Introduction:

British American Tobacco P.L.C. is the world’s most international tobacco group. Based in London, UK it is a market leader in more than 50 countries selling over 300 brands in some 180 markets world-wide with the strength of almost 90,000 employees.

British American Tobacco Bangladesh, a market leader in the country, is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco p.l.c. Operating in Bangladesh since pre-independence, the company headquarters and cigarette factory are based in Dhaka, with a tobacco leaf processing operation in Kushtia. The company employs more than 1300 people and provides indirect employment to a further 24,500 farmers, distributor and supplier. British American Tobacco Bangladesh is a company with world class people, products, system, process and tools.

We are the first company in Bangladesh to be awarded Class A status as part of the international and prestigious total business excellence programmed, MRPII, audited by internationally renowned consultants Oliver Wight. We have a total company commitment to excellence and drive for continuous improvement, aspiring to be among
the very best in the world.

Our world class people work as a team to meet challenges in an ever-changing business environment. We have an open and transparent culture with customer service that exceeds expectations. We continuously seek to improve our manufacturing efficiency without compromising on quality. As a result our company is recognized as benchmark for quality in the region when we were the first company to be given the license to manufacture Benson & Hedges in-house, within this region of BAT Group which stretches from Pakistan to Australia. Our utilization of information technology is at the core of our business strategy and is a benchmark among other fast moving consumer goods companies in the country.

BATB give too much priority to internal communication so that they can meet customer need effectively. They have own intranet within their organization to maintain communication to everyone in the company. They always try to meet customer expectation by maintaining a standard level of communication.

Background:

To be operating in a controversial and challenging industry like the cigarette industry successfully, communication plays a very important part. It is the responsibility of the

communication and the trade marketing team together to let the consumers know about the new products or changes in the existing products; this becomes even more challenging as they can not promote their products using any media vehicle. Besides tasking care of the new regulations and talking to stakeholders is also a very important role for the communication team. Internal communication, that is letting the employees and factory workers know more about their product and leasing their cognitive dissonance through proper communication and keeping them informed about the company happenings, is even more important.

Objective of the study :

Measuring the effectiveness of the tools used for internal communication in British American tobacco Bangladesh.

Scope :

The study was limited to the permanent employees of British American Tobacco Bangladesh. No comparison or analogy has been drawn taking other BAT companies or other tobacco companies in Bangladesh. The survey respondents were asked questions about the tools and services driven by BAT Bangladesh’s CORA Communications team. Other forms of organizational communication were not taken into consideration.

 Methodology :

The report is mainly based on the survey findings. So major part of the report represents the survey result and analysis; hence most of the information is primary a few officials were questioned regarding the products, their price and placement. Some information about the company and its operations has been taken from the brochures and previous reports.

 Sources of data collection:

The primary respondents were the employees of company. Both management and non management employees were considered to get a clear and non biased answer. The sample size taken was 37 for management and 33 for non-management employees that make it a total of 70 employees

The sampling method adopted is stratified clustered sampling. It was kept in mind that almost all the strata have at least one representative in the survey. to keep the survey unbiased, employees from all job grades and territories were brought under the survey. Separate questionnaire (English and Bangle) for both management and non management employees were prepared. The questionnaire was prepared based on semantic differential and Likert scale and ratings. The sample questionnaire can be found in the annexure.

• Activities:

A= Collecting information about the research contents and theory.

B= Preparation of proposal for research.

C= Collect informal information about priority banking.

D= Directly observer

E =Selection of samples.

F =Asking the internal employees.

G=Organizing and evaluating collected information.

H=Preparing the final report.

I=Assessment by the course instructor.

J=Submission of final report.

 Limitations:

Although while conducting the survey, the employees of BAT provided great support but there were sonic unavoidable problems that worked as limitations.

•       Conducting the survey proved to be a bit difficult as it included both the management & non management workers. The management employees’ part was manageable as they more or less were able to comprehend the questionnaire. Although they were not willing to sacrifice much time for the survey but they answered by understanding the essence of the survey.
•       Though some questionnaire was sent outside Dhaka, but the number was not substantial, so the survey results are biased towards die employees of the Dhaka Head office to some extent.
•       But with the non-management workers, it was a bit difficult to make them understand the scale and rating, and in some cases, they gave wrong ratings.
•       Getting the factory workers in the working hours was a bit difficult, so 1 had to wait for the road show. I was able to attend only one road show as others were scheduled in the night shift.

Conceptual framework of the report:

This study seeks to analyze the role played by “Internal Communication” in British American Tobacco Bangladesh; how this role is accomplished and how effective “Internal Communication” has been in fulfilling this role. The problem statement from the client (British American Tobacco Bangladesh’s Corporate Communications Team) Was:

“How effective are our Internal Communication tools and service in aligning our employees with the company’s business strategies and objectives; and how satisfied are the users with the tools and services?”

Overview of the Industry:

The industry background includes the background of the product category, current situation of the industry, the competition, the segments in which the companies operate and the environmental analysis.

Major Brands, Manufacture and Segments:

British American Tobacco Bangladesh has been present in Bangladesh for a very long time and it is still doing its business dominantly with four of its key drive brands i.e.

Benson & Hedges, John Player Gold Leaf, Pall Mall and Star. Among the competitors, Dhaka tobacco’s “Navy” gives good competition to Star into he Tk 1 segment. The other brands present in the market are:

▪ The Cigarette industry is segmented into the following:

Industry Life cycle:

The market (or industry) life cycles describe the evolution of the market. These cycles have a similar shape to the product life cycle and similarly, have a number of distinct stages:

• Embryonic
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline stage
• Shake out stage

The industry life cycle has been shown in the following:

The cigarette industry in our country is still in a growth stage mainly because, among all the tobacco products most are Bidi and low priced brands. Among the cigarette brands, the most sold ones are tk 1 brands; like for BAT the brand that sells with the largest volume is star. The following table represents the current situation of the brands sale:

■ Monthly sale in million sticks (approx)

The table shows that a higher priced brand that is in the higher segment of the market is far below the sales volume of the other lower priced brands. The highest selling brands are Star and Navy. This shows that the cigarette industry is mainly depending on the high volume but the profit margin is very minimal. With star, BAT is selling a lot, but they are literally making profit near to zero. An industry liked this which is living on volume more than value can be called to be in the growth stage.

 SWOT Analysis:

SWOT analysis is done to find out the factors important to the operation of a business in the environment, both internal and external. The internal factors help to find out the strength and weakness; the threats and opportunities can be comprehended by scanning the external environment. The SWOT analysis of the cigarette industry is given below:

■ Strength:

     Because of high regulations, high cost and high entry barriers, new entrants are discouraged, which is good for the current and already established market players.

     As they are not allowed to go for public promotion, the tobacco companies can use their resources for other purposes. Like BAT is investing for and increasing their filed force.

