Internship report

On

Competitive Market Analysis of Premier cement with Shah Cement

in shiddhirgonj

Submitted to:

Mr. Tanvir Ahmad (Internship Supervisor)

Submitted by :

Lutfor Rahman

ID:101011183

ULAB School of Business

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

Spring 2014
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Letter of Transmittal

April 23, 2014

Mr. Tanvir Ahmad
Internship Supervisor
ULAB School of Business
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

Subject : Submission of Internship Report

Dear Sir,

I have completed this as part of my internship program .The report has been complied as per your
requirements and those set by the host organization. It gives me the huge pleasure to tell you that
working on this internship report has give me a wide range of experience.

The report is based on the knowledge, experience and the skills that I have acquired during my period of
internship in Premier Cement Mills Ltd.

I am therefore submitting this report with the hope that it lives up to your satisfaction.

However I would be glad if you inform me with your thoughts and views regarding the report. In
addition, if you wish to enquire about any of the aspect of the report, I would be glad to answer your
question.

Sincerely

Lutfor Rahman
Id:101011183
ULAB School of Business
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
Declaration

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I hereby declare that this report entitled, “Competitive Market Analysis of Premier cement
with Shah cement in Shiddhirgonj” conducted and submitted by me, Lutfor Rahman under the
guidance of sir, Mr. Tanvir Ahmad is my original work and that has not been submitted to any
other University / Institute previously.

Lutfor Rahman
Id:101011183
ULAB School of Business
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

Certificate

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This is to certify that the internship Report titled, “Competitive Market Analysis of Premier
cement with Shah cement in Shiddhirgonj” for the award of Bachelor degree in business
administration from University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, has been carried out by Lutfor
Rahman bearing Id:101011183, under my supervision and guidance. The Report embodies result
of original work and studies carried out by the student himself and the contents of the Report do
not form the basis for award of any other Degree to the candidate or to anybody else.

Tanvir Ahmad
Supervisor
ULAB School of Business
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

Acknowledgement

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First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty Allah for blessing me with the strength, ability
and patience for successfully completing my internship and this report.

I would like to thank my faculty Advisor, Mr. Tanvir Ahmad for giving me the opportunity to
work with him during my period of internship. I have been able to assemble and complete this
report in a comprehensive manner due to the guidance, support and counseling that he has
provided me with during this period. I have tried my best to implement his helpful Suggestion
while doing my report.

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the help provided to me by some
personnel of the company. My sincere thanks goes to Mr. Md Abdul Al Mamun senior Executive
of sales & marketing for giving me time busy schedule, providing me with information that was
required to complete the report, and for guiding me properly throughout the period of my
internship. I would also like to thank all the employees of PMCL who has supported me and co-
operated with me during my internship period.

Finally my sincere thanks go to each and everyone who has helped and supported me
significantly stages during the period of my internship.

Plagiarism Declaration

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1. I know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works or
inventions of another as if they were one’s own. I know that plagiarism not
only includes verbatim copying, but also the extensive use of another
person’s ideas without proper acknowledgement (which includes the proper
use of quotation marks). I know that plagiarism covers this sort of use of
material found in textual sources and from the Internet.

2. I acknowledge and understand that plagiarism is wrong.

3. I understand that my research must be accurately referenced.

4. This assignment is my own work, or my group’s own unique group

assignment. I acknowledge that copying someone else’s assignment, or part
of it, is wrong, and that submitting identical work to others constitutes a
form of plagiarism.

5. I have not allowed, nor will I in the future allow, anyone to copy my work
with the intention of passing it off as their own work.

Name __________________________________________________

(BLOCK LETTERS)

ULAB ID #______________Signature ___________________ Date

____________

Executive summery

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Premier Cement Mills Ltd is one of the leading cement companies of the country. The company
was started off by top ranking businessmen who had long years of experience in the cement
business. Premier Cement Mills Ltd was incorporated on 14th October 2001 and it started its
production on 12 March 2004 commercially.

The report consists of a job part where I have tried to explain about the practical experiences that
I got particularly from the sales and marketing department during my internship in PCML.
During my internship, I visited many retailers, attended meeting and observed the functioning of
many department which has really enhanced my knowledge and wisdom of cement industry as
well as PCML’s present scenario.

In the project part, I illustrate the present cement industry scenario and the companies working in
this field. Mainly, I tried to explain the competitive market of PCML against Shah Cement Mills
Ltd. Then the graphical presentation of the data that I found from the retailers and the
consumers- comparing PCML to Shah Cement- has been chronologically described. After that,
based on the questionnaire data all the findings are embellished fairly and properly. In the end
many recommendation to the PCML were also framed nicely according to my empirical
knowledge.

Table of Contents

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Particulars Page No.

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Letter of Transmittal
Student Declaration
Certificate of Supervisor
Acknowledgement
Executive Summery 7

Table of Contents 8-10

CHAPTER- ONE –Introduction 11-13

1.1.Background Of The Study 12

1.2. Objective of the Report 12-13

1.3.Significance Of The Report 13

CHAPTER- TWO- Overview Of Premier Cement Mills Ltd 14-15

2.1 Brief history 15

2.2 Nature Of Premier Cement Mills Ltd. 15

2.3 Board Of Directors 15

2.4 Vision 15

2.5 Mission 16

2.6 Goals & Objectives 16

2.7 Product /Services Offerings 16-17

2.8 Organization Structure 18

2.9 Performance Analysis 19-20

2.10 SWOT analysis of Premier Cement 20-24

CHAPTER – Three-Internship Activities 25-30

3.1 Job Description 26-27

3.2 Critical Observation During Internship At PCML 27-30

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CHAPTER- FOUR- Methodology 31-32

