Understanding the business of bank alfalah limited - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2945 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Bank Alfalah Limited is a private type bank of Pakistan that is owned by the Abu Dhabi Group. In Pakistan, Bank Alfalah became functional in the year 1997. Initially it was started working as a public limited company under the companies Ordinance 1948. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Understanding the business of bank alfalah limited" essay for you Create order In the same year, in the month of November it started working as a bank. Bank Alfalah is a commercial bank. ÂÂ  Bank Alfalah has a partner ship with the Abu Dhabi Group that allows the bank to invest advanced and effective technology in order to widen the range of its services and products. Outside Pakistan, Bangladesh was the first place where Bank Alfalah got its establishment in 2005. Currently there are 270 branches of Bank Alfalah in more than 75 different cities of Pakistan. The head office is located in Karachi at I.I Chundrigarh Road. Some major cities where Bank Alfalah branches are located are as follows: Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, D.I.G Khan, Sargodah, Sukkar, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Murree, Attock, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Quetta. VISION: To be the premier organization operating locally internationally that provides the complete range of financial services to all segments less than one roof. MISSION: To develop and deliver the most innovative products, manage customer experience, deliver quality service that contributes to brand strength, establishes a comprehensive advantage and enhances profitability, in this way providing value to the stakeholders of the bank. FUNCTIONS: Branch banking Deposits, Remittances, Foreign trade, Lockers. Consumer banking Credit Cards, Auto loans, Home loans, Consumer durables, RTCs. Electronic Banking Telephone banking, ATMs, Online banking. Corporate banking Short/Long Term finance, Trade finance, Structured finance. Treasury Investment Money market, Forex market, Investments, Government securities, Correspondent banking. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Human resource management (HRM) is the organization functions that deals with the issues related to the people or employees such as compensation, hiring, performance, management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefit, employee motivation, communication, administration and training. Human resource play very important role in every organization. It basically deals with the people in the organization, their interrelationships, interaction, problems and their solutions in a friendly and smooth environment. HR department also handle different grievance procedures. Grievance procedures are process to resolve disputes, problems and misunderstandings associated with the staff of the organization. HR department also handle the disciplinary procedure. It also includes the process of development of training, skills, abilities and capabilities. OBJECTIVES: Some main objectives of HRM include: Ensure right number of workforce for the right job, at the right place and at t he right time. To ensure employees satisfaction and development of their skills. To facilitates training and development programs for employees. To forecast future requirements: i.e. HR labor, availability of finance. To reduce excessive labor turnover and high absenteeism. To ensure organization is responsive to changes in the environment and the working conditions. HIERARCHY OF THE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE: ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY CHART: EME SOCIETY BRANCH: HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING: Human resource planning is the process of determining an organizations human resource needs. It involves forecasting and planning for the acquisition, retention, improvement and the utilization of HR in an effective and efficient way. The process of HRP consists of six steps: HR PLANNING: ORGANIZATIONS STRTEGIES AND PLANS 1) Analysis of plans and objectives: The organization should b clear about its objectives. The business policies such as profitability, financial plans, production targets, market forecast and budget, etc: are always based upon and should be related to manpower planning. 2) Analysis of HR requirements (demand): This step involves forecasting HR needs based on organizational objectives. Several factors should be considered when forecasting demand. Factors like objectives of the organization, requirement of workforce, cost of labor, environmental factors and social norms are crucial for demand forecasting. 3) Analysis of HR availability (supply): In this the organization checks the current position of their employees that how well they are doing the existing programs and then forecast what additional programs they can do. This step is the analysis of the present resources such as internal HR supply, external HR supply, analysis of HR utilization, etc. 4) GAP analysis: After doing the demand and supply analyses there may be become three situations: First situation when demand = supply, so no actions are needed in this situation. Second situation is when there may be a surplus of workers so steps like early retirement, restricted hiring and down sizing are appropriate. Third situation is when there is a shortage of employees may rise so a scenario process of recruitment and selection should carry out. 5) HRP: Organization need to prepare a plan which removes the gap between demand and supply within the financial resources available to them. This should ideally take the form of comprehensive human resource plan with various dimensions such as organizational structure, recruitment and selection, training and development, promotion, staff reduction, retrenchment, etc. so at that time not all the elements may require, only the prior matters then be incorporated into plans. 