.

0 Introduction
Africa University is a Pan African University found by the Methodist Church in the year
1992. The University is located in Zimbabwe’s 3rd largest city, Mutare in the Nyabi
district.

.1 Establishment of Africa University

In 1980 Bishop Arthur Kulah of Liberia and Bishop Emilio J. M. de Carvalho of Angola
took the lead in advocating for ‘a university for all of Africa’. In 1985 various
consultations on higher education challenges in Africa took place. In 1987, The UMC in
Zimbabwe donated 1542 acres of land in the Nyagambu River Valley, across the road
from the Old Mutare UMC Mission Centre, as the University site. On 21 January, the
President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Robert Gabriel Mugabe, issued
the Africa University Charter by official proclamation, making the institution the first
recognised private university in Zimbabwe.

.2 The College of Business, Peace and Governance

The Department was established in January 1996 and commenced its operations with a
two-year full time Master of Business Administration (MBA) Programme. In August
1997, the Department established an undergraduate programme with majors in
Accounting, Economics and Management/Marketing, which to date has been massively
restructured, enhanced and much developed.
Some of the objectives of the Faculty programmes are to:
 Provide knowledge which develops the students. intellectual and critical thinking
ability as well as their managerial and entrepreneurial skills
 Encourage and develop a sense of curiosity and inquiry needed for innovative
thinking and the development of new knowledge

.3 Industrial Attachment as a requirement:

Industrial attachment is a requirement in the Business Department under the College of
Business, Peace and Governance. The 2 semester programme allows students to ascertain
the practical side of their education. Experience and exposure acquired from the Industrial

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 attachment prepares students for the corporate world hence a recipe to producing
proactive leaders.
.0 Tel One Background:
Tel One (Private) Limited was incorporated in Zimbabwe in terms of the Companies Act
(Chapter 24:03). The Company’s main business is that of provision of telecommunication
services and products under three main brands namely Broadband, Satellite and Voice.
Driven by a new customer centric business culture, it is geared up to become a leading
Telecommunication Services Provider bringing affordable connectivity for everyone,
everywhere in Zimbabwe. Tel One’s infrastructure and capacity has been set up to fulfil
the national broadband requirements in line with global trends.

.1 Mission Statement

To provide multimedia and telecommunication services.

.2 Vision Statement

Connectivity for everyone, everywhere in Zimbabwe by 2020

.3 Value Statements:

In pursuit of its vision and mission, Tel One upholds the following principles and core
values:

 Client Focus 

Our clients are the centre of our existence and we deliver superior client service at all
times.

 Innovation 

We promote a culture of creativity and innovation to continuously improve our

product and service offering.

 Commitment

We are dedicated to deliver value to all stakeholders.

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  Accountability

We are accountable for our actions which will remain compliant, professional and
reliable.

 Teamwork

We complement each other's effort in delivering superior client service.

 Excellence

We strive to continuously improve ourselves in line with changing developments in

the sector

.4 Core Business:
We offer the widest coverage and lowest prices. As the pioneer in fibre deployment, Tel
One offers one of the widest fibre networks in the country and through our shareholding
in the EASSY undersea cable we have been able to offer connectivity at the lowest prices
on the market. As we move to be a fully Fixed Mobile Converged company, Tel One is
improving connectivity choices for all Zimbabweans including through offering
wholesale service to enterprise customers.

We promote economic growth. Individuals and enterprises across the board continue to
rely on Tel One connectivity solutions for information, access to markets and business
interactions. Tel One connectivity across the country has improved access to information
thus supporting the government drive to improve quality of life and the country’s
productivity and economic competitiveness, quality health service delivery, agricultural
yields, energy efficiency, and mineral beneficiation mechanisms among others.

Inspired by our stakeholders, we support communities through corporate social

investments. Tel One has continued to support the development of education in
Zimbabwe by providing connectivity to rural schools and supporting construction at
educational institutions. We are driven by the conviction that an investment in education
pays the best dividend for our society.

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 PRODUCTS

 Business
 Dedicated Internet Service
 Virtual Private Network (VPN)
 Networking Services
 Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
 Value Added Services
 Ku Band
 Ka Band

 Residential
 Conventional Voice
 Broad band
 Voice over Satellite
 Satellite Communication
 Wi-Fi
 Retail Support
 Retail Solutions

 Wholesale
 Wholesale Internet
 VPN Intercity
 Data Centre & Hosted Services
 Co-location Services
 Email Hosting
 ADSL Wholesale
 Fibre Broadband

.0 Tel One Organisational Structure

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Slocum et al (1996) defines organisational structure as a “formal system of working
relationships that both separates and integrate task”. Tel One adopts a functional
organisational structure in which activities of the organisation as a whole are related and
integrated by functions of different departments.