4.1Nature Of The Study 32

4.2 Sources Of Data 32

4.3 Target Population 32

4.4 Sample Size 32

4.5 Sampling Method 32

CHAPTER- FIVE- Data analysis and Findings 33-39

5.1 The Evolving Scenarios Of The Cement Industry Of 34-35

Bangladesh
5.2 Current Market Players And Their Sales Volume In 2011 36

5.3 Analysis of Questionnaire (Retailers) 37-45

5.4 Analysis of Questionnaire (consumers) 36-50

5.5 Findings 51-52

CHAPTER-SIX -Conclusion And Recommendation 53-55

6.1 Conclusion 54

6.2 Limitation 54-55

6.3 Recommendation 55

References 56-61

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Chapter one
Introduction

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1.1 Background

This report is on “Competitive market analysis of Premier Cement with shah Cement in Which I
have to prepare to fulfill the requirement of BUS-490 (Internship) course. The task is supervised
by the academic supervisor Mr. Tanvir Ahmad .I have been working with Primer Cement Mills
Ltd. For three months period (February -April) as an intern in Sales & Marketing department.
Here I have had an opportunity to learn work with practical thing in job life as well as to gain
on my respective industry about how a cement company basically operating in Bangladesh.

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1.2 Origin of the Report

As a mandatory part of the BBA program, all the students of Business Administration
department of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh have to undergo a three-month long
internship program with an objective to gain practical knowledge about business world. After
this program, the students have to submit an internship report, which reflects their activities
during the program. Accordingly, I joined in the sales and marketing department of Premier
cement Ltd Bangladesh. My project is “Competitive Market Analysis of Premier cement with
Shah Cement.” This was assigned by my supervisor Mr. Tanvir Ahmad, Lecturer, and
Department of Business Administration of ULAB.

1.3 Objective

 Broad objective

 To have a practical experience of job life.

 To find out the relevance and application of theoretical knowledge in practical life.

 To know about the real life scenarios and problems that occurs in a work place which

However cannot be understood properly by reading books and studying in classrooms.

 Specific

 To gain an in-depth knowledge about the market condition of Premier Cement.

 To compare Premier Cement with Shah Cement.

 To gain knowledge about the cement industry of Bangladesh.

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1.4 Significance of the study

In order to fulfill the requirement of the Internship program I was assigned to make a project
paper on target marketing. My supervisor also wanted me to do on this particular topic as it is
relevant to my major, marketing. I was also ascertained to work for Premier Cement Mills Ltd in
Narayanganj as an intern.
During this period of my making the report, I tried to get familiarize myself with the theoretical
concept and practical Know-how of the cement industry at large and Premier Cement. This study
will help me earn the knowledge about the Cement industry as well as the functioning of premier
cement in the competitive market with Shah Cement Ltd. This pedagogue of this report will also
teach me to find the realistic view of real market of Cement existing in the business sector of
Bangladesh.

Chapter two
Overview of Premier cement mills ltd.

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2.1 Brief history

Premier Cement Mills Limited started commercial production on 12th March 2004 with its 1st
Unit having a production capacity of 0.6 million tons per annum. In January 2011, Production
Unit-2 was installed with a capacity of another 0.6 million ton per annum.

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From November 2012 Premier Cement initiated production with its 3rd and 4th Units, with a
joint annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, in order to meet up the additional market demand. Now
the company jogs on with an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tons with 700 employees
engaged in its operation at both home and abroad.

2.2 Nature of premier cement mills Ltd.

The chief function of the company is to manufacture Ordinary Portland Cement and Portland
Composite Cement under “PREMIER CEMENT” brand and marketing the same in local and
abroad. The organization is a private limited company. The company uses the most sophisticated
cement plant namely FLS SMIDTH of Denmark, Packer from HAVER & BOECKER GmbH
Germany and machineries maintaining EUROPEAN standards and qualities.

2.3 board of directors

Chairman Mohammad Mustafa Haider
Managing Director- Mohammed Amirul Haque
Director Md. Jahangir Alam
Director Md. Alamgir Kabir
Director Mohammed Ershadul Hoque

2.4 Vision
“Working towards the development of the society through

Sustainable Growth and High Quality Performance.”

2.5 Mission
“Provide satisfaction to customers, an enjoyable working environment

For the employees & to create value

For the stakeholders.”

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2.6 Goals & Objectives

Premier Cement Mills Ltd has very basic, well specified goals and objectives outlined for the
company which is mentioned below.

 To improve comprehensively in their current success areas.

 To improve their brand image.

 To satisfy their customers.

 To be among the top 5 cement companies of Bangladesh.

 To earn profits.

 To capture their target market share.

2.7 Product /Services Offerings

Products:

Premier Cement consistently caters quality products to its customers. Their automated
manufacturing facilities and fully well-equipped laboratory with enthusiastic team ensures
quality for each batch of production. Premier Cement firmly is stick to the European Standards.
The Cement gets its distinctive characteristics by using the high quality clinker, slag and lime
stones. It provides the extreme of workability, durability and long-term strength. Premier Cement
is produced according to the European norms EN 197-1:2000. From the beginning of their
operation, the company has been consistently ensuring the following features for their products:

Exceptional Strength: At Premier Cement the chemical composition and grinding fineness are
closely monitored to ensure the Bangladeshi BDSEN, American ASTM, European EN, and
Indian BIS standards are surpassed and the customers get cement of strength.

Ideal setting time: In order to allow sufficient time for application, cement has a quick initial
settings time. The final settings do not take too long once it is in a place. At Premier Cement
Mills Ltd, the ideal initial and final setting times are strictly maintained.

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Currently Premier Cement is manufacturing the following types of cement:

1. Ordinary Portland cement: Ordinary Portland cement Type-II is the most common type of
cement in general used around the world as it is a fundamental element of concrete, mortar,
stucco and most non-specialty grout. It is a fine powder produced by grinding Portland cement
clinker (95%) and a limited amount of Gypsum which controls the setting time. It assimilates to
the Bangladesh Standard BDS EN 197-1:2003 CEM-I 42.5 N, European Standard EN 197 type
CEM I, and American Standard ASTM C 150 Type I mark.

