A Study on Customer Perception on Current Brands in Home Furniture Industry in Dhaka Metropolitan City

Prepared for Md.Iftekharul Amin Course Instructor Market Research

Submitted by Muidur Rahman, MBA 44D, #15 Arifur Rahman, MBA 44E, #56 Mostafizur Rahman, MBA 44E, #09 Md.Tawhid-Bin-Tarek, MBA 44D, #86

Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka June 6, 2013

June 6, 2013

Md.Iftekharul Amin, Lecturer Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000

Dear Sir: It is our pleasure to submit the report A Study on Customer Perception on Current Brands in Home Furniture Industry in Dhaka Metropolitan City which has been written for the fulfillment of Term Paper submission on Market Research (M609) course. The members of this group have done their best for making this report. They have studied different books on several topics from Brand Management to Market Research. Different member has worked on different parts of this report. The individual efforts are summed and the report came into being. We want to thank the respondents for attending the questionnaire and provide us valuable information for Market Analysis. The experience of working in this report was excellent. During the preparation of this report, we have learned many important aspects of Market Research. The knowledge we gathered during the preparation of this report will certainly help us in personal & professional life.

Sincerely Yours Md. Tawhid-Bin-Tarek On behalf of the students worked towards this report

Table of Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................ v

1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1

1.1. History of Furniture Industry of Bangladesh .......................................................................................... 1

1.2. Current Furniture Industry of Bangladesh .............................................................................................. 2

1.3. Major Furniture Brands Operating in Dhaka City .................................................................................. 3

2.

Objective of the Study ............................................................................................................................ 4

2.1. Broad Objective ...................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2. Specific Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 5

3.

Scope of the Study .................................................................................................................................. 5

4.

Limitations of the study .......................................................................................................................... 5

5.

Literature Review for the Study ............................................................................................................. 5

6.

Research Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 6

6.1. Research Type ........................................................................................................................................ 7

6.2. Primary data............................................................................................................................................ 7

6.3. Secondary Data ....................................................................................................................................... 7

6.4. Cost and Budget of Research.................................................................................................................. 7

7.

Researcher Profile................................................................................................................................... 8

7.1. Muidur Rahman .................................................................................................................................... 13

7.2. ARIFUR RAHMAN ............................................................................................................................... 9

7.3. MOSTAFIZUR RAIHAN .................................................................................................................... 11

7.4. Md.Tawhid-Bin-Tarek.......................................................................................................................... 13

8.

Fieldwork and Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 14

8.1. Online Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 14

8.2. Offline Data Collection ........................................................................................................................ 14

8.3. Treatment of Missing Responses .......................................................................................................... 14

8.4. Total Sample Size of This Research ..................................................................................................... 14

9.

Data Analysis........................................................................................................................................ 15

9.1. Distribution of Brands among the Respondents ................................................................................... 15

9.2. Measuring Brand Selection with Income Range .................................................................................. 16 9.3. Analyzing Customers Mean Perception on Availability of Home Furniture ...................................... 16

9.4. Finding out Correlation between Quality Perception with Durability .................................................. 17

9.5. Deriving Relationship between Pricing with Value Proposition .......................................................... 18

9.6. Conducting Factor Analysis ................................................................................................................. 20

9.7. Scrutinizing the Association of After Sales Service with Chosen Brand ............................................. 21

10. Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 22

11. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 23

Reference ...................................................................................................................................................... 24

Executive Summary
In this report, customer perception of home furniture brands in Dhaka Metropolitan City has been analyzed. Based on certain variables of brand perception, responses are collected and analyzed. Among the current established brands, Otobi has the highest chosen brand by a big margin. In all income ranges, it has got preference. Overall customer perception on availability of furniture is quite impressive which is above good level. Relationship between customer perception on quality and durability is in moderate level. Favorable pricing policy has a positive effect on customer perception on value proposition but the degree of relation is somewhat average. Perception on after sales service has an impact on chosen brand in the home furniture market. Two factors have been derived for improvement in brand perception. Variety, innovativeness and advertising policy boosts one factor where as favorable placing of showrooms stimulates the other.

1. Introduction
Furniture Industry is one of the promising industries of Bangladesh. Recent high growth in export and sales in the market clearly indicates that from this sector, Bangladesh has a lot to explore. Using innovative design, up to date technology and affordable price, Bangladeshi furniture has made a positive impact in local and international market. In the past, furniture market has been mostly dominated by the non brad products. But from the last decades, branded furniture started to enter the market. And currently, majority of the market share is captured by branded furniture. This quick market capture of branded furniture has been made possible through its aggressive marketing campaign and providing top quality product in a reasonable cost to the buyers. And the competition between the brands to capture market share and revenue is becoming more intense. The main focus of this term paper is to study the customer perception on different brands in furniture industry in Dhaka Metropolitan city through market research.

