

another.’ (Clegg et al 2008).

However, from the discussion we can assume that leadership encompasses many things such as personal qualities, set of behaviors they possessed from social process, leaders also depend on situations and also influenced by cultural variables. Additionally, the overall

leadership theories give us a guiding in shaping our views regarding leaders which are confusing and complex. So, it is more important to critically review whether these theories are sufficient to define leadership or any other

specific theory responsible to define the leaders?

TRAITS APPROACHES OF LEADERSHIP

The early approaches of leadership theories focused on traits of leaders and used traits profiles as framework for evolving ideas of leadership. As (Kirkpatrick, Locke, 1991)

stated that early in the 20th

century the “great man”

theories basically based on traits theories. In these theories “traits” used as leader’s specific abilities to lead. Evidence shows that there are specific set of traits that distinguish

leaders from non-leaders, which include drive, honesty, self –confidence and cognitive ability (Kirkpatrick, Locke, 1991). Wood added the identity of leaders related with a set of distinguished qualities (Wood, 2003). Another

author argued (Gill, 2003,) that effective leaders motivate and inspire people through their credibility and credibility comes from leaders honesty and competence. Additionally these traits do matter to ensure effectiveness of leaders. For instance, self-confidence plays an important

role in leader’s decision making process and help to gain others trust even when the results of decision turns out to be poor, the self-confident leader use it as a learning opportunity. Again, cognitive ability of leaders such as

intelligence can help leaders to formulate suitable strategies, solve problems and take correct decisions (Kirkpatrick, Locke, 1991). So, it can be assumed that successful leaders are not like other people and the leaders who possess the appropriate traits make successful

implementation of actions. However, these traits theories did not make assumption about whether leadership traits were inherited or acquired. During mid-century it was argued that no



traits were universally associated with effective leadership and traits are not the only influential factors for successful business leadership. A prominent theorist

perfectly concluded in this regard that “A person does not become a leader by virtue of possession of some combination of

traits” (Kirkpatrick, Locke, 1991). Sternberg and Vroom

argued that one is not simply borne intelligent, creative or specific potentials; many people with significant potential fail in some cases whereas others with lesser potential make the success. The same author also point out that sense of intelligence makes leaders to analyze

and evaluate decisions but good analyst is not necessarily a good leader (Sternberg, Vroom, 2002). Thus traits theories give no guidance as to how much of any traits a person should have. Most of these traits are really

pattern of behavior. In other words, rather than trying to figure out whom effective leaders are, researchers tried to determine what effective leaders do which are not enough to draw the actual meaning of leadership.

BEHAVIOR APPROACHES OF LEADERSHIP

Again, the behavior theorists tried to identify consistent

relationships between leader’s behaviors and employee response. The managerial grid theory of Blake and Mouton assumed that leadership effectiveness depends on two factors, they are concerned for people who focused

human aspects or attitudes towards employees (friendship, helping co-workers) and concern for production emphasized

on job centered leaders (greater output, cost effectiveness)

(Bernardin, Alvares, 1976). Moreover, Ohio State Studies also highlighted leadership dimension as consideration (task centered) and initiating structure behaviors

(employee centered) which are also similar of the concept of managerial grid theory (Bernardin, Alvares, 1976). These theories focused leaders effectiveness depends on ideal style of behavior. So, one conclusion can drawn from

the both studies is that leadership style might not be one-dimensional. Both task oriented and employee oriented are crucial factors for superior performance. Consequently, Oshagbemi argued that leadership behavior theory creates confusion and appeared to be

directionless because these theories put little consideration on both personal and organizational variables (Oshagbemi 2008). So the author asserted that it is useful to investigate the impact of the personal and

organizational variables on leadership style rather considering only leaders behaviors. He explained that personal variables like age, gender, education are also important determinate. Education influences people values, wants; on the other hand age affects a leader’s

level of performance. More specifically, in comparing leadership styles and behavior between older workers and younger workers, evidence shows that younger workers are more willing to take risks and adjust with

new initiative than older workers whereas older workers take minimum risks and use past experience in order to

analyze new initiatives (Oshagbemi 2008). He stated that organizational variables such as size, type, hierarchy also can be used for effective organizational leadership

(Oshagbemi 2008). But still the variables are not enough to define the leadership properly. However, researchers and authors using the traits and behavioral approaches showed that effective leadership depended on many

factors. Unfortunately no one trait was common to all effective leaders. No one style or behavior was effective in all situations. In this case, attention turned to the study of situation and contingency model where leaders are assumed as the product of given situations.

CONTINGENCY & SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Some scholars stressed on contingency model and evaluation of situational leadership due to conceptual ambiguous theories. Authors argued leadership behavior theories overemphasize leader’s performance ability. In

operation level relationship behavior creates difficulties. For instance, if the leaders spend a lot of time for convincing people for high relationship behavior it will cause inefficient use of leaders time (Graeff, 1997). Fielder’s contingency theory predicts two assumptions

(a) the leader’s basic motivational orientation (formally referred as leadership style) and (b) the degree to which the situation gives the leader control and influence (formerly referred to as situational favorability). The

leaders orientation measured by scale referred as “least preferred coworker” (LPC) scale which used to identify the internal state of leader (Ayman, Chemers, Fielder, 1995). Fielder also added that it is conceptualized that leaders sense of influence and control afforded by the

situation and the component of situation are leader-membership relationship, task structure and position power (Ayman, Chemers, Fielder, 1995). Thus the theory suggests that leadership style is essentially fixed and

cannot change. Leaders cannot change their behavior to fit in a particular situation because the components of situation have been identified as contributors to a sense of predictability and control.

Similarly in Path-goal theory of leadership as part of contingency approach House focused the situational factors of personal characteristics of subordinates and environmental characteristics of workplace (Graeff, 1997). Path-goal theory emphasized that effective leaders

helps to understand the employees, that they can fulfill their needs and expectation through job performance whereas commitment of providing employees sufficient feedback to complete the job is also an important factor

for leaders effectiveness (Graeff, 1997). Thus it is possible that individuals can learn how to diagnose a leadership in different situations. But contingent and situational theories often confusing, ambiguous and incomplete because the practitioner who

attempt to apply situational leadership in the workplace



may notice the conflicting guideline for the same situation which is difficult to implement (Graeff,1997).

TRANSFORMATIONAL, TRANSACTIONAL &

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Transformational and transactional leaders are individuals who have an exceptional impact on their organizations. According to Grisoni and Beeby, transformational leadership is a process with the

individual capacities to satisfy the followers’ needs for inspiration and empowerment, whereas transactional leadership also ensures followers’ effectiveness through contingent rewards. Evidence shows that

transformational leadership has a positive relationship with follower’s development and performance whereas transactional leaders provide feedback, help to clarify desired outcomes from followers in exchange of rewards (Dvir, Avolio, Shamir, 2002). Consequently, authors

addressed that there is an interesting relationship within the theory of transactional and transformational leadership. This interesting relationship is denoted as “falling dominoes effects” where the authors explain that

transformational leadership is found in top-level in the organization because high-level leaders act as change

agents through strategic decisions. In contrast, middle and first-level leaders are transactional leaders who bring the changes through daily activities rather than strategic events (Oshagbemi,

2008). Another authors argued ( Vera, Crossan, 2004) that transformational leadership builds on transactional leadership. It implies that leaders possess both transactional and transformational behaviors and use both of them when needed. Therefore, it becomes

difficult to assess value laden leadership but it is evident that both leadership styles play a crucial role for contemporary thinking of leadership. Consequently, the emerging servant leadership theory

appears more relevant and timely in the above value laden leadership approach which highlighted that servant leaders not only provide service but also serve the people with total commitment. At the same time this model consists of six different dimensions such as

voluntary nature of service, accountability and leading accurately; treating all followers equally and building personal bond marked by shared values, showing ethical justification and higher ideals, and promoting spiritual

values and successfully interconnect internal and external world and finally positively transformed organizations and societies (Sendjaya, Sarros, Santora, 2008). Thus the above theories have played an important role in

the development of contemporary thinking about leadership. But when we are dealing with complex social systems composed of complex individuals, where relationships are consistently predictable, certainly no

formula for success are dependable. So some author’s

argued that leadership is socially constructed and others focused leadership in cross-cultural context.

