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Introduction Overview Of Bangladesh cement industry Bangladesh cement industry is the 40th largest market in the world. Currently capacity of the industry is about 20 mn tonnes (MT). Top 13 players are alone controlling over 78% of the total industry capacity. However, the balance capacity still remains quite fragmented. Per capita consumption remains poor when compared with the world average; only 65 kg (FY2009) while our neighboring countries, India and Pakistan, have per capita consumption of 135kg and 130kg respectively. This underlines tremendous scope for growth in the Bangladesh cement industry in the long term. Cement, being a bulk commodity, is a freight intensive industry and transporting it over long distances can prove to be uneconomical. For that reason, industry is regional in nature. Its also seasonal in nature, during Monsoon industry suffers from low demand. Four major costs are associated with the production of cement as provided:Costs Elements % of costs of sales

Power and fuel cost10%

Raw material75%

Transportation5%

Other cost10%

The pricing of cement of various players in the industry are very close to one another. The factories which would be using captive power (which is cheaper and more reliable than grid power) and backed by uninterrupted clinker supply at competitive price, are likely to be more cost efficient to emerge as the market leader. Currently, the standard price of one bag of cement produced by the multinational cement companies ranges within BDT 370 to BDT 390 per bag. On the other hand, price of one bag of cement produced by the local companies ranges within the price bracket of BDT 340 to BDT 365. The common technology which is widely used in our industry from the year 2003 is Portland Composite Cement (PCC) which is made following European Standard Methods (ESM). Earlier, Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) had been used which was made following the American Standard Method (ASM). PCC gives equal strength and durability like OPC. The basic difference between them is in the manufacturing technology. Only 65%-80% of clinker is required to produce PCC while 95% of clinker is required to produce OPC. So, worldwide PCC has become popular which requires less clinker. Currently, Heidelberg, Holcim and Lafarge are the leaders among multinational cement manufacturers and Shah and Meghna are the leading domestic manufacturers. Shah cement is the market leader with close to 14.20% of the market share, followed by Heidelberg with about 9.30% of the market share. During the 2010, many small local manufacturers like Premier, Seven ring, Crown, Fresh and King cement increased their sales drastically riding on their benefits of economies of scale, backward linkage and aggressive marketing effort.In Bangladesh, cement consumers are categorized as follows: 1. Individual home makers (25%) 2. Real estate developers (35%) 3. Govt. organizations, i.e., LGED, RHW etc. (40%)

Cement consumption has steadily been rising. It is expected that cement companies will enjoy a good growth of margin over the next 3 years. Because, in next couple of years when large capacities are expected to come on-stream, pass through of input cost will be easier and clinker (main raw material of cement) price is expected to remain stable at $53-$58.

About Shah CementShah Cement Ind. Ltd. is the largest Cement Producing plant in Bangladesh, with a capacity of 5.2 million metric tons per annum. It started its production on March 2002. The Plant uses state-of-the art technology in all areas of its production & produces finest quality cement fit for sustainable & durable construction. It is a unit of Abul Khair Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in Bangladesh. The cement plant situated at Mukterpur, Munsigonj.Its high-tech bagging plant is capable of producing 3 lac packs per day; where packaging unit is equipped with exclusively Star linger High tech Machinery. Shah Cement is the pioneer to use stitch free bags- 'Micro Perforated AD Star Bag'. Shah Cement Plant is equipped with both inbound & outbound logistic comprising of own ocean going vessels, huge number of cover fleets, barges & bulk carriers & transit mixer trucks for RMC supply in the market place just in time. To ensure 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply to the factory, Shah Cement has its own power plant with the capacity of 17 megawatt. It has its own testing laboratory fitted with the most modern equipment, where quality control is carried out in every hour. Furthermore, it is also an auto quality control system that monitors the grinding quality through a closed-circuit system.Shah Cement's commitment to sustainable development, its high ethical standards in business dealings and its on-going efforts in community welfare programs have won it acclaim as a responsible corporate citizen. Shah Cement's brand name is synonymous with cement and enjoys a high level of equity in the Bangladesh market. It is the only cement company that figures in the list of Consumer Prestigious Brands of Bangladesh Shah Cement Ready-Mix, an associate of Shah Cement Ind. Ltd. started its journey on April, 2010 to contribute more in infrastructure development of the country.