2. Portland Composite cement: Premier Cement” standard: BDS EN 197-1:2003 CEM II/AM
or BM 42.5N which is Portland composite cement. It is the most basic type of cement being used
in Bangladesh which consists of Clinker, Slag, PFA, Gypsum, and Limestone. Portland
composite cement plays a vital role in European market. It is made by inter grinding or blending
clinker and Gypsum with one or more of the mineral components which are given below:

A latent hydraulic component: e.g. Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Pulverized
Fuel Ash (PFA)

A pozzolanic component: e.g. natural pozzolana, Fly Ash (Class F)

An inert component: e.g Limestone and sand which usually do not have any real
participation in the chemical hydration process and is produced by grinding or blending
of the constituents.

2.8 Organization Structure

Chairman

Managing
Director

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Board of
Directors

General
Manager

Direct general
manager /assistant

Director
Executive
Director
Director

Factory
Head office

It Marketin Finance Logistics HR Operation Quality

g and Assurance
Maintenanc Developmen
e t

2.9 performance analysis

2.9.1 Graphical Presentation of PCML’s Sales Volume from 2008-2011(in million bags)

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35

30

25

20

15

10

0
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

The graph depicts that the sales of Premier Cement is on rise from 2007/08 to 2011. The volume
was around 20 million bags during the year 2007-08. Since then the amount became 29 million
bags .The ability to keep the price cheaper, shifting from ordinary cement to Portland composite
cement or product differentiation made the sales keep rising.

2.9.2 Graphical Presentation of Shah Cement sales volume from 2008-2011(in million bags)

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35

30

25

20

15

10

0
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

From the graph it is evident that the sales volume of Shah Cement was meagerly lower than
premier cement until 2010. But in 2010-11 the quantity of bags sold by Shah Cement was 2
million more than premier cement. Shah cement managed to sell 31 million bags whereas the
number Premier Cement sold was 29 millions. The reason that found from my observation and
discussion with the staff was the Shah cement put much emphasis on enhance brand equity
through branding, being involved in foreign personality like Philip Cotler , customer centric TV
ad and aggressive CSR activities .But premier cement was slow in the race .

2.10 SWOT analysis of Premier Cement

SWOT is a technique to identify the strength, weaknesses, threat and opportunities a company in
terms of both the external and the internal environment of a company.

2.10.1 Strengths

 Quality Control through Close Monitoring

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Chemical composition and grinding delicacy are closely inspected to ensure the Bangladeshi
BDSEN, American ASTM, European EN and Indian BIS standards. As a result, customers find
outstanding strength in Premier Cement.

 Smooth Raw material Carrying Facilities

Premier Cement gets committed services through ocean going Mother Vessel of Millennium
Shipping Pte Ltd BVI for carrying raw materials from the supplier’s port to Chittagong Outer
Anchor and then uses dedicated Lighter Vessels from Roknoor Navigation Limited to carry raw
materials to Factory Jetty.

 Distribution Channel

In Cement industry in Bangladesh, both inbound and outbound logistics plays a vital role. In the
world of cement industry, distribution channel creates opportunity for differentiation in market,
reduction of cost and value generation. Premier Cement takes delight in delivering door-to-door
on timely manner. It has network of distribution by dealers and retailers around Bangladesh. The
company has strengthened its distribution fleet by adding 57 committed covered vans, 4 bulk
carrier and 4 lighter vessels. In addition to that, company has penetrated into contractual
agreement with MM International – a transportation company – to deliver its product at any
place of the country. As per agreement, PCML has financed TK. 42.00 million to MM
International for purchasing 34 open trucks used primarily for carrying company’s products.

 Quality Control

Premier Cement pivots on catering quality product to its customers. Quality Control is
continuously supervised by its own laboratory comprises of top of the line testing equipments.
Simultaneously test result is also attainted from BUET Lab. It possesses all testing facility for
raw materials and finished products. All incoming raw materials are monitored and test run is
made by mini ball mill before unloading raw material. European standard modern laboratory
checks hourly fineness residue of finish product and setting time every two hours, which is
important to control the product water consistency and setting time. Moreover, it has mortar
testing facility to check the strength of cement.

 Large marketing team:

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The Company has got a large marketing team working actively to manage the work of
marketing, sales and customer service collectively.

 Improved management practice:

Employees working in the corporate office of Premier Cement Limited numbers around 120 to
130. The number being less, the directors and the managers of the company are able to wield a
good control over their employees. As this company stays just in the growth stage, they are
always receptive to new ideas and are agreeable to take new strategies that would benefit their
company to perform well and grow better. Thus it paves a room for incessant changes and
improvement which is chiefly brought about by the managers of the company as they impart
their managing and executing skills and abilities.

2.10.2 Weaknesses:

 Distribution set up cannot cover the whole country yet:

Although PMCL pursues a planned structured distribution system; however, they are still not
able to cover up all the areas of the country owing to resources constraints and their size.

 Company cannot achieve their target market share yet:

The Company has been unable to attain their target market share. However it does not reveal
the information about the figure of the target market share and the reasons for failing to achieve

 Poor structure of the HR department:

The HR department of the organization being new, the HR department is likely to be still very
unstructured and disorganized. But without a well structured department, an organization can
never function properly and reach their goals.

 Low level of marketing:

Although PCML sanctions a massive budget for carrying out marketing activities and covers
almost all types of tools to promote their product. All should increase the level of marketing to
reach out over Bangladesh just like their competitors.

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2.10.3 Opportunities

 Opportunity for export:

PMCL is already exporting their products abroad. However, there is a good opportunity to export
their products in other countries such as Nepal and Srilanka. They are also getting offers from
some African countries for exporting their products.