SOCIAL IDENTITY & CROSS-CULTURAL LEADERSHIP

Since leaders are social actors, self identity of leaders are

influenced by the social factors. At the same time leaders also deals with the diverse people from different social groups those who possessed dissimilar values, norms, attitudes. So it is important to understand the impact of

social context on leadership. Authors identified that leadership requires not only a set of characteristics but also a property of a social system where leaders and followers share the process of enacting relationship (Gioia, Brown, 2002). Mason et al. emphasized on

identifying groups within a social power structure where no group is holding equal status within a particular societal context. So leaders may face challenges to deals with the members of social identity groups who have

been divided by race, religion, ethnicity, class (Mason, Ruderman, Weber, Ohlott, Dalton, 2007). Evidence shows that when societal conflicts occur between social identity groups within organizations leaders play the crucial role. It seems that organizational members turn to

leaders for help because leaders are socially attractive to group members and they are strong influence on others. Group support with greater social status and prestige

also increase the leader’s power to influence (Mason,

Ruderman, Weber, Ohlott, Dalton, 2007). Although another author strongly emphasized on the role of individual social actor which is considered as

prerequisite of leadership, but the main drawback of social process often seem inexpressible and mysterious, and this theory focus more “I” context of leaders which creates a further problem to understand socially

constructed leadership (Wood, 2005). Similarly, it is rational to think that cultural differences will significantly influenced leadership traits and relationship with followers. So, several theorists have examined cross-cultural context of leadership. Authors

defined (Dickson, Hartog, Mitchelson, 2003) the framework for studying cultural dimensions of leadership includes Schwartz, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, GLOBE study. But it is

important to acknowledge that the leadership in cross cultural context primarily developed on the basis of Hofstede well-known study of cultural dimensions (individual-collectivism, masculinity-feminity, uncertainty

avoidance, and power-distance and future orientation). For in-depth understanding of cross cultural context of leadership we can focus on specific example that is

“power distance” where scholars identified that in high power distance cultures the leaders are more rely on

organizational rules and policies for laminating order and productivity (Mason, Ruderman, Weber, Ohlott, Dalton, 2007). Additionally, the GLOBE study demonstrated that cultures that are relatively high on



power distance like Mexico and Taiwan prefer directive leadership whereas cultures relatively low on power distance such as United States and South Korea,

participative leadership had positive effects on job satisfaction and commitment (Dickson, Hartog, Mitchelson, 2003). Therefore, it is evident that border aspects of cultures shape leaders behaviors, traits which

equally important to framing leadership at the same time authors noticed that cross cultural leadership still confusing because researchers focused comparison of leadership in different cultures but less concentrated with low leaders interact with cross cultural context (

Dickson, Hartog, Mitcheison, 2003). Thus, the notion of leadership evolves with various concepts. So we can define leadership as process, because leaders influence to shape the groups or

organizational goals, motivate behavior toward the achievement of those goals and define group or organizational culture. On the other side leadership is property and process because it includes is set of characteristics or behaviors of individuals which are

essential to be a leader in considering social and cultural influences. More specially, “the leaders exists to serve those

whom he nominally leads and for those who supposedly follow him” and the main principal aim of leaders is helping the

efforts of followers so that they can fulfill their goals and ensure success (Fondas, 1997). Now we can conclude that all the leadership theories plays an important role for framing the concept and

characteristics of leadership but if we review the inherent drawbacks of each theories creates further confusing

such as First of all the traits or “great men” approach signify that “great men were born not made” but complete

story of leadership involves more than just specifying leaders traits. Because traits are potential for leaders so to

utilize these potential leaders considers additional factors which is less focused (Kirkpatrick, Locke, 1991).

Second, behaviorist theory tried to identify consistent relationship between leader behavior and employees responses without considering situational impact

(Bernardin, Alvares, 1976). Third, the contingency model basically designed to predict group performance and focused on “leader-situation” match at the same time LPC

scale interpret that the interaction of leaders with favorable situations increase group productivity but other factors associated with productivity such as

loyalty, satisfaction, commitment are less emphasized in

this model (Ayman, Chemers, Fielder, 1995). Fourth, in situational leadership the situational variables are also confusing, controversial and logically inconsistent because it is difficult to predict appropriate guideline for

situational control (Graeff, 1997). Fifth, transactional leadership stressed on followers goals achievement but do not encourage them for their greater development (Dvir, Eden, Avolio, Shamir, 2002). So due to theses significant complexities the growing concern for positive

psychological empowerment of leadership becomes imminent in this situation. It is noticeable that psychological empowerment would enhanced through

transformational behavior. Transformational leaders can play a crucial role for stimulating transformational behavior. In spite of the major contribution of other theories discussed in this paper, the main reason of

focusing transformational leadership because the principal aspect of this theory emphasized on followers development (Dvir, Avolio, Shamir, 2002). So, it is obvious to think that if the leaders help the followers to reach the full potential and motivate them to transform

their characteristics then they can perform their best to achieve the overall organizational effectiveness. However, authors (Sendjaya, Sarros, Santora, 2008) argue that transformational leaders increased motivation and

commitment of followers which will not necessarily benefit followers, as there is nothing in the transformational leadership model that says leaders should serve followers for the good of followers. But the same authors also point out that the role of servant

leaders is to serve the followers whereas the role of transformational leaders are not only to serve the followers but also inspire them to achieve organizational goals (Sendjaya, Sarros, Santora, 2008).

But in our point of view, the transformational leadership has occupied the center stage in leadership research. But these explanations are not sufficient to build conceptual framework of leadership so the other rational facts needs to be addressed to justify the growing concern for

transformational leadership.

GROWING IMPORTANCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL

LEADERSHIP

First, transformational leadership integrate follower’s

development through motivation. Evidence shows that transformational leaders are positively associated with

motivation. It insists individual to take risks and make flexible to the changing situation (Kirk, Dijik, 2007). Furthermore, transformational leaders put extra effort to fulfill the dormant needs of followers which actually generate higher level of motivation (Dvir, Eden, Avolio,

Shamir, 2002). Second, transformational leaders has a positive impact on followers empowerment and morality

they enhance followers capacity of thinking new ideas, develop the ability of self management, these leaders can use empowerment to create a perception that followers are valuable members of the organization (Castro, Perinan,

Bueno, 2008) again authors added that transformational leaders helps to increase individuals as well as organizational moral values (Dvir, Eden, Avolio, Shamir, 2002). Third, various studies show that transformational

leaders have positive effects on attitudes and behaviors of followers. Here, attitudes refer leaders socialized charisma to attract followers and let them feel loyal, trustworthy

towards their leaders. On the other side behaviors refer



charismatic action of the leaders that develop a collective sense of mission and purpose among the followers and by utilizing effective attitudes and behaviors

transformational leaders increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees (Castro, Perinan, Bueno, 2008). Fourth, scholars suggested that if the organization transforming themselves into learning,

self-management, empowerment and ensure participative management style which considered as fundamental factors of transformational leadership theory then it will obvious that organization can increase its competitiveness (Fondas, 1997).

Figure 1: Impact for transformational leadership on

followers

Fifth, author suggested that transformational leadership behavior balance between explorations refers to (search,

variation result from decentralization, loose cultures, etc) and exploitation means (efficiency, improvement, increase control, etc) which finally helps to obtain superior performance in organization (Jansen, George,

Bosch, Volberda, 2008) the same authors also added transformational leaders carefully manage performance based incentives by recognizing and rewarding on values for fairness and trust of followers (Jansen, George, Bosh, Volberda, 2008). Finally, transformational

leadership also facilitate effective organizational learning (Vera, Crossan, 2004). So, this leadership theory ensures followers as well as organizational development.

FIND A LEVERAGE OF SALES AND LEADERSHIP

In the knowledge and information age, sales managers

need to be leaders and coaches not just organizers and controllers. There is a need to balance leadership with management, creativity with control and people with output. The information age executive needs to "create the how" by facilitating people and processes via

enlightened 360 degree leadership with a strong customer orientation. Today Sales Managers usually have two roles. First, they have to manage and administer the sales team. Second,

they are also expected to demonstrate Leadership of the sales team. Most Sales Managers are trained in the management and administration skills, but few are

taught Leadership. They are simply expected to Lead – a very poor and risky strategy. Again an essential sales leadership role is to establish a sense of purpose or vision

and clear direction. Senior sales managers are responsible for translating the overall business plan and marketing plan into a sales plan, using their own strategic analysis. Some authors recommend that a

customer portfolio analysis model, modified by an understanding of each customer's purchasing strategy (Fiocca, 1982; Rogers, 2007) should inform the sales plan. When the business landscape changes, many sales leaders try to carry on as business as usual. However,

this move leaves the business vulnerable. Instead, this is the time to reassess sales leadership and sales team. In both cases, leader’s goal is to reposition both skill sets and mindset for the emerging marketplace. That’s where

assessments can be a tremendous value. They help to get a grip on the unique gifts and talents of leadership and sales teams that are needed to leverage moving forward. In addition, they can reveal weaknesses hidden that have potential to sabotage the leader’s effectiveness. More

than ever today, business executives have to operate as both leader and follower in the daily rounds of their job. Those who study leadership begin to take more interest in the ‘psychological contract’ between leader and

followers. In other words, they began to ask what makes people prepared to follow one leader and unwilling to follow another. With few exceptions, this is as true of the corporate world as it is of military and political leaders. Aristotle noted: “He who has never learnt to obey cannot be a

good commander”. These ideas are now changing both the

way we think about leadership and the style of our leaders. This is in tune with other social and

organizational developments, including the move to more participative management and the rise of industrial democracy. Similarly, sales leaders need to take inventory of both their strengths and weaknesses, asking for support in areas in which they are weakest. Even the

best of sales managers will have a hard time going it alone in today’s market. When times get tough, there is a tendency for leaders to walk around looking like an austere, impenetrable fort, conveying strength to the

troops. This tough guy attitude only isolates leaders further by making them less approachable. Real leaders let the guards fall and open up in tough times. They acknowledge and appreciate that they need support.