6) Monitoring and control: This is the final step in which all the process is reviewed and then takes some corrective steps where necessary. This step also ensures that hr planning is going according to the organization strategic plan and matches the demand and supply. (GARY DESSLER, 2005) HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING PROCESS AND FORCASTING: ORGANIZATONAL STUDY: To determine the organizational mission Scan the organization environment Set strategic goals Formulate a strategic plan Course of action is designed. FORCASTING EMPLOYEE DEMAND: Opening a new branch Setting up or starting with new technology Changes in customer demand New services. FORCASTING EMPLOYEE SUPPLY: Transfers Promotions Job rotations Overtime. Banks making different type of forecasting like zero-base forecasting, bottom-up forecasting approach, Use of mathematical models, simulation etc Bank ALFALAH is used zero-base forecasting for current level of employment as the starting point for determining future staff needs in bank. Bottom-up forecasting approach: It is a forecast method in which each successive level of the ALFA`LAH, starting with the lowest and forecast its employee requirements in order to ultimately provide an aggregate forecast of employment needs: Use of mathematical models: mathematical models also use for forecasting HR requirements. Its show the relationship between demand and number of employees needed. replication it is the method for experimenting with a real world situation through a mathematical model representing the situation. JOB ANALYSIS: Job analysis is very impotent for any organization because on this basis many administrative and managerial decisions are taken, such training , selection and recruitment. Bank Alfalah conduct job analysis when organization want to open new branch, setting up new technology or new service etc. The purpose of job analysis is: Collection of information about the different level of activities to be performed. Collection of the data about education, skill, experience, personnel qualities select the suitable person for right job Job Analysis For Top Level Management: The job analysis is done in the head office which is situated in Karachi , the Head office usually use internal sources as well as external sources to job vacancy , here given some example of job description and job specification of the managerial post of bank MANAGERIAL JOB DESCRIPTION: Job Title: Branch Manager Job Summary: Promotes banking in the community and manages branch operations in the coordination with head office. Tasks: Highlight the services to attract people. To operate in such a way that cost is minimized and services are maximized. To check and issue loans on merit for the increase in bank revenue. Job Specifications: Experience: Minimum 2 year working experience Personality: Attractive and charming Qualifications: MBA or MS in relevant field. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS: BANK ALFALAH uses different procedures for recruitment to fulfillment of their need of expansion Top management Trainee officers Recruitment is usually made on the basis of requirement, top management uses different approaches for recruitment they use internal and external sours for recruitment. Trainee officers are fresh candidates usually from external sources, who are having the prescribed qualification for the post. Internal recruitment is also made by up graduation of the lower employees with the same qualification or better performances at the lower post in the same organization. BANK ALFALAH advertises the vacancies in popular newspapers, websites and direct applicants. Thats all Depends on sources and ways. They can advertises their vacancies through newspapers which can either be in English and Urdu language They also adopted online recruitment process and other online job offering websites and also they use their on websites, where they advertise the vacancies. Also direct applicants means that fresh graduates keep on submitting their CVs to the HR department from time to time and then HR department selects the efficient persons for interview and tests at any time a job is vacant. SELECTION PROCEDURE: Selection procedure involves viewing of candidates by which best appropriate person is chosen for a vacant post from a group of candidates. The main objective of the selection process is to choose the right person for the right job. The selection process typically consists of following steps: PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW: The first step of the selection process is involving the viewing of candidates by first interview and short-listing the list of candidates COMPLITION OF APPLICATION FORM: Application form is the precise employment form used to get exact information which the organization wants for selections, In this step applicants are asked to complete the organizations application form EMPLOYMENT TESTS: presentation simulation test, work sampling, assessment centers. Complete Interview : interviews involve a face-to-face meting with the candidates to investigate the areas which are not addressed by the application form about the backgrounds like: Formers employers Previous job performance Education Legal status to work Criminal records CONDITIONAL JOB OFFER: job is offered on conditions bases for certain period of time. After fulfillment of certain conditions and successful performance in that period the tentative job may becomes permanent. MEDICAL/PHYSICAL EXAM: an examination to determine an applicant physical fitness for essential job performance. FINAL SELECTION: individuals who perform successfully in preceding steps are now considered eligible to receive the employment offer. Performance appraisal In Bank Allfalah Setting goals for the appraisal system Developing criteria for successful performance Creating metrics for evaluating performance Selecting reviews and reviewers Considering the timing of feedback Organizing logistics for the report and meeting Giving candid and constructive feedback Setting goals Well-designed Performance Appraisal systems: Recognize and record an employees contributions Give employees useful performance feedback Enable a more effective and equitable reward system Develop the professional capabilities of employees Communicate the organizations values and culture Help the organization make evidence-based, legally defensible personnel decisions JOB EVALUATION: Job evaluation is the process of systematically determining a relative internal value of a job in an organization. In all cases the idea is to evaluate the job, not the person doing it. Job evaluation is the process of determining the worth of one job in relation to that of the other jobs in a company so that a fair and equitable wage and salary system can be established. When using job evaluation the organization must focus on following points: Detail job analysis. Identifying relevant job factors. Allocation of points. Total score of points for job evaluation. Job evaluation criteria of bank Alfalah: In bank alfalah the job evaluation criteria is basic pay, the fixed salary or wages which contributes the rates for the job. In the skills based job, these rates may vary according to the skills and competence of a person. The rates are fixed by managerial judgment that what is required to recruit and retain the employee. The official timing of bank is 09.00 AM to 06.00 PM, but almost all the employees have to work till 08.00PM. however, for this additional work they are not given any additional remuneration or over time pay. