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Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements of the Masters Degree in

MSc. In Business Leadership

Newcastle Business School

0f the

University of Northumbria,

Newcastle

1

NAME : Mohd Diah Yassin

COURSE : MSc. In Business Leadership

SUPERVISOR : Chan Chee SengTITLE : An in-depth

study on how to increase profitability of

UniFi in consumer market

DATE : 24th March 2011

CAMPUS : Imperial Consulting


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DECLARATIONS

I, Mohd Diah Yassin (Student ID No. 09026214), declare the following:

1. that the material contained in this research paper is written by my own self and

that due acknowledgement has been given in the bibliography and references to all

sources be they printed, electronic or personal. The research is carried out in

collaboration with 2 other course participants, i.e. Mr. Azlan Osman and Mr Tun

Kamalul. Whilst the data and information used and analyzed are from similar sources,

the research paper is written individually by each of the course participants. As required,

the research project is also assisted by non-course participants comprising Ms Ruzanna

Abu Bakar, Ms Tengku Nursyazwani Mutalib and Mr Shaharudin Abdullah.

2. the word count of this research paper --------- words.

3. In view of nature of this project which this is a work-based research paper that

contains certain proprietary information about TM Group Berhad and its subsidiary and

associate companies, the content should be kept and treated as confidential.

4. I agree and fully understand that this research paper being submitted is subjected

to a plagiarism detection service, where it will be stored in the database and compared

against work submitted from this or any other school or from institutions using this

service. In the event of the service detecting a high degree of similarity between content

within the service this will be reported back to my supervisor and second marker, who

may decide to undertake further investigation that may ultimately lead to disciplinary

actions, should instances of plagiarism be detected.

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5. I have read the Northumbria /NBS Policy Statement on Ethics in Research and

Consultancy: Northumbria/Newcastle Business School Ethics in Research and

Consultancy: Guidelines and Procedures for students undertaking Postgraduate

research methods modules and dissertations and the policy for Informed Consent in

Research and Consultancy and I declare that ethical issues have been considered,

evaluated and appropriately addressed in this research.

Signed:

___________________

Mohd Diah Yassin

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ABSTRACT

Objective - The purpose of this study is to identify learning barriers in information

communication technology (ICT) adoption among working women in Malaysia.

Regardless of gender, it would be advantageous for all individuals in today's society to

acquire basic ICT skills. Despite significant growth in ICT professionals during the last

two decades, there remains a gender imbalance, particularly in developing countries such

as Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach The study uses self-developed questionnaire to gauge

customer acceptance of TMs UniFi services offered. The survey instrument was

developed from the constructs used in the team innovativeness theory and theory of

perceived attributes. The questionnaires were administered through online/email to a total

of 10,000 subscriber of UniFi in 4 selected areas ie Subang Jaya, Bangsar, Shah Alam

and Taman Tun Dr Ismail who participated as respondents in this study.

Outcome -The findings revealed that the working women in Malaysia possess only

average level of ICT skills. They seldom use the internet and e-mail at their workplace or

at home, they do not face serious learning barriers with respect to ICT, and they have

complexity as their innovation characteristics. However, they are innovators in the

adopters' categories. The combined variance in the characteristics of learning barriers,

ICT skills, and ICT usage amounted to 70 per cent in innovation characteristics.

Practical Implications This study reduces the knowledge gap regarding the

identification of learning barriers, ICT skills, and ICT usage as predictors of ICT

adoption among working women in Malaysia. These factors have been overlooked by

some previous researchers. This study also calls attention to the fact that employers and

training agencies that are responsible to provide ICT training to women employees must

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understand and employ the proper learning approaches and methods that ought to be used

in adult training and education. Malaysian women are able to adopt an innovation with a

high degree of uncertainty at the time of adoption, and it is believed that with correct and

suitable training schemes Malaysian working women can acquire appropriate ICT skills

and become competent in using ICT at the workplace. With managerial skills and ICT-

based competencies, the working women would have a lot more knowledge seeking

skills, increased access to up-to-date information, be effective in decision making, and

establish networking and linkages. With this they will stand a better chance for promotion

and advancement.

Originality/Value - The sample of this study is unique. This study was conducted in a

multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society. Malaysia presents an interesting

case study on working women because it is a society undergoing rapid changes from its

strong traditional religious and cultural norms to modern values about women.

Recommendation Based on the result of the research conducted, recommendation is to

be put forward to the management on the way forward.

Without a doubt, the increasing demand for data in the telecommunications industry is

the harbinger of things to come, whether down at the product and solution level or up at

the regulatory level. Research conducted is on how TM can increase profitability of

UniFi products and services in the consumer market. As UniFi has been officially

launched in March 2010, the focus of study has been confined into 4 areas ie Shah Alam,

Subang Jaya, Bangsar, Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Some 10,000 UniFi customers have been

selected for the survey which the breakdown as follow:

1. Shah Alam

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2. Subang Jaya

3. Bangsar

4. Taman Tun Dr Ismail

The questionnaires prepares is divided into 3 sections which is demography, packages

and services.

The purpose of the study is to gauge the customers behavioral patterns in subscribing to

the newly introduced UniFi service and based on their feedback it will give TM ideas on

how it could further attract new potential users with more competitive pricing and

product packages as well as getting existing customers to upgrade their package.

As TM is taking the approach of supply driven rather than demand driven, the

infrastructure readiness of UniFi will be ready for take in most areas where is there.

The study will also unveil the demand of the customers in terms of service packages

offering. It will determine whether pricing currently offered is agreeable to the users

compared to other countries in the region.

or TM will practice take-it-or-leave-it approach.