ROLE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN

SALES PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

From the above discussion it has been proved that leadership is a requirement to any successful business because the nature of good leadership is that it provides important direction to an organization. But one thing

that leaders need in order to be leaders is Followers. Forcing people to be the followers will never work, but



there are things that a leader can learn, and practice and do that will make people willing to follow him or her. In sales oriented business organization sales leaders

provide the environment for solutions but not necessarily the solutions. They create solutions from the collective intelligence of the team pulling players together & planning the ability to listen to one another,

the ability to learn from one another. The successful sales leader can define a mission that inspires the sales person, set realistic expectations, develop & teach a tactical plan. Successful business leaders and sales managers understand the power of a culture and values in which

everyone understands how their work contributes to the company achievements and bottom line sales results. These leaders lead for the benefit of the company, openly sharing credit for success with their teams.

Transformational leadership engagement is a simple concept with a payoff in greater financial performance,

increased employee retention and increased productivity. These results attest to a need to be part of something great, something more than any person could

achieve alone. At its highest level through engagement leaders can help managers and their front-line employees grasp their importance through thoughtful, steady communication in various ways.

In a more competitive environment, misguided sales organizations have driven their sales teams harder and harder in an effort to meet sales performance goals, ultimately leading to burnt out and de-motivated salespeople. These disengaged employees often lead to

disengaged clients. Servant leadership can help realign the moral compass and put back on the path to higher sales performance. The proven path to servant hood is easy to follow.

Figure 2: Chaotic servant leadership model built from Patterson (2003), Winston (2003) servant leadership model.

Start by putting serving first. Turn the sales force into “passionate advocates” of supporting, advancing and meeting your goals. We can take a look of some successful organization which has already achieved

success in their sales using the servant leadership. The success of companies that are led by servant leadership should be enough to entice most sales leaders to take a closer look. AT&T and Starbucks can be uttered in this

regard. In fact, servant leadership aligns with the key model, the 4R Model of leadership. This model emphasizes that relationship with co-workers, managers, clients and peers are a first step in delivering sales Results. Starbucks was a medium-sized business

realizing healthy sales growth when its leaders started to practice servant leadership. The former CEO of

Starbucks helped build Starbucks into the world’s largest coffee chain on a culture of customer service and a

dedication to servant leadership. By serving customers,

Starbucks makes deeper connections and more sales. Starbucks shares another important lesson about servant leadership is to teach followers about how to lead themselves. Servant leaders set an example for their

followers where one guided by core values and then empowers followers to lead themselves and others. Stew Leonard (2006), the owner of a super market had developed an approach to customer service Rule#1: The

customer is always right. Rule#2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule#1! This approach toward customer has taken Leonard from a small dairy store to a highly profitable four-store supermarket in Connecticut and



New York. Basically servant leadership creates customer loyalty and increase customer lifetime value.

BARRIERS TO LEADERSHIP IN SALES MANAGEMENT

The true mark of a leader is to recognize the skills that

are already present within him/her and be able to (1) Hire the best people who possess the expected skills and (2) train the entire group to work as a team and (3) Plan to go the long way. This is true and applicable for not

only in sales management but also in every business organizations. But in doing that leaders generally faced some problems. One of the myths of leadership is the "blood & guts" idea of leaders. Leadership at one time in the development of the industrial revolution was all

about authority and command and control. But it went out the door in American business with the failures of the US car industry in the 1970's and 1980's. Richard Gorham (2003), the founder and President of Leadership-

Tools, Inc. has identified three barriers to sales that are directly related to leadership. These are: a) Attitude Barriers b) Behavioral Barriers c) Conceptual Barriers

Attitude barrier tells that employees may have poor or non-productive attitude which they are not willing to correct, and this attitude is harmful for the individual and the organization as well. The impact becomes intense

when the leader sanctions or ignores those attitudes. Behavioral barriers refer to an employee not completing sales management tasks as expected. This barrier hinders the achievement of maximum results. Conceptual barriers are the barriers that are difficult to overcome because

these are predetermined beliefs of an employee planted at a very early age of their life. Basically conceptual barriers occur when the employees’ beliefs are confronting with the existing culture in the workplace.

A survey on Male & Female Middle & Top Managers by Fortune Magazine (1995) results that 91% of women & 75% of men believed that the existence of a male-dominated corporate culture is the single most important

barrier for women. Some studies have also found some gender differences in leadership style. This gender difference reduces the productivity of female sales people when they have to work under the supervision of male, this can be same for male also. There are some

other limitations of sales leadership such as salespeople who have disruptive influence on others can create problems, conflicts of interest between sales people and leader, termination of employment, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS & CONCLUSION

Scholars rightly say indeed, that what leaders do and say as profound influence upon the world. Leaders influence others and make life fulfilling, influenced enriched and empowered. But the ongoing discussion and different perspectives of leadership theorist also throw the

challenges to develop or identify a way of conceptualization the concept of leadership where we can ask can leadership be understood in different ways?

More specifically after evaluating all the aspects of leadership theory it is confusing to develop the actual meaning. If leadership considered as trait theory then literature failed to provide enough evidence to stick to

with the trait approaches. Behavioral theory being leaders are judge from their behaviors but not from their traits. As behavioral theory wasn’t sufficient enough situation and contingency theory came up together with an emphasis upon transformational, transactional &

Servant leadership theory to envisage and implement change. To develop and help implement what came up with the positive psychological approach to leadership brining change to leadership perception. Thus could be

seen that all the theories hold equally importance though with drawbacks of its own, no matter what sort of limitations we faced but there would always remain the concept of leadership is complicating when we put it to think. But at the same time it has also seen that through

the successful use of transformational and servant leadership different organizations have already achieved successes. Even though different scholars also suggested that the existing models of leadership needs to be

extended to get better outcomes. In order to leading the sales team successfully, the leaders have to overcome these barriers. To overcome attitude barriers, the leaders’ responsibility is not to sanction or ignore this kind of attitude rather to take

necessary steps to rectify it. However, in dealing with behavioral barriers, success of sales leaders lies on teaching employees about the expected behavior (action), coach them to build their confidence and hold employees

accountable for completing the desired behaviors on a consistent basis. Again, the leaders must gather knowledge regarding the predetermined belief system of employees to deal with attitude barriers. As a mentor of

the sales team the leader must be unbiased, act like the guardian of his/her team.

REFERENCES

[1] Ayman, R., Chemers, M. M. and Fiedler, F. (1995); The contingency model of leadership effectiveness: its level of analysis, Leadership Quarterly, pp.147-167.

[2] Bernardin, H. J. and Alvares, K. M. (1976); The Managerial Grid as a Predictor of Conflict Resolution Method and Managerial Effectiveness. Administrative

Science Quarterly, pp. 84-92. [3] Brown, M. E. And Gioia, D. A. (2002); Making things click

Distributive leadership in an online division of an offline

organization. The Leadership Quarterly, pp. 397–419. [4] Castro, C. B., Perinan, M. M. V. and Bueno, J. C. C.

(2008) Transformational leadership and followers’ attitudes: the mediating role of psychological empowerment. The International Journal of Human

Resource Management, pp.1842–1863.



[5] Chrobot-Mason, D., Ruderman, M. N., Weber, T. J., Ohlott, P. J. and Dalton, M. A. (2007) Illuminating a cross-cultural leadership challenge: when identity groups collide. International Journal of Human Resource

Management, pp. 2011-2036. [6] Dickson, M.W., Hartog, D. N. D. and Mitchelson, J. K.

(2003) Research on leadership in a cross-cultural context: Making progress and rising new questions,

The Leadership Quarterly, pp.729-768. [7] Eden, T. D. D., Avolio, B. J. And Shamir, B. (2002)

Impact of Transformational Leadership on Follower Development and Performance: A Field Experiment. Academy of Management Journal, pp.735-744).

[8] Elezovic, M. (2009) The Role of Leadership in Marketing Religious Organizations. Retrieved from http://www.religionomics.com/asrec/ASREC09_Papers/Elezovic

[9] Fondas, N. (1997) Feminization Unveiled: Management Qualities in Contemporary Writings. Academy of Management Review, pp. 257-282.