■ Weakness:

•              Dealing with a product which is sensitive in may issues.
•              Can not promote their products using public media vehicle.
•              A high volume but low value industry

■ Opportunity:

In Bangladesh, tobacco market is pretty strong. Among the sale of all tobacco products, 68% is Bidi and the rest 32% is cigarette. But with the up gradation of purchasing power and good economic condition, high rate of migration from Bidi to cigarette is also expected. Even now; the migration rate is good enough to sustain the cigarette industry. Total no even if reduce, but the migration will make it sustainable. The cigarette market depends not on increasing number of customers, but on switching to cigarette brands.

■ Threat:

     Increasing amount of awareness among the consumers about the health hazards caused by smoking.

     Increasing number of regulations and laws imposed by the government about smoking and selling cigarettes.

 PEST analysis:

A PEST analysis is an analysis of the external macro-environment that affects all firms. PEST is an acronym for the political, economic, social and technological factors of the external macro-environment. Such external factors are usually beyond the firm’s own control and sometimes present themselves as threats. For this reason, some say. PEST is an appropriate term for these factors. However, changes in the external environment can also create new opportunities and so the letters can be rearranged to construct the more optimistic team of step analysis. The next page shows how PEST analysis is helpful in analyzing the overall environment.

■ Political:

Government regulations have increased in the recent years. Tobacco companies can not use any vehicle to promote any of their products and they also can not organize any event.

Or competition with their brand name. That is the reason BAT had to stop organizing a popular program of their’ – “B & H Star search”.

■ Economic: 

Usually price increased do not affect the brand loyal segment, but the lower segment gets influenced with he price increase. Like, even if BAT increases the price of B & H, it might not affect the brand loyalty of the customers, but the price increase of JPGL or star may influence the customer to shift to navy. Price increase may depend on lot of factors, like increase in tax or the price increase of the raw materials. And with his increase in the purchasing power and economic emancipation, consumers will shift to higher segment brands; like every year a big number of people migrate to cigarette from bidid.

■ Social:

Increasing awareness of the consumers might well affect the sale of the brands. Increasing health campaign, awareness and lifestyle of people also affect the consumption of cigarettes. Like more stressful life can lead to more consumption of cigarettes. People also get influenced in choosing their brands influenced by their peer or reference group.

■ Technical:

 The production of cigarettes and quality control and checking can have influence on the overall production process to a great extent. Import of new machinery includes a lot of internal communication with the factory workers to make them understand the operation and also to reduce their fear of getting laid off because of the new machinery.

 History of Tobacco:

■ 1,000 BC

Ancient temple caring depicts Mayan priests in Central America Smoking tobacco through a pipe. Tobacco leaves become widespread in medicine for use on wounds as a means of reducing pain. Later the Aztecs incorporate smoke inhalation into religious rituals.

Two castes of smokers emerge: the pipe smokers at the court of Montezuma and lesser Aztecs who roll the leaves into crude cigars.

■ 470-630 AD

Mayan tribes begin to scatter and tobacco travels with them. The leaf moves southwards to South America where it is wrapped in maize and palm leaves and smoked and north where it is introduced to the native Americans into him Mississippi area.

In North America pipes are made from clay, marble or lobster claws. Some pipes with two stems, are used for inhaling through the nostrils. Tobacco chewing is common, especially in South America, where the leaf is mixed with lime.

■ 1492

Arawk people in the Bahamas, on an island Christopher Columbus christens San Salvador, offers the explorer dried leaves. Not understanding their significance, Columbus discards them. A month later Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis Torres returning from a trip into the interior of Cuba- Stumble on villagers inhaling the smoke from burning dried tobacco leaves through a hollow Y-shaped piece of cane called a tobacco or tobacco. Jerez is though to be the first smoker outside the Americas.

When Jerez returns to his home town of Ayamonte, during the Spanish Inquisition, the holy inquisitors accuse him of “consorting with the devil” when they see smoke coming from his mouth. He is imp rosined for seven years. By the time he is released, smoking is a custom in Spain. Jerez perhaps sets a precedent for the plants controversial future.

■ 1518

The discoverer Juan de Grijalva lands in Yucatan, Mexico, and sees local people smoking tobacco leaves. The following year, the conquistador Cortez finds Aztecs in the capital of Mexico smoking strong, scented tobacco.

■ 1526

In his history of the West Indies, Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes writes: “Among other evil practices, the Indians have one that is especially harmful, the inhaling of a certain kinds of smoke which they call tobacco. I cannot imagine what pleasure they derive from this practice.”

■ 1561

Jean Nicot, the French ambassador to Lisobon recommends tobacco snuff to his royal

Patron, Catherine de Medici, who suffers from sever migraines. The snuff provokes a relieving sneeze which astonishes her staff but becomes fashionable. In Nicot’s honors, the tobacco genus Nicotinic was later given its botanical name.

■ 1570

Conquistadors bring tobacco back to Spain as a luxury for the wealthy. But when Seville beggars begin to pick up discarded cigar butts, shared them and roll them in scraps of paper for smoking, they become known as cigarillos, meaning little cigars.

■ 1570

King Philip II of Spain ponders tobacco’s medicinal properties not for the benefit of his subjects, but for commercial gain. He charges Royal Physician Francisco Hernandez with making a study of the plant’s properties.

■ 1571

Nicolo Monardes, a famous physician at the University of Seville, recommends tobacco as a cure for more than twenty ailments, including tooth ache and asthma. Certainly not recommended today!

■ 1573

Sir Francis Drake returns from the Americas with what is through to be the first consignment of tobacco to the UK.

■ 1587

Virginian colonists disembark at Plymouth smoking clay pipes.

■ 1592

A century after Columbus’ voyage, tobacco is grown in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and England, and by the turn of the century the crop has spread to the Philippines, India, Java, Japan, West Africa and China- from where merchants take it to Mongolia and Siberia.

■ 1603

By the time of Queen Elizabeth its death, England has become the wealthiest country in Europe (partly thanks to its dominant role in the tobacco trade) and is taxing the crop at 2d (2 shillings) per pound weight.

King James I publishes A Counterblast to Tobacco, one of the first anti-smoking polemics. But his disapproval doesn’t stop the King from increasing the duty on tobacco

by more than 40 times as much as the tax levied by Queen Elizabeth, to 6/10d (£ 6 10 shillings) per pound weight. Consumption of tobacco increases as belief spreads that the leaf helps ward off the plague.

■ 1606

King Phillip III of Spain decrees tobacco could only be grown in Spanish colonies. Production by foreigners is punishable by death.

■ 1614

James I grant two traders exclusive rights to import tobacco-paying £3,500 for the first year, raising to £7,000 each year for the next decade.

■ 1619

King James I bans domestic cultivation of tobacco and announces that it is to become a royal monopoly.

■ 1623

Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III bans “tobacco drinking” under threat of indeed but smoking continues.

■ 1624

Pope Urban VIII bans snuff claiming it takes users too close to “sexual ecstasy”. King James I decrees that all tobacco should arrive at the port of London. Smuggling increases and sizeable amounts of duty are lost. The British Government widens the number of ports where tobacco can land

■ 1629

Following the advice of his minister Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII of France levies a tax of 30 sols on every pound of tobacco. Two centuries later Napoleon III would observe: “This vice brings in one hundred million francs in taxes every year. I will certainly forbid it at once- as soon as you can name a virtue that brings in as much revenue. “Government monopolies prove so lucrative them persist in several European countries late into the twentieth century.