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Unifi Service Packages

market

Advantage of UniFi over other

Further enhance marketing penetration

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For me getting nominated to be part of this project is indeed dreaming the

impossible dream. While the rest of the participants are from TMs Talent Pool, I would

consider myself as rare species. I was given the opportunity to join the group through

top management recommendation. During organization re-alignment exercise in April

2009, I was one of the candidates that has been shortlisted to be appointed as General

Manager but I am the only one without tertiary education. Special thank to TM

management for giving me this opportunity and I pray to the Almighty for my success

I would like to also thank my team members consist of Mr Azlan Osman and Mr

Tun Kamalul for being such great team spirit. In my opinion, patience and teamwork

were the basis of us pulling together since the beginning of this project until the end.

We encountered many difficulties along the process as we have to dedicate most

of our time to our work commitment which requires our utmost attention.

But as our management has put up great amount of investment to ensure our

success and to lead TM to a greater height, we took every challenge together and it comes

to an end.

Many thanks to my beloved wife, Rogayah Bakri for her continuous morale

support and encouragement and keep reminding me to do well.

I would like to dedicate my special attribute our supervisor Mr Chan Chee Seng

for guiding us through in matters pertaining to conducting survey and preparing the final

research report. Several meetings and discussions have be held and with his personal

attendance to ensure the relevancy of questionnaires as well as areas to cover in order for

us to develop strategy and to provide recommendations to the management the way

forward of marketing UniFi product to the masses. He is very close to our heart.

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I would also like to express my gratitude to my employer, TM especially Human

Capital Management for roping me in as one of the students for this first batch of the

project. It is indeed significant contribution to prepare myself to serve TM and our

customers better.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

REFERENCES.................................................................................................................. 31BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................................. 34

APPENDIX 1: REFLECTIVE LEARNING STATEMENTS.......................................... 36

APPENDIX 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................... 41APPENDIX 3: LEARNING LOG ENTRIES................................................................... 42

APPENDIX 4 (i): RESEARCH ORGANIZATION INFORMED CONSENT FORM ...48

APPENDIX 5: COVER LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY FORM.............49APPENDIX 7: TABLE OF TABLES AND FIGURES.................................................... 52

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GLOSSARY

Abbreviations used in the text

BSL = Business Strategic Leadership

Corporate HQ = TM Group Berhads Corporate Head Quarters

HR = Human Resource

HSBB = High Speed Broadband

IBS = Internet Banking Service

KL = Kuala Lumpur

LOC = Leadership of Change

MBL = Masters in Business Leadership

PLP = Premier Leadership Program

TM = Telekom Malaysia

TM Group = TM Group Berhad and its group of companies

VOL = Voice of Leadership

1. Introduction

1.1 Preliminary Requirements

1.2 Briefly About TM

Since its privatization, Telekom Malaysia Berhad remains Malaysia's top telecom groupand a fast-growing international player in the Asian region. Telekom Malaysia today still

hold the majority market share on the country's fixed-line telecom market, with more

than 4.6 million access lines.

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The relatively low fixed line penetration rate of about 17% provides room for Telekom

Malaysia's future growth. This also expose Telekom Malaysia to competitions by its

competitors that include its own sister Celcom and other Telcos in the Country like

Maxis, Time and Digi.

Telekom Malaysia was once Malaysia's leading cellular telephone provider following the

company's acquisition of Technology Resource s Industry (TRI) and its mobile telephone

unit Celcom in 2003. Celcom was then the leader in the Malaysian cellular market with a

market share of approximately 30 percent.

Apart from being the countrys fixed line provider, Telekom Malaysia is also the

country's leading Internet provider. For this segment, TM operates its broadband business

under the leading brand name, Streamyx.

Telekom Malaysia has also expanded its wings to operate internationally. In 2005,

Telekom Malaysia has adopted a new brand identity, TM, as part of its future

international expansion plans. TM is a Company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock

Exchange. In 2010, TM posted revenues of RM8.8billion with profit of RM1.25billion.

History of Telekom Malaysia...

Malaysia's first telephone line was installed in 1874, linking the British colonial

government's Resident's Office in Perak with one of it s administrative offices. The

colonies, then known as Malaya, remained unconnected. Over the next decade

underwater cable was laid linking Perak with the island of Penang. However, the

country's first telephone exchange was not installed until 1891 in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1957, Malaysia became a country independent of British rule. Once the government

was established and stable, it took control of the country's telephone network, already

organized as Jabatan Telekom Malaysia (JTM). Tele phone penetration had remained

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extremely low in the country, and by 1960 had not yet reached a total market penetration

of less than 1%.

As a government agency, JTM took a first step toward developing a corporate culture

when it received authorization in 1971 to begin operating as an independent, profit-driven

enterprise. In 1982, the Malaysian government announced its intention to privatize JTM

and to deregulate the Malaysian telecommunications market.

In the meantime, JTM had continued to build up the country's network, topping one

million access lines and raising the penetration rate to nearly 7% by the mid 80s. The

company had also installed a national network of pay telephones, counting more than

60,000 by the end of the decade.

JTM launched Malaysia's first cellular telephone service in 1985. The service called

ATUR 450 was based on the NMT analog standard technology. By the end of the decade,

the company had developed a new generation of cellular telephone service, based on the

ART 900 standard.

An important step forward for the country's national telephone backbone came with the

installation of a 1,500-kilometer underwater fiber optic cable linking the Malaysian

peninsula with the Sabah and Sarawak regions.

The deregulation process of the Malaysian telecommunications market was formally

launched in 1987, when JTM was split into two entities. The first, and smaller, retained

JTM's industry regulation arm, and remained a government-run department. The second,

which took over JTM's fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operations, became

Telekom Malaysia (TM).