[10] Gill, R. (2003) Change management-or change leadership? Journal of Change Management, pp.307-318.

[11] Grisoni, L. and Beeby, M. (2007) Leadershir, Gender

and Sense-making. Gender, Work and Organization,pp.191-209.

[12] Graeff, C. L. (1997) Evolution of Situational Leadership Theory: A Critical Review. Leadership Quarterly, pp.153-170.

[13] Kark, R. And Dijk, D. V. (2007) Motivation to lead, motivation to follow: the role of the self-regulatory focus in leadership process. Academy of Management

Review, pp. 500-528. [14] Kirkpatrick, S. A. and Locke, E. A. (1991) Leadership:

do traits matter? Academy of Management Executive,

pp. 48-60. [15] Kotterman, J. (2006) Leadership Versus Management:

What's the Difference? Journal for Quality &

Participation, pp.13-17.

[16] Oshagbemi, T. (2008) The impact of personal and organisational variables on the leadership styles of managers. The International Journal of Human Resource

Management, pp.1896–1910. [17] Rahman, A.S, Rubel, B.R, Rimi, N.N, (2007)

Leadership Practices in Successful Project Management, Stamford Journal of Business Studies,

Volume-2. July December 2007.

[18] Jansen, J. J. P., George, G., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J.and Volberda, H. W. (2008) Senior Team Attributes and Organizational Ambidexterity: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership. Journal of Management Studies, pp. 982-1007.

[19] Rennaker, M. (2005) Servant Leadership: A Chaotic Leadership Theory, Servant Leadership Research Roundtable – August 2005. Retrieved from http://www.regent.edu/acad/sls/publications/conference_proceedings/servant_leadership_roundtable/2005/pdf/rennaker_servant.pdf

[20] Schul, L.P. (1987) An Investigation of Path-Goal Leadership Theory and Its Impact on Intrachannel Conflict and Satisfaction, Journal of Academy of

Marketing Science, winter, 1987, Vol-15, No.4, 042-052.

[21] Sendjaya, S., Sarros, J. C. and Santora, J. C. (2008) Defining and Measuring Servant Leadership Behaviour in Organizations. Journal of Management Studies,pp.402-424.

[22] Sternberg, R. J. and Vroom, V. (2002) The person versus the situation in leadership. The Leadership

Quarterly pp. 301–323. [23] “Stew Leonard’s,” Hoover’s Company Records, May

1, 2006, p 104226; www.stew-leonards.com/html/about.cfm, October 2006.

[24] Vera, D. And Crossan, M. (2004) Strategic Leadership and Organizational Learning. Academy of Management

Review, pp. 222-240.

[25] Wood, P. (2005); The Fallacy of Misplaced Leadership. Journal of Management Studies, pp. 1101-1122.

CALL FOR PAPER American Journal of Trade and Policy (AJTP) is an

open-access, peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal which seeks articles from any broad theme of

international trade. AJTP features reports on current developments in international trade as well as on related policy issues. The digital online version is

published by AJTP, and the hard copy (print) version is

published by Asian Business Consortium, USA.

Website: www.ajtp.us

Engineering International (EI) is a peer-reviewed multi-

disciplinary international journal devoted to academic advanced research in engineering disciplines. It specializes in the publication of comparative thematic issues as well as individual research articles, review essays, and book reviews. Committed to disseminating rigorous scientific research to the widest possible audience, EI is fully and

freely accessible on line. Published by Asian Business

Consortium, USA. Website: www.j-ei.us

Important!!!

If the responses and the revised manuscript are not submitted by the deadline, submission is deemed to have been abandoned. The rejection of the manuscript will be conveyed to the Authors.



Electronic-Banking Services: A Study on Selected Commercial Banks in Bangladesh

Md. Motahar Hossain1, Dilara Irin2, Md. Shajedul Islam3, & Sumi Saha4

1Senior Lecturer, School of Business, University of Information Technology & Sciences, Bangladesh 2Assistant Professor, University of Information Technology & Sciences, Bangladesh 3Lecturer, School of Business, University of Information Technology & Sciences, Bangladesh 4Lecturer, Accounting and Information System, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

E-Banking as the wave of the future, provides enormous benefits to consumers in terms of cost of transactions, either

through internet, telephone or other electronic delivery channels. E-Banking is now widely practiced in Bangladesh. There are various types of e-banking services like SMS banking, Tele Banking, Push and Pull services, ATM, Fast Track etc. that have been introduced by the commercial banks in Bangladesh. This study attempts to explore various forms and characteristics of e-banking and finds out the merits and demerits of e-banking in selected commercial banks of our country. The major findings of the study show that all the commercial banks selected for the study have been practicing e-banking successfully and Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. is providing electronic banking services more effectively than other commercial banks selected in this study. Besides, there is a positive impact of e-banking on the socio-economic development in Bangladesh. There should be diversification of such activities in rural areas of Bangladesh. Key words: E-Banking, ATM, Push and Pull services, and Commercial Banks

JEL Classification Code: M15

INTRODUCTION

-Banking or internet banking is the next stage in the development of banking services in Bangladesh. The banking system in the country was known for their stability and also

stubbornness. The public banks in the country always resisted to any kind of change in their working styles through strikes and walk outs. But after some vigorous training and negotiations the concept of online banking was brought into mainstream banking in Bangladesh.

This was already popular in other developed countries and with the opening up of the banking market to foreign players in Bangladesh. It was begging to be implemented in our mainstream commercial banking

systems. E-banking is viewed as the means of providing

traditional services in a modern way1. Internet banking has been so popular in the countries; it has been

implemented in so far due to certain reasons. Online Banking makes the regular transactions for a client speedy and time efficient with little or no paperwork involved. There is no need for standing in long ques any more for making a deposit or getting a withdrawal.

Banking has turned into a 24/7 service with the bank always available to their client. This especially helps the various businessmen who need the best services at any time day or night. Online banking is the need of the new

professional in this modern age who is always on the move and working and trying to succeed in a constantly changing and dynamic environment. Through online banking the bank can attract the more sophisticated

clients whose needs can now be met through the internet. Also this makes the banks competitive in the international market and against the best banks in the world. Online banking has positively affected the banks

in increasing their customer diversity and improved the quality of clients as well.

OBJECTIVES

The major objectives of the study are as follows:

To analyze the nature of e-banking activities and their characteristics in selected commercial banks in Bangladesh.

To find out the major benefits and constraints along with their impact on growth and development of commercial banks in Bangladesh.

To provide necessary suggestions for developing the system.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

E-Banking can conveniently manage all our banking

needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with online banking. This internet-based solution allows us to manage our business finance from any computer with internet access. Online banking application addresses the

needs of small, individual and corporate account holders of the bank. This application provides a comprehensive range of banking services that enable the customer to

meet most of their banking requirements over the net2.

E



Internet banking is very convenient as the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages. There are many different positive aspects to e-banking. One of them is that we can

do our banking from home, without having to waste gas driving to the bank or waste time waiting in line. Most banks are eager to get us to try online banking. Check out our banking terms with regard to this option offered

by most banks. The history of online banking has always stressed convenience for the customer as well as security. Today, we can not only enjoy secured banking transactions online, but we can have our paycheck automatically deposited into our bank account and have

it available that day, instead of waiting until the check clears. In addition to getting automatic deposits, online banking transactions also include automatic bill paying. Instead of having to write a check to pay our bills, we

can have the bills that we pay each month automatically deducted from our banking account each month. Internet banking is not just concentrated on our checking account. We can also use internet banking to get a loan. There are some online banks that will offer us every

service that a land bank will offer only they exist only online. Some other bank also, most likely, encourages online banking and offers free features such as checking to savings account deposits, automatic bill paying,

automatic deposit and home equity loans-all with the click of a mouse. Debt management is essential when structuring our finances. Internet banking is the way of the future. We can bank from our home without having to wait a second-and best of all, online banking is free.

With the rapid development of internet, e-commerce and e-banking are ready to play a significant function in the near future in Bangladesh. The innovative opportunities should be reachable by both large and small companies.

