Omantel: Overview of the Company and the Objectives. Management Essay Example.

Omantel is the pioneer Telecommunication Company in Oman. It has its headquarters in Muscat, the capital City Oman. The Oman government owns 49% of the share capital while the lion share of 51% is controlled by United International Telecommunication Investments and Projects which is the mother organization. Omantel has over 3,000 employees with the huge capital base estimated to 1.5 billion USD. Talal Saeed Marhoon Al Mamari was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Company on the 29th day of June 2014. Subsequently, on September 19th, 2017 he was appointed as one of the Non-Executive members of the company.

The subsidiaries of the company are WorldCall, Oman Data Park Limited Liability Company, and Omantel France SAS. Others are the Internet of things LLC and First Issue S.A.O.C. The city being the global city and largest populous in the country, Omantel thrives as the epicenter hub of technological advancements attracting heavy international investments across Asia, Africa, and European nations. The company deals with the provision of digital telephony services of bounded and unbounded internet connectivity, global systems for mobile connectivity and the general internet and mobile service packages.

The case study objectives are;

To;

(i) Find out the companys technological, strategic positioning in expanding the global market share.

(ii) Find out how the company manages its operations and strategies.

Analysis of Omantel Success Strategies

(a) Technological Management

There are some technological management tools used by the Omantel company.

Shatat (2015) explored successes of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) which has been adopted to integrate and manage all operations in the company related to human resources and real-time internal business processes in the company. Using the in-house developed systems, Omantel implemented the ERP system with the database management convenience offered by the Oracle systems. Because of the desire for the company to be a leading telecommunication company in the home country, the company enjoys the many benefits offered by the ERP management information systems. The ERP implementation aimed at meeting the UN regulations and requirements as well as satisfying the companys customers. The ERP is the leading technological management tool running all computerized operations of the company and is part of the organizational strategy. The Omantel company has optimised all operations around the ERP system which has since improved companys transparency in transactions, save manual operational costs, providing employees and management with real-time data and management flexibility, innovation and instant awareness. (Maguire, et al. 2010).

Omantel provides internet services to the banking sector in Oman. The e-banking technology facilitates financial access via the GSM services. The company offers infrastructure for banking customers to pay utility bills and approve online financial transactions.

The integration of technology at Omantel has a partnership with leading industries like the airports and other authorities like the Public Authority for Civil Aviation. Oman industrialization relies largely on a standardized network of restricted fixed mobile telecommunications. Omantel has an agreement with the industries to offer high-quality technological management services.

(b) Financial Management

Omantel tracks financial management operations and performance through the quarterly and annual financial reports. The reports demonstrate solid positive trend as evident in the 2016 financial year where the company recorded a 3.2% positive index. The high financial ratings at the company are reflective of its standing financial freedom recorded in the loaded high cash flow retention and low debt levels. The companys healthy liquidity position is reflected by 31% total assets against 27% liabilities giving a current ratio of 1.02.

The reflected financial performance at the Omantel shows the company is the leading local market at the Sultanates telecom providers and operators (Alraja, 2016). The financial investments at the company heavily lean on fixed and mobile line services. As at 2016, the company had invested RO 826 million. The quoted share capital at Muscat Security Markets stood at RO 546.7 million in 2016 an increase from RO 505.4 million in 2015. This investment accounts for the 6.6% of entire market capitalization.

The expansion in total revenues in the past few years are attributed to the increased broadband (mobile and fixed) revenue contributing an average of 37% total revenue earned by the telecommunications company. This was as a result of the growth of mobile data usage in both wireless and wired communication medium. In the revenues on prepaid declined by 3.4% and sales from handset declined by 29.6% in the year 2015.

(c) Risk Management

The success of any business organization squarely lies in the companys preparedness to curb impending challenges brought by the tight economic situations and customer demands for service satisfaction. Omantel is not exceptional in this case. The company is price sensitive in its products for it to retain customers and maintain continuous growth in its operations and portfolio products. The reduction in customer attraction methods (incentives) that eat up the company revenues and the increased perception that a particular venture in new markets or rolling up of a new product eats up their revenues in an uncertain world. (Prakash and Mathew 2014)

Technological investments are capital intensive. In the year 2015, the company recorded the lowest revenue in six years between 2012 and 2016. This was attributed to the year 2015 huge capital investment Worldcall impairment and Voluntary End Of Service program. The profitability of the company stood at 26.1% for the year 2014 and 22.7% for the year 2016 with the in-between year 2015 recording a mere 9.6% profit.