■ 1633

Turkish sultan Murad IV forbids smoking with the threat of execution. He also demolishes coffee-houses in Constantinople and confiscates the assets of executed

■ 1640

Tsar Michael of Russia declares smoking a deadly sin. Arrested smokers are flogged or have their lips slit. A 1643 visitor to Moscow says: “Those convicted of taking snuff, both men and women, can expect to have their noses taken away.”

■ 1699

The court physician to Louis XIV, Fagon, offers a contemporary view: “When he opened his snuffbox, did he not know that he was opening a Pandora’s Box, from which would spring a thousand ills, each worse than another?” Louis XIV is said to hate tobacco but does not ban it, as it would have meant giving up money from the state monopoly.

■ 1700

An increasing number of protectionist barriers are created, particularly in the eastern United States, to safeguard English interests.

■ 1725

Following the fashion of the day, Pope Benediet XIII allows the use of snuff in St Peter’s Church, reversing a ban imposed 75 years earlier by Innocent X.

■ 1779

Scenting a business opportunity, the Vatican opens its own tobacco factory.

■ 1800

British and French soldiers fighting in Spain during the Napoleonic wars bring cigars back home. Their popularity grows quickly.

■ 1820

A smoking room is established in the British House of Commons.

■ 1827

Cigar consumption increases with the invention of the friction-activated phosphorous match.

■ 1846-48

The Mexican war leads to a huge increase in the popularity of cigars smoked by soldiers trying to relieve fatigue and quash hunger. Soldiers develop a taste for the darker tobaccos from the south.

■ 1850

In the United States, tobacco is linked to the temperance movement. Reverend George Trask, a former smoker, sets up the American Anti-Tobacco Society for which he serves as president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and auditor.

■1868

Smoking compartment is introduced on English railways.

■ 1881

James Bonsack, a Virginian, invents a machine that can produce 120,000 cigarettes a day. James “Buck” Duke, destined to become the first chairman of British-American

Tobacco 21 years later, buys two machines and his family’s tobacco company moves into cigarettes.

■ 1890

In America, 26 states pass laws banning the sale of cigarettes to minors.

■ 1899

Lucy Page Gaston, an Illinois teacher and journalist and member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, establishes the Chicago Anti-Cigarette League.

■ 1900

The Anti-Cigarette League publishes a pamphlet claiming links between cigarette smoking and brain disease

■ 1902

The Imperial Tobacco Company of the United Kingdom and The American Tobacco Company of the United States agree to end a trade war by forming a joint venture, the ‘British-American Tobacco Company Ltd.’ James B. Duke becomes the venture’s first Chairman.

■ 1908

The New York City authority bans women from smoking in public, Two weeks later Katie Mulcahey is arrested for violating the rule. As she is led away she declares, “No man shall dictate to me”. Cigarette smoking was often seen as a symbol of women’s emancipation.

■ 1914

Outbreak of World War I. General John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American forces in France in 1917, calls tobacco “indispensable to the daily ration”. In Europe, troops use cigarettes to pass time and to try to calm their nerves. The popularity of cigarettes in the armed forces associates tobacco with patriotism.

■ 1921

US State of Idaho bans cigarette sales.

■ 1925

Despite the bans, cigarette sales continue to increase. The American Mercury reports, “The more violently it has been banned, the more popular it has become”.

■ 1941

US President Roosevelt makes tobacco a protected crop as part of the World War II war effort. His wife Eleanor was dubbed “the first lady to smoke in public”.

■ 1945

During World War II, smoking increases. By the middle of the next decade, more than a quarter of American women and more than half of American men smoke cigarettes.

■ 1952

Two British researchers, Richard Doll and A. Bradford Hill, report the results of a four year study comparing 1,465 lung cancer patients to an equal number of patients with other diseases, matched for age, sex and region. They conclude that lung cancer patients are considerably more likely to be smokers and much more likely to be heavy smokers.

■ 1960s

Public health warnings emerge

■ 1964

The American Surgeon General publishes a 387 page report stating: “Cigarette smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance in the United States to warrant appropriate remedial action.” For the first time smoking is banded in the State Department auditorium.

■ 1980s

The tobacco industry sees substantial annual duty increases which result in cigarette taxation increasing by 85 percent or more in several countries, including the UK.

■ 1990s

Litigation issues tend to dominate the news headlines around the tobacco industry. In the US, five years after the first State lawsuit was filed, major US tobacco companies signed a Master Settlement Agreement with 46. State Attorneys-General, giving these US states more than $200 billion in total over 25 years in settlement of lawsuits seeking reimbursement for the Medicaid costs of treating sick smokers. The Master Settlement Agreement restored stability to the tobacco companies, allowing them to concentrate again on running their business.

■ 2000 and beyond

Litigation continues to be a significant issue for the tobacco industry, especially in the US, but the de-certification of lawsuit activity. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is adopted by the World Health Organization; it calls for restrictions on tobacco advertising and sponsorships, new labeling standards clean indoor air controls and stronger action against cigarette smuggling. Tobacco companies work with governments to reduce smuggling. Bans on public smoking are enacted in some places and proposed in other; the ban in New YorkState is unpopular with a majority of voters. British American Tobacco test-markets Swedish-style snus in Sweden and South Africa, giving smokers the chance to enjoy a less harmful form of tobacco, without lighting up.

About British American Tobacco Bangladesh

British American Tobacco Bangladesh began its operations in the subcontinent in 1910 as Imperial Tobacco Company Ltd with its head office in Calcutta; where cigarettes were made in Carreras Ltd Calcutta. Imperial and Can-eras merged into a single company in 1943. After the partition Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) came into existence with it’s and office in Karachi in 1949. The then PLC’s East Pakistan office was situated in Armanitola and ultimately moved to ALICOBuilding, Motijheel Dhaka. In 1954 PTC established its first cigarette factory in Chittagong although high-grade cigarettes still came from West Pakistan.

The Dhaka factory of PTC went into production in 1905. Currently, our only Cigarette Manufacturing Factory (Dhaka Factory) along with the 1-Icacl Office premises is situated in Mohakhali, Dhaka while we run the Green Leaf Threshing Plant (GLT) in Kustia. After independence, Bangladesh Tobacco Company Pvt. Limited (BTC) was formed ill 1972 with British American Tobacco holding majol^–i1y shares in Bangladesh Tobacco Company. In March 1998 Bangladesh Tobacco Company changed its name and Identity to British American Tobacco, Bangladesh pronouncing its common Identity with all other operating companies of the group.

                                          History of BATB

British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco Group and is one of the oldest and largest multinational companies operating in Bangladesh The UK-based BAT group holds G5.91’% share in the company.28.7% is owned by Government of Bangladesh agencies while 5.39% share Is owned by other shareholders.

This leading business organization in the industrial sector is employing more than 1,300 people directly and a further 40,000-+- indirectly as farmers, distributors and suppliers. They have business contracts directly with 18,000 registered farmers who produce high quality tobacco leaf.