1.1. History of Furniture Industry of Bangladesh

Furniture in Bangladesh, and its history, is one that runs parallel to the presence of diverse cultures and their progress. Until the end of the 18th century Bengal furniture drew their embellishment and designs from two primary sources: ancient Hindu and medieval Muslim cultures. With intricate carvings of religious images, temple art and sculptures Bengal furniture was unique as it was grand. With vast amount of pure wood and extensive craftsmanship being the two key features, Bengal furniture were essentially aristocratic, keeping in line with the social status of those who had the luxury of owning tem. While technological advent has changed the way industries function, including the furniture industry, the role of specialized wood craftsmen cannot be ignored. With unmatched talent ingenuity, which enables them to sometimes start with a piece of wood without a preconceived plan or idea and come up with an exclusive and beautiful end product, these creators of art are an integral part of the industry here in Bangladesh. Varying from unskilled, semi skilled, skilled and highly skilled, these people have mastered a profession whose demand is growing worldwide. Riding the wave of modernization, however, the Bangladeshi furniture industry has transited from cottage based industry to one that is fast becoming industrialized. A chronological look at how this change has been taken place will reveal that modernization of the furniture industry here started in the late 1990s.Before that such businesses were primarily hereditary and significantly small in size as compared to some of todays producers. Back then it was more individualistic, and there was a lack of unity thetas needed to establish an industry. However, it was during and after the 90s that the furniture businesses truly began to grow, catapulted by modern machineries, innovative designs and use of diverse materials and construct the industry as we see it today. The modern furniture we see today being used in Bangladesh has its roots to the colonial rule of the past. While initially the locals were not influenced by the contemporary furniture with which the settlers furnished their houses, things began to change with the spread of western education, the rise of an educated middleclass and rapid urbanization. They began to follow the trend and designs of the west in furnishing their homes and offices, a practice very common today. (Bangladesh Furniture & Interior Decor) In a very short period of time the furniture industry of Bangladesh has experienced an unprecedented growth. However the scope for furthering this growth is even bigger, and one of the key factors that could be catalyst for this expansion is the use of technology. While skilled manpower is still a key element in the industrys success story, more and more manufacturers are improving their production facilities by upgrading to semi and full automation methods. Furniture houses, big and small, are now investing heavily in the latest technology and in training people to operate these machines. These positive steps towards mechanizing the industry and capacity building of its workers has without a doubt set a successful trajectory for the furniture manufacturers and exporters of Bangladesh.

1.2. Current Furniture Industry of Bangladesh

According the officials of Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association (BFIOA), there are 28,000 furniture factories in Bangladesh (including all SMEs) among them 1,952 companies are registered member of furniture owners association. However, according to the baseline survey of furniture industry in Bangladesh by Dr. Ali Nesar Khan (2011), there are a total of 9,913 wooden and 2,628 non wooden furniture manufacturers in Bangladesh employing around 119810 workers. Also there are around 74,926 carpentry households employing another 1, 54,285 workers. Adding to this, there are 120000 craftsmen producing soft furniture and 200,000 suppliers supplying raw and semi-processed materials. Out of this huge employment, almost 1,00,000 workers are women . Among the employees working in furniture sectors, 20% are working in large industries and 80% are working in SMEs. There are a number of furniture clusters in Dhaka which are located at Badda, Sutrapur, Mirpur area of Dhaka. A number of large companies have their factory in Savar and Gazipur area. Number of large companies is few compare to the total number of furniture industry in Bangladesh. There are 15 large Furniture companies are doing their business in the country which includes Otobi, Navana, Hatil, Akhtar, Partex, Brothers etc. The main varieties of products in the furniture market of Bangladesh are wood, processed wood & Medium Density Fiber board (MDF), laminated board, particleboard, rattan/bamboo and wrought iron furniture. For a more personal domain as ones home, the preferred raw materials still remains solid wood, but combination of solid wood with other materials like cane, rattan, laminated boards, plywood and MDF are becoming very popular. But for offices furniture designs are usually focused on the more contemporary style and the preferred use of materials include plastic, MDF, laminated boards and wrought irons. Around 70% production of furniture sector of Bangladesh is home furniture and 30% is office furniture. In both local and international market, the growth of Bangladesh furniture market is evident. The booming real estate sector in Bangladesh and the rising demand of furniture product in world market, lead the expansion of furniture sectors in Bangladesh. In fact, the demand is so elevated that the demand supply gap is evident in Bangladesh. While the industry is growing at a rate of 9.55%, the demand for furniture is increasing by 20%.Local manufacturers export to the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Middle East, Gulf countries, and other Asian countries, like India, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam . With the enterprise category definition, the furniture enterprises can be categorized into five groups, namely- Large, MSM 1, MSM 2, Small and Micro. However, in spite of the classification, manufacturers in this industry appear to enjoy quite high profitability. According to the survey results, increase of profit for the enterprise is dependent on the size of enterprise, automation in production, diversity in product and usage of better raw materials, joinery and finishing materials. Recent statistic of furniture industry is shown below:

Firm size

Numbers of Enterprise

Average Annual Sales (BDT) 1,877,400 5,118,333 8,571,429 19,350,000 104,100,000

Gross Profit (%)

Net Profit (%)

Micro Small MSM 2 MSM 1 Large

7,961 1,676 276 40 35

21.6 25.74 29.67 32.10 35.80

9.87 12.41 14.67 15.1 15.8

Table 1: Number of furniture firms and annual profit in fiscal year 2011-2012. (Bangladesh Furniture & Interior Decor)

The micro and small firms are less efficient and need to upgrade skills and production techniques and technology. The medium are quite efficient by industry standards, however, they have a less diversified product range and have to sell at lower margins. The larger firms are clearly the trendsetters of industry production and production processes, they have the capacity to export and respond quickly to changes in taste of domestic customers. Further analysis of the drivers of profitability indicates that diversity in the product-variant mix and the input-mix are key factors. For Bangladesh the low labor cost advantage is a vital factor in becoming competitive in the world market. In wood furniture manufacturing, labor accounts for up to 40% of the total costs. In Bangladesh, labor costs account for about 20% of the production. Here, the hourly wage rate in furniture is between USD 0.06 -0.40, less than in China (USD 0.50-0.75) which is the largest furniture exporting country. Conclusively Bangladeshs household furniture production is around 10% cheaper than the Chinese one. The situation is similar to Vietnam in 2002 when they started to explore the export market and attract importers based on their strength of inexpensive labor. The position of Bangladeshi furniture in export market is becoming stronger in recent fiscal years. With the help of Government support and effective strategic policy, the export amount of Bangladeshi Furniture is increasing year by year. The export statistics is shown below (Reportlinker):

