@ Brian ....Exactly you have hit the nail on the head.Because one of the solutions is to A)* stretch the organization*,by bench marking against non-telcom organization...e.g Access Kenya should put an objective of competing with say Stanchart in automation or compete with Safaricom in profits.Restructure like KCB etc.(but you must have a plan) B) *Set goals that will cause change to occur*.Many telcos have a sales target only instead of end to end throughout the organization.Also set goals that you think your competitor will use to attack or beat you with. C)* Invest in good systems and training* (systems across the whole enterprise to drive change in operating expenses (opex) and flexibility).Many organization invest in routers,mast,fibre and forget all the other departments . D) *Re-organize the company for success* ...by doing everything around the customer..listen to the customer solve their issues before they even realize the problem has occurred.Anticipate their needs in away that blows their mind.When people wanted a faster horse Henry ford gave them an automobile. E) *Empower customer facing employees* ...remove power from senior managers who sit in the office and give it to people who have direct contact with the client,so that they can can solve customer issues immediately. This is a radical thinking but believe me its the only way.For it to happen the leadership has to be transformational But as noted by many people in the list telcos are same old same old.....business as usual from 19 way back to 2K and beyond. On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 6:33 PM, Brian Ngure <brian@pixie.co.ke> wrote:
I couldn't agree more with this assessment.
I think that one major problem is the attitude of "it works" instead of "let's make it great". What happened to to the sense of pride in ones work?
It seems to me that most people (and businesses) just want to get by, which is yet again, attitude. The problem is, how to fix the attitude?
Regard's
Brian Ngure
On 17 Jun 2011 18:20, "Joram Mwinamo" <joram.mwinamo@gmail.com> wrote:
Nice Summary
Maybe people just dont know how to do business in Kenya? or doing business in kenya should start from a bootstrap concept and until its achieved significant scale it can start engaging high level strategies? Or partner with the govt? Or Avoid taxes? What works?
On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 5:11 PM, Joseph McDonald <mcdonaldoj@gmail.com wrote:
In that case God have mercy on them. Its a serious problem through out the industry,at Wananchi Richard Bell had to resign from East Africa Capital partners to go back and run WOL because they were loosing their USD 170 million investment.Now they have received another 5 billion investment hope they dont run into same problems.
Essar (Yu),Orange and even Airtel are yet to register tangible ROI.I once attended a Telemanagement Forum seminar in Nice and in one of the discussions high operating cost and Business Inflexibility are the number one enemies of telcos.As a result many of telcos are far from lean.Most telcos in Kenya are characterised by
a) *Silo based organizations* where sales,service operations,network planning,core network operations,access network operations and filed installations work independently with poor process integration.
b) *High Man-power cost*-because of a lack of automated process flow through.(Wananchi with like 5 offices in Nairobi)
c) *Poor time-to-Revenue-*because of rigid and inflexible business process.(e.g KDN slow on FTTx,Zuku roll out to other parts of Nairobi)
d) *Weak Customer Service*-because of poorly integrated systems with inaccurate data.(Just go through all the complaints in this list about service and I rest my case)
e) *Slow or Declining Growth*- because -Because systems and processes cant scale.(Apart from Queen Bee who else is making profit?)
f) *Slow New Service introduction*-because of high risks and costs to make changes.(Can Access change from wireless to GPON? )
g)* Poor economies of Scale* - because of using hundreds of suppliers.( Queen bee and Airtel I know are now dealing with Huawei which is good but quality is in doubt).
h) *Obsession of owning infrastructure leading to high CAPEX and slow ROI*- Everyone wants to roll out something,fibre,wireless,3g,masts,base stations....why cant they share and battle it out on service.At least Queen Bee and Orange have started albeit late.
I can give practical simple solutions for these problems but I will be accused of demeaning the profession by giving free service.
On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 3:57 PM, David Kiania | Asentric Consulting Ltd < kianiadee@gmail.com> wrote:
MacD,
As much as I believe in you, I hope you don't take up such an assignment. Both companies have been in existence for several years and both face very different challenges. AK needs to defend it's marketshare in both home and corporate. Home, eeeh having wireless compete with GPON (FTTX) and 3G, I can't see how you can turn around that business.
Corporate, queen bee has existing relationships and solid processes for installation and customer support. It's unlikely that they can churn customers.
KDN, sijui niseme nini, Customer Service, Quality of Service have always been issues that they have not hacked several years later on. I worked there and a number of people in this list and they attest the same. FTTx rollout has taken longer than expected and they are loosing ground. Queen bee is moving into FTTx as well as another company which will remain un-named and this will be on open access model.
If you decide to go for it Good luck. The numbers will judge you.
My two thoughts
Kiania D
On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 2:58 PM, Joseph McDonald <mcdonaldoj@gmail.com wrote:
Am sure AK and KDN are in a tricky situation due to the losses,but am sure they can turn it around.