Products Regarded as the standard of quality in the Bangladesh Cement Industry, Shah Cement offers both Ordinary Portland Cement & Portland Composite Cement in two categories suitable for any kind of construction. In terms of quality, clinker plays the most vital role, which comes mainly from Thailand and also from some other parts of Asia.The finest raw materials through the quality grinding process ensure more strength, more durability & more workability. We deliver our products both in Bags & Bulk Carriers.

ServicesShah cement is committed to our customer to serve the very best & to create more value for them. They continuously communicate and interact with our customers to identify their need & they have the passion to design our service level accordingly to fulfill those needs.And services includes 1. Value Delivery Network 2. Training services3. Customer careValue Delivery Network: They are committed to provide the quality product to customer whenever & wherever they want.The unique & efficient delivery network of Shah Cement made it possible for the company to stand on its promise of 24 hours delivery.Shah cement is the pioneer for the service of on-time on-site delivery to its consumers. This dedicated service is possible through the adaptation of most convenient support systems using roadways, waterways & bulk carriers.Our Delivery Support System Includes: Highest Numbers of own covered Vans. Own ocean-going vessels for clinker/ raw materials handling. Adequate Bulk Carriers & portable silos. Adequate numbers ofown fleet of barges. Exclusive distribution network throughout the country.Training Services:Customers can receive training on specific topics related to the use of building materials. By sharing knowledge and best practices, our educational and training services guide and teach our customers. Topics range from teaching customers about the characteristics and uses of cement, to showing retailers how to improve their inventory management and increase their sales.We also run awareness program on ready-mix concrete technology both for its internal & external customers.Customer care Shah cement offer a one-stop contact call center where customers can manage their business and find fast, reliable service. They can place orders, make inquiries, review their order status, or request technical assistance, all in one single call.

CSR activity done by Shah Cement

Shah Cement strongly believes that business is a priority & but social welfare is a responsibility. Shah Cement has placed itself in a position to enrich the quality of life in Bangladesh and to contribute for a better society. Shah cement firmly believes that customer satisfaction and corporate responsibility are the way to build a better and brighter future, not only for itself but also for the nation. And activities are Shah cement nirman er taroka. Nijer bari nije kori. Amar nirmaney ami. Raj mistry shera karigor. City corporation beatification project. Shah cement medical consultancy etc.

Achievements

Shah Cement became the highest selling cement brand of Bangladesh cement market. Best cement brand of 2010. In order to share the successful marketing practice with the academics, Shah Cement now joins hand with the world's leading Business Guru Philip Kotler.

Body partObjective of the study

1. What are the HRM problems and issues Shah Cement industries limited in Bangladesh are facing? 1. What sort of HRM approaches do you think need to be taken to ensure ongoing competitive advantage?1. What HRM challenges will Shah Cement Company face in the 21th century? Critically discuss.

Objective 1: What are the HRM problems and issues Shah Cement industries limited in Bangladesh are facing?

Cement industry contributes around Rs.30 billion per annum in shape of Excise Duty and other taxes and around Rs.100 billion to the GDP annually. It also provides employment opportunities to about one lac people. The cement industry relies on construction jobs to create a profit. But the cement industry heavily relies on weather. About two-thirds of cement production takes place between May and October. Cement producers often use the winter months to produce and stockpile cement, to meet demand. Another problem is the cost of transport. The cost of transporting cement is high and this keeps cement from being profitable over long distances. In other words, shipping cement costs more than the profit from selling it.In Shah Cement industries limited Human Resource Management are facing various problems. These are as follows:

Good Employee Selection

Human Resource Management effective when good employees are selected. In Shah Cement industries limited on selection process Human Resource Management faces the problem to achieve their objective. They recruit people internally and also externally. The internal source is promotion of present employee. The external sources are collecting students from college or University, Selection Institutions, Job Applicants, Selection Agency, Newspaper Advertisement and other Reliable Sources.The employee selection process in Shah Cement industries limited starts with primary interview. In this step the Company justifies employees size, looking face, energy in this step. Then they Offer job application from the applicant. It contains name of the applicants, Applicants father name, Job experience, Educational qualification, Nationality, Age, Religion, Expected salary, Character Certificate Reference. Then the Psychological test which contains Intellectual test, Creative test, Cognitive test, Personality test. Then the management arranges another Selection interview with top management and other supervisors. They finish the procedure with final selection by selecting the best employees for job.