30 EXPORT IN MILLION USD 25 20 15 10 5 0

Export Volume of Bangladeshi Furniture

27.14 21.38

8.16 5.49 4.44 3.79

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

Fiscal Year Figure 1: Yearwise Export Volume of Bangladeshi furniture.(Bangladesh INSPIRED, 2013)

1.3. Major Furniture Brands Operating in Dhaka City

Currently, branded home furniture has become very famous among general people. Due to their innovative and attractive design and affordable cost, branded furniture is now has the most of the market share. There are several famous and established brands which are operating in Dhaka city. In fact, all the established furniture brands have their office in Dhaka. Their brief description is given below (Bangladesh Furniture St Interior Decor Exposition 2012):
Annual Production Volume (Million BDT) 6600 Countries exported to Potential export destination Africa, Canada, Middle East, UK, USA.

Name of the Company

Established

Product profile Wooden, Melamine Laminated Chip Board, MDF, Cane and Metal furniture.

Otobi Limited

1975

India

PARTEX Furniture Industries Limited Navana Furniture Limited Akhtar Furnishers Limited Legacy Furniture Limited Hatil Complex Limited

1991

2001

1976

Wooden furniture, Laminates Board furniture, Upholstery (Tubular Metal) furniture, Steels and Metal furniture. Home furniture, office furniture, project furniture, doors, wardrobes, sawn timber Wooden, Melamine Laminated Chip Board and MDF Wooden Furniture of all kinds. All kinds of Wooden home furniture, Office furniture, solid wooden doors and natural veneered flush doors. Solid Wood and Laminated Board Wooden, Melamine Laminated Chipboard, MDF and Metal Furniture Solid teak based furniture with antique design specializing in home furniture and home dcor items. Bed, Chair, Cabinet, Dining Table, Sofa, Showcase, Wardrobe.

1500

India

Middle East, UK, USA.

1200

India

European countries and Middle East USA, UK, UAE Europe, India, USA Middle East, Europe, North America Europe, Middle East, USA Europe, Middle East, USA Middle East, Northern Europe and North America Europe, Middle East

1200

Australia, UK, USA Greece, USA

1995

750

1989

600

Denmark, India

Furnitech Industries Limited Nadia Furniture Limited

2004

600

Japan, Sri Lanka, UK

1992

240

Athena Furniture

2004

100

Brothers Furniture Limited

1982

96

Australia, Japan

Table 2: List of major home furniture brands that are currently operating in Dhaka City. (Bangladesh Furniture & Interior Decor) In the current furniture market, PARTEX holds 29% of the total furniture market in Bangladesh whereas Otobi has 34%, Navana has 22% and others have 15% market share. And in the branded furniture market, Otobi holds 80% of the current market share through its agressive marketing approach (Uddin, 2012).

2. Objective of the Study

We have divided the objectives of our study into two parts. These are: 1.Broad Objective and 2. Specific Objectives.

2.1. Broad Objective

To measure the brand perception of home furniture of existing brands operating within Dhaka Metropolitan City based on following variables:

Quality of the product. Availability of the product. Durability of the product. Variety of the product. Innovation and appearance of the product. After sales service of the product. Degree of effective marketing mix of the product. The level of giving value for money to the customer.

2.2. Specific Objectives

Specific objectives of the study include: To measure how the brand selection of respondent is distributed among their monthly income level. To analyze the customers mean perception on availability of home furniture is above high level or not. To find out whether customer perception on quality of home furniture is related with that of durability. To derive mathematical relationship between customers perceptions on pricing policy of home furniture and value proposition of it. To scrutinize whether after sales service of furniture is associated with chosen brand. To conduct factor analysis based on the following variables for home furniture: a) Variety. b) Innovation and aesthetic features. c) Advertising policy. d) Placing of showrooms in Dhaka City.

3. Scope of the Study

In this study, we have defined our scope of study for the following fields: This is study has been done for Dhaka Metropolitan City. The age of our target group should be above 25 years. The monthly income of the target group is above 25,000 taka. This study is only intended for home furniture only.

4. Limitations of the study

During the research work, we have to deal with some limitations related with the research. These are: We could not make sure that the samples of this research would come from every thana of Dhaka Metropolitan City. If there were samples from all over Dhaka Metropolitan City, the accuracy and reliability would be much high. Political unrest has hindered our visit to different localities to collect respondent data. Most of the people are very reluctant to fill up the online survey. If the sample size were higher , the results would be more accurate.

