Corporate Social Responsibility of DBBL

Corporate Social Responsibility of DBBL

Every bank has their own specific strategy without that the establishment of a bank is impossible. Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd. Also has a specific strategy with the focus of one counter service to the clients. Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd. is a second generation commercial private bank which supports social work extensively and is one of the largest private donors in Bangladesh. This bank has started its journey under the vision of its chairman and founder M Sahabuddin Ahmed, in order to help the people all over Bangladesh.

DBBL has its greatest contribution in Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). Their focused areas of CSR are mainly education, health, disaster relief, sports, social awareness and social development. To do so they need to make both their employees and customers happy.

This report contains the various job positions and facilities provided by the bank. Furthermore, this report also contains the CSR of the bank. DBBL is not only committed to meet the ethical values but also has its banking culture and environment favorable. As they invest most of their profit in CSR activities thus they need to expand their social welfare activities and awareness a lot so that people may get to know a lot about the facilities. Also they should expand their promotional activities to compete with the competitors. However, the continuous process of services and development will certainly place the bank in the best position within a decade. It will create both long term profitability and sustainability of the bank as well as enhance the reputation of the bank in the society.

Methodology of the Study

Research is a systematic method of finding solutions to problems. It is essentially an investigation, a recording and an analysis of evidence for the purpose of gaining knowledge. Research comprises of defining and redefining problem, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting, organizing and evaluating data, reaching conclusions, testing conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulated hypothesis. The study uses two types of methods in case of data collections, one is qualitative method and another is quantitative method.

This methodology includes direct observation, face to face discussion with the employees as well as searching on their websites and studying on their practical work.

Sources of Data: In order to make the study more meaningful and presentable, two sources of data and information had been used. The sources of data are:

Primary Sources: I have collected primary data by doing a simple survey where I provided a questionnaire to the GB in charge and the officers which I made by the help of Google Docs. I also had a face to face conversation with the deputy manager and the manager of this branch.

Secondary Sources: To collect the secondary data I have gone through:

Periodical publications by DBBL.
Article published by DBBL.
DBBL Annual report – 2014
DBBL’s official website
Lastly, to specify the analytical data I used Microsoft excel for preparing graph to understand and represent them clearly.

History of DBBL

Dutch Bangla Bank Limited has started their journey as the first scheduled joint venture and commercial bank of Bangladesh. It was an effort by local shareholders spearheaded by Md. Sahabuddin Ahmed the founder and chairman of DBBL and the Dutch company FMO. It is the largest bank in Bangladesh according to the market capital. The bank was established under the Bank Companies act 1991 and also incorporated as a public limited company under the Companies Act 1994. It commenced its formal operation from 3rd June, 1996.

The primary objective of this bank is to carry all kinds of banking business in Bangladesh. DBBL is also listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited and Chittagong Stock Exchange Limited. Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited is the first bank in Bangladesh which is fully automated. It established E-Banking (Electronic Banking) in 2002 to facilitate rapid automation and bring modern services into this field. Full automation was made in 2003. Firstly, it introduced plastic money to Bangladeshi people. It is operating the largest ATM fleet which reduces customer costs and fees by 80%. It is practicing low profitability route for this sector which has surprised many critics. It has brought much automation in banking modern banking facilities to its customers for which most local banks are joining in the infrastructure of banking system of Dutch- Bangla Bank Limited. DBBL believes in its uncompromising commitment to fulfill its customer needs and satisfaction and to become their first choice in banking as spreading their mission statement as “Your Trusted Partner”.

Dutch Bangla Bank has been financing the manufacturing industries of Bangladesh because the manufacturing sectors export their products worldwide so financing in this sector will help Bangladesh to achieve the desired growth. Along with that this bank is also focusing the corporate social responsibility (CSR). Though CSR has become very popular, Dutch Bangla Bank is the pioneer of this sector and termed it as the social responsibility. Because of its investment in this sector, DBBL has become the largest bank donor of Bangladesh. For the unique approach in CSR, DBBL has won numerous international awards.

The head office of DBBL is located in Sena Kalyan Bhaban, 4th Floor 195 Motijheel Commercial Area Dhaka-1000, in Bangladesh. In the 19 years of banking, DBBL has established 146 branches, more than 2700 ATM booths along with 4000000 happy customers. Nowadays the number of customers is increasing.

Description of Corporate Social Responsibility

This report is based on the corporate social responsibilities of DBBL. The report contains information related to the CSR activities done by the bank. Here, investments and contribution towards the educational sector and the society are elaborately described with graphical representation where it is needed. Furthermore, the background, visions and offered jobs are also described here. However, this project report has some limitations but things are specifically mentioned following the requirements of the report.