In the short run (30-90 days) these companies can have 30% reduction of cost, Increase of revenue and customer satisfaction by doing Process Innovation.
Many companies try to gain competitive advantage through structure, size and even their product portfolios—but frequently create complexity that customers are unwilling to pay for.You see structure and even products can be copied,its only when structure,size and products are mixed with good process only then can a company get sustainable competitive advantage.
The process innovation will actually involve linking process to customer value and profitability.
Telecommunication service is something all of us are familiar with, mo st of us use, and many of us rely on as an integral part of our daily li ves.
With a product (Internet) that has such broad appeal, it would seem logi cal that telecommunication providers would act aggressively to establish a compelling offering,one that differentiates itself from the rest of the market place.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Because we know that process innovation is the primary driver behind co mpetitive differentiation it would logically follow that the customer-f acing processes of these businesses would undergo intense scrutiny in the effort to evolve their competitive differentiation. In Kenya, the e stablished telecommunication service providers have instead opted to fo cus on gizmos, glitz and combative marketing campaigns that set unrealis tic customer expectations that are impossible for the business to actu ally deliver on.
In fact, the industry carries such an excessive overhead (inefficient p rocesses) with a glaring track record of horrible customer service and satisfaction that the only way they have found to make minimal profit m argins is by grace of the almighty or forcing customers to buy service c ontracts.
Without these service contracts, the Causes of Work and process Points of Failure leech away any hope of profit for these companies.
The way forward is to have an outside-in approach and identify the moments of truths (interaction with the customer).
I know it sounds generic and academic but it has been done before notably by Jan Carlzon when he transformed SAS from USD 17 million loss to a USD 54 million profit in 1 year,using the same methodology.
I would be willing to assist any of these companies with my expertise in this area.
On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 2:41 PM, David Kiania | Asentric Consulting Ltd <kianiadee@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't think MTN can hack this market it's way too competitive for
them
and the margins are far from ideal. Last but not least their country of origin ...eeeh ya!
AK had been approached buy Mweb for acquisition before AFSAT , initial discussions completed and final numbers arrived at. But the Founders exaggerated their cash ambition and they were left high and dry. Currently they are worth a fraction of what was on offer at the time.
Kiania D
On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Joram Mwinamo < joram.mwinamo@gmail.com > wrote:
> Do i See MTN bidding to buy Essar, then AK? > > > On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 2:07 PM, [ Brainiac ] < arebacollins@gmail.com>wrote: > >> call it doomsday prophesy but i am predicting. >> >> Queen Bee is gonna swallow them all..... >> >> >> On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM, David Kiania | Asentric Consulting >> Ltd <kianiadee@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Two major Internet players to hit the headlines on the today with >>> quasi adverse mentions. In todays Business Daily KDN has been hit by >>> mass exodus of talent and will be replaced by mainly South Africans >>> (yes South Africans) http://bit.ly/mPpT8D and Access Kenya is >>> merging >>> it's businesses and the underlying numbers look scarcely. >>> http://bit.ly/irHphP >>> >>> AK lost an amazing KES. 134m in FOREX loses ONLY and also saw their >>> revenues decreased by KES. 300m from 2billion to 1.7billion ouch. In >>> the intervening year AK has not made notable investment in >>> infrastructure or marketing so the revenue is bound to decline even >>> further. I also think the Safaricom assault on their corporate >>> business and Airtel heading that way ... shareholders have a right to >>> be very concerned. >>> >>> Only time will tell how these companies would do but even with >>> impending changes at KDN would we prefer a better managed company by >>> foreigners or we really don't care? As far as AK is concerned ... >>> >>> My thoughts >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> >>> [Asentric Consulting Ltd] >>> >>> "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war." - Navy >>> SEAL INSTRUCTOR >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Skunkworks mailing list >>> Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >>> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >>> ------------ >>> Skunkworks Rules >>> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >>> ------------ >>> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> *“The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments >> of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of >> corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of >> protecting corporate power against democracy”* >> >> ~ Alex Carey ~ >> >> Tel No: 0x2af23696 >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke >> http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > > -- > Sent from my Voice Recognition Watch© > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,but that we are > powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens > us.There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't > feel insecure around you.As we let our own light shine, we consciously give > other people permission to do the same. > As we are liberated from our fear,our presence automatically liberates > others. > > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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[Asentric Consulting Ltd]
"The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war." - Navy SEAL INSTRUCTOR
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
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--
[Asentric Consulting Ltd]
"The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in war." - Navy SEAL INSTRUCTOR
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Sent from my Voice Recognition Watch© -------------------------------------------------------------------- Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,but that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.As we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear,our presence automatically liberates others.
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke