Comprehensive Strategic Audit of MTN Ghana's Performance

This report provides a comprehensive strategic audit of MTN Ghana, a leading telecommunications company operating in Ghana for over two decades. The analysis begins with an executive summary highlighting MTN's key operational strategies, including customer reward programs, mobile service improvements, and workforce expansion. The report then delves into an organizational strategy, vision, and mission. External analysis employs a PESTEL model to assess political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors influencing MTN's operations. Porter's Five Competitive Forces are used to evaluate the competitive landscape. Internal analysis utilizes a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A value chain analysis examines strategies for stakeholder value creation, customer experience, and innovation. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are presented, aligning with the company's strategic objectives. The report concludes with an analysis of material issues impacting MTN's operations. This report is a valuable resource for understanding MTN Ghana's strategic positioning and performance in the telecommunications industry.

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MTN Ghana strategic audit
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MTN has been operating in Ghana for more than twenty years with the local headquarters in
Accra – Ghana. A number of operational strategies have ensured that the company holds the
attention of its customers. One, the company rewards its customers throughout the country
through several promotions like the “gargantuan promotion”. Second, the company has improved
its mobile services. For instance, MTN launched the new 4G LTE services upgraded from the
previous 3G version of communication. Third, the company has increased its staff to 2,000
workers from 1800. From the total number, 700 workers are direct employees, 60 contracted, and
1240 third party contractors. According to the Managing Director and the CEO of MTN Ghana,
the company has grown in all of its aspects of operation with good customer relations and trust
being the key factors to such growth. The company has also consistently invested in its networks
with its total infrastructural investments being approximately USD 3 Billion in the fiscal year of
2017. In 2018 alone, the company planned to invest USD 100 Million into the network. Out of
the total sum, USD 60M is invested into the traditional network, USD 15M into IT, and USD
25M into deploying LTE. Having highlighted some of the significant achievements of MTN
Ghana since its inception in the country, this activity will perform a deep strategic analysis. Such
analysis will solicit leading reasons as to why MTN is able to make such huge strides in the
telecommunication industry of Ghana within a short period.

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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
Organizational Strategy...................................................................................................................3
External Analysis.............................................................................................................................4
A. PESTEL Analysis.................................................................................................................4
B. Porter’s Five Competitive Forces Analysis..........................................................................5
Internal Analysis..............................................................................................................................7
A. SWOT Analysis....................................................................................................................7
Value Chain Analysis......................................................................................................................8
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)...............................................................................................10
Analysis of Material Issues............................................................................................................11
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................13

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MTN Ghana strategic audit
Organizational Strategy
MTN Ghana is aware that telecommunications have a massive impact on the lives of natives and
resulted in many changes over time. It first began with ancient voice services setting up the
industry. In the current society, the voice services segment is but a growing sector with a range
of services and opportunities to exploit, and that, which has a significant amount of impact onto
the lives of natives1. Otherwise, the thirst for wider digital provisions led MTN to refocus and
restructure its mission and vision to venture into the existing opportunists. By doing so, MTN
maintains its leadership position in the industry as well as new markets. MTN will also sustain a
model towards its business operations that maximize stakeholder value2.
i) Vision
To be the leader in the delivery of a new, bold Digital World to all the clients.
ii) Mission
To ensure that clients leave a brighter, better life3.
External Analysis
To achieve the desired outcomes for this analysis, the activity will adopt a PESTEL Model.
According to the PESTEL Analysis:
1 John. P. Kotter, What leaders really do. Harvard Business Press, Ed.1, 2016.
2 B. M. Bass, “From transactional to transformational leadership” and B. M. “Learning to share
the vision” cited in Leadership: Understanding the dynamics of power and influence in
organizations, Vol. 2, (2017), 324
3 MTN Group Limited, Integrated Report 2017. Ghana: Welcome to the New World MTN
Report, 2017.

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A. PESTEL Analysis
Political Economic
- Political stability in Ghana/no terror
attacks makes business activities to
thrive
- Reduced bureaucracy and low levels
of corruption in the Ghanaian
market.
- The Ghanaian currency is stable
enough to improve sentiments on
telecom investments in the country
Social Technological
- Ghanaians are friendly and not
distracted by the fact that other
economies view MTN as an
organization that is citizen-centric
- High disposable income in the country
benefits the sector
- The market being content-based and
mobile wallets available to boost
marketing.
- Digitization trend encourages
analytics and clouding
-
Legal Environmental
- Favorable rules and regulatory
demands encouraging growth and
decision making
- Availability of environmental
sustainability initiatives such as E-
waste management to reduce
environmental pollution.
- Encouraging the use of alternative
energy to fossil energy.

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B. Porter’s Five Competitive Forces Analysis
By employing Porter’s Five Competitive Analysis tool, this activity will determine MTN’s
attractiveness (long-term), as well as present and potential competitors. This mix is an important
means of explaining the reason why the company is consistently profitable compared to its
competitors in the Ghanaian market. The tool sheds light onto the resources that are adopted by
MTN Ghana to ensure success, alongside those that hinder growth4.
i) Threats of New Entrants
New companies joining the market increases the capacity of the market and increases the need to
gain more shares and competition in general. On the same note, within a period of three years,
the telecom industry of Ghana has realized the entrance of new companies in the names of
Kassapa, Glo, Expresso, and Airtel5. The reason for experiencing such a massive number of
entrants is the attractiveness of the market. Impacts of increased entrants include increased
economies of scale, increased capital requirement, established product diversification and
differentiation, as well as costs switching which is the likelihood of clients to shift from company
A to B due to operational factors. The competition is, therefore, healthy in ensuring that MTN
continues to fight for its place in the diverse market6.
ii) Alternative/Substitute Services/ Products Threats
New entrants come with alternative products, which creates product diversity in the market. The
threat caused by substitute products is leaning on the industry’s profitability through the
limitation of the chargeable product price particularly when supply is greater than demand.
4 F. Herzberg. “How do you motivate employees” Encyclopedia (2017)
5 Ibid., 3
6 Ibid., 3

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MTN, therefore, depends on other sales strategies to ensure that substitute services and products
do not limit the potential of its brands7.
iii) Customers’ Bargaining Power
Clients will constantly advocate for reduced prices alongside improved quality, and that is
exactly what MTN provides. However, MTN is tactful enough to determine the extent to which
bargaining could affect its operations in the market. Products and services provided by the
company are reduced to favorable, affordable prices and still leaving room for alternative
suppliers8.
iv) Suppliers’ Bargaining Power
The attractiveness of MTN is based on the suppliers’ bargaining power. On the same, MTN
commands a large supplier base since it offers good prices. Therefore, the company has power
over its suppliers. The supplier power is low thus reducing switching prices and costs. Forward
integration is not threatened in the process9.
v) Competitor Rivalry
According to the analysis of the telecom industry in the context of competitor rivalry, MTN is
still the dominant company, product differentiation is minor since clients believe in MTN, the
costs for product switching is high, and the intensity of investment is low10.
7 Ibid., 2
8 Management. “Organizational Structure & Control.” Albany Center (2017)
9 Ibid., 8
10 N. Alder. “International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior” South-Western College
Publishing (2016)

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Internal Analysis
A. SWOT Analysis
Internal analysis of MTN Ghana is achievable using the SWOT Analysis technique. The table
below shows the SWOT analysis of MTN Ghana.
Strengths Weaknesses
- MTN boasts of the strongest
bandwidth with the largest market
shares
- A large customer base of
approximately 2m clients
- Provision of services and products that
are innovative and comprehensive
- The market keeps on fluctuating
- Major operational setbacks like
penalties imposed now and then by
regulatory bodies.
Opportunities Threats
- Improved networking potential in the
country
- Digitization of the telecom industry to
allow and enhance growth
- The country randomly faces issues of
power failure thereby affecting the
infrastructure of the telecom industry
- Changes in telecom industry rules and
regulations are likely to hinder
operations.
Value Chain Analysis
By the end of the fiscal year 2017, MTN has several achievements. According to the 2017
financial report which discloses the company’s strategic objectives and achievements, MTN