Description of the Project (CSR)

The project is all about CSR of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited. CSR means the corporate social responsibility which means encompassing the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time. In a simple way it can be said that CSR is a business’s concern for the welfare of the society. It is based upon some basic principles as integrity, fairness and respect.

For DBBL, a business is always based upon goodwill and trust of the customers and stakeholders. DBBL always mention themselves as the trusted partner of the customers. So, to expand this trust they take the initiatives of doing CSR programs which help them strengthen the trust.

Many organizations do it for establishing their brand name or to increase their popularity or to decrease their turnover rate. DBBL is thinking not only to expand their popularity but also to develop and change the society of our country because developed nation will achieve success earlier than any other nation.

They take such initiatives which remain sustainable and also help people to develop their lifestyle.

Firstly, I made a very short and simple questionnaire to get their time and attention to fulfill my requirements. Then I collected the answers not only from the GB in charge but also from the senior officers who are still working in this bank since last seven years. They did not have sufficient time to write down the information so they gave away their information orally and suggested me to take data from their most recent annual reports and half yearly financial statement up to 30th June, 2015.

Analysis on CSR at Dutch Bangla Bank Limited

Through my analysis on primary and secondary data and getting feedback from the questionnaire I have got some information such as,

DBBL is the pioneer of CSR initiatives in our country.
DBBL is donating millions of taka in their CSR activities.
DBBL has different sectors where their CSR activities are being done.
Among all the sectors they have contributed the most in educational sector
In last five years their amount of contribution has only increased and expanded in many areas.
Dutch-Bangla Bank Foundation or DBBF has been created in 2001 which is rendering its services to different sectors.
They not only helped the environment and the people, but also contributed in creating social awareness.
They keep their CSR activities long term and sustainable and so they are focusing on maximizing shareholders’ value as well as fulfilling commitments to customers and society.
DBBL has further strengthened all core risk management systems for decreasing the overall risks and strengthening their capital base.
Information related to their future initiatives are kept confidential as competitors are increasing day by day. For example, “Dutch Bangla Mobile Banking” system has already got the strongest competitor called “Bkash” which is more popular and won the people’s heart.
However, they are fully aware of their responsibility as they need to confirm whether they are conducting their business in an ethical manner or not.

DBBL is doing its corporate social responsibilities where they find it necessary and they have categorized it as different sectors such as,

Education
Educational Infrastructural Development
Health
Health Infrastructural Development
Sports
Social Welfare
Creating Awareness
Contributing on Natural calamities as well as Man-made Disasters

According to the annual report of 2014, I got the data of their contribution. In educational sector they have contributed 46%, in health 37%, in social development 4%, in disaster management 10% and rest are contributed in other sectors. To specify them a graph is given below:

Figure: Contribution of DBBL in different sectors in 2014

Contribution to Educational Sector in 2014

As I previously mentioned that DBBL has mostly contributed in the educational sector it means they have done numerous activities for improving the quality of education as well as increasing the number of educated people. For example they have been contributing in the infrastructural development of education, they supported financially in Ganit and physics Olympiad. Furthermore, they have arranged awarding scholarships to the meritorious students. They have categorized in three different levels such as,

HSC level
Graduation level
M.phil/PhD/Post Doctoral level

In educational sector about 96% of contribution was given in the scholarship, in gaitphysics Olympiad it was about 3% only and in educational sector infrastructural development it is only 1%. However, they have contributed a small percentage on the infrastructural development, they are thinking of expanding it in the best possible ways.

In HSC level, they have already awarded 19,151 scholarships of which 5,050 new scholarships were awarded in 2014. In graduation level they have awarded 7,288 scholarships of which 2,518 were new and given in 2014. DBBL also awards 50 fellowships of tk. 5,000 per month every year. These are for the students of master’s level specifically those who are studying at different public universities at M.phil, PhD or Post-doctoral level. So far they have awarded about 129 fellowships.

As part of their CSR activities they have also donated an amount of Taka 9,73,00,000 to Dhaka University for constructing a research centre for higher studies which is known as “Centre for Advanced Research in arts & Social Science Bhaban”. They have also donated for establishing a modern Braille printing press which will later on help the blind people who are willing to study further.

In last five years their financial growth in scholarship sector has only increased and not decreased.

Realizing the fact that every year many students in rural areas are stopping their study due to poverty though they have potentials, DBBL has increased the number of scholarships massively. Thus, 26,439 students of both HSC and graduation levels were awarded scholarship under this program in 9 different phases up to December 2014 as detailed below:

The Math Olympiad which was known as Dutch-Bangla Bank-Prothom Alo Ganit Utsab was held in 22 different regions of Bangladesh in the year of 2014 which were Rangpur , Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Bogra, Rajshahi, Jhenidah, Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur, Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Fen, Mymensingh, Rangamati, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, Narayangonj and lastly Dhaka. About 25,000 students has participated on the programs where among them 800 students got qualified for the national round. From 2010 to 2014, 5 consecutive years the amount of contribution has only increased. In 2010 the amount of taka was 4.7 million, in 2011, 5 million, in 2012 it was 6.5 million, in 2013 7 million and lastly in 2014 it was 7.59 million taka. A graph is shown below to specify the growth.