5. Literature Review for the Study

There has not been a great deal of study on customer perception of furniture industry of Bangladesh. We have tried to gather information and gain a conceptual view from papers and journals related with furniture product and brand perception of customers. As the result of the internationalization of the companies, manufacturers were faced with a need to analyze and understand the new markets they are going to enter. Regarding of product, the main challenge is to

grab the consumers sympathy, attention, catch their preferences and buying habits. To do so, it is important to split the consumers buying habit into several factors and carefully study and understand the possible differences of those in the markets (Troian, 2011). There are several factors customers keep in mind while buying furniture. One of the important points in furniture selection is usually individual taste. However, furniture must meet several criteria for a satisfactory selection: it should be comfortable and appropriate for its purpose, it must be functional for possible multipurpose use, there must be enough space for the furniture; it must have a long physical and psychological life, it must be easy-to-maintain, finally, it must be affordable. Furthermore, individuals must have enough knowledge about the product specifications of furniture while making their selection. Factors such as being functional, durable aesthetic, usable and economic reflect the product value of the furniture (Troian, 2011). Timeliness of delivery is another factor that shape customer perception on the brand. Customers want product and service delivery to take the minimum amount of time possible. As the complexities in the modern life of customers increase, the corresponding demand for precision from suppliers requires that products and services be delivered on or before the agreed upon time. Customers want suppliers they can depend upon, who can deliver when they say they will. Customers dont like to wait, and have little patience for suppliers that make them do so. Organizations who are serious about being known as the best and building their return and recommend rate will spend enough time, focusing on timeliness (Berry). Several studies would define that appearance factor is positioned among the top 3 considered by the buyers in the furniture choice. Thus, for example, in the research of consumers choice of dunning furniture in Nigeria the color/design factor is placed on the second important stage, mentioning around 80% of the positive answers form correspondents. The same type of the research hold among the consumers in Turkey would identify the aesthetic role on the 3rd important place (Troian, 2011). Consumers often judge the quality of a product or service on the basis of a variety of informational cues that they associate with the product. Some of these cues are intrinsic to the product or service; others are extrinsic. Either singly or together, such cues provide the basis for perceptions of product and service quality (Kanuk, 2010-11). Consumer consider price when they purchase a product or service. How a consumer perceives a price as high, as low, as fair has a strong influence on both purchase intentions and purchase satisfaction. Consider the perception of price fairness, for example. There is some evidence that customers do pay attention to the prices paid by other customers (such as senior citizens, frequent flyers, affinity club members), and that the differential pricing strategies used by some marketers are perceived as unfair by customers not eligible for the special prices (Kanuk, 2010-11). Availability is also becoming an increasingly important issue for consumers seeking out convenient grocery solutions. It seems shoppers are increasingly relying on factors that make shopping easier and quicker, and improving availability is one strategy for delivering against these expectations (Awbi, 2006). The literary studies mentioned above gave us a clear idea about the variable selection and customer perception in evaluating furniture brand. Option for literature review will be remained open as research work moves forward. The justification is that as research work goes forward, there will be a need of study of topic which has not been covered yet.

6. Research Methodology
There is no best approach but the most effective approach for the resolution of a given problem depends on a large number of variables. The research design and methodology is a compromise between options that are determined by the availability of resources. The research design can either be qualitative or quantitative. Analyses expressed mostly numeric in this research; the quantitative design will be most suitable.
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6.1. Research Type

In this study, we will follow descriptive research method to get a conclusive result from our findings. The variables have already been defined in the objective section. We have done our analysis based on the evaluation on these variables. The target group will be any person above 25 years and whose income range is above 25,000 per month. And the target population is the population of Dhaka Metropolitan City satisfying above 2 criteria. Our sample frame has been designed based on income of the target population. Non probabilistic technique has been used for sampling. Specifically, we will use judgmental sampling for our study. Sources of data will be of 2 kinds in this case:

6.2. Primary data

Primary data will be collected through survey procedure. Initially, we have a target to take survey of 150 people. We will go for personal interviewing and electronic interviewing in this purpose. As we have team member of 4, each member will have the responsibility of conducting 50 samples per person.

6.3. Secondary Data

In our study, secondary data will be company reports, record, government statistics or previous studies, reports and papers found in the internet etc. We will collect data from samples of all existing thanas under Dhaka metropolitan city to get a clear view of the situation.

6.4. Cost and Budget of Research

The cost related with the research work is given below: Category Print of Questionnaire for Personal Interviewing Transportation Cost Internet Usage Cost Weekly Meeting Cost of Researchers Total Cost (Tk.) 300 700 500 100 1600

Table 3: Cost & budget of the research

7. Researcher Profile
Our team consists of four group members.Detailed resume of each Group member is given below:

7.1. Muidur Rahman

Flat # B3, House # 29, Road # 11, Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka-1209, Bangladesh +88 01732396514, muid3@yahoo.com Employment: Alcatel-Lucent Nature of Business: Telecom Service Provider Designation: Account Manager Period: 08 November, 2010- Continued Education:
Degree Bachelor of Science Institute North South University Concentration Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering (ETE) Year 2008

IBA Info: Batch: 44D

Roll: 15

Current CGPA: 2.85

Co-Curricular Activities: Member of North South University Wireless Club Member of Dhaka College Debating Club Language Proficiency:

Bengali English

: Mother tongue. : Excellent in both written and spoken English IELTS overall band score 7.0 in academic module

Additional Information: Nationality: Bangladeshi Interest: Reading, Movies, Music

7.2. ARIFUR RAHMAN

Bungalow #1, Banani Wapda Colony Road #11, Banani, Dhaka- 1213 Tel: 9892326, 01730430895 arf_du@yahoo.com AREER OBJECTIVE To apply my skills as a business graduate to a new challenge with an organization focused on quality, dedication and integrity. I want to bring the valuable experiences and the successes that I have learned in my previous employments to my new position and get to a challenging position to offer my Skills and Expertise. EXPERIENCE
1.

Organization Designation Department Duration 2. Organization Designation Department Duration 3. Organization Designation Department Duration

: : : :

LR Global BAMCO Investment Analyst Investments From September 11, 2012 till date.

: : : :

Bangladesh Bank Assistant Director Forex Reserve & Treasury Management Dept From September 11, 2011 September 10, 2012.