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS: Different types of compensation include: Base pay Commission Overtime pay Bonuses, profit sharing Merit pay Stock option Travel, meal, housing allowance Benefits includes: dental, insurance, health(medical), vacation, leaves, retirement, taxes DISCIPLINE: regulation is a most for every organization that wants to move forward. It is very necessary for the smooth running of any firm. It is also very important for peace and harmony in an organization. Peace between employees, customers and clients. Discipline can be seen or defined as a force that prompts individuals, organizations, nation etc to observe rules and regulations stipulated which are deemed necessary for the effective and efficient running of the group, organization or nation. There is a list of disciplinary procedure which is very important for every employee to follow. The rules and regulations are: The bank Alfalah doesnt compromise on attendance and in bank maximum 85% attendance is very important for every employee. There are no excuses for formal absentees. Bank working timing is 9pm to 6 am and there are no excuses to come after 9 pm. Every employee should come in proper dress to the office. Misbehavior with customers is not allowed. Smoking is pro hibited inside the bank, this rule for all, for employees as well as customers. Taking interest in organization activities is the duty and responsibility of every employee. GRIEVENCE: It is a formal way of resolving a problem at work. It is a matter connected with the terms and conditions of employment or working conditions that affect an individual directly or affect their personal dealings or relationships with other staff members of the organization. PROMOTION: The criteria for promotion to a specified post usually merit cum seniority. A person will be eligible for promotion if: Satisfactory records of service Meets the criteria for promotion Clear recommendation for promotion in his/her ACR If there is any complain any departmental proceeding in underway against him/her within the last three years then the employee will not be promoted. DEMOTION: Demotion is opposite to promotion. The person is demoted to lower rank or remains the same rank because the performance remains same for three years. The person may be expelled on the course of bad conduct in law, convict by law, fraudulent activities. RESIGNATION: When an employee wants resignation, he has to apply in HRD. He should notice HRD three months before he resign. If he not inform before three months then he has to pay three months gross salary amount. After an employee applying for resignation HRD will inquiry all the branches that the employee has any transaction with any branch or not. If the branches reports are ok then the Head of HRD approve their resignation and send to the employees Branch Manager. RETIREMENT: HRD writes to employee CC line manager advising retirement date. Line manager arranges informal meeting with employee to discuss plans confirm right to request continued working. Line manager writes to employee confirming CC HR. Employee chooses to retire at 65. SWOT: S = Strengths: Bank is in rising stage so financial position is good. expert and loyal workforce. Low cost than other major banks. Wide networking. W = Weaknesses Less advertisement Slow in introducing new offers O = Opportunities: Bank alfalah may fully avail the facilities of e-banking. Extension of international network of the branches. Introduction of innovative products. rising market. Credit card facilities. T = Threats: Uncertain economic conditions. Action taken by competitors. Political instability. SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: After having a great experience of six-week internship in BANK ALFALAH, I have come to know some weak points that must be given attention for better progress. Following are some points which I suggested to be handling with more care and attention: The web site of the bank is very less informative which has no any good impression on the visitors. The site is also not such updated with new activities. So I suggest that it should be updated with time for the convenience of the customers or visitors. There is a bit misdistribution of work in the bank. Like some employees are over burdened with the work which creates lack of responsibility in others. So I suggest that the distribution of work should be fair. The number of fax machines and photocopiers are less than the one they needed for proper use. So it should be managed in a way to save time and improved efficiency. There is lack of communication channels in marketing department which affects all the departments directly or indirectly. So I suggest that the bank should spend and concentrate more in improving its communication channels. CONCLUSION An organization is a structure of several people who join their efforts for the achievement of common goals. The good employees are the key to success for an organization. Hence, one has to get the best to be best because the performance of the employees reflects the companys image and its position in the market. Better the quality of employees better the performance of company. BANK ALFALAH is engaged in several business activities. All the departments are well-managed and goal directed. There are various different techniques and methods that the management goes through, in order to produce the desired outcome. My work on this report highlighted different aspects of human resource management, like, HR planning, job analysis, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, job evaluation, compensation, discipline, grievances, promotion, demotion, resignation, retirement and swot analysis along with suggestions and recommendations. I hope all the data which I collected suppo sed to be useful for the bank as well as for other readers. My working experience was really great in bank alfalah. In my point of view the system of the bank is really well managed and highly adorable. The bank is providing its customers world class excellent services. They have always followed the right path for the fulfillment of their needs and their goals too. All the employees knew their responsibilities well and managed all their work in an effective and efficient way. For such a short time period but still I m very happy to be a part of bank alfalah private.