Bangladesh Physics Olympiad Committee has been arranging Bangladesh Physics Olympiad for last four years where DBBL is organizing it by giving financial support at the rate of tk. 2,500,000/- in 2013 and tk.2,500,000/- in 2014. Later on in 2015, it has increased into tk, 3,130,000/- which is a positive sign for both the bank and the participants. The 4th physics Olympiad was held in 10 regions where about 7,000 students had participated in the program.

Contribution to Health Sector

Health is one of the prime parameters to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG). The need for health care is increasing everyday due to rapid growth of population. Dutch-Bangla Bank has identified health care as a priority sector and helped create better health care facilities at a cheaper cost for the disadvantaged population. In this connection Dutch-Bangla Bank extended its support for the following programs in 2014

The biggest boost came in 2004 when Dutch-Bangla Bank donated Tk. 4 crore to the cause i.e., for construction of the entire ground floor (39,230 sft) of the hospital building. This early donation of DBBL inspired other organizations to come forward for donating to Ahsania Mission to build up the today’s most modern 15 storied Ahsania Mission Cancer Hospital building.

The 15 storied building has already been completed and started functioning at ground floor from the 1 week of April 2014, with Out Patient Department, 30 in-patient beds, Operation Theater, Radiation Therapy Unit, Day Care Centre, Diagnostic Facilities etc.

In order to complete the remaining works of the hospital and to make it fully operational, Dhaka Ahsania Mission still needs to mobilize a huge amount of fund from the donors. Dutch-Bangla Bank in response to the same spontaneously announced additional financial assistance of Tk. 15 crore to complete the rest 3 floors and to that end handed over a cheque for Tk. 15 crore to the Honorable Prime Minister at the inauguration ceremony held in April 09, 2014.

Health sector contribution has most of the focus on Infrastructural development and little bit of contribution at cataract and cleft-lip operation & individual donation purpose.

DBBL has donated in other areas for further development of the mass people’s health.

In 2004, DBBL took initiative to donate in Dhaka Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital where there will be establishing a full-fledged 500 bed Cancer Hospital at Uttara which will run on “no loss no profit basis” where minimum of 30% of services will be available for the poor patients.
DBBL has also contributed of all about 23 crore of tk to CMH , The Combined Military Hospital with a view to provide modern facilities as well as meeting up the cost of medical services which have been increasing day by day.
DBBL also provided in SHEBA health centre as they were requested by them to give donations. So, DBBL has been donating an amount of tk one hundred thousand on a monthly basis for a period of 3 years effective from May 2014 to present.
DBBL has spent taka 49.43 million for cleft-lip and cleft-palate operation under “Smile Brighter” program since 2003.

DBBL also started helping 12,000 blind people by providing sophisticated cataract surgery (intra Ocular Lens) throughout the country in phases since 2008.

Contribution to Disaster Management

Bangladesh faces various kinds of natural calamities like cold, flood, storm, cyclone, tidal bore etc. in every year. Considering the sufferings of common people DBBL has introduced following special programs for the people of the affected areas:

Dutch-Bangla Bank donated 10,000 blankets to earthquake-victims of Nepal
Donation to 350 homeless families of Brahmanbaria district affected by Tornado.
Financial support for rehabilitation of land slide victims of Chittagong.
Rehabilitation of devastating flood victims.
Rehabilitation of cyclone ‘Sidr’-hit people.
Water purifying tablets, oral saline & Cholera saline for the Flood victims.
To ensure hygienic sanitation system DBBL provided 460 numbers of sanitary latrines for the inhabitants of Angorpota and Dahagram enclave.
DBBL also provided support for ensuring pure drinking water by providing 50 hand tube wells for them.

DBBL not only contributes in welfare and development but also runs mass awareness programs to make people aware. These are the burning issues about which people need to be conscious and concerned so DBBL took the help of print and electronic media here. Some of them are as follows:

Save the nation from curse of Dowry
Stop acid violence
Right of disable children
Prevent drug abuse
Financial support to the road accident victims
City beautification and preserving the environment
Developing eco-friendly society for healthy human life
Tree plantation program

For creating awareness and grabbing the attention of the public, DBBL uses slogans which are really motivational. Some of them are given below:

Hope and love make us lovely
Stop Acid Violence
Willpower is enough to do a good job
Stop Demand for Dowry
Uphold Justice
Good Behavior with mentally retarded persons, a moral duty
Human for humanity
Combat Aids
Drug addiction- a Menace to Destroy life
Plant tree, save environment

A financial Highlight in CSR initiatives is given below:

Considering, all the previous investments and current investments, DBBL actually took decision to further provide in the CSR activities. Moreover, they arrange board meeting about discussing them in brief. However such things are just only be told by the other employees to interns or else we do not have access to enter any board meeting.