But the right commercial and legal system is vital for the constructive augmentation of E-commerce in our country, which is the immaturity level. To ensure optimistic impact of E-banking, information structure,

cyber laws and skilled manpower along with

environmental facilities are immediately needed3. Now-a-days electronic banking is a topic of paramount

importance. Exploring the available literature it has been found that no in-depth work has been done on the topic till now. But there is a vital nexus between e- banking and economic development in the present era of globalization. So working on the topic is essential for the

greater interest of people. In fact, the work has enormous justification from theoretical and practical view points.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Mizanur Rahman4 finds that in Bangladesh, the

expansion of e-banking is beset with several infrastructural, institutional, and regulatory constraints such as inadequate availability of reliable and secure telecommunication infrastructure, absence of a backbone

network connecting the whole country, poor ICT

penetration in the banking sector, lack of skilled manpower and training facilities, absence of supportive policies, guidelines, rules and regulations relating to e-

transactions and the like. Despite the constraints, efforts by the Bangladesh Bank in modernizing the country’s payment system and commitment by the government in building ‘Digital Bangladesh’ have brought competition

among the scheduled banks to improve banking services and rapidly adopt e-banking on a wider scale. This note provides a critical overview on development of e-banking in Bangladesh and future prospects for better understanding the issue that includes concept of e-

banking, present status of scheduled banks in adopting e-banking services, and prospects of e-banking in Bangladesh on the basis of current trend in developing the ICT infrastructure in the country as well as ICT

penetration in the banking sector that follows some policy suggestions for Bangladesh Bank, Govt. of Bangladesh and scheduled banks so that optimum benefit through e-banking may be obtained. A well functioning e-banking network dependant on

availability of a backbone network is connecting the whole country reliable and secure information infrastructure including telecommunication infrastructure; ICT penetration in the banking sector;

skilled operational personnel; and legal and regulatory framework. The government, Bangladesh Bank and scheduled banks are related to these issues. Therefore, both individual and joint efforts are needed to overcome the constraints in promoting e-banking in the country.

Syed Abdulla Al Mamun and Mst. Nusrat Sharmin5 had a study on Management Information Systems (MIS) of a

Bank. They said that an effective management information system provides users with accurate, timely and relevant information to support organization functions, decision making, communication, coordination, control, analysis and visualization. Thus it provides tremendous economic

values of the various industries, particularly banking industry. The study shows that Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) uses computer based MIS in every sphere of its management and operation. It continuously up-to-date its

information systems installing real time technology to enhance its operational effectiveness as well as to meet the ever changing customer needs. The modern computer based management information system of SCB significantly contributes to its tremendous

business performance ensuring real time communication in every step of its operation. As a result, SCB, a successful multinational bank operating in Bangladesh, countries to find new and better ways to put technology to its

operation and customers’ best use. Moreover, it manages the business risks associated with its technology and investment properly. So the findings of the study can be a good lesson for the local banks and other financial institutions to adopt and manage the modern computer

based management information systems.



Shihab Uddin Khan6 wrote an article on security aspects

of E-banking: Biometric Technology. He found that an appreciation of the factors that securities encompass is important to understand security for electronic banking and related applications. For example, take a simple illustration of Bank Vault, as most would consider a bank

vault highly secure. It draws its security from number of factors. The vault is built of strong material and is located in a secure building that offers considerable physical security. Access to the vault is controlled by a

sophisticated door and locking mechanism that would require special technical skills and expensive equipment and reasonable time to breach. The physical and technical characteristics of the vault mean that it would take considerable time and resources to breach it. Since

both building and vault are protected through automated alarms, attempting to breach the vault carries significant risk of being caught. The likelihood of an attempt on vault is very low. Further, any deposits held

in the bank are not actually in the vault so that even if a robbery occurs, there is no loss of the deposits. Thus, the vault has low expected loss. Despite all these factors, from time to time, a bank vault is breached, even then

they are widely considered to be secure. Credit card is another such example as most consumers use credit cards and are reasonably comfortable in using these plastic cards. These are considered acceptably secured. The cards and card numbers contain some elements of

technical and physical security and few cards contain a picture of the legitimate credit card holder and bear the holder’s signature. Credit card companies deploy sophisticated mechanisms such as analyzing spending

patterns to detect fraud. While forging a single credit card may not require much of the organization’s resources, forging and using many cards which may generate a large loss require considerable resources. The credit card holder is protected from loss by laws which

limit the holder’s financial obligation losses. Credit card fraud is widespread and a card issuer is certain to encounter fraud, even though the instance of fraud is low compared to the total number of transactions. From

a user’s perspective, there are so many cards with widespread use that the likelihood of an individual encountering a problem is very small. Further, the lack of data and message security on the Internet has also become a serious problem due to the increasing number

of merchants trying to spur commerce on the global network. For instance, credit card numbers in their plain text form, create a risk when transmitted across the Internet where the possibility of the number falling into

the wrong hands is relatively high. Just the thought of “sniffer” programs which collect credit card numbers, en masse, is enough to keep merchants away from on-line shopping. In short, the lack of business transaction security is widely acknowledged as a major impediment

to spread e-commerce. Historically, computer security

was provided by the use of account passwords and limited physical access to a facility to bonafide users. As users began to dial in from their PCs and terminals at

home, these measures are being considered insufficient. With the advent of remote users on inter-networks for conducting commercial transactions on mobile computers and through wireless technologies, simple

password schemes are not sufficient to prevent attacks from sophisticated hackers. However, there are certain peculiarities to the issue of security. The first issue is that security is never absolute. The bank vault though can be breached but is still considered secured.

The second peculiarity of security is that there is an economic trade-off among the cost of security, expectation of loss, and the cost of breaching security. From the perspective of an organization, a taka spent on

security is justified when it reduces the expected loss by more than the same amount. When security spending reaches the point where the cost of additional security exceeds the incremental loss reduction, then it offers no more value protection and security is considered

adequate. From other perspective, security is adequate when the expected yield is less than the cost of breaching security. For rational asset holders and opponents, the notions are equivalent. The characteristics that define

security are two viz. securities are never absolute and security adequacy is an economic decision.

METHODOLOGY

The study consists of selection of sample, nature and sources of data, collection of data and characteristics of analysis followed:

Sample Selection: Sample of the study includes four commercial banks like Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd.,

Mercantile Bank Ltd., Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. and BRAC Bank Ltd. Banks are selected on the basis of availability of data and convenience in data collection.

Nature and sources of data: The study is based mainly

on secondary data like annual reports of the selected commercial banks, relevant research studies done earlier, and publications of Bangladesh Bank.

Major characteristics of analysis: The following aspects

of information are highlighted: 1. Various forms of E-Banking like SMS banking, Tele

banking, ATM, Internet banking etc.

2. Benefits and constraints of E-Banking such as mobile banking, fast track, ATM services and the absence of ‘touch feel’ factor, lack of skills and training, cultural changes etc.

3. Different services provided by the commercial banks like cash withdrawal, bill payment, quick fund transfer etc. through automated system.

4. Managerial performance such as equipping human resources, central MIS, automated clearing house etc.



MAJOR FINDINGS

Now-a-days State owned commercial banks (SCB), Private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs) follow modern technology in e-banking services. The significant features of such

services are as follows:

Automated Teller Machine (ATM): An automated teller machine (ATM), also known as a automated banking

machine (ABM) or Cash Machine and is a computerized telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the assistance of bank’s cashier or bank teller. In most of the modern ATMs, the

customer is identified by inserting a plastic card which is known as ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastics smart card with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an

expiration date etc. Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN). Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals, credit card cash advances, and check their account balances as well

as purchase prepaid cell phone credit. If the currency being withdrawn from the ATM is different from that which the bank account is denominated in (e.g.: Withdrawing Japanese Yen from a bank account

containing US Dollars), the money will be converted at a wholesale exchange rate, Thus, ATMs often provide the best Possible exchange rate for foreign travelers and are

heavily used for this purpose as well 7.

SMS Banking: SMS Banking is a service that allows customers to access their account information via mobile

phone. SMS Banking services are operated using both push and pull messages. Push messages are those that the bank chooses to send out to a customer’s mobile phone, without the customer initiating a request for the

information. Pull messages are those that are initiated by the customer, using a mobile phone, for obtaining information or performing a transaction in the bank account. Customers who maintain an account, with its bank, can have access to internet banking facility

provided by that bank. But he/she has to enroll for these services. Usually, the common services like Account balance Inquiry, Transaction Inquiry, Cheque status Inquiry, Password Change, Transfer fund between own

accounts within the bank, Mini Statement, Requisition for cheque book etc. being provided by SMS Banking.

PUSH & PULL Services: Push messages are those that

the bank chooses to send out to a customer’s mobile phone, without the customer initiating a request for the information. Typically push messages could be either mobile marketing messages or messages alerting an event which happens in the customer’s bank account,

such as a large withdrawal of funds from the ATM or a large payment using the customer’s credit card etc. Another type of push message is One Time Password

(OTPs). OTPs are the latest tool used by financial and banking service providers in the fight against cyber fraud. Instead of relying on traditional memorized

passwords, OTPs are requested by consumers each time they want to perform transactions using the online or mobile banking interface. When the request is received the password is sent to the consumer’s phone via SMS.

The password is expired once it has been used or once its scheduled life-cycle has expired. Pull messages are those that are initiated by the customer, using a mobile phone, for obtaining information or performing a transaction in the bank

account. Examples of pull messages for information include an account balance enquiry, or requests for current information like currency exchange rates and deposit interest rates, as published and updated by the

bank. The bank’s customer is empowered with the capability to select the list of activities (or alerts) that he/she needs to be informed. This functionality to choose activities can be done either by integrating to the internet banking channel or through the bank’s customer

service call centre.