Salary and Wage If the salary and wage is not sufficient and satisfying the employee it creates problem in management of a company. Because of this issue Human Resource Management is facing the problems of strike, number of closed factory, bad relation with workers less productivity etc. Shah Cement industries limited is a well reputed company along with goodwill of paying salaries and wages in a fare scale. They also offer some other facilities along with salary. Those are Provident fund, Gratuity, Incentive Bonus, Festival Bonus, Medicare, House rent, Leave allowance, Workmen Insurance, Festival allowance etc.Lack of Innovation and Technology Development

The manufacture of cement is a two-phase process. Firstly, Clinker is produced. Most common methodology of producing clinker is to mix up calcareous minerals such as chalk, limestone containing silica and alumina and heat upto 1450 degree C. After cooling it, clinker is formed. Secondly, the clinker is ground with calcium sulphates and with industrial processes wastes such as blast furnace slag, limestone and fly ash to produce Portland cement. Two basic types of clinker production processes exist, depending on the way the raw materials are prepared before entering the kiln system:

Wet method (use in Bangladesh) Dry method

Technology helps the production section and Human Resource Management section of cement industry. This is also applicable for Shah Cement industries limited. The industry lacks innovation due to which there has been insignificant inflow of new and advanced technology into the industry. This is a major problem of Shah Cement industries limited. It is important for the cement industry to adopt modern and most advanced technology to improve production efficiency and produce high-quality cement to meet the local demand and export orders. The industry should also introduce new technology for energy conservation and environmental improvement.

Frequent turnover of labor The rate of labor turnover is very high then the Human Resource Management department may face various problems. To face this problem the HRM department of Shah Cement industries limited takes some steps. To minimize turnover rate, increase job satisfaction, optimum use of knowledge and skills Shah Cement limited gives some facilities that can motivate employees. Those facilities are; financial incentives, handsome salary, profit, non-financial incentives like as Medicare, recreation facilities, job security, participation in management and many more.

Employee Relation with Management

The main goal of Human Resource Management is to build a good relation between employee & management. But in Shah Cement limited they do not have a good employee management relation. Workers are not interested to enhance their skill. This problem is face by Human Resource Management very often. This is one of the major problems in Human Resource section of this company. HR managers are working on this issue to develop the relation between employee and management.

Training and Development

Taking various training programs for the unskilled worker is the major activity of Human Resource Management department. If Shah Cement limited Human Resource Management department does not take training programs for improvement of the employee they will not be able to get skilled worker. They have some system for training and development process. These are employees training program and executive training program.The employees training program methods are Induction Training. On the Job Training. Supervisory training. Apprenticeship Training. Training center.The methods of executive training program are as follows: Conference training Training course Internship Diploma training Seminar Business Tour Job Rotation Method. Rate of absenteeism

When a worker is absent for work without permission then it is called absenteeism. The causes of absenteeism may be available or not. When the causes of absenteeism are avoidable then it is said the performance of Human Resource Management is very poor. In Shah Cement limited most of the absenteeism is avoidable. The causes of absenteeism are illness, impact of unfavorable working environment, residential problem and negative attitude of management, transactional problem and lack of job satisfaction.This can be controlled by taking some steps.

No work no pay. Better wages & salaries. To create worker safety & security. Incentive bonus select.