Apologies strategies used among American and Arabic speakers.

Apologies strategies used among American and Arabic speakers. literature review Apologies are generally explained as ways to remove misunderstanding and show respect between speakers in order to avoid embarrassing situations, or make reparations in daily communication. However, scholars have found that â€Å"apology† is defined differently dependent upon the cultures of the speaker and hearer. Finnegan (2012) and Holmes (1990) believe that apologies function as meaningful social acts that not only repair relationships, but also effectively convey feelings. On the other hand, Olshtain (2000) believed an apology is basically voluntary humiliation of the speaking individual, and Goffman (1967) said apologizing causes an individual to†¦show more content†¦1989). Olshtain Cohen (2000) also demonstrated an additional two strategies, and classified them into two categories: a denial of the need to apologize, and a denial of responsibility. Detemr (2000) further added an other strategy: postponing the apology. Owen, (1983) thought of an apology as a remedial move, therefore he offered three explicit types of apology: utterances that consist of the word â€Å"apologize† or its variations; utterances that carry the word â€Å"sorry†; and utterances that start with â€Å"I am afraid† followed by the sentence. Scholars concentrate on different cultures because each cultures strategy of apologizing, and language being used, is different. Also, many researchers conducted research on apology strategies in different languages, taking many variables into account such as: politeness strategies used, how cultural values affected the recognition of an apology, gender, the factors that have an impact on in the choosing of a certain strategy, and the strategies used by native and non-native speakers of English. Olshtain (2000), made a comparison of the apology strategies use by the speakers of English, French, German, and Hebrew. She found a numerous similarities in choosing expressions of responsibility. Ultimately, she found that various languages will recognize apologies in similar ways. Additionally, Sugimoto (1997) compared the apology styles of 200 American (79 males and 121 females) and 181Show MoreRelatedQuestions On School And Institute3283 Words   |  14 Pagespragmatic competence (Kasper Schmidt, 1996). One of the major speech acts in maintaining pragmatic success is the speech act of compliment. When it comes to dealing with communication, speakers select the strategies that produce polite conversation. People employ compliment strategies in order to get their conversation run well and go smoothly. Brown and Levinson (1978) state that one identifies what people are performing in verbal exchange not so much by what they publicly claimRead MoreTEFL Assignment Answers23344 Words   |  94 Pagesï » ¿ Why is TTT (Teacher Talking Time) noted first among the potential problems to look out for in the list in section 1.2C? What are some ways you plan to avoid excessive TTT in your classroom when you are a ESL/EFL teacher? Provide specific strategies and examples. â€Å"Why is TTT noted first among the potential problems to look out for in the list in Section 1.2C?† Section 1.2 introduces the simple notion that, as Native English Speakers, we are accustomed to using the language—our students, on the

Breadtalk Blue Ocean and Branding Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Breadtalk for Blue Ocean and Branding Strategy. Answer: Introduction: The Blue Ocean Strategy is basically a book written by W.Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne about a decade ago. As per the eminent writers, an organization can become successful not by simply fighting the competition but by developing blue oceans of unconcealed market. As per the same this enables to disengage new demands thus not paying heed to the competition. Therefore the said strategy focuses upon the industries which are yet to be known to the public, unwary of any kind of competition wherein the demand is created and not fought over. The main gearing factor for this kind of the strategy is value innovation (Kim Mauborgne, 2005) Breadtalk is a bakery chain who adopted this strategy to create value by innovation. The chain adopted this strategy and made bread- a staple food items an attractive one. It opened stores which had a layout of a boutique, the offers it made to its customers were very innovative and different and the food items names it mentioned was very attractive as well. The first concept of making transparent kitchens also attracted the customers who would easily view the making and baking of the breads they ordered. Thus the owner of Breadtalk, instead of fighting the competition created a blue ocean which comprised of such customers who considered bread to be a boring breakfast. Bakery is one such business which is full of competitors and fighting the same is not an easy task especially with established brands, hence Breadtalk amongst all these thought of creating its own value rather than offering the same products which all are offering. It concentrated upon areas which other bakeries did not due to the lack of interest of the customers. As the market demand was slowing down last year, the company thus increased the involvement of its customers via a digital platform. Thus the kitchens are linked to the screens installed in the stores which would enable