In 2002 BATB developed a new corporate slogan “Success and Responsibility go together”.

 Guiding principles and People Management at BATB:

British American Tobacco Bangladesh is 11uidcd by a set or principles and follows n vision of’ “Extending leadership through world class performance”. The four guiding principles describe key characteristics of the organization and guide its employees in their working lives. They attempt to capture the way BAT employees work together, deal with or (Tanzanians, communities, partners and other Companies and are tile key to its success. The company pronounces and interprets its guiding principles in the following manner.

♦Strength from Diversity: We actively utilize diversity – of people, cultures, viewpoints, brands, markets and ideas- to create opportunities and strengthen performance.

♦Open minded: We strive to be an active listener, genuinely considering other’s viewpoints without pre-judging.

♦Freedom through responsibility: The freedom to take decisions and act on them obliges us to accept personal responsibility for the way they affect our stakeholders.

♦Enterprising spirit: The confidence to seek out opportunities for success, to strive for innovation, and to accept the considered risk taking that comes with it.

BATB has consistently developed high quality people. At this moment, more than 25 Bangladeshi managers are working in BAT companies around the world. Many of the today’s business leaders in Bangladesh are the ex-employees of BATB. This strong tradition remains even today and BATB still is the employer of choice for the talent pool of Bangladesh.

 BAT Bangladesh’s business:

BATB is the leader in the local cigarette industry currently holding nearly 51°/o volume share and 70% value share of the Bangladesh cigarette market. The total volume (18.9 b in 2004) has grown by nearly 90% since the 1999 levels of 10 b. They have also been able to grow annual contribution to the Government revenue to nearly Taka 17 b in 2003 and Taka 18.5 b in 2004.

■ Product Profile:

The market presence is summarized as below:

♦Super Premium: Dunhill cigars have been launched through an exclusive Cigar Lounge in the Hotel Sheraton.

♦Premium: Launched in 1997, B & H maintains BATB’s dominance in premium segment and drives the growth of premium segment in Bangladesh market. Within a short time Bangladesh became a leading B& H market across the BAT world. After a price increase ill Q1 2004, B&I-1 still remains a Successful and happening muscle in our portfolio. British American Tobacco Bangladesh was the first market to launch the new pack of E&1-1 at the beginning of September 2005.

♦Medium: Launched in 1980, John Player Gold Leaf is one of the highest selling brands of BATB the medium segment.  In 2005 they launched three flavored Limited Edition Product and Packs under the Taste the World campaign, which were extremely well received by consumer-

♦Low: Star, launched 40 years ago is till a dominating brand in this segment. Recently a new pack of Star was launched and currently it is the highest volume generating brand for the company (more than 900m per month). On August l3, 2005 the new Anchor Pack of Star was launched in the market while the cigarette stick also wore a new look with brighter paper and bi-color dye.

■ Pall Mall

Pall Mall has been launched in March 2006 with three variants full flavor, lights and menthol; it is one of the leading brands in the global BAT portfolio. It offers choice to the adult informed smokers with a full range, great taste and innovative packaging. Pall Mall, with all its innovation, is seen to be offering more value” for the consumers money.

The market situation of the products of BATB can be described with the help of BCG matrix. BCG matrix has two determinants-market share and growth. Based on these two, products are defined as star, question mark, cash cow and dog.

 About cigarette:

Not all cigarettes are the same. Smokers around the world prefer many different tastes and strengths and our companies aim for excellence in every step of manufacturing.

Cigarette design is more complicated than it may seem. Our companies work to understand the preferences of adult consumers and to design cigarettes to meet them. It’s

the preferences Of adult consumers that guide our tobacco blends- the mix of tobaccos  that we use- and we work to ensure that these grades are available long-term to keep the tastes of our products consistent.

▪The tobacco in the rod includes tobacco lamina (the flat part of the tobacco leaf), tobacco stern (midribs of the leaf), and expanded lamina.

▪The cigarette paper includes paper and adhesive. The filter is made mainly from Cellulose acetate fibers, known as tow. Cellulose acetate is derived from wood pulp. The fibers are bonded together with a hardenⁱng agent, triacetin plasticizcr, which helps the – filter to keep its shape. The filter is wrapped in paper and scaled with a line of adhesive Sometimes charcoal is added to filters. The filter paper includes paper and adhesive.

▪Nicotine is not added in making cigarettes. It occurs naturally in all varieties of tobacco plants. Design adjustments achieve different strengths and tastes, and can reduce smoke yields of various smoke components, as measured by a   standardized machine method.

♦ Effect of burn cigarette:

To understand cigarette design, it helps to know how a cigarette burns. Itis the combustion process – the burning of the cigarette – that produces tar. If hay were burned instead of tobacco, it would also produce a type of tar. When an item burns, it produces tiny particles mixed with gases – this is smoke. A cigarette filter traps some of these Particles. When a smoker puffs on a cigarette, whole smoke, including both fine particles and access is sucked through the tobacco rod and the filter. Gases pass through the filter, and some particles are trapped in it. It is this particulate matter, minus nicotine and water that is called tar.

Smoke has over 4,000 constituents, many of them also found in the air we breathe and our food. These constituents include the emissions listed on packs, such we branch and our food. These constituents include the emissions listed on packs, such as tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. Water vapor is also produced by the combustion, because the burning of any organic material breaks down the chemical components and produces water.

♦Tobacco blends:

Cigarettes often contain a selection or different types of tobacco Leaf from different countries, blended for aroma, taste and character to meet smokers’ taste preferences. Three main types of tobacco are used in cigarettes: Virginia or Flue-cured, Burley and Oriental.

•           Virginia, or flue-cured a selection of tobacco, is named after the US state where it was First Cultivated. It is also called `bright tobacco’ because of tile yellow to orange colour it achieves during curing. It grows particularly well in subtropical regions with light rainfall, such as Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas in the USA, Southern Brazil and Zimbabwe. Cigarette brands like Dunhill use effusively Virginia tobacco. Virginia blends contain only flue-cured Virginia tobaccos.

•           Burley is a slightly lighter green than Virginia. It requires behavior soils and more fertilizer than Virginia. Some of the best Burley IS “Irown in US statcs such as Maryland and Kentucky, in Central America, Malawi, Ubatllla and Indonesia. After being air-cured, it turns brown with virtually no sugar, it an almost cigar-like taste. Along with Virginia and Oriental tobacco, it makes Lip all American Blend for cigarettes, as used iii brands like Lucky Strike or Pall Mall. Typically, air-cured tobacco is treated with sugars such as molasses or liquorices, and the blend may also contain added flavors.

•           Oriental is the smallest and hardiest of all tobacco types, grown in the hot summer of the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. These conditions and a high plat} ting density create an aromatic flavors, chanced 1)y sun-curing, as in a traditional Turkish cigarette. An Oriental blend can contain up to 100’% sun cured tobaccos.

Several factors can influence the smoking characteristics, including the variety of plant, how it is harvested and influences such as soil, climate and weather. All these can affect the tobacco’s taste and aroma.