: : : :

IDLC Finance Limited Executive Officer Credit Risk Management From January 21, 2008 till June 18, 2009.

Responsibilities at Bangladesh Bank Oversee daily interbank FX transactions. Maintain Constant contact with the four nationalized banks regarding government payments. Monitor BPC payment flows of banks. Collaborate with other sections of the department regarding Reserve Management issues. Occasional proprietary dealing of major currencies in line with reserve management guidelines. Preparation and circulation of daily summary report on market indicators to senior management. Responsibilities at IDLC SME loan related activities of Sylhet and Bogra Branch clients. Preparation of the Magazine Monthly Business Review. Updating some internal data such as- Export import data, SME loan disbursement data, sector wise exposure of Bogra Branch. Co-ordination with other departments regarding credit risk related activities. Market analysis and sector wise analysis of IDLCs existing portfolio. Review of proposals sent from Corporate and SME division.

Training Participated in a weeklong training program titled International Trade Payment & Finance, arranged by BIBM and held on February, 2012.

EDUCATION MBA Institution : Institute of Business Administration (IBA), DU Current CGPA 3.20 Institution Major CGPA : Dhaka University (2007) : Finance : 3.35

BBA

H.S.C

Institution : Notre Dame College (2002) Subject : Business Studies Division : 1st Total Marks : 791 (79.1% out of 1000) Institution : Ideal School and college (2000) Subject : Business Studies Division : 1st Total Marks : 820 (82% out of 1000)

S.S.C

COMPUTER SKILLS Windows | MS-Office (MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-Power Point) | Internet | Home and small office networking Good proficiency in both English and Bengali.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

PERSONAL DETAILS Fathers Name Mothers Name Date of Birth Marital Status Nationality Religion : Shahidur Rahman Director General, Water resources planning organization : Sharifa Rahman Housewife : 1401-1985 : Single : Bangladeshi by Birth : Islam

INTERESTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS Playing cricket, watching movies, listening to music and interest in technological products. I am also interested in e-sports. Member of Dhaka University Finance club. Acted as a member of the organizing committee of the career fair2007, hosted on faculty of business studies by the department of finance at Dhaka University. Acted as a member of the Dhaka University film society. Achieved GMAT score of 700.

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7.3.MOSTAFIZUR RAIHAN

MOSTAFIZUR RAIHAN
House# 121, Road# 9/A, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1207 Mobile: 01730-703 617 Email: mostafizur.raihan@lafarge.com Objective To build a progressive career in the field of finance and be a part of the globalized corporate world. Experience 01.02.2013 Till Date Designation: Share Executive Job Description: Ensure smooth running of Share Office Meet needs of shareholders Ensure compliance of regulatory requirements Manage Provident Fund, Workers Profit Participation fund and Gratuity Fund Tamha Securities Limited DSE Building, Motijheel, Dhaka

Lafarge Surma Cement Limited

Suvastu Imam Square, 65, Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan-1, Dhaka

01.02.2010 30.01.2013 Designation: Compliance Officer

Job Description: Compile and analyze financial information to prepare financial statements including monthly and annual accounts. Ensure financial records are maintained in compliance with accepted policies and procedures. Establish and monitor the implementation and maintenance of trading control procedures. Analyze financial information to recommend or develop efficient use of resources and procedures, provide strategic recommendations and maintain solutions to business and financial problems. Achievements: In the full period of my service at the company there has not been any unlawful complaints or show cause from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Designed the margin agreement comprising the legal boundaries for the margin clients, implemented them and maintained supervision to minimize company risk of providing loan. The company saw the highest turnover of trade without any discrepancy in the system. Prepared the list of crisis-effected investors for the special scheme introduced by the government by myself.

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01.09.2008 - 31.01.2010

MUB Textiles Limited

Narayangonj

Designation: Assistant Production Manager Job Description: Planning monthly production targets Preparing monthly budgets to match the requirements of the yearly budget Executing production plans and getting timely follow-ups Achievements: Managed to bring highest production in a month. Brought in clients of different order size to assure that the efficiency of production units is maximized. Education Institute Of Business Administration, Dhaka University Masters In Business Administration Majoring in Marketing CGPA: 2.73 North South University A-Level O-Level Private Subjects: Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, English, Bengali, Accounting CGPA: 4.60 (out of 5) European Standard School Subjects: Applied Mathematics and Physics CGPA: 4 (out of 5) Completed in January 2002 Bachelors Of Business Administration Major in Finance and Accounting CGPA: 2.63 February 2002 To May 2003

January 2010 till date

August 2003 To August 2008

Technical Skills/Proficiencies Ability to work in teams as well as independently. Ability to work under pressure and for long hours. Strong presentation skill. Business oriented mindset. Decision making capability. Strong analytical ability. High level of proficiency in computer including MS Office and the Internet.

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7.4.

Md.Tawhid-Bin-Tarek

Md.Tawhid-Bin-Tarek
+880-1817-183509 House No.-9, Road No-12, Niketon Society, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh tawhid.eee.40@gmail.com

Objective:
To pursue my career in a technology driven organization where the learning scope and knowledge implementation is affirmative to build up my career.

