Digi Telecommunications: Marketing, Human Capital, and Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Digi Telecommunications, a Malaysian telecommunications company. It examines the company's marketing strategies, including its approach to connecting with clients, social media presence, and marketing activities. The report also assesses Digi's human capital, focusing on recruitment, organizational environment, and training programs. Furthermore, it explores the company's technology and innovation efforts, highlighting collaborations and the incorporation of 5G technology. The analysis also covers Digi's operational strengths, particularly its risk management capabilities, while acknowledging weaknesses in service quality. The report concludes with a comparative analysis of Digi's competitors and recommendations for improving its business sustainability. The study uses a case study approach to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the company.

Running head: MARKETING
Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Case Organization Analysis:......................................................................................................4
Marketing:..............................................................................................................................5
Human Capital:......................................................................................................................6
Technology and Innovation:..................................................................................................7
Operations:.............................................................................................................................8
Comparative Analysis:...............................................................................................................9
Marketing:..............................................................................................................................9
Human Capital:....................................................................................................................10
Technology and Innovation:................................................................................................11
Operations:...........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................12
References:...............................................................................................................................13

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Introduction:
The significance of the efficient strategic formation is notably high in the modern
world of business and that is obvious with the impulse of the organizations in improving the
techniques for the formulation of the business strategies. The modern businesses are seen to
face the growing impact of the globalization. The effects of globalization have certainly
played an immense role in reducing the trade barrier amongst the organizations and that is
evident with the increasing entry of new organizations in different business industries.
According to the esteemed opinion of Khadartseva and Agnaeva (2014), the globalization is
playing a significant role in reducing the market monopoly and that certainly acts as a strong
influential factor for the other organizations in expanding their business operations to new
market destinations. On the other hand, the expansion of the business operations from the part
of majority of the modern organizations is also increasing the intensity of the business
competition in the modern world of business (Bijaoui 2017). As a result, the organizations are
observed to face the necessity of applying different strategies which starts from the utilization
of the low pricing, continuous enhancement of the excellence of their products and services,
effective management of the supply chain of the organizations, expansion of the diversity of
the products, effective combination of the innovation and technology in the products and
services of the organizations and efficient marketing and promotional activities. The main
objective with the application of these strategies is seen to be the improvement of the
sustainability of the business actions of the organizations.
Other than this, the success of the organizations in managing the application of these
strategies place them in a better position in managing the detrimental impact of the business
competition offered by the competitor organizations. The study discusses regarding the
business operations of one such organization named as Digi Telecommunications. With a

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precise consideration towards four different factors which are marketing, human capital,
operations along with technology and innovation, the study delivers an important
investigation of the strengths and weaknesses that the organization has. Along with that, the
study evaluates the business actions of the competitor organizations of Digi
Telecommunications for assessing the comparative gaps that the organization is expected to
recover. At the same time, the paper also identifies the probable actions that the organization
must undertake for accomplishing the desired sustainability in the business actions of the
organizations.
Case Organization Analysis:
The chosen organization is Digi Telecommunications. The organization operates in
the telecommunications industry of Malaysia and it was formerly known as Digi Swisscom
Berhad. The organization was established in the year 1995 and got public listed two years
later (Digi.com.my. 2019). Having said that, the organization was converted to Digi
Telecommunications in the year 2000 (Digi.com.my. 2019). The organization is
headquartered in D'House, Selangor (Digi.com.my. 2019). Along with that, the organization
is observed to be handled by a managerial team that comprises Albert Murty, the chief
executive officer of the organization, Inger Gløersen Folkeson, the chief financial officer of
the organization, Loh Keh Jiat, the chief marketing officer of the organization, Eugene The,
the chief business officer of the organization, Kesavan Sivabalan, the chief technology officer
of the organization, Elisabeth Melander Stene, the chief human resource officer of the
organization, Praveen Rajan, the chief digital officer of the organization along with Joachim
Rajaram, the chief corporate affairs officer of the organization (Ocs.digi.com.my 2019).
The main focus of the organization is seen to be the cable television,
telecommunications services and mobile services. The Telenor group is observed to be the