TM's privatization was slated for 1990. As part of the preparation for that process, the

company sold off its ART 900 cellular business in order to create a competitor for the

soon-to-be-privatized telephone monopoly. As part of the government's efforts to

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promote the commercial interests of the ethnic Malay community, the cellular company

was sold to Tajudin Ramli for just MYR 250,000. Included in the sale was a guarantee of

a five-year monopoly for cellular services in Malaysia. Ramli launched the cellular

services as a company called Celcom in 1989. As a result, TM was locked out of the

cellular market and became one of the few incumbent telecommunications monopolies

not to control the fast-growing mobile market in the late 90s.

Privatization of TM.

The Malaysian government moved forward with TM's privatization in 1990, placing 25

percent of the company on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. This made TM to became

one of the first in the region to emerge from under government protection. The

government continued to reduce its s take through the decade, selling another 5 percent of

the company to private shareholders, and placing a further 5 percent among TM's

employees by mid-decade.

The public offering enabled TM to launch a massive investment program in the early

1990s. This move is became part of Malaysian government's ambitious "Vision 2020", a

long-term plan meant to transform Malaysia to become developed nation by year 2020.

By the end of the 1990s, TM had boosted its total number of access li nes to four million

and its penetration rate to 19% . The company had also expanded its exchange capacity to

a fully digital network with a capacity of nearly six million lines.

After the end of Celcom's five years monopoly, TM is allowed TM to enter the cellular

market in the mid 90s. When the company received one of the country's eight new mobile

telephone licenses, TM launched its own network called TM Touch.

While its domestic network is being built and enhanced, TM also turned its attention to

the international market. The company's first international effort came in Sri Lanka,

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where it backed the launch of that country's MTN (later Dialog) Telekom in 1993. By

mid-decade, TM had also added a joint venture in India, where it began operating GSM-

based cellular phone services in the Calcutta market, as well as paging services in six

other cities. The company also expanded into Malawi, formed a 60-40 joint venture with

Malawi Telecommunications Ltd. to launch the TNM GSM-based cellular service in

1995. In that year, also, the company acquired 60 percent of Sotelgui SA, the former

government-con trolled fixed-line and mobile service provider in Guinea. Bangladesh

became another target market for the company, and in 1995 TM formed a joint venture

with AK Khan & Co. to launch the Aktel GSM cellula r service.

Back home, TM responded to the growing interest in internet access and launched its

own Internet service provider, TMNet. That operation became the country's second, and

soon largest ISP. Owning the nation's fixed lines has enabled TM to capture the

broadband market into the 2000s. The company then entered Cambodia acquiring some

19% stake in Samart in 1997, then acquiring a 51% stake (to Samart's 49 percent) in

mobile telephone provider Casacom in 1998.

TM expanded its Malaysian cellular business in 1998, taking control o f Mobikom,

founded in 1993. Mobikom had built a network based on the AMPS protocol, covering

all of the Malaysian peninsula, as well as Sa bah and Sarawak. In order to overcome

incompatibilities between the two companies' networks (TM's TM Touch network

operated on the GSM 1800 standard) TM announced its intention to roll out a dual-band

handset. However, TM's cellular business remained lags far behind the market leaders,

Celcom, Maxis, and Digi.

Incompatibility was only one of the problems dogging the Malaysian mobile telephone

market. The presence of eight cellular providers is a little too many players for the

Malaysian market. To address this incompatibility, the Malaysian government has

encouraged a consolidation of the mobile market. TM played its part in this effort and in

2002, TM acquired a stake in Celcom's parent company, Technology Resources Industry

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(TRI). By 2003, the company had acquired full control of TRI and the country's leading

cellular service provider, Celcom.

TM then received one of the only two licenses issued for the new "3G" high-speed

cellular phone services. By 2004, the company had launched its first 3G service. Due to

low initial demand for the service, TMs 3G offering remained on a limited scale serving

few hundred subscribers in the country's Multimedia Super Corridor."

Soon after the company joined with Malaysian state investment agency Khazanah

Nasional to acquire a 17.7% stake in Singapore's MobileOne, becoming the cellular

service provider's largest shareholder. Meanwhile, TM had found its entry into the

Indonesian market, buying a 27.3% stake in Excelcomindo, owner of Indonesias third-

largest mobile phone provider. In order to consolidate its growing international profile,

Telekom Malaysia announced in 2005 that it was adopting TM as its new brand identity.

Telekom Malaysia expected to become a major player in the international

telecommunications market in the new century.

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1.3Researchable Topic

After great length of brainstorming, argument and discussion with all team members,

non-participating members, project sponsors and project supervisor, we finally have

collective agreement to conduct research based on the topic An in-depth study on how

to increase UniFi profitability in the consumer market.

Research Questions

Research Objectives

To determine the service that attract the users

To gauge customers acceptance in terms of price offerings

To uncover the level of speed in installing the service whether it is within the

acceptable level of the customers

Whether TM is to focus only on Internet and drop other packages at least at the moment

Quality of services

Customer service

Analyze and table to the management of what are the feedback and action plan needed to

bring about improvement

2. Literature Review

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2.1 The Trait Theory

2.2 The Behavioral Theory

Internet banking Services was introduced in Malaysia about six years ago (The Star

2005). Although it is new, it has become one of the most popular in Malaysia with

51% out of total respondents of 8000 using Internet banking Services once in a month

(The Star 2005). With 12 domestic banks offering IBS to 4.5 million subscribers

currently (Bank Negara 2007), IBS is an alternative to physical banking and new

medium to reach more potential customers as it allows banker to deliver banking

products and services to a wider segment of customers through electronic and

interactive communication channels, particularly the Internet (Pires and Aisbett,

2002)

2.3 The Situational Theory

Problem recognition is the extent to which individuals recognize a problem facing

them. People do not stop to think about situations unless they perceive that something

needs to be done to improve the situation (Grunig & Hunt, 1984, p. 149).

f the three concepts (problem recognition, constraint recognition and involvement),

are internal (only perceived), then they could be changed by communication, and if

they are external (real/actual), then changes must be made in a persons environment

before his or her perceptions and communication behavior will change (Grunig,

1997, p. 25).