 Ownership Status of the Company:

BATB is a public limited company listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange with an authorized share capital of “1’k 600,000,000 comprised of 60,000,000 ordinary shares of Tk 10 each. British American Tobacco, London has 66% of the shares. The government initially held 32% of its shares but it gradually sold most ‘of the holdings to different organizations of the country. The companion of shareholders (as of 2004 end) is as follows:

 Structure of the organization:

The structure is much decentralized with the parent company retaining aLlth0l^–ity for overall strategic direction of the Firm and financial control. BATB operates in the operates in the following functional areas:

• Operations (Production and Supply Chain) a
• Leaf
• Finance
• Human resource
• Marketing (Brand and Trade Marketing- Demand Chain)
• Legal & Company Secretarial
• Information Technology
• Corporate & Regulatory Affairs (CORA)

Overall activities of tile company arc governed by the “Board of Directors” and Executive. The “Board of Directors” is composed of 10 members headed by a chairman. Chief Executive of British American Tobacco Bangladesh is called the “Managing Director” who is normally appointed by “BAT Holdings”. Managing Director of the company is the chairman of the executive Committee. This committee includes the head of all the functional departments.

The decision making^, infrastructure is participatory to a very high extent. All the plans and decisions that are made are communicated from the top level of the organization and the decisions are made after discussing the issue with the related authority and the grass root level. Every possible input from every relevant level of workforce is taken before getting into any decision.

Core business activities:

BATB’s core business is to manufacture and market cigarettes. In addition to this, the company also exports tobacco and vegetables. The main activities taking place in the business are:

• Tobacco Leaf Growing: There are registered farmers who grow the tobacco in the regions of Kushtia, Chittagong and Rangpur.
• Leaf Processing: The leaf is processed in two factories; the green leaf threshing factory where the stern is separated from the leaf and the Dhaka Factory (Primary Department) where the leaf cut to make it ready for production.
• Cigarette Manufacturing: The cut tobacco is sent to secondary manufacturing department or the Dhaka Factory where it is combined with wrapping materials to make the final product. The factory runs in three shifts for 24 hours to give a daily production of around 60 million sticks.
• Distribution: The product is sent out to various distribution houses across the country. The distributors work with the BATB trade marketing team I ensuring distribution to all retail outlets in the country.
• With ever increasing number of outlets (currently, this is one of the major challenges the company faces.
• Brand Activities: With the ban on promotion activities, the company    has to look towards innovative ways of communicating their brands to the cigarette consumers.

■ Responsible Product Stewardship:

BATB follows a globally accepted set of standards for marketing [lie products. British American Tobacco, Phillip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International – the world’s three largest companies in this sector have committed their compliance with International Tobacco Products Marketing Standard (ITPMS). Besides, they have also initiated tailoring their operations to comply with the newly enacted regulation oil tobacco products in Bangladesh.

The company’s Responsible product stewardship principle suggest that: “Responsible Product Stewardship is about our belief that we should develop, manufacturer and market our products and brands in a responsible manner. Our role is to meet adult consumer demand in a way which recognizes the health risks associated with our products and seeks to address legitimate concerns about them. We need to do this in a way that conforms with our legal and social obligations as well as recognizing our need to innovate and respond to the changing environment.”

BAT Bangladesh’s Corporate Social Responsibility:

British American Tobacco Bangladesh is unique in the country with respect to the depth of their commitment to be a development partner for Bangladesh while doing business ill the most responsible manner.

International Standard in EHS Practices:

They arc committed to the principles of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) best practices which include: The country’s only Factory Bio-filter, Zero Lost Workday case (LWC) for three consecutive years which has won us the Group’s Zero Accident Award, high EHS awareness levels among employees, regular, l^–:HS reinforcement activities (i.e. EI-1S Week 2004 observed with a lot of Success).

Leaf Tobacco Export:

The company achieved the National Export Trophy (Gold)) for three consecutive years under, the `Agricultural Product’ category for 1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 fiscal. British American Tobacco Bangladesh exported 7.5 mn KGs (worth 12.23 mn USD) of leaf tobacco in 2005. Quality assurance to foreign buyers was the key factor to the increasing trend in tobacco export volume. Increase ill export is a reflection of our dedication to represent Bangladesh as an exporting country in the agricultural sector. This initiative in aligned with the Government focus in the agricultural sector supporting the  , country to (Cigarette foreign currency.

 Corporate Social Investment:

“Success and responsibility go together” is the philosophy that has driven British American Tobacco Bangladesh over the years. They are the number one taxpayer in the tobacco industry of Bangladesh. One of their core business philosophies is doing business in the most ethical and socially acceptable manner. ‘They are taking forward their commitment for contributing in the development of the country through their endeavors in the various social, economic and environmental sectors of the country.

♦Dishari:

Dishari- basic IT education centre has been initiated by BATB to contribute to the promising I”1′ sector of the country which is a thrust sector of the Government. The education centre is aimed at providing basic computer education to those who can less afford it.

♦Afforestation:

British American Tobacco Bangladesh initiated this well recognized program to create mass awareness of the need for afforestation with the free sapling distribution program in 19S0. Today, after more than two decades, they have contributed more than 50 million saplings to the country’s affrorestation initiative.

♦Community Services Initiative in leaf growing areas:

Thousands of Bangladeshi farmers are benefiting from British American Tobacco Bangladesh’s Community Services Project which has recently kicked off. It reaches out to support nearly 25000 farmers (and their families) who are closely linked with their

Way of life. The initiatives taken under this project are: Education Assistance, Primary Health Care Support, Malarial Prevention, Sanitation Support, Commercial Afforestation, Compost Pits, Green Manuring, Neem Decoction, and Vegetables Growing.

♦Biodiversity:

British American Tobacco Bangladesh Is one of the first t companies _in the country to embrace biodiversity in its way of work. The objective is t0 raise awareness among company’s internal and external stakeholders promote biodiversity and sustainable use principles in the operations of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, showcase ‘best practice’ examples and influence others to participate in biodiversity conservation.

 About Corporate and Regulatory Affairs (CORA):

“Our Strategy for building sustainable shareholder value is based on growth, productivity, responsibility and being a winning organization. CORA’s particular focus is on responsibility.”

————Michael Prideaux, Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs

British American Tobacco is .1 responsible companies in a controversial industry. A major part of helping it to be seen that way is the responsibility of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs (CORA). Our job is to reassure those stakeholders who directly or indirectly influence our business that British AmCr1Ca11 Tobacco is achieving its commercial objectives in a manner consistent with reasonable social expectations of a responsible tobacco company in the 21^st century.

As society’s expectations of corporate responsibility change, they are changing some of the ways to address stakeholder concerns. They are engaging in constructive dialogue with a wide ran-c of stakeholders – including governments and their agencies, the media, business partners, employees, investors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities – about all aspects of our product. Our social reporting process lends transparency and accountability to this process.

■ CORA Strategy:

 CORA wants to achieve

To drive recognition as a responsible tobacco company, thus improving long term business suitability.