 Opportunity to spread marketing &distribution channel:

The Company has an opportunity of spreading their marketing and distribution channels up to
root level of each division in the whole country. This will contribute to a wider coverage of
customers across the country.

 Great potential for growth and profitability:

Given the current situation of the cement industry of the country, there is a great opportunity for
the company to expand their business and earn more profits in the long run. PCML itself is in the
growth stage of the product life cycle in addition to the cement industry itself. On the other hand,
the demand for cement is likely to rise in the future due to the various big development projects
undertaken boy the government of the country. As the demand increases, it would affect the sales
to increase as well in return to creating a situation of earning profits for the companies.

2.10.4 Threats:

 Presence of competitors:

There are a number of both local and foreign competitors of PMCL in the cement market. These
companies; especially the multinational companies such as Heidelberg, Holcim and Lafarge pose
a huge threat to PMCL in terms of their experience, resources and adaptation of foreign
management practices and skills.

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 Price increase in International market:

The price increase in the international market is another matter of concern for PMCL. This
would also create a situation for the Bangladeshi cement companies to increase their price as
well, which in turn may decrease their sales because of the prevailing purchasing power parity of
most people of our country which is much lesser than that compared to most other countries
abroad.

 Increase of raw materials in the international market:

Most of the raw materials for making composite cement are imported from abroad. Thus if the
price of the raw materials increase then the overall cost and price of the cement produced by
PLCL and other cement companies would also have to be increased.

 Political instability:

There is a lot of political instability in the country. This may any time bring interruptions in the
proper flow of the operation of PMCL and other cement companies of the country as well.

 Risk of exchange rate fluctuation:

There is always this risk of the exchange rate of ns. This brings an uncalled effect on both the
cost and the ultimate price facing fluctuation o f cement.

 High inflation:

A similar situation may also occur due to high inflation.

 Irrational duty and VAT structure:

The government of Bangladesh may impose irrational duty and VAT structure on cement and
other foreign countries may also increase the import duty on cement in which case it would be
difficult to tackle the cement’s price and import it to countries abroad. This situation already took
place in 1998 when India increased the import duty on cement which resulted to nil exporting of
cement from Bangladesh in that year.

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Chapter 3
Internship activities

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3.1 Job Description

During the three months working period as an Intern in Premier Cement Mills Ltd, I got the
opportunity of working in each and every department of the organization. No sooner had I
joined the company for my internship than a well structured schedule of the internship program
was handed over to me which comprised of the working schedule along with the departments in
which I would be working. The management of the company holds the belief that an intern ought
to work in all the departments rather than concentrating on only a specific department because
the main motive behind an internship is gathering knowledge and it can be gained to a great
extent by getting to an exposure of all the departments together. It is so because it gives an intern
a broader perspective of how an organization really works all together. However, as my chief
field of study and concentration lies in Marketing the, company has thus given me an opportunity
to work in this department for a longer time than the rest. The tasks that I was involed in during
working in each of these departments are discussed below.

3.1.1 Information Technology Department

 Being familiarized with the numerous software and tools being used by different
departments to make the work of employees easier.

 Finding Insight on managing the server and the intranet of the company.

 Got opportunity of working with the web designers of the company

3.1. 2. Finance and Administration Department

 Learnt how this department is actually interconnected with other departments (for an
example the Sales department)
 Know how even after working together, both the Finance and the Administration
Department varies from one another

3.1.3 Human Resource Department

 Knew how HR department is still undergoing through the process of expansion, adapting
and implementing new strategies related to the situation of the company every day.

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 Took part in screening out the CV s of some candidates and making phone calls to them.

3.1.4 Marketing & Sales Department

 Learnt new things by observing and interacting with the Marketing team of the company.

 Being entangled with the Preparation and the management of the Order Processing
System (OPS), creating Product Invoice, recording and tracking the sales call from the
distribution channel, analyzing some sales figures of the company, and taking feedback
and complains from the customers via telephone and e-mail while working in the
Customer Service Department were interesting experiences.

 Got engaged in the decision making and the planning of activities which were taken to
increase the sales of PMC Ltd

 Participated in creating product invoices.

3.2 Critical observation During Internship at PCML

Through the period of my internship at PMC Ltd and while working with them, I was able to
find some critical areas of the company. I took these observations into consideration and
suggested some recommendations to the PMC Ltd authorities so that they might be aware of a
third person’s point of view, which they might want to work with in the near future to fetch
about some revamps in their working areas.

Observation 1: Unstructured HR Department

During my internship period it was observed and found that the HR department of PCML is
really surviving with a proper structure or arrangement. The flow of work within the department
was not found very systematic and neither was it being performed in an orderly manner. Such
crises were understandable as this department is very new and still under the process of
development and improvement. However, their shortcoming during this period generates a way
of confusion and mismanagement which if not handled properly may worsen the company
roughly in the future.

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Observation 2: Standardized facilities for factory workers

During my visit to the factory of PMC in Shidhirgonj, Nrayanganj and as per my discussion with
the Operations supervisor, I excavated that the factory workers are privileged with safety and
medical facilities. However, after rigorous analysis, I figured out that such facilities provided to
the workers are similar irrespective of the kind of work that each of these workers was associated
with. I personally feel that this might not be helpful for the workers. Because a number of stages
are involved in the production process of cement, each of these stages also engages different type
of works which takes in different type of risks, thus following a set of standard facilities to
workers the may not be very helpful.

Observation 3: Unattractive website

In comparison to the website of Shah Cement, I saw the old website of Premier Cement Mills
which I think looked less attractive and lacked sufficient and relevant information compared to
the website of the top cement companies of the country like Shah Cement.

Observation 4: Giving BUET reports in Bengali newspapers mostly as I interned in PMC

Ltd.