Lack of Research & Development

There is no institution in the private sector that could undertake research & development in the cement sector to improve the productivity, quality, efficiency, marketability as well as conducting feasibility for producing new products, optimising cost of production and industry expansion. Without sufficient amount of research and development its difficult to develop a productive human resource. So in the finishing line of this objective we can say that. Cement industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Bangladesh. Its a highly potential industry for the economic development of Bangladesh. For the continuous growth of this industry they should be careful about the problems. Human resource is an asset for every industry. So the management should look at the human resource of the company and they should take necessary steps to overcome these problems and ensure a sustainable growth for the cement industry.Though Shah Cement is one of the leading cement company in Bangladesh , they have some HRM problem in their organization like selection process, salary and wage related issues, turnover rate, training and development related issues etc. so they need to be careful to handle these problems and ensure that the human resource of the company work effectively and efficiently.

Objective 2. What sort of HRM approaches do you think need to be taken to ensure ongoing competitive advantage?

The cement industries have some opportunities as well. One such opportunity is the cement industry's efficiency. The cement industry has recently streamlined its production efforts, using dry manufacturing instead of wet, which is heavier and more time-consuming. The cement industry has also invested about $6 billion in expansion efforts to meet unmet cement needs. Projections show that by 2012, the cement industry will have 25 percent more production capabilities.The Shah cement limited has many advantages to be considered. Cement is, literally, the building block of the construction industry. Almost every building constructed relies on cement for its foundation. The cement business is a $10 billion industry, measured by annual cement shipments. There is also a strong reputation behind the cement industry. Cement is a solid material and consumers rarely have complaints about the product. Regional distribution plants have also made cement widely available to any type of buyer.Relying on your human resource department to recruit the best employees, design appropriate and effective training programs and institute successful retention programs can give your company a competitive advantage. While competitors struggle with maintaining an experienced and motivated workforce, your company can focus more on productivity and increased sales when your HR department plays an integral role in your workforce development.

Hire Professionals with Experience

Human resource professionals vary in the kinds of skills and experience they bring to a job. Many are administrators proficient at processing payroll and executing benefits programs, but have little more leadership status than your clerical workers. They can upgrade their HR department to include recruitment specialists who also understand their companys strategic roles and can play an integral part in shaping your business success. Executive-level human resource professionals can help design job descriptions and training programs, give advice on where to find the best candidates, and participate in defining salary levels that will result in the best new hires.Give HR Leadership Positions

The human resource department often is given job descriptions and told to fill the positions. Salaries are predetermined and the HR staff has little or no input into the hiring process. To tap into the HR professionals insights, shah cement should bring their human resource manager into the hiring process more completely. Allow HR to play a role in determining appropriate recruitment pay and tactics, let them know how much it takes to recruit top talent, and how company policies can be amended to recruit the best.Let HR Determine Training Programs

With an HR department that participates in defining and implementing company goals, Shah Cement can rely on your human resources team to consider the companys profitability with each decision they make. In addition to defining employee jobs and required qualifications, an actively participatory HR department can monitor employee activity levels, morale and customer service success to design and implement appropriate training programs with line supervisors and executive management teams.Provide HR Tools to Monitor Employee Performance

The human resource department can build programs to track those employees who stand out. When their human resource professionals are involved in designing and providing employee reviews, they can help them spot talent and advise you on how you can best groom employees for promotions. They can provide designated employees with specific training and help you devise opportunities for growth, serving as your eyes and ears for seeking out the best candidates that will push your company into a competitive advantage.Supply of Raw MaterialThe supply of clinker, the sole raw material of cement, has a profound impact on the supply of cement. Currently, international price of clinker has fallen which should lower production costs.Some of Shah Cements competitive advantages are- Large production capacity to meet customers need. Highest selling cement brand of Bangladesh cement market. It measures its quality by using modern instrument in the laboratory. This ISO certification of the recognition of standard management system that evolves in the organization for committing to provide quality product and service. Completely automated production system. Shah Cement Industries Ltd. has been certified ISO 9001:2008 for its Quality Management System (QMS). Distribution channel of shah cement, it helps them to reach every possible corner. Effective and efficient Sales and marketing department. The brand built over the last decade is a marketing success and recently recognized by the Brand Forum as the Best Cement Brand of 2010. In order to share the successful marketing practice with the academics, Shah Cement now joins hand with the world's leading Business Guru Philip Kotler.These are the factor needed to ensure the sustainable growth and having competitive advantage. Shah cement has some strong competitive advantage over their rivals so they need to focus on that and capitalize those advantages. If they are able to do so it will ensure their growth as well as competitive advantage.