Education:
Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) Bachelor of Science in Electrical & Electronic Engineering. GPA: 3.60/4.00. Dhaka, Bangladesh October, 2009

IBA Information:
Batch- MBA 44D Student No.-86 GPA:3.35/4.0 (As of 17 Courses)

Employment:
GRAMEENPHONE LIMITED Dhaka, Bangladesh System Engineer, Service Operation Center (SOC), Technology Division August, 2010-December, 2011 Monitoring alarms of different platforms round the clock on a roaster basis. First level fault handling of GSM Network (Radio/Transport/Core/Service platform). Escalating and coordinate with 2nd line for any unresolved fault with probable Root cause. Ensuring SOC regular activity being a Network Engineer. ROBI AXIATA LIMIRED Dhaka, Bangladesh Specialist, Network Optimization, Technology Division January, 2012-Present Monitoring & maintaining the radio KPI of network, BSC and Cell level. Identify major KPI issues and notify to Planning and Optimization unit for ensuring network quality. Performing & Analyzing TEMS drive test measurement and making recommendation to improve situation. Modifying BSC and Cell level parameter for capacity and quality purpose. Investigating Customer complains to improve perception.

Honors & Awards:

Completing B.Sc Engineering with 1st class. Shared 2nd Prize in Computer group for research work presented in the EEE Undergraduate Project Workshop (EUProW) 2009. The research was presented in a form of a poster which was titled as DESIGN OF A LOW COST ICU SYSTEM FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF ECG, SPO 2, AND TEMPERATURE AND MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD PRESSURE USING OSCILLOMETRIC METHOD. University Technical scholarship from BUET in each of the eight semesters.

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Skills:
Bengali-native fluency, English-good fluency, Hindi-good speaking skill. Computer: Software- Microsoft Office, Matlab and Simulink, Orcad Pspice, Proteus, Packet Tracer, Ericsson BO, Ericsson OSS-RC, Huawei iManager M2000, Alcatel Lucent NPO, TEMS Investigation, TEMS Discovery, MapInfo, Aexio Xeus. Programming- C/C++, HTML, PHP, Assembly Language. Language:

Extra Curricular Activities:

Championship achievements in football and cricket for several times. Took part in different General knowledge and mathematical puzzle competition. Achieved lots of prizes in debate, poem reciting, extempore speech and acting for several times. Was an Ex-Corporal of Bangladesh National Cadet Corpse (BNCC) Air Force Wing during my school life. Nationality: Bangladeshi Date of Birth :June 27,1987

Personal Information:

8. Fieldwork and Data Collection

For our research, we have prepared a questionnaire based on the objective of the study. As stated earlier, we have used judgmental sampling for collecting the responses. We have collected our responses in two ways: Online. Offline.

8.1. Online Data Collection

For online data collection, we have posted our questionnaire in survey monkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LVZMPGR) which is a free online survey website. We have communicated with our respondents with the link and collected the response. We have gathered total of 75 responses from online.

8.2. Offline Data Collection

We have printed our questionnaire and have done face to face survey with our respondents. In this way, we have collected total 46 responses.

8.3. Treatment of Missing Responses

Quite fortunately, the number of missing response was very low in our study. We have got missing responses from 3 of our respondents. The justification is that in online survey, all the questions were made mandatory to fill up. And in offline data collection, we were very cautious about the missing data. For the missing responses, we have substitute the data by inferring.

8.4. Total Sample Size of This Research

Total responses collected during the survey are classified below:

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No. of Response Nature of Response Valid Not fulfilling the criteria of target population Inconsistent Total Valid Response Online 55 15 5 86 Offline 31 12 3 Total Response 121

Table 4: Classification of responses of survey

9. Data Analysis
For data analysis, we have used IBM SPSS software. We have given input data in SPSS and done analysis based on our objectives.

9.1. Distribution of Brands among the Respondents

Frequency distribution of chosen brands in home furniture is given below: Brand Otobi Hatil Partex Navana Akhtar Nadia Brother's Others Total Frequency 41 13 7 1 3 3 1 17 86 Percent (%) 47.7 15.1 8.1 1.2 3.5 3.5 1.2 19.8 100.0 Cumulative Percent 47.7 62.8 70.9 72.1 75.6 79.1 80.2 100.0 100.0

Table 5: Frequency distribution of chosen brand.

Frequency Distribution of Home Furniture

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 41 Frequency Percent 60.0 50.0 40.0 17 13 7 1 Otobi Hatil Partex Navana 3 Akhtar 3 Nadia 1 Brother's Others 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0

Figure 2: Frequency distribution of home furniture. From frequency distribution, we see that Otobi is the leading brand chosen by the respondent with 47.7% of responses. Non brand furniture (mainly local made) is in 2nd position with 19.8% response. Hatil and
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Partex are other two notable brands chosen by the respondent. From the distribution, we can say that Otobi has a good customer recognition compared with other brands in home furniture market.

9.2. Measuring Brand Selection with Income Range

To get an idea about the association of selected brand with income level of the respondent, we have done crosstab analysis in SPSS. The result is:

Brand of the furniture chosen * Monthly Salary of the Respondent Cross tabulation Monthly Salary of the Respondent 2500035000 Otobi Count Percentage Hatil Count Percentage Partex Count Percentage Navana Brand Akhtar Count Percentage Count Percentage Nadia Count Percentage Brother's Count Percentage Others Count Percentage Count Total Percentage 6 50.0% 1 8.3% 3 25.0% 1 8.3% 1 8.3% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 12 100.0% 3500045000 8 47.1% 3 17.6% 1 5.9% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 5.9% 4 23.5% 17 100.0% 4500055000 14 48.3% 3 10.3% 2 6.9% 0 0.0% 1 3.4% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 9 31.0% 29 100.0% 5500075000 2 25.0% 2 25.0% 1 12.5% 0 0.0% 1 12.5% 1 12.5% 0 0.0% 1 12.5% 8 100.0% Above 75000 11 55.0% 4 20.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 2 10.0% 0 0.0% 3 15.0% 20 100.0% 41 47.7% 13 15.1% 7 8.1% 1 1.2% 3 3.5% 3 3.5% 1 1.2% 17 19.8% 86 100.0% Total

Table 6: Crosstab Analysis in SPSS From crosstab analysis, we see that, Otobi has the highest percentage of response in all income range. Highest number respondent is from 45000-55000 range. In 2nd position, respondent of above 75000 is there. From the crosstab analysis, we can conclude that: Otobi is preferable among respondents of all income range. Most of the respondents are from 45000-55000 income range.