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parent organization of the Digi Telecommunications. Other than this, the organization is seen
to employ approximately 2500 number of staffs for the efficient management of their
operations (Digi.com.my. 2019). Having said that, the organization is unable to function in a
proper manner in recent years and that is evident with the decline that the organization faced
in their financial sustainability. The revenue of the organization reduced to 6.914 billion
MYR in the year from 7.019 billion MYR of 2014 (Digi.com.my. 2019). At the same time,
the net income of the organization dropped to 1.723 billion MYR of 2015 from 2.031 billion
MYR of 2014 (Digi.com.my. 2019).
Marketing:
With a detailed consideration to the marketing strategy of the organization, it is clear
that the approaches of the organization in managing their marketing and promotional
activities reflect a certain amount of their business strategies. The base of the marketing
activities of the organization is connecting to the clients which is also one of the defined
growth strategies of the organization. Along with that, one of the important objective of the
organization is to conduct their business in a responsible manner and that gets highlighted
with their responsible marketing activities. The marketing activities of the organization is
observed to be unique in nature. The organization is determined in connecting to their clients
for the professional management of their business activities and that is pretty prominent with
easy to connect marketing activities initiated by the organization. The main purpose of the
marketing activities of the organization is to communicate the news of the new offers,
products, services, pricing policies or tariff rates to their clients (Digi.com.my. 2019).
With a detailed focus on the marketing activities of the organization, it is
understandable that the practice of press release is on their strengths in managing the
marketing and promotional activities of the organization In addition to this, the organization
is observed to have diversified presence in four different social media platforms such as

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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. However, the efficiency of the organization in
those social media platforms is seen to be a major point of concern for them in improving
their marketing and promotional activities. Though the organization have strong presence in
social media, however, the reluctance of the marketing team in interacting with their clients is
a massive weakness for the organization and that is observed to affect the financial
sustainability of the organization.
Human Capital:
Considering the dynamics of the business processes that Digi Telecommunications
conducts, it is understandable that the role of the staffs is notably high. With a detailed focus
on the growing intensity of the business rivalry in the Malaysian telecommunications market,
it is understandable that the organization is facing a strong level of rivalry in improving their
business operations. With a look at their business operations, it is understandable that the
accomplishment of the organization in maintaining the sustainability of their business actions
are principally reliant on on the effective retention of their clients through constant upgrading
of the excellence of their products and services. In such situation, the efficient utilization of
the skills and capabilities of the staffs of the organization is observed to be crucial for the
success of the organization.
Considering the dynamics of the human resource management activities inside the
organization, it is evident that the recruitment and selection procedures implemented by the
human resource managers of the organization, is one of their major strengths. The diversified
recruitment procedure of the organization enables it in sourcing best quality individuals.
Along with that, the senior management of the organization is able to create an well-
organized organizational environment which has the ability to influence the staffs in
communicating their opinion to the higher authority (Ang 2019). The freedom provided by
the senior management of the organization to the staffs regarding their operational actions in

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the organization is unique in increasing the involvement of the staffs with the organization. In
addition to this, the human resource managers of the organization are seen to design creative
thinking sessions for their staffs for acknowledging the urge of the staffs of the organization
in sharing their ideas and opinions for the betterment of the services and products of the
organization. On the other hand, the incompetent approach of the higher authority of the
organization in managing the training and development of the staffs is one of the prime
concern for the higher authority of the organization. The human resource management
department of the organization is observed to be bit limited in identifying the training and
developmental needs of the staffs. Along with that, the improper infrastructural arrangements
of the organization in managing the developmental requirements of the staffs is observed to
limit the scope of skill improvement for the staffs of the organization.
Technology and Innovation:
Being one of the principal organizations working in the telecommunications industry
of Malaysia, it is apparent that the organization is able to incorporate the presence of
technological advancements in a professional manner and at the same time, the alignment of
the products and services of the organization with the innovative ideas, place the organization
in an advantageous position in increasing the attractiveness of their services and products.
The organization is seen to be pretty upbeat in handling the incorporation of the technology
and that is evident with the series of collaboration that they achieved with various business
organizations. The organization collaborated with ZTE of Malaysia for improving their
ability in incorporating the 5G technology which is crucial in improving the uniqueness of
their products (Thestar.com.my 2019).
The MoU signed by the organization was significant for the success of the
organization in conducting the preliminary tests of high, low and mid 5G spectrum bands
(Thestar.com.my 2019). Along with this, the higher authority of the organization is observed