Objective 3: What HRM challenges will Shah Cement Company face in the 21th century? Critically discuss.The nature of the economy has uncovered a number of threats to the cement industry. The cement industry greatly relies on construction. The current economy has lessened the number of construction jobs, which in turn hurts the cement industry. Considering the Life cycle of the industry, currently cement industry of Bangladesh is in the growth stage. Sales of cement are increasing due to an enormous demand for cement in both the local and foreign markets. The industry realized about 30% and 21% growth in 2009 and 2010 respectively after suppressed demand from previous years. Industry expected demand growth is 20%-25% for the next three years based on the assumptions below.

Government would be able to materialize its important ADP of building big infrastructure projects.

According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report 2010, 28% people of our country live in urban areas where the population growth is 3.2 per thousand. Urbanization and demand for accommodation is increasing day by day. Thus it is expected that the real sector will grow steadily with the household users increasing cement consumption pattern.

Private sector may get interested to invest in real estate for getting tax advantages of their undeclared funds

Good number of large infrastructure construction projects (Padma Bridge, Flyovers, and highways) are on the pipeline.

There is no Substitute for Cement. Steel can be used in construction but in limited extent due to its high cost.

On the flip side, some caution has to be maintained due to the current demand- supply gap leading to over capacity and falling margins and prices. Also, given the close linkages between them, the effect of a slowdown in real estate growth or hike in.

So the company might face some challenges these are Company policy and practice As the business policy and procedures are changing day by day to keep pace with the changing nature of the business. So this changing policy of the company can be a challenge for the employee to adopt the challenges. So before fully implementation of the changing policy the organization should test the policies adaptability by implementing it in a section of business and then evaluate the result weather its acceptable or not.Lay out of equipmentModern days technologies are changing day by day. And this technology has a great impact to the success of business. But the adaptation of new technology is not that easy. Adaptation of new technology needs a great amount of training so that the employee learns how to operate the new technology. As this industry is heavily dependent on technology, so its important for them to have the new technology to gain the competitive advantage. But its difficult for the employee who will operate this so it can be challenge for them to adopt the frequently changing modern technology.Labor supply and demandAs its one of the growing industries in Bangladesh so it has a huge potential to contribute in the economy of the country. Though the industry heavily depends on technology they need workers too. But in future the supply of skilled labor can be problem for this industry. Because the educated workforce are interested to work in FMCG based MNCs. And the cement industry did not take any necessary initiatives to attract the educated workforce towards them so there can be a crisis of workforce in future. Workforce Diversity

Another HRM challenge is the workforce diversification. Such workforce diversification means to effectively manage the workforce that come from different backgrounds with respect to regions, cultures, race and gender. In this modern business world, every business organization conducts the business activities in different countries. Now such multinational organizations adopt several strategies to compete in the foreign markets through people. In this regard to manage such diverse human resources effectively, business organization adopt and make the policies and practices according to the culture and environment. As Shah Cement are exporting to India and in future they will expand their market in other countries so they might face this kinds of problems. Challenges in Employee RetentionIn the current scenario, a major challenge for an organization is to retain its valuable and talented employees. The management can control the problem of employees quitting the organization within no time to a great extent but cant put a complete full stop to it. There are several challenges to it. The challenges to employee retention: Monetary dissatisfaction is one of the major reasons for an employee to look for a change. Individuals speak all kind of lies during interviews to get a job. Individuals have a tendency to get bored in a short span of time. Unrealistic expectations from the job also lead to employees looking for a change.The company might face this kinds of problems in future so that they need to be careful when they recruit their employee. Because they are not haring for a short period of time so during the recruitment process different aptitude test can be done just to understand the mentality of that potential employee. HR effectiveness measurement HR department have traditionally focused on measuring their own effectiveness, there is an evolving recognition that they can provide organizational value by measuring the effectiveness of the entire business organization. This shift is significant as it represents movements from simply counting the number hired to determining the ROI of collective and individual hires on a long term basis, going beyond measuring turnover, and this new approach considers bad turnover and good turnover along with the overall cost of replacement hires. So while measuring the effectiveness of HR the HR department needs to be aware of that, because if they cant measure the HR in a right way they wont be able to find out the effectiveness of HR.Challenges from the competitor To establish this business huge amount of investment are required, so the entry barrier is high to enter in this market but the competitive challenges from the competitors are very high Heidelberg, Holcim and Lafarge are the leaders among multinational cement manufacturers and Shah and Meghna are the leading domestic manufacturers. Shah cement is the market leader with close to 14.20% of the market share, followed by Heidelberg with about 9.30% of the market share. During the 2010, many small local manufacturers like Premier, Seven ring, Crown, Fresh and King cement increased their sales drastically riding on their benefits of economies of scale, backward linkage and aggressive marketing effort. Now most of the customers are willing to get the cement with low price. So, the numbers of cement company offer low price for their customers. They are trying to attract the customers through some excellent offersGovernment control and legislation As some of the foreign firm as well as local companies are doing business in Bangladesh in cement industry. But if the government changes some policy regarding business in cement industry it can be a threat of doing business in this industry. As they need to import raw materials from different countries so any kind of import restriction can be a disaster for the business. And shah cement also exports cement to India so any kind of export barrier can hamper the business of shah cement too.