This can be achieved by developing constructive engagement With those stakeholders who directly or indirectly influence the license to operate to reassure them that the company is meeting the commercial objectives ill a transparent manner, consistent with reasonable public expectations for a responsible tobacco company.. CORA thereby delivers tangible business benefits in the two key -area

• Proactive reputation management
• Proactive regulation management

♦ Proactive reputation management

Managing reputation effectively means understanding the stakeholders’ expectations. To do that CORA needs to internalize these expectations and initiate organizational change as appropriate in order to respond to them.

Finally, they need to develop effective two-way communication with the stakeholders and show how the company is responding.

A continuous process of understanding, responding and communicating is the Key CORA reputation management capability.

♦ Proactive regulation management

In order to effectively manage regulation, e the regulatory environment needs to be anticipated and proactively advocate company views.

Where necessary (as a last resort), they may also need to litigate to ensure that tobacco regulation balances the preferences of consumers with the interests of society, establishes

an open-minded approach to harm reduction as a policy and ensures that the business can compete and prosper.

In BAT Bangladesh CORA roles are clustered within these three sections: • Regulatory

• Regulatory Affairs
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Communication

Regulatory Affairs section is responsible, among others, to promote sensible tobacco regulatory environment, to advise marketing on compliance with applicable external and internal standards, and to support Top Team’s engagements on excise and other industry regulation issues. Today, perhaps more than ever, stakeholders expect BAT Bangladesh to use the company’s economic strength for broader social goals and to demonstrate environmental responsibility, to support the communities, and to behave with transparency and accountability.

The Corporate Social Responsibility section oversees BAT Bangladesh’s corporate social investment initiatives such as afforestation, various programs in leaf’ growing areas, corporate donations and IT education. In addition, the section also manages the Company’s social reporting process.

Meanwhile, the Corporate Communication section works closely with Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Social Responsibility to manage the communication of key messages to the external and internal stakeholders of the Company. This team is also responsible for managing the company’s corporate brand.

Internal Communication (IC) at BAT Bangladesh:

“The more elaborate our means of communication,

The less we communicate” Joseph Priestley

In today’s rapidly changing business environment the need for clear, engaging, aligned employee communication is greater than ever. While all employees are responsible for communicating effectively, the role OF internal communication teat ions is to facilitate good communication between leaders and teams. BAT does this by providing strategic communications support, operational and change management support and channel management.

Internal Communications is a part 0i ‘the corporate communications team of CORA. It is the function which engages with the internal stakeholders of the company. The recipients of the internal communications are all the 1300+ employees, belonging to both management and non management.The responsibilities of Internal Communications include planning and developing appropriate communications tools, methods and messages as well as advising other Functions in developing cross functional communications tools or activities.

Objectives of Internal Communications: 

•           Communicate corporate projects, events, achievements etc.

•           Provide counseling service for cross Functional teams for communicating projects, events, achievements etc.

•           Generate positive shift in employee comprehension of company objectives and directions.

 Importance of communication process:

British American Tobacco believes that empowered and motivated employees are the prerequisite for creating a winning organization. To this end, it is necessary that employees have the right information and it is Internal Communications that facilitates the information flow. It provides the employees with sufficient information to perform their roles and it aligns them with the company vision and directions. This enables informed decision making and promotes cohesiveness among the business units. Thus Internal Communications helps ensure that the employees at all levels have all^, understanding of tile business and are able to engage and inspire individuals around them to deliver winning performance.

Internal Communications also plays a catalytic role in upholding the guiding principle “Open Minded”. This guiding principle requires that one listen actively, communicate openly, value feedback, foster a climate of support, encourage creativity, and constantly challenge the status quo.

Types of Internal Communication:

Internal Communication at BAT is conducted in 3 ways:

¨  Branded two-way: These tools are designed to get feedback of the things communicated. Like

•     Road show
•     Skip level meeting
•     Open Forum
•     Alaap

¨  Banded one-way: The name suggests that these tools do not get feedback. These tools include:

•     Magazine/Newsletter
•     BATB news
•     SMS (Instanews)

¨  Contingency communication: These tools are designed when some need arise. Like, recently, when the company decided to increase the price of their products, a video was made to educate the brand promoters and the people in the filed.

Each of these tools will be discussed later.

Internal Communication Tools and processes:

The company has to decide what to communicate and how to communicate it and British American Tobacco has a portfolio of tools for the purpose of communication to words its employees. Depending on he number of people infected and the importance of the communication a particular tool or a combination of tools is selected. All these tools are designed to meet specific needs and together they provide a comprehensive communication with no gaps.

For each tool the following are detailed-

• Target audience for that tool
• Core contents to be communicated
• Frequency of communication
• Language and tone
• Tool name – each tool usually has branded name
• Production budget

Focus (Quarterly Magazine):

Focus is a magazine published for the exclusive consumption of the employees.

The magazine’s sore contents are-

• Success Stories – achievements by a person, department or business
• People News- Sharing of experiences by an employee
• Values/Principles- demonstration of values in the work place
• Lifestyle- light articles for entertainment
• Fun/Humorous articles

The contents of the communication are less formal and are people oriented. If an employee were to have shown excellent performance by driving a project, his success would ideally be thought the Focus Magazine. The events are communicated in detail and thus, Focus can act as archive of information as well.

♦Communication process

The communication is in the form of articles published in the form of a magazine, each issue contains around 6 to 7articles. Two versions of the magazine are printed-one for the management in English and the other for the non management in Bengali these publications are hand delivered to all the employees in Dhaka and mailed via courier to employees placed outstation.

♦Production process

The frequency of publication is usually once every three months. The magazine content is compiled by Internal Communications with the help of an editorial Board referred to as the IC editors. There are eight members who represent different groups –Finance, Marketing, CORA, HR, and Legal, Leaf, Operations, IT and the Trade Union. Their responsibility is to identify which news/ event from their area should be published in the magazine and also to motivate employees from their area to contribute articles for Focus.

Accompanying the articles pictures have to be selected. Photos of events are usually taken during the event and Internal Communications keeps conies of these photographs. According to need, photos for other articles are obtained from stored photo archives or photo shoots are arranged as and when required.

The design and publication of Focus are done by means of an agency and Internal Communications has to work within a given budget for Focus publication. Often BATB works with two agencies for this purpose- one for the design and artwork and the other for the printing. The design of the magazine is done by an advertising agency and after approval of the design the dummy is sent to a printing agency. The advertising agency usually supervises production and is paid 15% of the production cost as commission.

 BATB News (Video news):

The publication of BATB News or may not coincide with that of Focus; however, these two tools serve distinct purposes in the overall IC portfolio. While Focus contains more people news and in-depth features, BATB News covers project news and events.

The core contents of BATB News are-

¨    Business performance

¨    Corporate Events

¨    Strategic Initiatives

¨    Projects

¨    Other success stories

The objective of BATB News is to align the employees to company vision and direction. This is done through.

• Tracking monthly company performance against target and highlight activities on ten strategic directions of the company and the four guiding principles month by month.
• Bringing strategic direction to life by using creative, visual format, featuring interviews with individuals and team on their activities and achievements and offering a glimpse of operations.
• Highlighting examples of behavior aligned with guiding principles and achievement of tangible results.