Typical push and pull services offered under SMS Banking: Depending on the selected extent of SMS

banking transactions offered by the bank, a customer can be authorized to carry out either non-financial transactions, or both financial and non-financial transactions. SMS banking solutions offer customers a

range of functionality, classified by push and pull services. Typical push services would include - Periodic account balance reporting, Reporting of salary and other credits to the bank account, Successful or un-successful

execution of a standing order, Successful payment of a cheque issued on the account, Insufficient funds, Large value withdrawals on an account, Large value withdrawals on the ATM or EFTPOS on a debit card, Large value payment on a credit card or out of country

activity on a credit card and One time password and authentication. On the other hand typical pull services include - Account balance enquiry, Mini statement request, Electronic bill payment, Transfers between

customer’s own accounts, like moving money from a savings account to a current account to fund a cheque, Stop payment instruction on a cheque, Requesting for an ATM card or credit card to be suspended, Dc-activating a credit or debit card when it is lost or the PIN is known to

be compromised, Foreign currency exchange rates enquiry and Fixed deposit interest rates enquiry. There is a very real possibility for fraud when SMS banking is involved, as SMS uses insecure encryption and is easily

spoof able supporters of SMS banking claim that while SMS banking is not as secure as other conventional banking channels, like the ATM and internet banking, the SMS banking channel is not intended to be used for very high-risk transactions.



Technologies employed for SMS banking: Most SMS

banking solutions are add-on products and work with the bank’s existing host systems deployed in its computer and communications environment. As most banks have multiple backend hosts, the more advanced SMS banking systems are built to be able to work in a

multi-host banking environment; and to have open interfaces which allow for messaging between existing banking host systems using industry or de-facto standards. Well developed and mature SMS banking

software solutions normally provide a robust control environment and a flexible and scalable operating environment. These solutions are able to connect seamlessly to multiple SMSC operators in the country of operation. Depending on the volume of messages that

are required to be pushed, means to connect to the SMSC could be different, such as using simple modems or connecting over leased line using low level communication protocols (like SMPP, UCP etc.).

Advanced SMS banking solutions also cater to providing failover mechanisms and least-cost routing options.

Tele-banking: Tele-banking is a form of remote banking

which is essentially the delivery of branch financial services via telecommunication devices where the bank customer can perform retail transactions by dialing a touch-tone telephone or mobile communication unit,

which is connected to an automated system of the bank by utilizing Automated Voice Response (AVR) technology. Tele-banking has been introduced in Bangladesh since 1990s. The use of Tele- banking is easy and confidential. All you need is a push button

telephone, your account number, and Personal Identification Number (PIN), which you select on your first call and can change at any time. Tele-banking provides services like Checking account balance, Interest

rates related information etc8.

BANK WISE SCENARIOS OF E-BANKING SERVICES

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited is running in its 15th year of

operation in the country with a countrywide branch network of 126 branches and nearly 1.5 million customers. It has setup country's largest ATM network comprising of more than 2200 ATMs at the end of 2012.

DBBL has Introduced Fast Tracks for the first time in the country to ensure better and wider range of services to the customer. Within six months, the number of Fast Tracks has reached at 50. DBBL has also launched the first ever e-payment gateway of the country which is

expected to bring a change in the online purchase and other services dramatically. All these have been possible with the help of a well-trained, highly professional work force and a strong IT infrastructure. To run all the

services smoothly DBBL has invested a substantial amount in developing its IT backbone.

Upgradation of Core Banking Software: The truly

online core banking software, Flexcube has been running

since 2004. In the meantime, the number of customers, accounts, ATMs, Point of Sales (POS) terminals and cards has increased significantly. To ensure better

customer service, the bank is upgrading its core banking software from its present version to Flexcube Universal Banking Solution (UBS). In parallel, the whole setup of hardware is being upgraded to cope with the increased

volume of transactions from different delivery channels. The core team formed in this regard is working day-night in configuring & testing of the new system which is expected to go live soon.

Upgradation of Switching Software: A remarkable

percentage of transactions of DBBL are performed using the most popular delivery channel ATM. As such, it is equally important to have strong switching software to

handle different types of transactions as well as high volume of transactions. Considering this, the bank is upgrading its switching software too. The upgraded software will not only ensure better and quick response

to the requested transactions, it will also be capable to handle EMV transactions. All the ATMs and POS terminals of DBBL are EMV-compliant. The EMV security policy has been introduced by Europay,

MasterCard and VISA jointly to protect capturing card data and duplication of a card. DBBL has introduced BMV compliant chip based Mastercard cards and VISA Cards for the first time in Bangladesh which is the most secure card in the world. The ATM/POS networks of the

DBBL are also EMV compliant and accept the cards like EMV compliant chip cards of all the banks in the world, Non-EMV Visa & MasterCard cards of banks in the world and DBBL's proprietary cards (Nexus).

DBBL has put its level of innovation and standard of customer support to a new height by setting another milestone in the history of banking sector by adding two units of Mobile ATM booths to its existing ATM network. DBBL has become the first bank in the country

to provide such unique service and convenience to the customers.

Mobile Banking: Around 87% of the total population of

Bangladesh is un-banked. To bring such a huge population into the banking channel, DBBL is implementing a system of mobile banking successfully. With this facility any person having a mobile number is

able to use his number as a bank account. In this mobile account customers can get the services like Cash deposit to any Agent of DBBL, Cash withdrawal from any Agent of DBBL, Cash withdrawal from DBBL ATMs, Funds transfer to another mobile account, Utility bill payment,

Tuition fee payment, Air time top-up, Receive remittance from home and abroad, Salary disbursement, Disbursement of Govt. allowances, Merchant Payment and Balance Inquiry.

Automated Teller Machine (ATM): DBBL has the largest ATM network in the country. As on 31st December, 2010, they have installed 1100 (eleven



hundred) ATMs throughout the country. Customers get various types of services in these ATM booths like Cash Withdrawal, Balance Inquiry, PIN Change, Funds

transfer (within accounts), Mini statement, Cheque Book Request, Statement Request, and Bill Payment for different credit cards, Electricity Bill etc. Customers of other Banks can enjoy the DBBL ATM

facilities with some conditions. Eighteen other banks are connected with DBBL ATMs like Southeast Bank, The City Bank, United Commercial Bank, Standard Bank, Mercantile Bank etc. In the month of December, 2010 the total number of Cash withdrawal from ATMs was 230

million and the corresponding amount of withdrawal was Taka 13.20 billion.

Fast Track: To provide uninterrupted quick and faster

service, the bank has introduced Fast Tracks (FT) in the country. These FTs are comprised of several ATMs, Deposit Kiosks and Customer Service help desk officers. The customers have the facility to deposit cash or

cheque, withdraw cash, pay utility bills etc. at the FT. DBBL has setup 50 FTs within 6 months of introducing it. The major activities of FT are summarized below:

Cash Withdrawal: Customers can withdraw money from

any of the 6 -10 units of ATMs installed at FT. The ATMs are powered from different UPS and linked to Data Center through various link providers which created

redundancy for power failure and network problem. Again due to multiple ATMs at FT, further redundancy has been ensured for ATM disorder. Cash shortage and Cash jam. These ensure that a customer will be able to withdraw money from ATM at FT without failure. On

the other hand, presence of an officer at FT helps the customer to solve any ATM related problem such as

Cash/Card capture9.

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited is operating its banking operations through electronic network and

performing the following services successfully:

Working Paradigm of ICT of IBBL: To accelerate customer service and to offer new products through

embracing innovative technologies and ideas, IBBL has always been a front runner. It has always used these products and services to make banking easier & simpler and to make the Bank totally IT driven through full

automation. To list a few of the achievements, the Bank has online connectivity to its all branches having dual connectivity at all major & city branches, which is the largest online banking network amongst all Banks. Its

Data Centre is the largest in the Banking sector of the country. Remittance Card is already available for beneficiaries of foreign remittance earners and the Bank will very soon introduce its own Islamic Credit Card (Khidmah Card) & different Pre-Paid Cards along with

existing ATM (debit) Card.

Core Banking System of IBBL-eIBS (Electronic Integrated Banking System): IBBL is the first and only

Bank in Bangladesh to possess in-house developed, fully fledged Core Banking System-elBS. It is based on open source technologies and most secure Database

Management System, ORACLE. All banking modules have been fully integrated in elBS running at all branches including SME branches and Rural Development Scheme (RDS).

Online Banking: Presently, IBBL possesses the largest online banking network in the country. All branches including Agriculture Branches are under online

connectivity using Fibre Optics and Radio Links with 117 branches having dual connectivity to provide seamless ‘Any Branch Banking’ to the clients. On an average, nearly 23000 transactions; per day are now performed by the Branches with volume of approx. Tk.500 crores using

on line remote deposits and withdrawals.

