Degree

Master of Business Administration Executive

Faculty / School

Faculty of Business Administration (FBA)

Year of Award

2016

Project Type

MBA Executive Research Project

Access Type

Restricted Access

Executive Summary

The purpose of this research work is to identify the factors which influence the customer's decision to switch to another telecommunication network. The scope of the study is very important because of the rapid growth of mobile service industry in Pakistan with a huge competition level involved within the industry, and a massive number of users who switch from one mobile network to another. This study will support to know the factors which influence brand switching and the analysis of customer's preferences. Independent Variables of this research are service quality, price, value offered, satisfaction, customer loyalty where as dependent variable is 'switching cost'. The data analysis for this research is done by using a very simple numerical analysis. This research indicates several factors that play an important role in switching mobile networks in telecom industry.

Primary research was carried out by a survey that included responses from 100 respondents. People of different age groups were selected to avoid responses from same age group and to add more diversification in sampling. Secondary research was carried out by consulting various articles, reports and websites.

A number of Conclusions were drawn from both primary and secondary research. I found young generation as a major chunk of mobile users, who is more inclined towards Internet Usage through their mobile phones, as Internet Usage provides them with ail those facilities which a normal Mobile Network does, like Free Calls, SMS Facility and Video Calling etc. Although Telecom companies have worked a lot to expand their network coverage area, but still there is a lot of room to expand specially in the northern areas of our country and areas closer to international borders. In addition to this, As we know, that "Vimplecom" has taken over Mobilink three years back, and has recently taken over Waird Telecom as well. The same company has got majority shares of Telenor Pakistan too. So we need to think on these lines, what if they buy Ufone and Zong in near future, and make a cartel of all companies, to set their own rules and requirements for communication. Because when the attribute of competition will simply disappear in the telecom sector. What if they raise call/SMS rates to the level of their

choice? What measures government needs to take now, to cater for these future risks? What controls government needs to put in now, to minimize possible risks by such acquisitions? I interviewed Managers of different levels of all five telecom companies working in Pakistan, to incorporate their point of views regarding a rising trend of brand switching in telecom industry these days. They all opined differently as per their knowledge and experience. Few of them kept Internet Quality/Packages Offered as a major attribute for brand switching, and some opined Voice clarity/Network Coverage as a bigger reason for switching.

I have interviewed one manager each from all five telecom companies working currently in Pakistan, to know about their views on switching behavior of their customers. Interestingly all of them differ in their opinion and have given all different views from each other. Detailed summary of these interviews is given in the report. I have also gone through different research projects where people have gone to deep in details, and have concluded differently. A U.K based research (Reference has been given on top of the list of secondary research) has concluded that 'Price' is the major factor for which users switch from one mobile network to another. There is another case study (Reference No. 5 in Secondary Research) which was carried out by COMSAT students in Sahiwal District of Pakistan, and they have also concluded that 'Price' is the major factor for which users tend to switch their mobile network. Another article in International Journal of Asian Social Science has related the price factor with brand switching in telecom industry and they have negated any relation between brand switching and service quality. So there are a number of references which are given as secondary research at the end of this report, which give all different views about the reasons for switching.

Pages

31

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