● Communication process

The news is communicated through a fifteen to twenty minute video production. BATB News is produced only in Bengali and is made for all the employees (expatriates get an English transcript).

This video newsletter is shown to the employees via several media-

• From video archives on an Intrusive
• From a projected screen in the Canteen
• From CDs sent out from CORA

Most managers watch BATB News from the Intrusive where they can access the video at any time. The non management employees watch BATB News in the canteen. The News with their team members (T.O.s in Marketing, and employees in Leaf and Operations) during monthly meetings. The distribution process of BATB news is detailed out below-

Dhaka based Managers- The video file is uploaded on the intranet and an email is sent out to all users notifying the publication of BATB News. The email also gives a gist of the main news items covered. The managers can log onto the intranet and view

The news whenever they want to and as many times as they wish. Each BATB News remains on the intranet fir 12 months.

● Dhaka based non management- The factory workers are shown BATB news during meal times in the canteen. It is shown for five consecutive days in a large projected screen placed at a visible location in the canteen, Sine the factory operates 24 hours a day, non management have in total seven meals…. break fast, lunch, tea , dinner, evening tea, night tea night tea and early breakfast. During each of these meals, which last from half an hour to and an hour to an hour, BATB News is repeatedly played. Taking into account the number of shifts the worker has during those five days he may be exposed from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 15 projections.

●Outstation- A day after BATB News is uploaded; CDs are mailed to the managers in various locations who share the video with their team members during the monthly meeting. Other than the manager who has the CD, the other employees thus get to watch BATB News once and on a laptop screen. The CD takes around three days to reach the managers in the various regions and before receiving the CD they get an email notifying them about the new BATB News. Managers in kushitia have connectivity to the head office and thus can view BATB News multiple times.

● Production process

BATB News is a bi-monthly production. An agency is hired for the video and audio recording. The script is prepared by Internal Communications and the voiceover is given by a BATB employee. Ideally mangers from different functions should be selected by rotation for the voiceover to crate involvement across the company.

Alaap (Monthly meting for non-mgt employees):

This tool communicates news on Business performance, Strategic Initiatives and projects. It is a focused, interactive tool targeted towards the non management employees to create greater understanding and retention at that level, It recounts detailed news such as Sales, Brands, Market Share, production, Wastage levels, Quality (RQI) and important corporate news such as Annual General Meeting, Corporate social Responsibility activities etc. The need for this tool arose as exposure to other tools is limited at the factory floor.

● Communication process

Alaap sessions take place on the factory floor where the line manager makes a power point presentation to the factory workers for duration of 45 minutes. Alaap is carried out every month and each session has. The audience consists of 25 to 30 employees who report to that manager. Alaap sessions are highly interactive and generate a lot of feedback. The content has two parts- Corporate part that contains companywide information and Team part that contains performance feedback of that particular team (e.g. Cell or shift or warehouse).

At the end of each session the line manager fills out a feedback form which is emailed to Manufacturing HR and Internal Communications. This form indicates the turnout in each session and the important queries that where left unanswered. Queries, obtains answers from the right source and emails the answers back to the line managers. These questions are then addressed in the immediate next Alaap meeting.

● Production process

Internal Communications collects relevant information from across the company, edits the material and prepares PowerPoint slides which are emailed via Lotus Notes to line managers, at the factory, who conduct the session.

Baithak (Internet site):

All the workstations of BAT across the globe are connected to networks based on the internet but accessible to only members of BAT. This internet is referred to as he Interact site and is used by all BAT companies. In addition to Interact, BAT Bangladesh has its own Local intranet accessible only by manager in Bangladesh. This has been given the brand name Baithak and has the same architecture as the Global Interact page.

Baithak provides users with the following features.

• News from the Global Interact page- news and feature items on the Global page are linked to Baithak.
• Local news-Every week one news item is published on Baithak by internal Communications. This news remains in the archives for three month before it

Is Deleted. This tool also provides Internal Communications a platform to make communication s a platform to make communications to managers on an ad hoc basis.

• Bangladesh Bulletin Board- This feature can be used by all managers who have access to Baithak. The bulletin board is like an electronic notice board. Three type of notice are uploading- company, personal, Leisure. Internal Communications uses this tool to upload relevant information and also edits/ deletes notices uploaded by others according to need.
• A Media Desk system which provides an archive of newspapers are scanned and uploaded in this section. This responsibility of maintaining this archive is outsourced.
• Room Reservation facilities- This is tool that can be used to reserve rooms for meetings.
• Chat room-this facility allows employees to share views across the company.
• Functional pages – There are three functional pages IT, CORA and Marketing these pages provide information relevant to the departments.

In addition to all these features, the page has a search option facilitating managers to find information they need in an easy and quick manner. Thus, Baithak compliments the existing set of branded IC tools developed to provide a consistent platform for effective, regular, relevant and 2 way communication.

●Communication process

Baithak provides a simple solution to company wide information on demand. It provides common access and a single entry point to various business critical tools and information. The tool is targeted towards the managers of the company. The limitation of this tool is that it is available only to the managers based in the Dhaka Head office and the Green Leaf Trashing (GLT) plant in kushtia. Managers in remote locations do not have connectivity and hence they cannot be using Baithak.

● Production process

The content on Baithak is managed by the Internal Communications manager.

Free flowing discussion and give them opportunity to voice their ideas, grievances etc.

Internal Communications prepares meeting minutes which are then shared with managers via electronic bulletin board.

Email or Lotus Notes:

Lotus Notes is an email tool which is used to communicate with managers (from one to-one personalized to mass level communication). This tool is used on an ad hoc basis,

Notice board:

Notices that placed on the electronic bulletin board are communicated to the non management employees in Dhaka through a print version of the notice place on a notice board at the Dhaka Factory premises,

 Short message service (SMS) called Inasta News:

The SMS tool is used for crisis communication. Internal Communication maintains a database of mobile number of all managers. Messages are sent out x to multiple people to make a communication on an emergency basis.

Open Forum:

This tool has been introduced recently this tools is supposed to be more informal and give the employees, both management and non management, a better opportunity to place their demands and give suggestions or talk about problems. Employees will feel more comfortable in sharing their problems with this tool as this would maintain confidentiality better as in this process they communicate with the Managing Director on a one-to-one basis.

Focus:

Every year, 4 issues of the magazine are published; that means the magazine is published once in every 3 months until the time of conducing this project, the total number of issues published was 3. From the survey, it came out that people are satisfied with the current frequency, 38%  of the management employees think once in every 3 month is the right frequently as almost 50% of them wanted it to be published in every two months and 42% of them seemed satisfied with the current frequency.