9.3. Analyzing Customers Mean Perception on Availability of Home Furniture

To analyze the customers mean perception on the availability is above high level (in our questionnaire, 1 is the value of high in the question), we have done one sample t test in SPSS. Here the hypotheses are,

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Null Hypothesis, Ho: <= 1 Alternative Hypothesis: H1: > 1 Where, = Mean availability of home furniture. Here, Level of confidence, = 5% Result from SPSS is:
One-Sample Statistics N Degree of availability of the furniture 86 Mean 1.23 Std. Deviation .942 Std. Error Mean .102

One-Sample Test Test Value = 1 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Lower Degree of availability of the furniture 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Upper

2.291

85

.024

.233

.03

.43

Table 7-8: One Sample t test analysis in SPSS Critical t value with df = 85 and = 5% is 1.6630 which is less than 2.291. Hence, null hypothesis Ho is rejected. So, average availability of home furniture in Dhaka Metropolitan City is above good level.

9.4. Finding out Correlation between Quality Perception with Durability

To find out whether any relationship exists between customers perceptions of quality with that of durability, we have conducted correlation analysis in SPSS. The result is:

Correlations Quality of the furniture Quality of the furniture Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Durability of the furniture Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 86 0.629 .000 86 86
**

Durability of the furniture 0.629 .000 86 1

**

Table 9: Pearson Correlation analysis output in SPSS

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According to Pearson Correlation analysis, we have found Pearson Correlation Coefficient, r = 0.626.So, we can say there is a moderate relationship between the customer perception on quality and durability of the home furniture.

9.5. Deriving Relationship between Pricing with Value Proposition

For deriving mathematical relationship between the customer perception on pricing policy and value proposition of home furniture, we have conducted bivariate regression analysis. Here, we have considered pricing policy as independent variable and perception on value proposition as dependent variable. The result in SPSS is:
Variables Entered/Removed Model 1 Variables Entered Pricing of the furniture Variables Removed . Method Enter

a. Dependent Variable: Value proposition of the furniture b. All requested variables entered.

Model Summary Model R

a

R Square

Adjusted R Square

Std. Error of the Estimate .762

.479

.230

.221

a. Predictors: (Constant), Pricing of the furniture b. Dependent Variable: Value proposition of the furniture ANOVA Model Regression 1 Residual Total Sum of Squares 14.565 48.784 63.349 df 1 84 85
a

Mean Square 14.565 .581

F 25.079

Sig. .000
b

Coefficients Model Unstandardized Coefficients B (Constant) 1 Pricing of the furniture 1.058 .370 Std. Error .164 .074

Standardized Coefficients Beta

Sig.

6.456 .479 5.008

.000 .000

a. Dependent Variable: Value proposition of the furniture .

Table 10-13: Regression analysis in SPSS

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Figure 3: Scatter Plot in Regression Analysis in SPSS

Figure 4: Normal P-P Plot of Regression in SPSS From analysis, we get the beta coefficient of regression which is 0.479. It indicates the degree of relationship between the variable lies between average to low.

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Here the estimated liner equation is: Y (Pricing) = 1.058 + 0.370X (Value Proposition) In the linear equation, positive sign of the slope indicates that, there is a positive relationship between the variables. If pricing policy is improved, customers perception on value proposition will increase.

9.6. Conducting Factor Analysis

To find out the factors that will increase customer perception on variety, innovation, advertising policy and placement of showrooms, we have done factor analysis. The results in SPSS are:
KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Approx. Chi-Square Bartlett's Test of Sphericity df Sig. .663 30.502 6 .000

Communalities Initial Variety of the furniture Innovation of the furniture Placing of showrooms of the furniture Promotion policy of the furniture 1.000 1.000 1.000 Extraction .551 .643 .929

1.000

.580

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Top Variance Explained Component Total 1 2 3 4 1.775 .928 .674 .624 Initial Eigen values % of Variance Cumulative % 44.367 23.198 16.842 15.593 44.367 67.564 84.407 100.000

Top Variance Explained Component Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total 1 2 3 4 1.775 .928 % of Variance 44.367 23.198 Cumulative % 44.367 67.564 Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings Total 1.652 1.050 % of Variance 41.303 26.262 Cumulative % 41.303 67.564

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Component Matrix Component 1 Variety of the furniture Innovation of the furniture Placing of showrooms of the furniture Promotion policy of the furniture .740 .665 .457 .759 2 -.061 -.448 .849 -.059

Reproduced Correlations Variety of the furniture

a

Innovation of the furniture

Placing of showrooms of the furniture

Promotion policy of the furniture .565 .531 .297 .580

a

Variety of the furniture Reproduced Correlation Innovation of the furniture Placing of showrooms of the furniture Promotion policy of the furniture Variety of the furniture Residual
b

.551

.519 .643
a

.286 -.076 .929

a

.519 .286 .565

-.076 .531

.297

Innovation of the furniture Placing of showrooms of the furniture Promotion policy of the furniture