I observed and found out that the company reveals their BUET reports and other test reports
through publishing in Bengali newspapers only. Although this promotional activity has benefited
the company to a great extent as it attracted the attention of many potential buyers and also
helped them achieve a brand image and enhance their reputation. However by limiting the
publishing of these reports in only Bengali newspapers, the company is missing out on a whole
segment of their target and potential customers who have access to English newspapers only.

Observation 5: Old Corporate Video

I personally participated in some corporate meetings with the directors, head of the departments
and with externals when I interned with PMC Ltd. This got me an insight to the business
environment of the company and how they organize and conduct formal meetings with externals.
Although the presentations in the meetings were very impressive, however I feel that the
corporate video of PMC should be sophisticated and changed. The video being shown to the

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externals even today was made in the year 2005. Though it may be a very minor flaw, but I feel
this may blur the corporate image and can spoil brand image.

Observation 6: Lack of up to date Information

During my working with the Customer Service team, I got many e-mails and phone calls which
focused on some problems of PCM that were of similar nature. According to some of the clients,
the company lacked in the availability of up to date information.

Observation 7: Miscommunication and misinterpretation of messages exchanged between

an employee and the customer.

PMC Ltd serves a large range of customers. During my working with the Customer Service
team, I was asked to maintain some phone calls of the clients to take their calls for complains
and feedback. While performing this work, I realized that only should each customer be attended
differently over the phone but also the way to communication verbally with the varying type of
customers requires alterations depending on the type and background of the customer. At times,
messages were interpreted incorrectly and many confusions arose because of the inability to
understand the speech of one another over the phone. This can paves a way to a loss of time and
sometimes to dissatisfaction for both the receiver and the caller. The screening of this video
bears an impression about the company and thus, something should be regarding this.

Observation 8: Externals having Lack of knowledge about PCM

PCML is executing a lot of Marketing Activities all around the country. They also have an
attractive budget to carry out these activities. Judging from an external’s point of view, I feel that
the company should emphasize more on reaching their customers and making them aware about
their business. Before joining PCM, I did not know more than half of the things that I know now
after working with them. By ignoring these minor things, PCM may get lost among the mist of
so many other homogeneous cement companies that they may lose out on their customers

Observation 9: Absence of Recognition programs for the employees

While my period of internship in Premier Cement Mills Ltd, I sighted that although the working
environment of the company is very agreeable and the employees are pleased at their pay and at

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the facilities, the company providing for them. However I observed that there was an absence of
recognition programs for the employees. It is very vital for the employer of an organization to
recognize the efforts of an employee and appreciate his work. This not only helps to improve the
relationship between an employer and an employee but it also helps an employee to understand
the pace of his work compared to that of his co-workers. In this way the employees will also be
more satisfied with their jobs and ultimately, it will be beneficial for the organization in terms of
high productivity. Skills and performance based performance appraisal programs should also be
introduced in the organization.

Observation 10: Working environment in the factory

Every time when I visit the factory of PMC, I noticed that the working environment in the
factory is actually fairly structured. The workers of the factory also look to be happy with the
condition of their working environment. However, a very minor matter caught my attention.
Cement is a dusty product and for this obvious reason, there is a lot of dust everywhere around
the factory. Although it is an observation of a couple of hours but however, I noticed some of the
factory workers having serious coughing problems while loading, unloading and grinding the
unpacked cement. This can lead to a negative affect the health of the workers which may lead
dust allergy; resulting to a fall in the level of productivity and a creation of an unhealthy working
environment in the long run

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Chapter Four
Methodology

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Methodology
This report has been complete by taking information from different relevant sources. Some
accounts have been taken by observing with the company itself. However, this report also
consists of significant amount of data obtained from both primary and secondary sources.

4.1 Nature of the study

This is a descriptive type of research.. Both primary and secondary sources have been used for
data collection.

4.2 Sources of data

 Secondary data

For the secondary data, I have used the intranet of Premier Cement Mills Ltd which mainly
consist of the data and excel sheet of the company. I have also taken information from various
reports which were provided to me by PMLC. In addition, I have taken some information from
the internet as well.

 Primary data

Practical work experience at the sales and marketing departments of PCML Ltd.

4.3 Target population

The target population of the study is retailers and consumers of Shidhirgonj, Narayanganj.

4.4 Sample size

Retailers -40
Consumers -20

4.5 Sampling method

Convenient sampling method has been used to select sample in study.

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Chapter five
Data Analysis and Findings

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5.1 The evolving scenarios of the cement industry of Bangladesh

The government first granted permission for establishing cement industries in Bangladesh in the
year of 1995. However, without any kind of thorough prior study of the industry, that permission
was given to the companies. Thus the beginning point of the establishment of the cement
industry took place without the proper analysis of the demand and supply of cement for the
country. Within the time frame of next 2 to 3 years, the supply of cement inflowing the country
faced an expanded capacity of the product. The figures showing this sudden change is given
below:

Demand of Cement 1995 Supply of Cement1998

7.5 million 15million

Demand of Cement 2010 Supply of Cement 2010

12 million 18million

As time passed by, the demand of cement enhanced as infrastructure development projects took
place in Bangladesh. Majority of the cement companies then was import based that brought this
products from other countries to meet the demand of their clients in Bangladesh. However, there
were chiefly four dominant players in the cement industry in the year 1998 that produced their
own cement to meet the demand of their customers. These companies were:

Meghna Cement ( owned by Bashundhara group)

Eastern Cement ( currently known as Seven Horse)

Chatok Cement (Currently taken over by Heidelberg where the local brand is

called Ruby)

Chittagong Cement (which was initially owned by the government, currently

Known as Confidence Cement).

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In 1999, the demand of cement accrued to 3 million tones drastically. In order to meet this
demand, the existing companies planned to augment their production capacity and more and
more entrepreneurs became fascinated to venturing their business skills into this sector. Two big
companies penetrated the cement industry in 2000 and 2001.inspite of the advent of cement
companies in Bangladesh, the demand of the cement skyrocketed significantly, whereas the
supply of the cement was not up to the mark to meet this demand.