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to portray visionary leadership in managing the incorporation of the technology and
innovative solutions in their products and their urge in continuing the same, is prominent with
the opening of 5G OpenLab in Cyberjaya (Telenor.com 2019). The lab provides excellent
support to the innovators in testing solutions and collaborating ideas for the efficient
development of a 5G ecosystem. The desire of the higher authority of the organization in
triggering the interest of the entrepreneurs in contributing to the evolution of the 5G
technology is evident with the collaboration of it with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation
(Nst.com.my 2019). Hence, the capability of the organization in forming the business tie ups
for the improvement of their capability in incorporating the modern technology is a major
strength. Though the below mentioned point is not an out and out weakness of the
organization, however, the shareholders of the organization requires to increase the financial
funding for the improvement of the organization’s ability in incorporating the modern
technology and innovative solutions in the products and services of the organization.
Operations:
With an exact consideration towards the business processes of the organization, it is
evident that the ability of the organization in managing the risks associated with their
business activities can be considered as one of their main strengths. As one of their main
business objective is to conduct responsible business, the operations mangers of the
organization are observed to form the risk management protocols in a professional manner. In
addition to this, the substantial investment from the part of the shareholders of the
organization is seen to be crucial in refining the infrastructure of the organization for the
professional administration of the operational risks associated with the business activities of
the organization. Hence, the risk management capabilities of the organization is required to
be considered as one of the major strengths of the business operations of the organization
(Gandini, Bosetti and Almici 2014). On the other hand, one of the major weakness associated

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with the operations of the organization is seen to be declining quality of the services of the
staffs of the organization.
Though the organization is able to manage the detrimental impact of the operational
faults with the application of the excellent risk management procedures and infrastructures of
the organization, the reputational damage that the organization faces with these sort of service
failures increase the difficulty of the organization in retaining their clients in the intensely
competitive telecommunications market of Malaysia. As mentioned earlier, the senior
management of the organization is incapable in classifying the progressive requirements of
the staffs and at the same time, the lack of infrastructure of the organization in resolving the
preparation requirements of the staffs is seen to place the organization in a vulnerable
position in tackling the decline of quality in the overall performances of the organization.
Comparative Analysis:
Marketing:
With a precise look at the business operation of Digi Telecommunications, it is
understandable that the organization applies competitive pricing policy for their products and
services. With a precise look at the Ansoff matrix, it is understandable that the main objective
of the organization in applying the competitive pricing policy is to penetrate the Malaysian
market and create the much required cost leadership as per the Porter’s Generic strategies
(Tanwar 2013). However, the organization is seen to be largely limited in utilizing their
social media presence for communicating and interacting with the clients. As mentioned
earlier that the organization has the expertise of publishing press releases for their clients, the
incompetency in managing their social media portals is certainly a drawback for the
organization.

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On the other hand, Celcom, one of their toughest competitors, is seen to be
significantly efficient in meeting the diverse product requirements of their clients and that is
evident with the ability of the organization in incorporating the product differentiation
strategy in their operations strategy. On the other hand, Maxis, is observed to undertake a
professional approach in improving their brand which is pretty prominent with the utilization
of their online marketing tools including the utilization of their strong social media existence
in numerous social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Having said that, U Mobile is observed to be apply an excellent pricing policy which enables
the organization in delivering top quality products against competitive prices and that
certainly influences the organization in achieving a cost leadership in the telecommunications
market of Australia. With a precise consideration towards the marketing aspect of their
competitor organizations, it is evident that the inefficient utilization of the social media for
effective customer interaction is the main gap that the organization has.
Human Capital:
The main concern for Celcom with their human resources, is seen to be the
inappropriate talent management activities. As per the comments of Noe et al. (2017), the
success of the organizations in retaining a talented workforce is largely reliant on their
capacity in providing the scope to the staffs in continuously improving their skills and
capabilities, however, Celcom and Digi Telecommunications, both the organizations are
observed to fail in a significant manner in acknowledging this basic necessity of human
resource management. Having said that, Celcom is observed to employ a substantially large
workforce for the effective management of their operations. On the other hand, both Maxis
and U Mobile are seen to have the practice of rewarding the efforts of their staffs through an
attractive rewarding plan and through the value added benefits which increase the
attractiveness of the organization amongst their existing and probable staffs. Hence, the