Critical Observation

Different banks have different rules and regulations which they intend to follow every day. Being an intern in DBBL it was a great opportunity for me to critically observe the internal environment and the aspects of the employees here.

Though my experience shared here is based upon the Satmosjid Road Branch, the information and behavior I got and observed here are almost similar to the other branches of DBBL. For example, in this branch, lobbyism is often done in case of recruiting senior employees as well as freshers. Salary is paid according to the level of position not the level of performance.

High levels of employees often get paid earlier due to their position whereas juniors do not even expect a leave for a single day. Each and every employee has to contribute in other departments’ works due to complete it earlier. These are only visible to the person who works internally no matter the person is a trainee officer or a guard here.

Working on the bank and also searching more and more on CSR activities gave me many ideas about that. So, it is better to show them through SWOT analysis chart where all the observation will come out.

Strengths of DBBL,

24 hours banking service all over the country via ATM booths and Fast tracks
Overall computer based banking system
Developed risk management systems
Uses modern software named FLEXCUBE provided by Oracle international ltd. to provide best banking service to the customers
Sustainable CSR initiatives
Net profit after tax increased by 20.14% from taka 928.60 million to taka 1,115.64 million.

Weaknesses of DBBL,

Lack of manpower in different work areas and branch
Customer dissatisfaction due to insufficient fund for withdrawing money.
Tremendous workload leads to recheck or reevaluate every single tasks
Lack of promotional activities
Lack of sustainability of services

Opportunity of DBBL,

To reduce business risk, DBBL can expand their business portfolio by starting merchant banking, or by diversifying into leasing and insurance sector.
They can target customers for example the middle class people as most of the population are middle class nowadays
They can expand product line to compete with the competitors
They can launch special scheme for their special customers or account holders
They can start different promotional activities to grab the attention of the people

Threats to DBBL,

All the multinationals and other corporate banks are threats to DBBL
The default risk of the bank should be minimized due to sustain in the financial market
Their low compensation process for the mid level and low level employees lead to unwillingness to work on the organization or monotonous life which eventually increases the turnover rate. So these things should be brought under control.

Result and Discussion

Overall study about the CSR of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited signifies that the contribution towards the social welfare by this bank is increasing day by day. It is not only helping the bank to decrease its employee turnover rates but also helping to increase its brand value as well as to build trust among the people as they already claim themselves as trusted partners.

They have some other initiatives for the future on this CSR projects which they kept confidential. If those are done according to the plan then the mass people will be more benefitted and also it will help the bank to reach its destination.

As an intern I tried all the best possible ways to come up with the newer information of this busy bank always having load of works and rush over the cash counters. Three months is not enough to get every information briefly but it is more than enough to understand the inside official environment and the current condition of the bank.

Recommendation

Each and every employee’s contribution towards the bank must be well valued and appreciated.
Lobbyism and partiality towards the employee must be avoided or if not possible then must be decreased.
Junior Officers and Interns should be guided and trained properly.
Facilities like leave, bonus, and promotion should be liberal.
Behavior towards the account holders should be improved.
Every employee must have the equal right to complete work within the given hours and leave the bank after that.
There must be sufficient employees in the accounts opening department so those customers will not get bored or dissatisfied.
They should reduce the problems in the ATM booths which are often faced by the customers
Promotions and bonus must be performance based.
Promotional activities should be increased
Management department along with the IT department must be active and developed so that no one can complain.

Conclusion

As a third world country Bangladesh has lots of problems. Government often finds them helpless when it comes to the issue of solving these problems. As business owners of this country are considered as a part of the affluent section of the society they can contribute more meaningfully towards the betterment of the society.

If more company come forward to contribute to the society like DBBL, it will help to create their social branding as well as helping the society. So we can say DBBL is a pioneer in Corporate Social Responsibility because the idea of CSR is vastly expanded by DBBL at first. Moreover, DBBL is establishing goodwill through the CSR.

DBBL’s risk management system is really very productive. The bank plays a considerable role in the portfolio of development. During my internship one thing I observed here is that DBBL follows the Bangladesh Bank rules very efficiently and also tell customers to follow and appreciate it. Privacy is also maintained strictly in to the locker room and the server room.

Finally, DBBL has been established with a view to conduct prompt banking through technology where they already succeeded and also they were able to establish participatory banking instead of debtor-creditor relationship and lastly to establish welfare oriented banking through corporate social responsibility that would lead to just society.