Until the year 2002, only one type of cement was prevalent in Bangladesh which was the clinker
based cement. This is known as the Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) which is made as per the
method known as the American Standard Method (ASM). From the year 2002, numerous types
of cements started becoming available in Bangladesh which helped the cement industry to
provide differentiated and improved products to their customers in Bangladesh. The cement
which is widely used from the year 2002 till now is the composite cement which is made by
using the method of the European Standard Methods (ESM). The composite cement got many
advantages over the clinker based cement .The composite cement is made of cements of different
layers which is ideal for building different types of structures in a building. The different layers
of cement have been graded as per the strength provided by the cement. Holcim Black Cement
was the first local company who began producing composite cement in Bangladesh. Currently,
most of the companies can be identified as the grinding mills rather than just pure cement
companies. Only Chatok (the oldest cement company) and Lafarge are the absolute cement
producing companies in the country today. Over the time span of last five years, the growth in
the cement industry has been 130%, however the total industrial growth has been 53% in the last
one year (FY2009 to FY2010). Currently there are 31 cement companies operating in the cement
industry actively. The total production capacity of all the companies for this year is more than 17
million ton and the current Industry Consumption is 12.5 million/annum (refer to table Present &
Upcoming Capacity of Running cement industries in Bangladesh).

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5.2 Current Market Players And Their Sales Volume In 2011

Five top players in the market are

1. Shah cement
2. Premier cement
3. Tiger cement
4. Fresh cement
5. Seven rings cement

Sales of top five players’ volume in million in 2011 (in bags)

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
Shah Premier Tiger Fresh Seven rings

With better quality product and exclusive brand image Shah cement ranks top by selling 31
million bags of cement during year 2011. Premier cement’s sales are also growing but lack of
skillful marketing promotion and brand image enhancement activities stand in the way to
outperform Shah Cement. Tiger cement, Fresh cement and Seven Rings cement rank third, fourth
and fifth respectively. Their sales volumes were 23 millions, 22 million and 19 million
respectively. Well designed marketing , aggressive CSR activities and positioning strategy can
make these companies heighten their market positions.

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5.3 Analysis of Questionnaire (Retailers)

Do You Think The Price PCML Charges Is More Reasonable In The Market Than Shah
Cement?

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e
0 5 0 30 5

Analysis:
The graph shows that 30 out of 40 respondents said that they agree on the point that the price of
PCML is more reasonable than Shah Cement .It also shows 12.5% strongly hold the idea that
PCML price is cheaper .It means on the price matter, retailers prefer to buy PCML cement as
only 12.5% disagree on the idea that price of PCML cement is more reasonable.

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The Quality Of PCML’s Product Is Better Than Shah Cement.

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e
0 20 3 0
17

Analysis:

The report finds on the issue of quality Shah is better than premier cement as 50% of the retailers
say that the quality of Shah Cement is better than Premier cement. 7% respond with neither agree
nor disagree .As 43% think that the quality of Premier Cement is better so, it can be said that the
quality of Premier cement in the market has also some positive demand.

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Their Distribution To Reach Their (PCML) Products To You Is More Satisfactory

Than Shah Cement?

Strongly Neither Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
Disagree Nor Disagree Agree
0 20 0 20 0

Analysis:

50% of the total retailers hold the belief that the distribution of premier Cement is satisfactory
and it is better than Shah Cement. On the other hand the same percentage believes that the
distribution of Premier Cement is not more satisfactory. According to their opinion Premier
cement needs to improve this area.

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Do You Think Their (PCML) Promotional Strategy Is Better Than Shah Cement?

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e
5 21 2 12

Analysis:

Most of the retailers, while asked whether they are influenced much by the Promotional strategy
of Premier Cement, said they do not think so, they share opinions that premier Cement should be
more sophisticated and up to date with promotional aspects as 53%of the retailers disagree with
the question and 30% think their promotional strategy is better than shah Cement. And 5% gave
no answer and 12% strongly disagree with the fact.

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Whose Commission Are You Satisfied With?

Premier Cement Shah Cement

20 20

Premier Shah

50% 50%

Analysis :

The bar chart shows that 20 retailers said that they are satisfied with the commission of Premier
Cement while the other 50% said that the commission of Shah Cement . In fact on the issue of
commission, both of the companies are competing head to head.

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Their (PCML) Sales Representatives Are Friendlier Than Shah Cement?

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e
0 14 4 22 0

Analysis:

50% of the total retailers hold the belief that the distribution of premier Cement is satisfactory
and it is better than Shah Cement. On the other hand the same percentage believes that the
distribution of Premier Cement is not more satisfactory. According to their opinion Premier
cement needs to improve this area.

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Comparing To Shah Cement What Is The Market Demand Of Premier Cement?

Very
Poor
Good Good Satisfactory Indifferent

4 15 20 1 0

Analysis: From the graph, it is found that the market demand of Premier Cement
satisfactory as 50% of the retailers said that the market demand of premier cement is
satisfactory and 37% said its demand is good and 10% said the demand is extremely good
whereas only 3 % said nothing about it.

Most of the retailers said that the reason why the market demand of Saha is satisfactory is its
price is cheaper than Saha cement. For government project work this particular cement sells
more than Saha cement but individual customer prefers Saha cement.

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Do Your Customers Generally Request For Premier Cement Over Shah Cement?

Yes No
16 24

Analysis:

From the bar chart, it is evident that retailers generally request for Premier Cement as 60% of
the retailers consented for Shah Cement and on the other hand, 40 % request for Premier Cement
which implies that Shah Cement is having more demand than Premier Cement.