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comparative gap that the organization requires to manage in the management of the human
resources, is the formation of an attractive benefit policy for their staffs which will be able to
recognize the good work of the staffs and at the same time, the Digi Telecommunications is
in need to professionally manage the training needs of their staffs through the development
and utilization of efficient training infrastructure.
Technology and Innovation:
The aspect of technology and innovation is recognized as an significant part of the
business operations of the organizations working in the global telecommunications industry.
With a precise look at the business approaches undertaken by the organizations such as
Celcom, Maxis and U Mobile, it is understandable that Celcom and U Mobile are following
the traditional approach and are less flexible towards incorporating the modern technological
advancement and innovative solutions in the design of their products and services. On the
other hand, Maxis is observed to be efficient in developing strong infrastructure for
delivering high speed data and broadband services to their clients. The infrastructural
excellence of the organization plays a important part in the improving their connectivity.
Having said that, Digi Telecommunications is seen to be way ahead of their competitor
organizations in the management of the technological advancement and innovations and that
is visible with the creation of the OpenLab and the several business tie ups that the
organization formed in recent years for researching about the 5G (Nst.com.my 2019).
Operations:
With an exact look at the business processes of Digi Telecommunications, it is
obvious that the organization is perfectly placed for the management of their operational
risks. The capability of the organization in developing efficient infrastructures for the
management of the operational failures, certainly enhances the success rate of the
organization in conducting sustainable business. On the other hand, the operations strategy of

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Celcom is seen to be largely focused on the efficient utilization of their customer relationship
management system which is pretty prominent with the incorporation of the customer
insights in the design of the products and services of the organization. The operational
mangers of Maxis and U Mobile are seen to put strong emphasis on the formation of the
business networks for the effective expansion of their business activities to new business
markets (Bruno and Manello 2015). From the discussion, it is understandable that Digi
Telecommunications requires to work on the improvement of the skills of their staffs for the
much essential enhancement of the overall quality of their services. In addition to this, the
organization requires to focus on the professional development of the business networks as
that will increase the capability of the organization in managing the business expansions in a
professional manner. The formation of the business networks will be significant for the
accomplishment of the organization in the effective management of the market development
activities and at the same time, it will certainly place the organization in an advantageous
position for the management of their supply chain and human resources during the expansion
of their business operations to new business markets.
Conclusion:
On an ending note, it is clear that Digi Communications has the capability of
improving their business processes. Though the organization is facing a decline in their
financial condition, however, the operative organization of the training and development of
their staffs for the much required improvement of quality of their service, the formation of the
business networks for increasing their ease in expanding their business operations to new
business markets along with the efficient utilization of the social media platforms will
certainly play an important role in the organization’s comeback.

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References:
Ang, J. (2019). Digi reaffirms commitment to employee wellbeing. [online] Human
Resources Online. Available at: https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/digi-reaffirms-
commitment-to-employee-wellbeing/
Bijaoui, I., 2017. SMEs in an Era of Globalization. International Business and Market
Strategies. https://doi. org/10.1057/978-1-137-56473-3.
Bruno, C. and Manello, A., 2015. Benchmarking and effects of reforms in the fixed
telecommunications industry: A DDF approach. Telecommunications Policy, 39(2), pp.127-
139.
Digi.com.my. 2019. Digi | Mobile Plans, Phones & the Widest 4G LTE Network. [online]
Available at: https://www.digi.com.my/
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конференций НИЦ Социосфера (No. 16, pp. 148-153). Vedecko vydavatelske centrum
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entrepreneurs. [online] Available at: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2019/11/538937/digi-
collaborates-mdec-boost-5g-innovation-among-entrepreneurs

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Ocs.digi.com.my 2019. Digi Telecommunications Management. [online] Available at:
https://ocs.digi.com.my/aboutus/corporate_overview/senior_management_team.html
Tanwar, R., 2013. Porter’s generic competitive strategies. Journal of business and
management, 15(1), pp.11-17.
Telenor.com 2019. Cyberview and Digi open 5G OpenLab in Cyberjaya to spur 5G
innovation. [online] Available at: https://www.telenor.com/media/announcement/cyberview-
and-digi-open-5g-openlab-in-cyberjaya-to-spur-5g-innovation
Thestar.com.my 2019. Digi, ZTE to explore potential of 5G technology. [online] Available
at: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/05/27/digi-zte-to-explore-
potential-of-5g-technology