The most preferred section in the magazine is “personal experience” followed by project update. People are very much satisfied with the availability & appearance of the magazine and it is apparent from the survey. (For availability the mean was 4, which was the highest) So, overall, people are happy with the magazine and a few suggestions accumulated from the survey are like the following:

• Use a professional agency

• Should include more items from outside Dhaka

• Before publishing, consult the relevant person or department

The excel files are shown in the appendix section, the main and analyzed part is presented below:

■ Frequency:

■ Preference by section: (For Mgt)

■ Number of issues read:

issues

ReadNo     of

People

%No     of

people

%00000%139%39%21134%1134%31753%1753%More than13%13%Cant recall00%00%Total320.99320.99

■ Features of focus:

 BATB News:

The frequency of this tool is once in every 2 months, and until this project, 5 editions have been published. On an average, most of the people have seen 3 out of the 5 episodes (24%-Management, – 28% Non management.) According to majority, the frequency should be once in every 3 months with more content. (Management –44% Non management-56%). People are satisfied with the content and style and they like the current style.

■ Few of the suggestions were:

• participation of employees should be encouraged
• Could use a newsreader
• News should be more project, initiative based

■ Frequency of BATB news:

people %1/3 months1544.121856%

½ months617.651238%Every month1338.2426%Total3410032100%

■ No. of news seen by the BATB employees:

■ Features of BATB news:

Skip level meeting:

Skip level meeting seems to be liked by the management employees than the non-management people; from the survey it was apparent as 97% of the management people said that they like the concept whereas 88% of the non management people said they like it. 69% of the management employees have attended at least one meeting where only 53% of the non management people ever attended it. Management people like it so much as they admire the confidentiality factor of this concept. Most of the people said they would like the current frequency of the meeting that is every month (35% management, 41% non management).

■ Participation in Skip Level Meeting:

■ Popularity of Skip Level Meeting:

■ Frequency of Skip Level Meeting:

 Features of Skip Level Meeting:

 Baithak:

It is a tool for the management employees and almost 39% of them visit the site regularly that is everyday. . Among all the sections, bulletin board, which notifies the employees about the day to day activities in BAT, is the most popular section. People think that the site is easily accessible and user friendly but the information should be update on a more regular basis.

The suggestions are:

• The music section should be updated regularly
• Bangla interface can be used
• Speed should be faster

■ Frequency:

■ Preferred sections of Baithak:

■ Features of Baithak:

Road show:

Majority of the people have attended at least one road show (46% Management, 44% non management). People like the content and the presentation style of road show.

■ The suggestions are:

¨  Road show should be more action oriented

¨  Q & A session should be more strong

■ Attendance

   Participation in Skip Level Meeting:

 Features of Road show:

Alaap:

Alaap (monthly presentation on factory floor) is a tool that has been recently introduced and it has highly successful. Most of the non management employees look towards their monthly Alaap to receive feedback on performance and business updates. Attendance has been very high and almost 31% of the people have at least attended 9 Alaap sessions this year.

Feature of Alaap:

Open forum:

Open Forum has been introduced recently and it is held every month. 84% of the people have heard about it 70% never attended any session. Of the people who know about it, 94% liked the concept. 91% think it is a very effective tool. 47% think it should be held once in every 2 months.

Participation:

Popularity:

Frequency:

 Effectiveness:

Favorite Tools:

For the management employees, the internet site or Baithak is the most popular tool and for the non management people, Alaap is the most popular one.

And overall, the most popular tool is focus whereas skip level meeting got the lowest ratings.

So, the preferences of the employees for the internal communication tools are like the following:

(In order or preference)

Effectiveness :

67% of the management people think the tools are extremely effective and there is still room for improvement 74% of the non-management employees think that the tools are very effective and they are happy with the way the company communicates with them.

Overall:

• Management people prefer co-tools (like lotus notes) for internal communication
• 69% of the mgt employees think that the internal communication tools are very effective in cross functional projects (Ref: Table in Appendix)
• 65% think these are very helpful in business decision making (Ref: Table in Appendix)
• Most of the management people (53%) think the tools are effective
• 50% of the non management people think these tools are very effective

Recommendations:

• –                   Focus could include some more personal experiences and can a bit more informal. The Pakistani version of Focus named “Sticks” in comparison to “Focus” seems to be more employee-oriented whereas “Focus” is more company based.
• –                   Delivery of Focus could be mad personalized to ensure that everybody gets it.
• –                   After skip level meeting, the issues raised should be discussed with the relevant process owner. The corrective action or explanation should be documented and written feedback send to all the participants of the skip level meeting. This will complete the communication loop and the participants will feel that topics raised are being dealt with.
• –                   Online Chat in Baithak is not that popular and not of much use, hence it could be scrapped.
• –                   The music section should be updated regularly at Baithak.
• –                   To make BATB news more interactive a newscaster selected from the employees can be used.
• –                   According to majority, the BATB news should be once in every 3 months with more content. (Management –44% Non management-56%).
• –                   BATB News should be more projects, initiative based.
•  
• –                   In BATB news participation of employees should be encouraged.
• –                   They could use a newsreader at BATB news.
• –                   At the Baithak, the information should be update on a more regular basis.
• –                   Bangla interface can be used at Baithak.
• –                   Speed should be faster for Baithak.
• –                   Road show should be more action oriented.
• –                   Q & A session should be stronger in road show.
• –                   To make the open forum more successful it should be held once in every 2 months.
• –                   The open forum concept should be communicated to every employee so that they can participate effectively in this session.
• –                   They should take initiative to make popular the skip level meeting.

 Conclusion:

British American Tobacco Bangladesh is a subsidiary of British American Tobacco p l.c world second largest tobacco group. They are a public limited company with an authorized capital of Tk. 60 corer listed on both Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchange. The UK based British American Tobacco group holds 65.91% share in the company. Government of Bangladesh agencies own 28.70% share, while 5.39% share is owned by other shareholder.

They are leading the cigarette industry in Bangladesh with a market share of more than 50%, employing more than 1,300 people directly. They provide indirect employment to more than 30,000 people as farmers, distributors and local suppliers.

They grow tobacco in four regions of the country, Kushtia, Chittagong, Manikganj and Rangpur. Currently, our only cigarette manufacturing factory alone with the head office premises is situated in Mohakali, Dhaka. We run a Green Leaf Threshing Plant (GLTP) in Kustia and a redrying plant Manikgang.

British American Tobacco Bangladesh is a company with world class people, products, systems and processes and tools. They are the first company in Bangladesh to be awarded Class A status as part of the international and prestigious total business excellence programmed, MRPII, audited by internationally renowned consultants Oliver Wight. We have a total company commitment to excellence and drive for continuous improvement.
Our world class people work as a team to meet challenges in an ever-changing business environment. We have an open and transparent culture with customer service that exceeds expectations. We continuously seek to improve our manufacturing efficiency without compromising on quality. As a result our company is recognized as benchmark for quality in the region when we were the first company to be given the license to manufacture Benson & Hedges in-house, within this region of BAT Group which stretches from Pakistan to Australia. Our utilization of information technology is at the core of our business strategy and is a benchmark among other fast moving consumer goods companies in the country.

For a company like BATB, operating in a highly controversial and sensitive industry and working with more than 1300 employees, internal communication is very important to facilitate decision making and making them able to face the stakeholders. Thought challenging, BATB is doing a successful job in devising a successful portfolio of tools for internal communication and the process of continuous improvement keeps their model functional.