As we know that cement is consumed by individual consumers, developers and government

persons. Individual consumers and developers prefer Shah Cement as they are much cautious of
it while government persons prefer to buy Premier cement as price is lower.

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Premier Cement Is Better Than Shah Cement?

Strongly Neither Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
Disagree Nor Disagree Agree
0 32 0 8 0

Analysis:

From the graph, it can be inferred that Premier Cement is yet to endeavor to keep the level of
Shah Cement. As most of the retailers said Shah Cement is better than Premier Cement though
20% of the retailers said that they think Premier Cement is better.

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5.5Analysis of Questionnaire (consumers)

Which Brand Do You Prefer?

Premier Shah Cement

Cement
08 12

Analysis:

The graph shows that consumers prefer buying the cement of Shah Cement Ltd to buying the
cement of Premier Cement as 60% of the respondent’s giver their opinion to buy Shah
Cement. On the other hand, Premier, burgeoning Cement Company, is competing head to
head with Shah Cement Ltd as 40% percent, which is very close to Shah Cement, give
preference for Premier Cement.

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Which Brand’s Price Is More Reasonable To You?

Premier Cement Shah Cement

16 04

Analysis:

From the Graph it is found that most of the consumers think that the price of Premier Cement is
more reasonable than Shah Cement since the percentage is 80% in comparison to 20%, which is
for Shah Cement. The reason that backs the Premier Cement is its price of per bag is cheaper
than Shah Cement.

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Which Brand’s Quality Is Better?

Premier Shah Cement

Cement
06 14

Analysis:

The report finds that -though in terms of price Premier Cement is winning the mind of consumers
–in case of quality consumers give preference to Shah Cement and 70% of the consumers
questioned said so. On the other way, 30% think for Premier Cement. Therefore, consumers,
who are now more conscious of quality, buy Shah Cement more and its market is more too.

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Which Brand’s Promotional Strategy Do You Prefer?

Premier Shah Cement

Cement
5 15

Analysis:

The graph shows 75% of the consumers think that the promotional strategies of Shah Cement
attract them more that those of Premier Cement. Only 25% consumers like the way Premier
cement crafts their promotional strategies to influence the consumers.

Customers said Shah cement television ad theme, television program Nirmaner Taroka and its
CSR activities make Shah cement exceptional in the customers mind. But premier cement is not
doing such CSR activities and emotional TV ad like Shah Cement.

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Which Brand’s Demand Is More?

Premier Shah Cement

Cement
5 15

Analysis:

The graph shows that the demand of Premier Cement in the market is less than Shah Cement as
15 consumers that mean 75% sound in favor of Shah Cement while 25% say that they think
premier Cement is better. so, it can be inferred that the market demand Shah cement mounting
more and more but the demand of Premier Cement yet to catch Shah cement.

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5.6 Findings

Having gone through the answer of questionnaire and the graph and bar chart presentation, the
report has found so much information regarding the products, brand position, market demand
and price of Premier Cement Mills Ltd. The findings are now given one by one following

 In respect of pricing between the companies, the price of Premier Cement is

cheaper than Shah Cement. This is why the cement of Premier is selling well in
the market competing the Shah Cement whose price is greater.

 Premier Cement Mills Ltd is a large company who gives great importance and
time to the price factor of their products. The company follows a very simple but
a well defined pricing strategy for deciding the price of their products. As the cost
of producing each bag of cement is known, the company then adds a price tag to
their product by following the market leader of the Cement industry. As a result,
the price of their product is fixed by following the market leader of the cement
companies as their benchmark in each of the regions.

 Premier Cement has no such trouble or problem to reach their products to the
retailers as most retailers are satisfied at their way of distributing the product.

 Retailers are satisfied at their commission policy because it finds that most
retailers said that their distribution is smooth and hassle free.

 Though the quality of Premier is not as same as Shah Cement, they are trying hard
to improve the area to become the market leader. As we know customers are

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getting more wary about cement’ quality, they focus on the issue first. Thereby
the product Shah Cement is still selling most because of best quality.

 Premier Cement Mills Ltd. highly values its promotional and marketing
campaign. Premier Cement gives a lot of emphasis on different types of
promotional activities to establish their brand image. Since the beginning of their
business venture, they have been focusing mostly on two types of basic
promotional activities to promote their product to their clients and customers. But
in comparison to Shah cement their promotional strategy is not up to the mark
,they must focus on CSR activities more and public affair.

 It is also found from the customers and retailer that the brand’s demand of
Premier Cement is less than Shah Cement. Well defined Ad strategy, quality
maintenance and image building has benefited Shah Cement to enjoy the market
leader position.

 The sales representative and Salespersons of Premier Cement are friendlier and
this really adds value to the image of the company brand and selling of the
products

 Shah cement has been outstanding in promoting their product quality in the
customer mind and, positioning in the mind of both the retailers and the
consumers , but premier yet to come up with a customer centered TV ad to
position their brand value and to expose their product quality

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Chapter Six
Conclusions and Recommendation

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6.2 Conclusion
Ever since I started taking interests in internship, I learnt that most of my seniors were doing
their internships in telecom industry, financial institutions and FMGC companies. Contrary to
this prevailing trend, your decision along with my interest to join a cement company was quite
different. However starting my internship with little or rather no knowledge about the cement
industry of the country, I really did not know what to expect from this internship. I really did not
think that my experience with Premier Cement Mills Ltd would be so interesting and enriching.
Although I worked for a short period of time with the company, it was a good thing that I got an
opportunity to work with almost all the departments, especially the sales and marketing, of the
corporate office of PMCL. In terms of the number of human resource working in the corporate
office of PMCL, it is not very high and thus everyone is working with almost everyone in one
way or the other. This close interaction benefited me as I was able to gain a lot of knowledge
about the company and the industry by observing, performing the tasks that I was assigned to
and by working with the employees of PMCL. I feel that the size of the company and my
exposure to all the departments of the company actually helped me to gain an overall idea of the
operations of the company and the industry in Bangladesh. This would not have been possible if
I was engaged in a particular department or a very big company. My field visit to the factory and
attending meetings were also very interesting where I gained some practical knowledge. Overall,
my experience of doing my internship with PMCL was quiet enjoyable. The cement industry is
one of the newer but a promising industry of the country. There is a huge room for growth of this
industry in Bangladesh in the near future. As a result, I feel that a lot of students can actually
think of building their career with the cement companies of the country. I would be glad to
contribute as well if given a chance as this industry not only promises to build people’s homes
but also contribute to the overall development of the country.