The company is bracing itself to combat the developing broadband operators in Muscat and match the broadband services offered by the developing competitors. The company takes a cushion to protect customers against the heightened competition in the industry. Furthermore, the socio-political pressure to reduce product prices and to improve the quality of the products amidst the downturn economy is making Omantel think outside the box to mitigate risks. Successful roll over of competitors services is more likely to affect the Omantel telephony and international calling services going forward. It is a wait and sees the new business models the company adopts. (Shatat, 2014)

Omantels Human Resource Strategies

The HR at the Omantel revolves around the four pillars knowledge management, employee training and capacity building, the organizational culture and strategic positioning of resource personnel at the company.

Top managerial roles of the Omantel company is bestowed on the eight board members. Out of the eight, six members are government appointees including the chairman. During the annual general meeting, the positions of board directors are contested. The board of directors approves financial statements, the rules and regulations of the company, procedures for establishing and specifying responsibilities and internal operations (Prakash and Mathew, 2014). The board also checks the compliance of the laid down policies of the company. Others include appointing substantive CEO and members of committees and sub-committees like the audit committee, regulatory, executive and human resource committees (Mishra et al., 2014)

Omantel invests in capacity building workshops of its staff through in-house training and team building programs aimed at expanding the narrow-based programs. The HR department continuously imparts new skills to employees, train on the use of the up-to-date technologies and meld staff from diverse partner agencies, job expectations, and customer services. The employees of the company are trained to be a one-stop employee. Instead of awarding bonuses to an employee based on performance ratings and appraisals, the company insists on team spirit that sees each employee working towards the goal of the company in unison with others.

Excellent employees with experience and exceptional skills at the company enjoy the privilege of promotion at the company. The HR unit encourages staff to developmental capabilities and physical skills so that they can be considered when an opportunity arises. (Al-Mutairi et al., 2014).

Omantel Strategic Innovative Positioning

The strategic partnership developing between Omantel and Huawei (the leading global networking and telecommunication and device company) will see Omantel install the first street lamppost solutions across the cities of Oman. The lamppost will have sensors that mimic human behavior with smart features to park cars and carry out smart digital surveillance. This innovative milestone will see Omnatel as the global digital company and partner of choice. The company is positioning itself as the pioneer implementer of this lamppost key digital city innovative feature.

Omantel telecommunications company is also utilizing high speed and bandwidth broadbands based on CDMA2000 and EVDO wireless media. These increased innovative developments are intended to cater for the high demand with growing population of users relying on the companys infrastructure. The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is the fastest growing broadband provider with the built-up platform now operating at 4G.

The company is continuously opening new outlets at Al Mabela and Al Amerat. The new outlets are the transformative innovativeness to broaden the customer base and enhance a digital interactive consumer experience. Through this innovation, the company is positioning itself beyond the customer expectations while at the same time enriching lives of clients by upholding extraordinary retail practices.

The customer portal of the Omantel is very attractive to miss the appeals of the eye. More to the freelance browsing of company products, the digital company platform offers smart touch points, permanent self-care terminals and express points that enable customers to perform self-induce services and transactions rapidly in a 24hr economy.

Omantel sustainable social responsibilities in Oman

Social Corporate Responsibility Explanation

Education sector Omantel is the champion of the smart classroom concept in Oman. The program involves the provision of Information Teaching tools and mobile IT laboratories in the remote areas. The company also enhances the 21st century learning through the construction and equipping the laboratories of the institution of higher learning to promote technological research and innovations (Issa, 2016).

Health Omantel spends huge financial capital in the construction of referral hospital to provide health care services in the country. The company also finances gene-testing laboratories to pre-identify hereditary conditions. The company further facilitated the acquisition of cancer diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and another machine for spinal code injuries. Another health support by the company is the acquisition of training facility for people with Ear Nose and Throat complications, a mobile clinic for providing healthcare services to the physically challenged people. (Minnee et al. 2013)

Employment Skills and Local Enterprise In conjunction with the government, nongovernmental organization and well-wishers, Omantel company spearheads acquisition of skills in all sectors of the economy. It supports self-help groups transform inihouse skills into successful small enterprises. For instance, the company support locals establish sustainable bee farm...