2.4 Strategy Execution

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Strategic agility

Cognitive pg 140 Fast Strategy Yvos Doz & Mikko Kosonen Pearson Education Limited,

Edinburgh gate Harlow CM20 2JE 2008

2.5 John Kotters 8 Steps for Change Leadership

2.6 Empowerment and Other Points to Consider

2.7 Secondary Data

3.0 Theoretical Framework and research Methodology

3.1 Theoretical Framework

3.2 Survey Questions in Details

There are two parts for this questionnaire, which is part A and part B. Part A contain 7

questions and part B contain 6 main questions with more segment under it.

Below are the findings from the questionnaire distributed.

For part A the first question is in regards to gender.

Gender

336 Male

95 Female

The table above shows the findings. As we can see the total participant is 431. From the

total 77.96% is male while the rest is female.

Customer Location

121 Bangsar

49 Shah Alam

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82 Subang Jaya

179 TTDI

Majority of customer or respondent location is in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) area with

the total of 179 participants. The second highest location of respondent is in Bangsar with

the total of 121 participants.

Age

7 Below 20 years

133 20-30 years

137 31-40 years

93 41-50 years

61 51 and aboveAs we can see above, the majority of participant is in the age range of 31-40 years old.

The minority of the participant aged 20 years and below.

What Kind of TM UniFi products you are using

312 UniFi VIP 5 72.39%

66 UniFi VIP 10 15.31%

45 UniFi VIP 20 10.44%

6 UniFi BIZ 5 1.39%

2 UniFi BIZ 10 0.46%UniFi BIZ 20 0.00%

The majority of participant are the user of Unifi VIP 5 with the percentage of 72.39% .

On the other hand, none is using Unifi Biz 20 most probably is because of the

subscription fees for Unifi VIP % is more affordable.

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Most of the participant are using the Unifi for personal purposes. Only one participant

using Unifi solely for business purposes. While the rest using for both personal and

business purposes.

Table above showed that, most Unifi customer with the percentage of 72.16% is former

Streamyx user that upgraded to Unifi. Mainly because this Streamyx customer are a

loyal user of TM and acknowledge TM performance and realibility. The next highest

number of respondant is from the other non TM internet provider with 8.58%. The main

reason for this is fustration with the previos internet provider services and decided to

choose TM.

Below are the break down of participant from non TM internet providers.

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From other non TM internet providers such as:-

35 Maxis Broadband

10 Digi

15 Celcom Broadband

16 P1 WIMAX

1 YTL -YES

6 Jaring Broadband

Time Broadband

From the questionaire, finding shows that majority of participant have been using Unifi

for 6 months with 16.0 %.

Part B

Question 1

Below are the finding for the reason why did participant tend to choose Unifi as internet

service providers.

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1.1

. Price is within your budget 1 2 3 4

42 115 207 679.74% 26.68% 48.03% 15.55%

1.2

. Package meets your requirements 1 2 3 4

15 63 266 87

3.48%

14.62

%

61.72

% 20.19%

1.3

.

Existing internet packages

does not meet your

requirements

1 2 3 4

29 193 148 616.73% 44.78% 34.34% 14.15%

1.4

.

Attractive packages (Internet,

HyppTV & Video on

Demand, Voice of

Broadband)

1 2 3 4

61 137 174 59

14.15% 31.79% 40.37% 13.69%

Form the table above, the majority of respondent agrees somewhat that Unifi price is

within budget. Only 9.74% totally agree with the price is within budget. From this, it

showed that Unifi is pricey.

Next, 61.72% of participant somewhat agree that Unifi package meet their requirement.

Then, another 20.19% strongly agree that Unifi did meet their requirement. Only 3.48 %

totally disagree regards to this. This proof that Unifi packages did meet the majority

expectation in term of packages offered.

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Referring to the table, 44.78% of respondent disagree somewhat that existing internet

packages does not meet their requirements. This also means that more upgrade to their

packages offer can be done for add value purposes.

Moreover, the majority with the percentage of 40.37% agree somewhat that Unifi provide

attractive packages. These attractive packages include Internet, HyppTV & Video on

Demand, Voice of Broadband.

Question 2

The next question for part B, asking participant regards to their willingness to upgrade

the UniFi package if TM do the following offers:

2.1 Increase internet access

beyond 20 Mbps

YES NO

291 140

67.52% 32.48%

2.2 Offer one month of free YES NO

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subscription rental 248 183

57.54% 42.46%

2.3 Reduce monthly subscription rental YES NO

347 84

80.5% 19.5%

2.4 Offer an i-Pad (an Apple computer tablet)

with the UniFi package

YES NO

319 112

74.01% 25.99%

Finding shows that 291 participants with the percentage of 67.52% are willing to upgrade

to Unifi, if TM increase internet access beyond 20 Mbps. While another 32.48% still not

willing to upgrade to Unifi even if the speed upgraded.

More than half of the participant with the percentage of 57.54% is willing to upgrade to

Unifi if TM offered one month of free subscription rental.

The majority with the percentage of 80.5% willing and use Unifi services if monthly

subscription reduced. This showed that TM could seriously consider reducing its price so

that more people would subscribe to Unifi.

The last part for question 2 in part B showed that 74.01% respondent will change to Unifi

if TM offers an i-Pad with the Unifi package.

