Institutional capital, like financial capital, resides within our business and encompasses intangible aspects such as corporate ethics and values, organisational knowledge, systems, processes, intellectual property, brand equity and so on. They are underpinned by exemplary stewardship that sets the tone from the top.
Our seven core values (inner front cover) hinge on being customer centric, trustworthy, innovative, responsive and working as a team to achieve excellence and delivering results.
We believe in living our values. New employees are made aware at the induction training programmes. Internal campaigns are carried out for employees from time to time emphasising the detailed interpretations of values, and above all, we lead by example. Management staff act as role models and they take every possible effort to share Company values.
We maintain written policies on legal and ethical behaviour. These include aspects such as whistle blowing, open door feedback to raise concerns and inform management about acts of misconduct at an early stage and any sexual harassment. In addition to guidelines, awareness programmes are conducted from time to time, supplemented by counselling to rectify any negative behaviour immediately.
At SLT we foster an organisation culture with open communication, high performance and close engagement with employees to foster innovations and novel ideas. All employees are provided with training on customer care, and the need to focus on all stakeholder interests. The need for adherence to Company policies, sharing Company values and concentrating on productivity improvement are reinforced from time to time through refresher training programmes, messages from the CEO and our change management initiatives. To strengthen organisational performance through diverse ideas Kaizen suggestion schemes and employee suggestion boxes, registers and intranet are made available. We also conduct brainstorming sessions from time to time.
Innovation, a core value, is actively promoted. Employees are encouraged to propose and implement new ideas, new processes and new systems which ultimately contribute to the achievement of our key strategic objectives. Processes and systems changes made through implementation of innovative ideas of employees, even if they fall outside their respective job descriptions, are welcomed, and they are appraised, recognised and rewarded.
Mobitel has a flat organisation structure that promotes a familial culture. It also encourages lifelong employment which complements its corporate mission of ‘care, share and deliver’.
The procurement manual provides guidelines in detail which ensure transparency and fairness in our dealings. Most of the goods and services required are purchased centrally through the Procurement Division, while items to be procured directly by user departments are listed in the web site of the Procurement Division.
The supply chain includes from point of requisition by user departments for an item or service up to the point of delivery and any delivery issues. We maintain an automated inventory management system for stock items, while suppliers are registered and screened in advance. Suppliers are required to submit quality certifications as applicable, and our quality inspection unit inspects incoming material for conformance with published quality requirements.
The performance (such as delivery and quality) of vendors is evaluated through user departments, evaluation teams and quality assurance teams and feedback is provided to suppliers about their performance through e-mails, letters and meetings. Penalties are imposed where applicable, and we maintain vendor ranking and blacklisting procedures.
Going forward, we will be migrating to a new ERP system in 2016, which will further automate procurements while the need for specialised functions such as technical and commercial evaluations will continue in parallel.
During the year 2015 several processes were developed as well as modified by the BPR team based on the business requirements. They include IT system projects such as BPM/SOA and Seibel customer relationship management (CRM) and the next generation network (NGN) Centex process development. Smart Connect was another new process developed during the year for the contact centre.
To improve the process efficiency we implemented projects on IMS cutover and LTE base stations, which have improved the visibility of the LTE base station deployment and introduced a central monitoring capability to the project team.
We also aligned the Megaline product structure with fibre to the home (FTTH) and LTE product structure.
The ERP project, based on Enterprise Business Suite, was successfully launched in 2015. Once we commercially go live during Q3 2016 the supply chain, inventory, finance & accounting, projects, assets, human resources & training and planning & reporting will be seamlessly integrated.
Together with ERP project we have successfully launched the CRM project with CRM and it will commercially go live in Q4 2016 for retail customers and in Q2 2017 for corporate customers.
Regarding fixed ICT solutions, many perceive SLT as being the ‘national’ ICT solutions provider in the country. This gives a high degree of confidence in the brand. However, there are others who still see the ‘Government department’ in SLT. To change this perception and capture the minds of the younger generation we embarked on an island wide ‘Speed up’ campaign. It bore good results by promoting key products such as high speed broadband Internet options including fibre-to-the-home (Smartline) and personalised entertainment options (PEO TV).
The SLT brand stretches further as the ‘leading broadband services provider’ and ‘backbone infrastructure services provider’ in the country. Island wide coverage, distributed networks and operations, multiple global connectivity options and national backbone network (NBN), specialised enterprise and SME services and full range of ICT product portfolios are our core competencies to be dynamic in this highly competitive ICT industry.
In the competitive mobile landscape brand is critical for Mobitel. Therefore, brand health is measured and monitored on a regular basis. The Mobitel brand is actively present in the social media space. Investments are injected to all areas of the mobile business that in turn nourishes the Mobitel brand.
We maintain a Regulatory Division and a Legal Division which monitor all regulatory and statutory enactments. Employees are kept aware of relevant developments through SLT intranet. Our human resource practices comply with labour regulations and other statutory requirements. We also ensure compliance by outsourced companies such as payment of EPF, ETF to outsourced employees and safety aspects of contractor staff. SLT takes every effort to fully comply with Government regulations. As a listed company SLT adheres to the rules and regulations of the Colombo Stock Exchange. All Company policies, procedures and guidelines have been developed in compliance with regulatory and statutory requirements and compliance is audited by internal auditors as well as external auditors.
There were no fines imposed in relation to non-compliance with laws and regulations relating to the provision and use of our products and services. Likewise, no complaints were received in respect of breaches in customer privacy. Information security of SLT‘s overall operations is a top priority and we have adopted the ISO Quality Management System Standards as well as ISO/IEC Information Security Standard Company-wide.
The Board of Directors has overall responsibility for the establishment and oversight of the Group’s risk management framework. The Audit Committee oversees how management monitors compliance with the Group’s risk management processes. Aspects of financial risk management are discussed in Note 4 to the Financial Statements. Reputation and other risks, such as contingent liabilities arising from lawsuits involving the SLT Group are discussed in Note 32 to the Financial Statements.