Recommendation

Inspire of facing various problems, Human Resource Management is one important function among other internal functions including finance, accounting, research & development & marketing and production.Human Resource Management plays a vital role in industrial sectors. In case of attaining organizational good its contribution is not necessary to mention.

The problems of Human Resource Management of Shah cement industries limited can be removed by taking the following steps:

1. By selecting good employees.2. By ensuring that the selection process is fair.3. By emphasizing on labor turnover. That is the rate of labor turnover should be low.4. Absenteeism should be reduced.5. By maintaining good relation between labor management6. By ensuring proper Human Resource Planning7. Healthy trade union also helps to remove Human Resource Management problems.8. HR Department should take training program for improvement of the employee.9. Appoint skilled Human Resource Managers.

Conclusion The first foremost work by the HR is to developed sound organizational structure with strong interpersonal skill to employees, and also to train employees by introducing them the concept of globalize human resource management to perform better in the global organization context. All these issues and challenges like, work force diversity, leadership development. Change management, organizational effectiveness, Globalization, E- Commerce, succession planning and compensation etc, Can be best management by HR manager when they will work with HR practices, such as rigid recruitment and selection policy, division of jobs, empowerment, encouraging diversity in the workplace, training and development of the work force, fostering innovation, proper assigning of duties and responsibilities, managing knowledge and other functions as are shown. Nutshell when HR works enthusiastically by keeping all the practices in mind, competitive advantages can thus be accomplished, the value of human resource can be improved, organization efficiency can be enhanced, and the organization will sustain to survive.Undeveloped Human Resource is an important obstacle to economic development of any country. Undeveloped human resources are manifest in low labor productivity factor immobility limited specialization in occupation & in customary values & traditional social institutions that minimize the incentives for economic development of a country.Human resource management is concerned with the people dimension in management. Since every organization is ensure of quality people acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high level of performance, and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment to the organization are essential to achieving organization objectives. Shah cement is one of the leading cement company in Bangladesh. They are successfully running their business in Bangladesh, and behind their success one of the reasons is efficient and effective human resource department who utilize the resources wisely to get the best output from them. Though some problems are present in the Human resource department they will come up with a solution and utilize their human resources in more effective and efficient manner. And for the future challenges in 21st century they need to be aware of that also. As the competition is raising day by day so in recent future there might be greater competition from the competitors, so they need to do the forecasting and planning more wisely so that they can cope up with the changing situation and handle the challenges carefully. So from the above data, it comes to the statement that need to practice todays HRM philosophy & activities, to service & survive strongly in today & in future.

References

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4. R. Whipp, A. Pettigrew, Managing Change for Competitive Success, Oxford: Blackwell, 1991

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7. IDLC Research Report: Cement Sector of Bangladesh.

8. http://www.shahcement.com/

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement industries limited