Question 3 in part B, studies relationship of HyppTv, VOD with the Unifi.Findings as

below

3.1 Are you willing to subscribe to

HyppTV and VOD. (paid

channels/contents)

YES NO

109 322

25.29% 74.71%

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3.2 Are you interested if UniFi

(HyppTV/VOD) has the same

ASTRO contents

YES NO

347 84

80.51% 19.49%3.3 Are you willing to terminate

ASTRO subcriptions if UniFi can

offer all or better contents than

ASTRO

YES NO

373 58

86.54% 13.46%

The majority are not willing to subscribe to HyppTV and VOD with the total of 74.71%.

Meanwhile 80.51% are interested if Unifi has the same of ASTRO content. Findings also

showed that, 86.54% of participants are willing to terminate ASTRO subscriptions if

Unifi can offer all or better content than ASTRO.

Question 4

Elaboration for question 4 in part B as below:

4.1 Most participants do not know that YES NO

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they can add an additional second

phone line which cost only RM 25 per

month.

70 361

16.2% 83.8%

4.2 Most participants do not know that

they can enjoy these additional free

services if they subscribed to a second

phone line.

YES NO

46 385

10.67% 89.33%

Services

Malicious Call identification

Call Transfer

Call Forwarding

Call Hold

Call Line Identification Presentation - CLIP

Do Not Disturb

Voicemail

Voice Barring IDD Calls

Voice Premium Calls

4.3 Given the new features, do you like to

subscribe to these services:-

3-party Conference - RM3 per month

YES NO

53 378

12.30% 87.70%

Call Waiting - RM1.50 per month YES NO

47 384

10.90% 89.10%

Calling Line Identification

Restriction (CLIR) - RM3 per month

YES NO

74 35717.17% 82.83%

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From the table above, showed that majority of respondent choose not to subscribe to the

extra services offered. The services are the 3-party conference, call waiting and calling

line identification restriction (CLIR).

Question 5

The next question findings as below

Do you like to subscribe to the following UniFi Value Added Services:-5.

1 E-Browse - Online newspapers YES NO

138 293

32.02% 67.98%5.

2 i-Shield Plus - website content filtering YES NO

97 334

22.51% 77.49%

5.

3Online Guard Plus - Anti-Virus, Spyware, Malware

protections

YES NO

173 258

40.14% 59.86%

5.

4 InfoBlast - 2 Way messages YES NO

96 335

22.27% 77.73%

5.

5 Websites Hosting with economical rates YES NO

158 273

36.66% 63.34%

Streamyx Zone - Wifi Hotspots in selected public areas

YES NO

5.

6 330 10176.57% 23.43%

5.

7

Are you interested to have the following contents

available on the UniFi TV Screen instead of PC YES NO

238 193

Facebook over TV 55.22% 44.78%

Twitter over TV

Friendster over TV

Internet over TV

Online shopping over TV

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From the above analysis, it shows quite clearly that value added services is not a serious

concern for the subscribers. They are more concern on the high speed internet connection

and affordable pricing.

Question 6

The last question in questionnaire analyses the respondent perception towards the

Customer Support Services and Quality Performances of TM. The findings as below:

6.1 Easy registration process 1 2 3 4 5

27 55 131 87 131

6.26%12.76

%30.39

%20.19

%30.39

%

6.2 Easy installation process 1 2 3 4 5

26 26 124 89 166

6.0% 6.0% 28.8% 20.6% 38.5%

6.3Attractive UniFipackages

1 2 3 4 5

20 6 48 70 287

4.64% 1.39%11.14

%16.24

%66.59

%

6.4 High Speed Internetstability and consistentbandwidth throughput

1 2 3 4 5

17 7 15 25 367

3.94% 1.62% 3.48% 5.80%85.15

%

6.5 More IPTV and Video onDemand channels

1 2 3 4 5

79 73 34 78 167

18.33%

16.94% 7.89%

18.10%

38.75%

6.6 Quality telephonyservices running onVoice over Broadband

1 2 3 4 5

41 53 101 97 139

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9.5% 12.3% 23.4% 22.5% 32.3%

6.7 After Sales Services andTechnical Services

1 2 3 4 5

17 15 52 79 268

3.94% 3.48%

12.06

%

18.33

%

62.18

%

6.8Services on Billings andPayments

1 2 3 4 5

16 14 85 113 203

3.71% 3.25%19.72

%26.22

%47.10

%

3.3 Self- Administered Questionnaire

3.4 Survey Answer Approach

3.5 Sample Size

A total of about 10000 respondents from 4 different areas namely Shah Alam,

Subang Jaya, Bangsar and Taman Tun Dr Ismail have been selected to participate in the

research. Out of 10000 respondents, we managed to get 431 respond.

3.6 Survey Roll Out and Data Collection

The questionnaires have been sent to the identified respondents through email. And thereply also received through email. Special email address has been created i.e.

[email protected] in which each reply will also be defaulted to each team member as

well as al non participating members. Sample of questionnaire can be referred to

appendix xxxxx. Data is collected and administered centrally. It is saved electronically

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and also printed in accordance with the areas. This is of the research requirements. Data

is then analyzed based on each question. This is shown in appendix xxxxx

3.7 Research Ethic

REFERENCES

Bass, Bernard (2008) The Bass Handbook of Leadership Theory, Research &

Managerial Applications, Free Press, 4th Edn, USA.

Bass, Bernard and Riggio, Ronald (2006) Transformational Leadership, Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates, 2nd Edn, USA.

Changing Minds.Org (ND) Behavioral Theory, viewed 6 April 2010,

http://changingminds.org.

Changing Minds.Org (ND) Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership, viewed 6

April 2010, http://changingminds.org.