ATM network with other ATM networks: Since 2001,

IBBL started for providing ATM service to its customers from 55 branches through a consortium of financial organizations using 3rd party ATM service provider. On an average, nearly 10,000 transactions with withdrawal of more than Tk.7 crores are now done per day.

Remittance Card has been rolled out into service. Customers now can perform full or partial withdrawal of their foreign remittance amount either from IBBL ATMs or branches using Remittance Card. After joining world’s

largest retail electronic payment network-VlSA as a principal member last year, the Bank is now focusing to rollout VISA enabled debit cards and Shari’ah complaint Credit Card (Khidmah) which can be used at any global e-outlets (ATMs and POS).

Online Data Centre (DC) & Disaster Recovery Site: IBBL has the country's largest Data Centre in the Banking sector running on Sun Solaris 10 and Oracle l0g Enterprise Edition wherein Branch data are uploaded

incrementally from all the branches. These data are used as backup for emergency situations & MIS report preparation for different Wings/Divisions/Departments of Head Office. Currently, the DC setup is being extended to incorporate new systems, hardware and

other components. Restructuring of the existing WAN architecture is going on as well with provision of ‘automatic failover’ which will automatically connect a branch to the IBBL WAN using alternative connectivity

in case the default one goes offline. IBBL has a Disaster Recovery Site (DRS) at a separate place as per the guideline of Bangladesh Bank which acts as a replication establishment of the bank’s existing Data Center.

Internet Banking (iBanking) and SMS Banking: For

past couple of years, IBBL put emphasis on alternate delivery channels like iBanking and SMS Banking to take banking services to the doorsteps of the customers and

started some related services. Now, the Bank offers a range of Internet Banking (iBanking) & SMS Banking Services to its customers.



Equipping Human Resources: IBBL, by now, has

accomplished the vision of ‘one man one computer’ status. The total workforce of the Bank is now equipped with computer. And whenever new recruits are engaged in service, they are being provided with computers as per requisition.

Central MIS: IBBL has built a strong Central MIS for the Bank. It now contains necessary information (i.e. Branch Accounts & General Ledger (GL) related, Zone level,

Central level information) for perusal of the Management & other bodies including Internal Control & Compliance Wing, Shari’ah Secretariat and Zonal offices for supervising and monitoring related issues.

BACH (Bangladesh Automated Clearing House): IBBL has developed a system (as per guidelines of Bangladesh Bank) required for BACH operations. Through its

implementation, same day clearing of instruments is now possible. The System has been deployed to 77 branches of IBBL that have BACPS (BACH) in operation.

BEFTN (Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer

Network): IBBL has been one of the few banks to develop own BEFTN system as per guidelines of Bangladesh Bank. Now, all branches of IBBL are capable

of sending and receiving electronic funds through BEFTN. Everyday huge amount of third bank remittance and dividend/refund warrant are paid using this system which is also capable of providing person to person (P2P), business to business (B2B), and person to business

(P2B) payments.

BRAC Bank Limited is one of the pioneers in electronic

banking service provider in Bangladesh. The bank has begun its operations since July 4, 2001. At present the bank has 86 braches, 70 SME service centers, 140 zonal offices and 400 unit offices of SME. The primary

objectives of the bank are to carry out on all kinds of banking businesses. BRAC Bank provides the following services through internet.

SMS Banking: BRAC Bank is providing banking

services through mobile SMS. The services include-Instant Account balance & mini statement, Fixed deposit maturity alarm, High value transaction alert, Accounts

status charging alert, Welcome alert (for account opening), Payment (loan) failure alert and Cheque clearing failure alert etc. The benefits of SMS banking are as follows:

Simple & Convenient: With SMS Banking, the bank

sends statement to a customer by mail through internet. Once a customer becomes a member of SMS Banking, he/she will have 24-hours access to the key financial

information of his/her account.

Push & Pull: Through BRAC Bank SMS Banking, customers will be able to access their account's current

information like balance, last few transactions and a range of other financial information. These services

available for GrameenPhone, Banglalink, Warid and AKTEL subscribers.

Easy to Apply: To sign up for SMS Banking, all the

prospective customers need to fill-out the enclosed form and submit it to their nearest branch.

Phishing: Phishing is the process of collecting User

Name / Account Number / Account Details / Credit Card No / Expiry Date / Pin / Password and other sensitive financial information over the Internet with

malicious intent. Fraudsters tries to disguise themselves as genuine company and sends e-mail, Pop Ups, Instant message to clients of financial service providers. They request clients to provide them with various crucial

account information promising a better service, free gifts or promotional activities. As soon as information entered in these link web sites they are stored and used for

fraudulent purpose by the hackers11.

Mercantile Bank Limited emerged as a new commercial

bank to provide efficient banking services and to contribute socio-economic development of the country. The Bank commenced its operation on June 2, 1999. The Bank provides a broad range of financial services to its

customers and corporate clients. The Board of Directors consists of eminent personalities from the realm of commerce and industries of the country. The bank is operating with 86 branches through countrywide. It has set up 100 ATM network to provide better customer

services. The following e-banking services are practicing by the bank.

Online Banking: Online Banking has been activated in

all Branches of the Bank from January 01, 2006. Online service is now available for all customers - Both Cash deposit and withdrawals, Cheque Deposits and Transfer in CD, SB, STD, Loan accounts (Cheque Bearing within

limit) and Monthly Savings Scheme (MSS).

Mobile Banking: Like in many other countries, people in Bangladesh started believing in mobile banking. With

the approval of Bangladesh Bank, MBL is going very speedy to introduce mobile banking throughout the country. In Mobile Banking system, basic mobile handsets are being used as bank accounts and will serve

as a wallet for the transaction of money, especially for the un-banked people. As 99 percent of the people of Bangladesh are under the mobile phone network, almost all will have access to the formal financial channel. If the banks can reach out to the un-banked people, the dream

of more people having bank accounts can be fulfilled. For successful launching of the mobile financial services, MBL has renovated its Card Division and renamed it as “Card and Mobile Banking Division”. A Mobile Banking

Team is working under the “Card and Mobile Banking Division” to successful initiation of Mobile Banking Service.

SMS Banking: With the passage of time, life style

undergoes changes. To keep pace with changes, MBL



encourages to SMS Banking Service regarded as one of the most up-to-date banking services in Bangladesh. SMS banking service is convenient, safer, cheap and faster.

One can access it at any time. MBL’s SMS banking service offers services such as Access to account balance,

Last 3 transaction inquiry, Cheque status inquiry, etc12.

BENEFITS OF E-BANKING

E-banking is now a global phenomenon. Apart from the developed countries, the developing countries are experiencing strong growth in e-banking. Internet banking in South Korea has increased at a rapid pace.

South Korea is also leading in online brokerage and mobile banking. In Southeast Asia, internet banking is also developing rapidly in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore and to a lesser extent in the Philippines. In Nepal, ATMs are the most popular electronic delivery

channel for banking services but only a few customers are using internet banking facilities. Among others, Nepal’s commercial banks have adopted credit card, tele-banking, and SMS-banking.

With the increasing popularity of the internet, more and more industries are seeking ways to utilize this popular medium in an effort to keep up with the changing technological preferences of their customers. These days

we can do just about anything online from grocery shopping to making a free phone call to a friend in Tokyo through our PC. The possibilities of the internet are seemingly endless and the banking industry has decided that it will not be left behind. While most people

have at least heard of online banking, the majority of them have probably not tried it yet. Maybe it's because we find more comfort in working with real people and real paper when it comes to money matters rather than

performing transactions in the seemingly impersonal universe of the World Wide Web. Whatever the case may be, there are both advantages and disadvantages to online banking. This article will outline these advantages and disadvantages so you can either feel justified in your

fears or see online banking as a safe way to quickly and

efficiently manage your finances13. First, online banking is convenient. It allows you to

perform transactions, pay bills and check balances 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The bank virtually never closes because it is as accessible as our PC or laptop computer. No matter where we are in the country or in

the world, we can visit our online bank and handle money matters. We can even schedule to pay several payees ahead of time rather than keeping up with paper bills or trying to remember when to visit a payee's web site to make an online payment. Our bank will

automatically send the payments on our behalf in the amounts and on the dates specified. Second, online banking is fast, efficient and effective. Through the internet, transactions are typically performed

and executed at a faster rate than ATM's. In addition, online

banks give you the ability to handle several bank accounts (checking, savings, CDs, IRAs, etc.) from one site. The majority of banking sites are also compatible with programs

like Quicken and Microsoft Money, so as to allow for more effective management of assets.

