Gender Ratio in Tobacco Industry of Bangladesh

Course Title: Legal and Ethical Issues in Business

Course Code: MBA 515

Submitted to: Dr. Ireen Akhter

Submitted by: Group 9

Name ID
Marzan Islam 2031324
Aditiya Bhowmik 2031295
Tanvir Hassan Tonomoy 2031348
Sadia Afroze Toma 0920421
Letter of submission
03.01.2020

Dr. Ireen Akhter

Professor

Department of Human Resources

School of Business

Independent University, Bangladesh

Re: Submission of report on gender ratio in Bangladesh

Dear Mam,

Here is the report on the topic you have assigned us. It has been completed upon the knowledge
gathered from secondary data based on articles, annual reports, various websites and employees
of the industry.

We are thankful to you for providing us the opportunity. We have tried our level best to provide
all legit information and use our knowledge to the best of extent and craft this using qualitative
and quantitative information.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Marzan Islam

Aditiya Bhowmik

Tanveer Hasan Tonmoy

Sadia Afroz Toma

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our thankfulness and gratitude to Dr. Ireen Akhter for giving us the
golden opportunity to opportunity to work on the topic and prepare this report which linked my
studies with the practical experience. Through the topic assigned and the particulars of it, we
have gathered good first hand knowledge on the tobacco industry of our country and has enabled
me to asses an organization based on certain details.

Marzan Islam

Aditiya Bhowmik

Tanveer Hasan Tonmoy

Sadia Afroze Toma

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Tobacco industry in Bangladesh ................................................................................................................... 6
Table 1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Age of workers .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Table 2 ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
Percentage of male and female by year ....................................................................................................... 7
Grid 1......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Gender based participation by division of work ........................................................................................... 8
Increasing Female participation rate ............................................................................................................ 9
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction
In this report, we have presented the male: female ratio of the tobacco industry of Bangladesh.
The tobacco industry is among the biggest in the country and employment in any of its firms is
seen as lucrative and employees stand out among the crowd. For e.g. BAT employees are seen as
gold dusts and most University students in Bangladesh dream of working there.

We have worked with a sample of few companies including

British American Tobacco

Dhaka Tobacco Industries

Japanese Tobacco International

The reason being is the shortage of data on other companies but apparently, these dominate the
tobacco industry of the country. But there is an unrecorded tobacco industry in parts and regions
of the country, where they make their own product and sale with very litt le recognition of the
brand elsewhere like in Northern Bangladesh.
 Tobacco industry in Bangladesh
The tobacco industry in Bangladesh is ever thriving with no decline and it is dominated by brands
like British American Tobacco, which holds 66.6% of the cigarette market by volume and Dhaka
Tobacco with 20.5%. Along them, Japanese Tobacco International has also been making a good
impact and in 2018, 91.6 billion cigarettes were sold in Bangladesh. As it is an enormous industry
it holds a large bit of all out work of Bangladesh. In Table 1, we have presented the total
workforce and percentage of male and female participation from 2010 to 2019.

Table 1
Year Male Female Male % Female% Total
2019 152000 150000 50.33113 49.66887 302000

2018 145230 140230 50.87578 49.12422 285460

2017 138580 123087 52.96044 47.03956 261667

2016 140200 135204 50.90703 49.09297 275404

2015 135021 112054 54.64778 45.35222 247075

2014 125131 112548 52.64706 47.35294 237679

2013 135214 123548 52.25419 47.74581 258762

2012 138580 123087 52.96044 47.03956 261667

2011 112548 105001 51.73455 48.26545 217549

2010 102158 85132 54.54536 45.45464 187290

(BAT Bangladesh) (JTI.com)

Age of workers
Now, the age division of employees has been presented in Table 2

Table 2
Age Total employees percentage
0 to 18 12%
18 to 34 69%
34 to 54 16%
54 to70 3%
Total 100

Percentage of male and female by year

Grid 1 (Grid 1 presents the percentage of males and females from 2009 to 2019)
61.14139682