Covington, John (2002) Eight steps to sustainable change, Industrial Management

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Drucker,, Peter (2007) Management Challenges for the 21st Century, Elsevier, Classic

Drucker Collection Edn, Great Britain

Fiedler, F.E. (1967), A theory of leadership effectiveness, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Gill, Roger (2001) Change management or change leadership?, Journal of Change

Management, 3, 4, pp. 307-318.

Goleman, D. (2000) Leadership That Gets Results, Harvard Business Review, March

April.

Internal Comms Hub (2009) TOOL: The Change Curve, viewed 29 July 2010,

http://www.internalcommshub.com

Koen, G. (2005) Comparative International Management, McGraw Hill Education, 1st

Edn, United Kingdom.

Kotter International (2010) The 8 Step Process, viewed 16 July 2010,

http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspx

Liu, June, and Liu, Xiaoyu (2006) A Critical Review of Leadership Research

Development, International Journal of Business and Management.

MindTools (2010) Kotter's 8-Step Change Model, viewed 24 July 2010,

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm

Paladino, B. (2007), Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance, Wiley Publishing,

USA.

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http://www.internalcommshub.com/http://www.kotterinternational.com/KotterPrinciples/ChangeSteps.aspxhttp://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_82.htm


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Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009) Research Methods for Business

Students, 5th Edn, Italy.

Schein, E. (2004) Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey-Bass-Wiley, 3rd Edn,

San Francisco.

Strategy + Business (2004) 10 Principles of Change Management, viewed 10 July 2010,

http://www.strategy-business.com

Tannenbaum, A.S. and Schmitt, W.H. (1958) How to Choose a Leadership Pattern.

Harvard Business Review, 36, March-April, pp. 95-101.

Vroom, V, and Jago, A. (2007) The Role Of Situation In Leadership, American

Psychologist, 62, 1, pp.1724.

Vroom, V. and Yetton, P. W. (1973) Leadership and Decision Making, Pittsburgh: The

University of Pittsburgh Press.

Warrick, D. D. (1981) Leadership Styles and Their Consequences, Journal of

Experiential Learning and Simulation, 3, 4, pp.155-172.

Welch, J. (2009) Jack Welch and the 4Es of Leadership, McGraw Hill, International

Edn, Singapore.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J. (1964) The Managerial Grid. Houston, Golf Publishing.

Burman, R. and Evans, A.J. (2008) Target Zero: A Culture of safety, Defence Aviation

Safety Centre Journal 2008, pp. 22-27.

Cameron, K. and Quinn, R. (1999) Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture

Addison-Wesley, New York.

Hill, G. and Jones, G. (2001) Strategic Management, Houghton Mifflin.

House, R.J. and Mitchell, R.R. (1974) Path-Goal Theory of Leadership, Journal of

Contemporary Business, 3, pp. 81-97.

Howell, J.M. and Avolio, B.J. (1993) Transformational Leadership, Transactional

Leadership, Locus of Control and Support for Innovation: Key Predictors of

Consolidated-Business-Unit Performance, Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, pp. 891

902.

Goffee, R. and Jones, G. (1998) The Character of a Corporation: How Your Companys

Culture Can Make or Break Your Business, Harper Business, London.

Kritsonis, A. (2004) Leadership In Organizations: National Implications, International

Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity, 8, 1.

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Lee. H. Y. (2008) The Association Between Organizational Culture and Leadership

Behavior and Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance

A Malaysian Perspective, Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University Malaya.

Lehmann, E.L. and Romano, J. (2005) Testing Statistical Hypotheses, Springer, 3rd Edn,

New York.

Ogbonna, E. and Harris, L. (2000) Leadership style, Organizational Culture

and Performance: Empirical Evidence from UK Companies, The International Journal of

Human Resource Management, 11, 4, pp. 766 788.

Plackett, R.L. (1983) Karl Pearson and the Chi-Squared Test, International Statistical

Review. 51, 1, pp. 5972.

Stogdill, R.M. (1948) Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the

literature, Journal of Psychology, 25, 1, pp. 35-71.

Tharp, B. (2009) Four Organizational Culture Types, Haworth Organizational Culture

White Paper.

Wallach, E. J. (1983) Individuals and organizations: The cultural match, Training and

Development Journal, 37, pp. 29-36.

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APPENDIX 1: REFLECTIVE LEARNING STATEMENTS

1.0 What went well?

The briefing session at the very early stage of ABLE by speaker Mr Chan was

very insightful.

At the very beginning of the course, speaker has made it very clear to all

participants to form a team which at least consist of three members. Each team is also

encouraged to rope in non participing members to assist in conducting the assigned

research topic. And its proven to be effective as it adds value because there is a lot of

different opinions contributed by the non participating members as well as easing up our

completion. at the same time to add value in the process.

there were some participants who opted to work alone without forming a team

from other participants. However, it worked well for the author by teaming up with two

other members. At the very core, this program was about leadership and leaders would

not work alone. Team interaction in the program went well and it was a very unique

encounter, compared to other Masters program.

In the authors opinion, formulating the survey questions with reference to an

existing academic model was a better option as it could benchmark results with a proven

model. For this research, some of the survey questions were made with reference to

John Kotters 8 Steps of Change Leadership. During analysis of results, it was possible

to make a snapshot and gauge the level of effectiveness of the organizations execution of

change leadership.

Since this was a work-based research, the author and the project members decided

to include current issues of concern that would impact the organization. With this,

concerns such as empowerment and risk taking, customer value proposition and

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competitive edge were included in the research. This way, the team was able to test the

level of concern and gauge the gravity level of the matter.

During dissemination of the survey questionnaires, mass email method was used.

Although the author was skeptical of the response rate, the results of 24% response rate

had proven otherwise. In the authors opinion, the good response rate was due to clear

and precise instructions given in the survey email with proper objectives mentioned as

well as assurance of confidentiality.