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reintroduced a value-added statement as well as endeavored to incorporate commentary in the
context of its operations that are strategic and forward-looking. After MTN restructured its
operations back in 2016, the company has enhanced its marketing operations. The company has
matured in integrating its sustainability matters to business operations11. Some of the lain
strategies towards sustainable supply chain management include:
i) Creation and management of stakeholder value
The creation and management of stakeholder value are vital to the company12. However, the
most important section of value creation and management is ensuring sustainability in
shareholder returns. Sustainability in shareholder returns is achieved through incorporating
policies such as absolute growth dividend, creating an optimal capital structure, and ensuring
opportunistic share buy-backs13.
ii) Creation of a customer experience that is distinct
Since telecom services currently are commoditized, it happens to be imperative for the company
to still create a distinct, unique customer experience. In such a case, the company will provide its
clients with superior network coverage, understand such clients better, improve on its
communication means and modes, as well as improve the provided services in all the
touchpoints14.
iii) Best practices and innovation
11 M., Bruce. “Defining “Culture” and “Organizational Culture”: Konkai Press (2016)
12 Ibid., 5
13 Maurice, R. Louis. “Organizations as culture-bearing” Greenwich Press (2017)
14 Ibid., 7

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MTN Ghana still requires being more innovative in the creation of its operational structures,
procedures, policies, and performance metrics. The company will, therefore, continue investing
in new talents and innovative programs. MTN also realizes that it is important to have a good
corporate citizenship. Having a good corporate citizenship means that it becomes capable of
managing its reputation as well as socio-economic impacts on the market. Having a good
corporate citizenship, however, will require the company to be responsible in the process of
building its network in the country. By so doing, the work environment of the company will be
conducive for work and help in the achievement of value creation. The management has made
some of the necessary changes in the company’s HR operating practices and model, supporting
policies, and culture15. The overarching philosophy of the company is entangled to stakeholders
properly conducting company affairs with modesty, honesty, diligence, integrity, and
professionalism. Lastly, MTN has embarked on formalizing its ethical practices as well as
deepening its ethics culture as key-value chain management strategies16.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
MTN Ghana’s KPIs are entangled with the strategic objectives of the company. The KPIs are,
however, used in the measurement of key performances as well as used to manage top risks.
Some of the company’s KPIs are as shown in the table below.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES KPIs
Creation and management of stakeholder
value
Cash upstreaming, gearing levels
optimization, employee health indices, labour
productivity composite indices, and talent
15 Ibid., 7
16 E., McKenna. “Business Psychology and Organizational Behavior”. Management Inc. (2013).

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management.
Creation of a customer experience that is
distinct
Platforms of service delivery, equity indices,
brand health, drop rate, network quality,
retention indices, and customer satisfaction.
Best practices and innovation The policy of spectrum allocation, culture
operating system implementation, and
migrating to IP networks
Driving sustainable growth Data revenue contribution increase, strategic
management of mobile money, strategic
management of devices, strategic
management of ICT, transactions of group
equity, and optimization as well as
diversifications of earning.
Operational model transformation Project “Next”, management of costs,
management of capital expenditure, passive
infrastructure monetization, and execution of
shared services.
Analysis of Material Issues
MTN determine its key material concerns by analyzing its operational strategies including
opportunities and risks as well as the requirements of stakeholders17. Analysis of key issues is
17 M, Alvesson. “Understanding Organizational Culture” London: Sage Publications Ltd,
(2015)

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also done by measuring risks and opportunities against best governance practice and KPIs. Some
of the most important issues to the operations of MTN are integrated into the table below.
Impacts on MTN;
High importance to
stakeholders
Impacts on MTN;
Medium importance
to stakeholders
Impacts on MTN;
Low importance to
stakeholders
Issue Proper governance,
the satisfaction of
customers, the safety
of workers, investing
in workers, privacy,
security, and
economic
performance
Work culture,
investing in the
community, and
narrowing the digital
divide
Non-important
environmental
concerns and
responsible supply
chain.
Reported Area Performance Report
2017
Performance Report
2017
Performance Report
2017