6.2 Limitation

While working the company, I faced some limitation in terms of having access to information
belonging to the company. As I worked there as an intern, I did not have access to many

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documents which prevented me from including up a lot of information details about certain
topics of the report. Although I worked in field as sales and marketing departments and at the
corporate office of PCML I was restricted to access to every kind of information I sought.
Although I had these limitations, however I have tried my level best to fulfill the objectives of
this internship report properly.

6.3 Recommendation

 In comparison between Premier Cement and Shah Cement, the report finds that most of
the retailers and consumers prefer Shah Cement product quality. So, Premier Cement
focuses more on their product differentiation. They should spend more on bringing
customer real want and should focalize on the issue to snatch consumers from Shah
Cement.

 Premier Cement has been able to keep their product price lesser than Shah Cement, still
Shah cement is selling more than Premier Cement . Despite low price, Premier Cement is
not selling as much as Shah Cement so, they should convince the consumers that their
product is cheaper and quality is not below standard.

 The overall exposure of the activities of Cement companies in Bangladesh is very low
compared to other emerging industries of the country. Before I joined this company, I had
no idea that the operations of cement industry is so interesting and that there is so much
going on in this industry. Due to this lack of proper exposure, the ordinary citizens (those
not related to the cement industry) do not have much knowledge about this industry. So,
Premier Cement should make some extensive investment on the more positive and
popular brand building campaign, events and other promotional activities.

 The media advertising (electronic & print media) that Premier Cement uses is quite
seasonal basis and limited, moreover related to only the promotional campaign during the
off peak season of cement sales. So, PCML have to increase their media advertising and
should have to do it throughout the year in order to increase their sales as well as brand

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image. As such it will increase their promotion cost but at the same time it will increases
their sales as well.

References
&
Appendices

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References

Books and reports

 Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong, competitor analysis, principals of marketing,11 th edition(page
-67)
 Premier Cement annual report.
 Premier Cement prospectus.

Web

 Antiessays, Rahman, , Competitiveness of the Cement Industry in Bangladesh, accessed on

19 March 4014 , Available at (www.antiessays.com/free-essays/56890.html),
 Premier cement, about the company ,accessed on 15March 2014,avialble at
http://www.premiercement.com/

 Wikipedi, cement manufacturing association data, available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Cement_Manufacturers_Association

 Worldcement,Bangladesh cement market , accessed on 20March 2014, available at

http://www.worldcement.com/news/cement/articles/Cement_Bangladesh_market.aspx

 Scribd, cement industry in Bangladesh , accessed on March 24 ,2014,available at

http://www.scribd.com/doc/100112239/Cement-Industry-in-Bangladesh

 http://www.bangladeshdir.com/search/market_share_of_cement_industry_of_bangladesh.htm
l
 http://www.bangladeshrealestates.com/building-materials/bangladesh-cement-company.html
 http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/56890.html

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Questionnaire :

Questionnaire (retailer)

Questionnaire for analyzing the competitive market analysis of Premier Cement with Shah
Cement at Shiddhirgonj Following questionnaire has been prepared to collect data on
“competitive market analysis of Premier Cement with Shah Cement at Shiddhirgonj” at
Shiddhirgonj in Narayanganj(Dhaka). Please tick the appropriate boxes according to your
preferences for each of the following questions. Your information will be kept confidential and
used only for academic purpose.

Name of the Retailer:

Location:
Name of the Market:

1. Do you think the Price PLCL charge is more reasonable in the market than Shah
Cement?

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e

2. The quality of PCML’s Product is better than Shah Cement.

Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Agree Strongly

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Disagre
Nor Disagree Agree
e

3. Their Distribution to reach their (PCML) products to you is more satisfactory than
Shah Cement?

Strongly Neither Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
Disagree Nor Disagree Agree

4. Do you think their (PCML) promotional strategy is better than Shah Cement?

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e

5. Whose Commission are you satisfied with?

Premier Cement Shah Cement

6. Their (PCML) sales representatives are friendlier than Shah Cement?

Strongly
Neither Agree Strongly
Disagre Disagree Agree
Nor Disagree Agree
e

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7. Comparing to shah cement what is the market demand of premier cement?

Very
Poor
Good Good Satisfactory Indifferent

8. Do your customers generally request for premier cement over shah cement.

Yes No

9. Premier cement is better than Shah Cement.

Strongly Neither Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
Disagree Nor Disagree Agree

Questionnaire (consumers)
Questionnaire for analyzing the competitive market analysis of Premier Cement with Shah
Cement at Shiddhirgonj. Following questionnaire has been prepared to collect data on
“competitive market analysis of Premier Cement with Shah Cement at Shiddhirgonj” at
Shiddhirgonj in Narayanganj(Dhaka). Please tick the appropriate boxes according to your
preferences for each of the following questions. Your information will be kept confidential and
used only for academic purpose.

Name of the consumer:

Profession:

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Age:
Income:

1. Which brand do you prefer?

Premier Cement shah cement

2. Which brand’s price is more reasonable to you

Premier Cement shah cement

3. Which brand’s quality is better?

Premier Cement shah cement

4. Which brand’s promotional strategy do you prefer?

Premier Cement shah cement

5. Which brand demand is more?

Premier Cement shah cement

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