The project team had an option to choose a 4 scale Answer Approach or the

more usual 5 scale Answer Approach. With the belief that the general public would

had the tendency to choose the middle path while answering surveys, the 4 scale

Answer approach was adopted. This had proven to be ideal and analysis of results was

simpler in the end.

1.1 What could have been done better?

In the authors opinion, choosing the right research topic was the most

challenging process of the whole process. At the initial stages of the project, most

participants could be too optimistic, as this program would be monitored by organization

management. Being too optimistic would drive the participants to choose titles that were

too general, wide and probably would not be researchable given a 6 months time frame.

If certain guidelines or explanation were given at the initial stage, the author would not

have used up so much time to crystallize the research topic. In this research, it was

advisable to have a very specific and narrow research topic, as advised by the project

supervisor.

Although literature review was meant to help the participants to learn more about

the research environment and knowledge, it could also cause analysis paralysis. Too

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much information, if not filtered properly, could slow the participant down. However, if

the research topic was firmed up earlier, it could help to narrow down the literature

review into selective important knowledge. In the case of author, a lot of time was

utilized to do literature to narrow down the research topic.

The survey was conducted to all XXX Group employees at random. However,

there were bound to be certain companies within the conglomerate with better change

leadership execution than others. With this, it could be more meaningful if the project

team could analyze the survey of different business divisions within the group. To

further extend this, the survey results could be analyzed by age and we could gauge the

behaviors of employees of generation X, Y and baby boomers.

The postponement of presentation schedules, although caused by unavoidable

circumstances, could slightly misaligned the project planning schedule of participants.

The author found it difficult to comprehend the various analysis methodologies

such as Chi-Square Test and Hypothesis Test. Other data analysis methods using

computer programs were also quite complex as most participants do not have previous

experience in research field. What could have been done better was the coordinator

should arrange for separate briefing sessions on these research methods. With the

knowledge of these research methods in hand, the participants could then stretch analysis

further. To self learn these methods, although not impossible, would be too time

consuming.

1.2 What has been learnt

In this project, the author learned that change was an unavoidable phenomenon in

the business world. In order to compete, a leader should lead and execute change

effectively. By understanding change leadership, it would be critical for the leader to:

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i. First come up with change vision,

ii. Get buy-in and form a coalition team to help maneuver the change

program

iii. Communicate, communicate, and communicate.

iv. Follow through

v. Embed change in organizational culture

In this research project and as shown from the survey results, the author learned

that XXX Group change leadership effectiveness on strategy execution could be further

improved. Learning this knowledge would enable the author to take concern of this

matter when implementing future strategies for the organization.

Although considerable amount of literature reviews were covered, the author

learned that it was not the quantity of literature reviews that mattered, it was the quality.

More quality literature reviews could be done by reading more from various sources

including magazines and newspaper clippings, as alternatives to the usual books,

journals, internet and published research papers.

The author also learned that teamwork with good leadership could be crucial in

any projects, in order to achieve success. In the project, the good teamwork among its

members was commendable.

Another very important lesson learned was time management and to keep things

under schedule. The author experienced the process of formulating survey questions took

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too much time and the delay had caused a domino effect on other schedules. With the

delay felt by the project team members, it led to some errors made, due to short time,

such as the unintentional omission of a question in the survey questionnaire. Unnoticed,

the questionnaires were sent out to the candidates and the error was only highlighted later

during data collection phase.

(1,031 words)

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APPENDIX 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

(1,014 words)

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APPENDIX 3: LEARNING LOG ENTRIES

This Reflective Learning Log is written based on my experience during the course of this

project, my feelings and more importantly my expectations out of this overall assignment

on how way forward on how we go about developing an effective strategy to win more

customers to subscribe to our UniFi services. And also to include what went wrong and

what went right which can be taken as lesson learned to improve future endeavors.

Entry 1

Friday, 13th Aug. 2010

Our class on the Applying Business Leadership Experience (ABLE) has been concluded

on Aug 3, 2010 (a two class begun on Aug 2, 2010) conducted by Imperial Consulting

and American Management Association (AMA).

Its the final module of the MSc. in Business Leadership. It such a great experience as we

went through, gained and applied the knowledge, skills, tools from various modules

taught such as PLP, Business Strategic Leadership (BSL), Voice of Leadership (VOL)

and Leadership of Change (LOC). I enjoyed every single module and its relevant for my

work environment. I take it as transformation exercise in my work place. I must admit

that its a tough task to implement and to get the buy-in from you subordinates to

implement new things. I have to keep communicate, communicate and communicate. I

noticed over time it produced desired results. I am proud to say that my division has

produced high quality of work force and created new dynamic working atmosphere.

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Entry 2

Monday, 23rd Aug. 2010

As the whole program started in July 2009, we finally come to the final stages of the MSc

in Business Leadership. Undoubtedly a long journey. I expected difficulties and

challenges for us as a group to complete the project. Writing approximately 9000 words,

conducting a primary data research, getting cooperation from various parties are

absolutely an uphill task for us. This is especially so for me as I had never set my foot in

university and doing a Masters thesis is totally a new experience for me. But Gods

willing I took the challenge and I am grateful to have come to this stage.

I am also very thankful to my team members Tun Kamalul and Azlan for their dedication

and hard work that makes things possible. Not forgetting our tutor cum supervisor for

giving us all the necessary guide and advice for us to sail through.

Entry 3

Friday, 26th March 2010

One week had gone since my first entry! Our tutor and supervisor Mr Chan said the first

task we needed to do was to form a team. In this class of 19 students, I would be the

youngest candidate in the class, I thought. That inferiority complexity had made me

thought that no one in the class would want to team up with me, as I was young, perhaps

inexperience and a novice.