54.64777901
54.54535747

52.96044209

52.96044209
52.64705759
52.25419497
51.73455176

50.90703113

50.87577944

50.33112583
49.66887417
49.12422056
49.09296887
48.26544824

47.74580503

47.35294241
47.03955791

47.03955791
45.45464253

45.35222099
38.85860318

Sum of male %
Sum of Female %

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Here, we can see in 2009 it was a male dominated, especially in the distribution and factories.
Even though, females have been heavily involved in manufacturing cigarettes in the Northern
part of Bangladesh, but female employees were 38.85% and male employees were 61.14% were
male. But the scenario has changed over the decade with overall female participation rate
increasing due to the enrichment of Human Resources policies and in last two years we can see
that male employees and female employee’s ratio was same.

On the other hand Tobacco industry is based on agriculture and root level production where
females play a vital role. Even though, females are less involved in the technical work of
production, but their participation has vastly increased in managerial levels. Especially in
delegation, public relations etc. So we can see that level male and female ratio is almost same
and going towards 1:1. (M., 2015)

Gender based participation by division of work

A tobacco company’s operations can be divided into three sections.

a) Managerial: These are the most recognized employees of the organization to the society,
management is the backbone of any company. In the past, the male ratio was quite higher
but with time females have been participating in this section.
b) Operations: Both male and female have had their share of participation in operations and
manufacturing. Especially in Northern Bangladesh, tobacco plantation and manufacturing
of its products have been ever thriving and females are hugely involved in this for
generations across villages and communities. But as with most industries in Bangladesh
other than RMG and few, males dominate the technical work in production and so has
been the case in the Tobacco industry.
c) Distribution: After production, cigarettes have to be distributed to the market. Now, this
involves the work of Field Marketing Executives, which requires hazardous work and
area specific activation work. Even though, females had been involved in distribution but
males tend to dominate distribution work as it is clockwork and requires 24/7 work which
can be tough for females given the social structure and practices.
Increasing Female participation rate
The tobacco industry is generally viewed as harmful as its products have been the cause of
numerical incurable medical conditions and contributes to the mortality rate along being the
subject of innumerable medical studies till date. Given the conservative norms in South East Asia,
being an employee in this industry has had a negative image and henceforth female participation
rate in the managerial levels had been low in the past with overall female participation rate being
low in the corporate world. But with changing mindset and economic patterns, females are
coming forward and leading organizations, industries and so has been the case with the Tobacco
Industry. Reasons for increasing participation of females.

i) Better Human Resources Policies: Human Resource policies have always been a
hectic issue in Bangladesh, given the lack of regulations present and it can be very
troublesome for female employees given family duties, maternity etc. But with time,
female centered policies have been developed and being practiced in the corporate
world, which is allowing females to participate more than ever and so has been the
case in the Tobacco industry.
ii) Delegation: Throughout time, females have been used in work like delegation,
negotiation etc. Tobacco industry requires delegation to a good extent as its products
are perceived to be negative.
iii) Social Norms: Female smokers are still viewed as unacceptable in the South East
Asian society but they are not viewed as badly as before and this encourages females
to apply for employment in tobacco companies.

Conclusion
The male to female participation ratio in the Tobacco Industry in Bangladesh is currently 3:2 but
it soon will be 1:1, but it will take time. Even though, in parts and regions of the country, females
dominate tobacco harvest and its production but due to lack of exposure to technical education,
they still lag in numbers but soon will catch up and it will be equal or even females may
dominate
Bibliography
BAT Bangladesh. (n.d.). Retrieved from BAT Bangladesh:
http://www.batbangladesh.com/group/sites/BAT_9T5FQ2.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DOA53FZC
JTI.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from JTI.com: https://www.jti.com/about-us/sustainability/sustainability-
reports
M., G. J. (2015). Tobacco industry governance and responsibility discourses in Bangladesh. South East
Asia Journal Of Public Health , 13-22.