the customers to know when they would get their orders. Thus creates a very different experience of shopping for the customers rather than the same boring process adopted by majority outlets. Along with the same it helps to connect the sales with the procurement of raw materials to the management of stock and the need of the staff. Thus the blue ocean strategy has enabled Breadtalk to develop interest among st those customers who found bread and such bakery items boredom. Due to the same it has been able to increase its sales leaps and bounds as it attracted those also who are interested in cooking and baking as well (Manjur, 2012). Therefore instead of thriving upon minimal profit margins, the said strategy opened room for a higher profitability and sales revenue for the company on a year on year basis. The revenue increased by 70% in the last five years which is a rarity experienced by other companies in the said industry and that too mainly in the bakery segment. Branding Strategy of Breadtalk The branding strategy adopted by Breadtalk was another reason for its success in such a short duration. The companys mode of branding i.e. through innovation so as to keep the customers afresh has made it clear to the customers that the products that Breadtalk offers has more value imbibed. Further to this the branding strategy pronounced by Scott M. Davis is very relevant to Breadtalks strategy of branding. The company has given importance on capitalising its brands which can be analysed using the eleven steps proposed by Davis , categorized under four phases (Davis 2001). The details with regards to Breadtalk are enumerated below. Developing a Brand Vision: The Company has a very distinct vision of setting its foothold as the most trendy lifestyle bakery brand. It not only educated its employees about the vision and mission of the company but also made them aware of the fact that its main focus would be on satisfying the requirements of the customers with full vigour and passion. Lastly it has been serving the society from more than a decade now and has unstoppably been delivering newer and most distinct dishes. Determining a Brand Image: The Company did not restrict itself only to Singapore and soon it expanded to various other countries in Asia. The most striking of it was that the owner himself was actively involved while expanding in new countries such as China. This helped to ensure sustainability of the brands in newer countries as well. Further Breadtalks concept of a see through kitchen enhanced its sales and brand value as the customers would be able to see the making and baking of breads. Lastly the target audience were those who were not interested in having bread as their breakfast menu (Singapore Management University. 2016). The Company took the risk of providing them exciting and interesting dishes made of bread in front of them which also helped in the determination of a strong brand image. Developing Brand Asset Management Strategy: The strategy adopted by Breadtalk was to provide newer products every six months as per the needs of the customers. Further it has set up concept stores to suit generations, thus bridging the gap between generations and developing a concept of offering something for every generation. The stores are being set up as per the attraction and the desires of the customers of the various countries. Such as Singapore does not prefer sit and drink cafes but China does, hence establishment of stores have been done accordingly. Thus it has been maintaining the fashion trends country wise. It does not prefer competing with the mass confectioners but believes in competing with itself thus setting a benchmark of its own every time. Measuring Brand Asset Management Culture: The brand culture developed within the organization is very stark wherein the employees feel proud to be associated with the Company. The Company believes in investing in the human capital thus knows the importance of good workers. Further to this setting up of a Breadtalk Group Academy which trains people for baking has enabled the Company to attract the best talents even during periods of stress. The connection of the internal kitchen with the external customers also provides an environment of motivation and dedication amongst the employees (Singapore Business Review- Centre for Management Practice. 2016). Thus Breadtalks main aim is to serve those customers who are not too interested in having breads because of the same old preparations. Variety and innovation is the key to the success of Breadtalk. Thus its main motto to stand out from the crowd and competing with oneself rather than the competitors outside has enabled it to win the hearts of many customers. References: Davis, S.M. (2001). Brand Asset Management. Concentrated Knowledge for the Busy Executive. 22(3). Kim, W.C., Mauborgne, R (2005). Blue Ocean Strategy, Boston, MA: Harvard University Press. Manjur, R. (2012). Breadtalk Outlines Growth Plans. Retrieved from https://www.marketing-interactive.com/breadtalk-outlines-growth-plans/ Singapore Management University. (2016). Breadtalk: Managing An Expanding Brand Portfolio. Retrieved from https://www.smu.edu.sg/perspectives/2016/03/30/breadtalk-managing-expanding-brand-portfolio Singapore Business Review- Centre for Management Practice. (2016). Breadtalk : Continuous Innovation to Keep Brand Fresh. Retrieved from https://sbr.com.sg/food-beverage/commentary/breadtalk-conti