Perhaps not! What I learned form VOL and PLP was that we must learn to understand

ourselves as leaders and accept our personal advantages and learn to overcome our

disadvantages. Be positive.

Our research proposal submission date was fixed on Friday, 16th April.

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It would be better for me to form a team soon. Maybe it would be ideal for me to make

some phone calls and see whether some teams are not fully formed yet and had some

room for me to join.

A good leader would take the initiative step to form a strong coalition team.

Entry 4

Thursday, 1st April 2010

It was April Fools day but it was not a joke that I managed to form a team with Mr

Mohd Yusri Bin Mohd Yusof and Ms Hannah Lyana Lee Abdullah. Both of them were

top notch employees of UEM Group Headquarters and much more senior in terms of age

and position compared to myself.

A team of three would be fine by me, not too big or too small a crowd. However, I had

learned that some students preferred not to form a team and took on the challeng as a sole

lone ranger for their research. I would not know which team configuration was best but

for me, more heads would be better than one since this would be something new to me.

Furthermore, if our course was about leadership, how could you conduct a leadership

research without any other members? How would you lead as a lone ranger? With that, I

reckoned it would be more ideal to form a team of 2 or 3 students so that we would not be

questioned later.

The next task was to figure out a research topic. It seemed simple enough.

Mr Chan advised us to start reading and we would somehow converge to an exciting

research topic.

Entry 5

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Monday, 5th April 2010

I was wrong! It was not that simple. It might be easy to come up with a research topic

but it was certainly not easy to get a unanimous agreement from all.

I wanted to do something on leadership style. Yusri wanted to do some research on why

UEM Group have not performed effectively. Hannah wanted to learn what

organizational culture would be appropriate to spearhead UEM Group towards

transformation.

As a team, we were all quite supportive in sharing information. We shared all our

reading materials and literature reviews. We were bombarded with so much information

until I was rather lost in the sea of knowledge.

The more materials I read, the more things I would find curious. The more curious I got,

the more materials I would read to seek for answers and references. This chain reaction

of knowledge would be fun, but not when you want to settle down with a research topic.

It was a test for our team to decide on the research topic soon, and time was not a luxury.

Finally, we all agreed to do something related to leadership styles.

From there, it was back to more literature review and chain reaction of knowledge for

me.

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Entry 6

Thursday, 8th April 2010

Finally, our agreed research topic was The association between leadership styles,

organizational cultures and performances of the different companies within UEM Group

I thought the research topic was a bit wide, but since there were three of us in a team, it

would be fine.

We had nominated other assisting team members (non student) in the team. There were:

i) Mr A (Group HR)

ii) Mr B (Corporate Finance)

iii) Ms C (GSBD).

Our project sponsor was Ms E (Group HR & Training).

Entry 7

Monday, 12th April 2010

Over the weekend, I read and reviewed the following literature:

i) Leadership definition according to Victor Vroon and Arthur Jago (2007)

ii) The Trait Leadership Theory

iii) The Behavioral Leadership Theory

iv) The Situational Leadership Theory.

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The earliest phase of leadership theory was the trait approach, which stated that leaders

were born with leadership qualities, and not made. The Trait Theory had generally been

dismissed as it assumed that leadership skills were not learnable. I tend to agree with this

as I believe a person could learn to become a leader, given the right training,

environment, mindset and peers.

Many years ago, I was not someone spectacular in high school and was not even elected

to hold any top post in my schools Prefectorial Board, an elite group of the school

community back then. However, during my undergraduate days, I was elected as the

Vice President of Engineering Social and also the Vice President for the universitys

Student Representative Council. If leaders were born, then I was doomed without any

second chance!

Therefore, I would agree more with Behavioral Theory which states that successful

leadership was based on definable and learnable behavior. I would also agree with

Situational Theory (a more popular theory in these modern days) which defines that an

effective leader would act or choose a style based on situational factors. Based on Hersey

Blanchard Situational Theory, leaders should adapt their style based on the different

follower development styles.

Next, I learned about Kurt Lewins Leadership Style and Goleman Leadership Style.

It seemed that we were doing literature review quite a bit. The literature review chain

reaction of knowledge will explode soon as sometimes I get rather confused on what to

expect as an outcome of the research topic.

Part of the full learning log, emphasize also on the team learning and interaction

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APPENDIX 4 (i): RESEARCH ORGANIZATION INFORMED CONSENT FORM

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APPENDIX 5: COVER LETTER AND QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY FORM

Instruction:Please tick () the appropriate statements. If any of the item in the questionnairesis irrelevant or not applicable to you, please mark N/APART A : BACKGROUND & PERSONAL DETAILS

Q1. Gender

o Male

o Female

Q2. Customer location

o Bangsar

o Shah Alam

o Subang Jayao TDDI

Q3. Age

o Below 20 years

o 20 30 years

o 31 40 years

o 41 50 years

o 51 and above

Q3. What kind of TM UniFi products you are using?

o UniFI VIP 5

o UniFi VIP 10

o UniFi VIP 20

o UniFi BIZ 5

o UniFi BIZ 10

o UniFi BIZ 20

Q4. What is your primary use of the UniFI product?

o Personal purposes

o Business purposes

o Both, Business and Personal purposes

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Q5. Which of the following best describes your position as the user of TM UniFI?

o New UniFI user without previous internet subscriptions

o Streamyx user upgraded to UniFi user

o From other non TM Internet providers such as:-

o Maxis Broadband

o Digi

o Celcom Broadband

o P1 WIMAX

o YTL YES

o Jaring Broadband

o Time Broadband

Q6. How many months have you subscribed to UniFI services?Please specify: ___________________

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APPENDIX 7: TABLE OF TABLES AND FIGURES

TABLE OF FIGURES

TABLE OF TABLES

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