-.213 -.093 -.194 .159 -.201 -.091

Rotated Component Matrix Component 1 Variety of the furniture Innovation of the furniture Placing of showrooms of the furniture Promotion policy of the furniture .708 .785 .100 .724 2 .225 -.161 .959 .234

Figure 14-20: Factor analysis in SPSS In the factor analysis, first we analyzed Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy to measure the appropriateness of the analysis. This value is 0.663 which is between 0.5 and 1.0.So, the factor analysis is appropriate. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity also reveals that Chi-square value is 30.502 which is greater than the critical value in df =6 and = 5%. So the null hypothesis can be rejected and the analysis is significant. In the factor analysis, we have set up the eigen value threshold to 0.9 .So, we have got 2 factors which constitute almost 67% of the total variance. In the component matrix, we have got the amount of loading of variables in the factors. But for more clarity, we have conducted varimax technique for rotating the variables. After the rotation, we have found that, 1. Variety, innovation and promotion policy has high loading on Factor 1.
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2. Placing of showrooms has policy has high loading on Factor 2.

9.7. Scrutinizing the Association of After Sales Service with Chosen Brand
For scrutinizing the association of after sales service with the chosen brand, we have done chi-square analysis. The hypotheses are: Null Hypothesis Ho: There is no association between the variables. Alternative Hypothesis H1: There is association between the variables. The Crosstab results from SPSS are:
Case Processing Summary Cases Valid N Brand of the furniture chosen * After sales service of the furniture 86 Percent 100.0% N 0 Missing Percent 0.0% N 86 Total Percent 100.0%

Brand of the furniture chosen * After sales service of the furniture Cross tabulation After sales service of the furniture Excellent Very Good Otobi Count Expected Count Percentage Hatil Count Expected Count Percentage Partex Count Expected Count Percentage Navana Count Expected Count Percentage Brand Akhtar Count Expected Count Percentage Nadia Count Expected Count Percentage Brother's Count Expected Count 1 .5 100.0% 0 .2 0.0% 0 .1 0.0% 0 .0 0.0% 0 .0 0.0% 0 .0 0.0% 0 .0 10 8.1 58.8% 5 2.6 29.4% 1 1.4 5.9% 0 .2 0.0% 0 .6 0.0% 0 .6 0.0% 0 .2 13 13.3 46.4% 6 4.2 21.4% 2 2.3 7.1% 0 .3 0.0% 2 1.0 7.1% 1 1.0 3.6% 1 .3 13 10.0 61.9% 1 3.2 4.8% 4 1.7 19.0% 1 .2 4.8% 0 .7 0.0% 1 .7 4.8% 0 .2 0 2.9 0.0% 0 .9 0.0% 0 .5 0.0% 0 .1 0.0% 0 .2 0.0% 1 .2 16.7% 0 .1 Good Fair Poor Hasn't Taken 4 6.2 30.8% 1 2.0 7.7% 0 1.1 0.0% 0 .2 0.0% 1 .5 7.7% 0 .5 0.0% 0 .2 41 41.0 47.7% 13 13.0 15.1% 7 7.0 8.1% 1 1.0 1.2% 3 3.0 3.5% 3 3.0 3.5% 1 1.0 Total

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Percentage Others Count Expected Count Percentage Total Count Expected Count Percentage

0.0% 0 .2 0.0% 1 1.0 100.0%

0.0% 1 3.4 5.9% 17 17.0 100.0%

3.6% 3 5.5 10.7% 28 28.0 100.0%

0.0% 1 4.2 4.8% 21 21.0 100.0%

0.0% 5 1.2 83.3% 6 6.0 100.0%

0.0% 7 2.6 53.8% 13 13.0 100.0%

1.2% 17 17.0 19.8% 86 86.0 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests Value Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases 54.399 53.878 17.134 86 df 35 35 1 Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) .019 .022 .000

Symmetric Measures Value Nominal by Nominal N of Valid Cases Cramer's V Contingency Coefficient .356 .622 86 Approx. Sig. .019 .019

Figure 21-24: Chi-square analysis on SPSS From the analysis, Pearson Chi-Square is derived as 54.399. For df = 35 and =5%, the critical value 49.802 which is less than the derived value. As a result, we can reject null hypothesis. So, there is association between the chosen brand and after sales service of the furniture. The value of Contingency Coefficient also supports the fact.

10.

Findings

Based on the analysis, we have the following findings: Among the brands in home furniture, Otobi is leading the way. This brand has preference among the respondents of all income range. The overall mean of customer perception on the availability of home furniture is above the good level. Moderate level of relationship exists between customer perception on quality and durability. The relationship between customer perception on pricing policy and value proposition is positive but degree of relationship lies between average to low. Two factors have been derived for improving the brand perception. For factor 1; variety, innovativeness and promotion policy has high loading whereas for factor 2; placing of showrooms has high loading. Customer perception on after sales service is associated with the chosen brand.

11.

Conclusion

This study intends to find out customer perception on the current home furniture brands on Dhaka Metropolitan City. Otobi is the leading brand chosen by the respondents. It also has high percentage of preference in all income ranges of the respondents. Overall customer perception on availability of furniture
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is quite impressive which is above good level. Customer perception on quality and durability is moderately linked. Favorable pricing policy has a positive effect on customer perception on value proposition but the degree of relation is somewhat average. A selected brand has an impact on the perception on after sales service of home furniture. Two factors have been derived for improvement in brand perception. Variety, innovativeness and advertising policy boosts one factor where as favorable placing of showrooms stimulates the other.

Reference
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