LIMITATIONS OF E-BANKING

The main issue for most people is that of trust. We may wonder if our transaction went through successfully or if

we clicked on the correct button. The best way to overcome this uneasiness is to make a habit of printing the transaction receipt. Keep this receipt until our bank statement or online account view confirms that we have successfully executed the transaction. Online banking sites can also take a while to

start up and can be difficult to learn at first. Some banks require customers to provide some form of photo identification in addition to signing a form at one of their branches. Spouses may also have to sign a power of

attorney if we both plan to access and handle our accounts together online. In addition to all of this, it may take a while to learn how to use our banking site. Most if not all banks will offer an online banking tutorial. Some even offer live customer support for online banking via chat, email, or

phone. Clearly, online banking has both advantages and disadvantages. It simplifies life for some people and for them it is frankly a better way to bank. For others it may be a little more complex and downright intimidating. In light

of these two perceptions, more and more banks are offering online banking as a viable option for their customers. Some constraints of E- Banking are stated below:

The absence of ‘touch-feel’ factor: This is the primary obstacle of E-banking. Companies especially, that

sell perishable foods and high cost items such as jewelry, antiques may never lend themselves to E-banking. It may be impossible to inspect these items adequately from a remote location.

Buyers are shaky to give their credit card detail: Consumers are still somewhat fearful of sending

their credit card number over the net. As there is no personal contact between the buyers and sellers, it is difficult to establish trust.

Small banks are unprepared for global selling: To create a website, maintain it and process orders

through net is not possible for all banks especially for those who are undersized.

The calculation of ROI (Return on Investment) is very difficult: Because technology is changing rapidly and so cost can change dramatically from initial measurement.

Lack of skill and training: These two factors can impend the implementation of E-banking in banking sector of our country.

Lack of proper commercial and legal system: Security, lack of apposite and secure payment structures and legal issues are the main concerns.



Cultural changes: The E-banking team mostly consists of young and tech savvy people, who may be in direct conflict with the old-timers of the company.

Intricate to transfer to a new database system: Difficult to integrate the existing database and transaction processing software designed for traditional commerce to a software that enables E-

banking14.

SUGGESTIONS

In order to cope with the changing world the commercial banks have to implement electronic banking system in lieu of traditional banking system. The banking sector of

Bangladesh should practice e-banking to accelerate the pace of development in the banking system in order to satisfy the customers demand in time. To provide sophisticated banking services, the commercial banks

should ensure the following aspects:

Customers’ consciousness about the modern technology should be increased significantly.

The electronic banking infrastructure should be developed with help of fiber optic backbone.

The banks have to train their staff on electronic banking to sell various products to customers.

The banks must ensure that their e-banking facilities are protected against external threats like cyber

crime.

Government should provide legal framework for electronic banking so that basic rights, such as customers’ privacy, unauthorized withdrawal of fund and customer protection can be taken care of.

The network connectivity should be developed by the commercial banks.

CONCLUSION

The government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has put a lot of emphasis on building digital Bangladesh. E-Banking is one of the most important tools to realize that national goal. At present most of the commercial

banks of our country are providing their services through internet, mobile and telephone successfully. This

is very much helpful for the economic development of the country. There are various types of services like SMS banking, Tele Banking, Push and Pull services, ATM,

Fast Track etc. that have been introduced by the commercial banks in Bangladesh. In this study we found that Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd., Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd., BRAC Bank Ltd. and Mercantile Bank Ltd. have

been providing their e-banking services successfully. Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. is providing electronic banking services more effectively than other commercial banks considered in this study. This way the financial institutions have been playing a vital role to accelerate

the pace of development of our country.

REFERENCES

[1] Khan A R, Bank Management, Ruby publications, Dhaka, P. 290, 2008.

[2] Rose Peter S., Commercial Bank Management, McGraw-Hill, New York, P. 21, 2005.

[3] Efraim Turban et al., Electronic Commerce, Addison Wesley Longman, P. 173, 2006.

[4] Rahman, M., Innovative Technology and Bank Profitability: The Bangladesh Experience, Working paper series, Research Work, Policy Analysis Unit (PAU), Bangladesh Bank, (www.banaladeshbank. org.bd), 2008.

[5] Syed Abdullah Al Mamun and Mst. Nusrat Sharmin, ASA University Review, Center for Socio Economic Research, 3rd Issue, Vol.2, No.2, 2011.

[6] Mia, Rahman and Uddin, E-banking: Evolution, Status and Prospects, The Cost and Management, Vol.35, No.1, PP. 36-48, January-February 2007.

[7] Khan A. R., Op cit, P. 294-295. [8] Rahman, M. M, E-Banking in Bangladesh: Some

Policy Implications, Policy notes, Bangladesh Bank Quarterly, January-March 2009, Bangladesh Bank.

[9] Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited, Annual Report, 2011. [10] Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, Annual Report,

2011. [11] BRAC Bank Limited, Annual Report, 2011. [12] Mercantile Bank limited, Annual Report, 2011. [13] www.wikipidia.com [14] Ali, Md. Moktar et.al, Journal of Marketing,

University of Dhaka, Vol. 10, June 2007.

Submit your next manuscript at- www.abcjournals.net ABC Journals is a unique forum to offer open access to all of its articles. Now ABC Journal’s portfolio is over nine journals, which publish both online and in print.



Asian Business Consortium

www.abcreorg.weebly.com

Asian Business Consortium (ABC) is a multi-disciplinary research, training, publishing, digital library

supporting and service house. Though founded in 2010 as the Business and Computing organization of Asia, it

was reconstituted as the ABC in 2011. It has been working for creating and nurturing talents in USA, Malaysia and Bangladesh since its inception. As ABC is going global, it intends to open offices in pAustralia, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, and other Asian countries in near future. The objectives of consortium are solely centered

round the welfare and humane attitude of the founders who enthusiastically took up this noble cause and materialized it with a view to promote research and educational activities for the encouragement of scholars to

develop their knowledge, to publish their analysis oriented scientific researches in international Journals, books, the task of organizing workshops, seminars, conferences, training, personality development programs and allied services.

In addition to research activities, ABC provides a good number of scholarships to the poor and meritorious students at various levels of education throughout the world. It plays an important role in the field of research

by funding research projects and publishing the research papers. This consortium will unquestionably become the mouth-piece of the dark horses and unacknowledged scholar whose endowed and commendable

contributions shall be provided an outlet keeping in mind the greater good of the larger society of the world. ABC runs the following international referred journals for creating a platform to share the thoughts of

professionals, scholars and academicians throughout the world.

Asian Journal of Applied Sciences and Engineering (AJASE)

International Journal of Reciprocal Symmetry and Theoretical Physics (IJRSTP)

ABC Journal of Advanced Research (ABC JAR)

Engineering International (EI)

American Journal of Trade and Policy (AJTP)

Asian Accounting and Auditing Advancement (4A Journal)

Asian Business Review (ABR)

Global Disclosure of Economics and Business (GDEB)

ABC Research Alert (Online Journal)

Each journal home page provides specific information for potential authors and subscribers. Open access policy, the quick review process, rich editorial boards and quality publications have already made ABC Journals

unique. ABC Journals are published under the direct supervisions of renowned academicians of the world.

Collaboration in Conference ABC considers high-quality conference papers for publication. Please contact us for detailed information.

Collaboration in Publishing If you like to start writing a book, propose a new journal or advertise in ABC journals, please feel free to contact us.



Asian Business Consortium is an Independent Research House Committed to Publishing and Delivering Superior, Peer-reviewed Standard Research

abcDNA Scientists The service for scientists provides easy access to global networking and collaboration. Join or start your own on-line research projects with unique identity. Find collaborators with desirable research skills and access to key equipment for your research. Perform global searches for scientists in your area of expertise. Monitor literature, case reports, conferences, patents and available grant opportunities. Visit: www.abc.us.org

abcGATE Indexation abcGATE is a journal indexing and ranking site The service for research journals' administration allows easy indexation of research journals in real time as well as online access to up to date information, statistics and analytical data. This service improves journals’ performance and the efficiency of research publishing through evidence-based decisions. abcGATE also aids in the areas of excellence through multi-parameter evaluation of scientists, research groups, divisions and faculties. Visit: www.abc.us.org

ABC Journals ABC Journals: a new era of publishing. This service helps an author to grow from a local level to a global one as well as providing complete research article publication solution. ABC Journals helps to professionally manage articles from your location and automatically delivers your contribution to our site. This service accepts peer-review and tracks manuscripts online and builds up relations with authors, reviewers and readers as well as increasing the international awareness of research publication. Visit: www.abc.us.org

Asian Business Consortium

3900 Woodhue Place, Alexandria, VA 22309, USA Email: [email protected]

Pantidalam, Kuala Lampur Malaysia


Rd 4, Shyamoli Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh


asian business review (abr)

Documents

asian business consortium

online issn

g e asian business consortium

business portals

asian university of

th issue abr

review process

online subscription