MANAGING
DIRECTOR

CHIPO MTASA

Finance Human Divisiona Divisiona Company Audit and Corporate

and Resource l Director l Secretary Risk Service
Admin s Director Retail Manager and Legal Exec Exec
Director Infrastruc advisor
ture

Senior General National Commerc Legal and Snr Strategy

Manager Manager Operation ial Head company Manager and
Finance TCFL s Exec mgr Risk business
Performa
nce

Senior HR Sales and Infrastruc Communi Audit Business

Manager Manager Client ture cations Manager Processes
Admin Admin Experien Operation manager ICT Manager
ce Manag al Head

Billing Marketin National Audit Programs

and g and Planning Manager manager
Receivabl Divisiona Head Finance
e l Head
Manager

National Procurem
Impleme ent
ntation manager
Head

Informati
on
Systems
Head

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 One adopts a functional organizational structure in which activities of the organization as
a whole are related and integrated by functions of different departments.

The organisation has four Directorates and two Executives with the managing director at
the helm. Other employees report to their Managers and Supervisors. This enabled the
role of chain of command that stipulates that subordinates should be subject to control
and supervision of only one boss to be effectively observed in this organization.

.0.1 Departments in Tel One and their Core Functions

Tel One has a number of departments with specific functions to ensure a perfect flow of
business as functions are specified.

.0.2 Finance & Administration ( ELLEN CHIVAVIRO)

 Overall financial management of the Company
 Establishment of financial and administrative policies and procedures
 Production of financial reports
 Assessment of financial viability
 Resource mobilization and allocation
 Treasury management
 Procurement
 Administration of Company assets

.0.3 Infrastructure and Wholesale Division (LAWRENCE NKALA)

 Technical strategy development and implementation
 Establishment of ICT technical policies and procedures
 Network Development and Maintenance
 Rollout of infrastructure projects
 ICT systems management, integration and coordination
 Installations and activation of services
 Wholesale and bandwidth
 Technology policy guidance, standardization and monitoring
 Technology research and development

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.0.4 Human Resources (E NDUURE)
 Development of the Human Resource strategy
 Development of Human Resource policies and procedures
 Organizational development
 Resourcing of organization
 Remuneration
 Performance management
 Industrial relations
 Human capital development
 Maintaining and managing a robust safety, health and environmental policy

.0.5 Company Secretary (CAROLINE SANDURA)

 Management of Corporate, Shareholder and Board affairs
 Establishment of Legal, Compliance, Governance policies and their operational
frameworks
 Providing legal services
 Monitoring corporate compliance
 Updating of developments in international and local ICT regulatory environment

.0.6 Corporate Services (HOPEFUL ZINYAU)

 Corporate strategy formulation and implementation
 Corporate communications
 New business development
 Setting of business performance parameters
 Oversight over company performance
 Risk identification and management
 Developing business partnerships
 Establishing and re-engineering business processes

.0.7 Risk and Internal Audit (KUDAKWASHE MASUNDIRE)

 Establishing Audit strategy
 Development and implementation of an annual audit plans

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  Monitoring adherence/compliance to corporate governance, business policies,
procedures and systems
 Providing assurance to the Board on internal controls, risk management and
governance practices.
 Participating in the investigation of fraud, ethical conflicts and any other significant
loss events affecting Tel One.
 Assessing compliance with regulatory and statutory regulations

.1 Business Environment
There are various technological influences that have had a great impact in the
telecommunications industry. The introduction of mobile phones led to a decrease in the
fixed voice services offered by Tel One as many individuals resorted to using mobile
phones. People’s behaviour also tends to be influenced by the environment, the
introduction of mobile phones was followed by introduction of a number of social
networks that include; whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter among others. As people had
access to these social networks, the interest in Tel One services was derailed.

The economic downfall in Zimbabwe has also had a great impact on the company. The
shift from Zimbabwean dollars to a multi-currency system led to many customers
abandoning Tel One properties which continue to charge rentals without being used this
is leading to a lot of rental reversals, and bad debts. The current situation of the economy
has led to a number of companies closing down and this is negatively affecting Tel One
as the number of service terminations are increasing. Individuals who are also losing jobs
due to the economic downturn are also terminating Tel One services and this is greatly
affecting the company’s market.

To fully understand the nature of Tel On an analysis of macro environmental factors shall
be employed. The PESTEL analytic tool shall be employed to explore the company’s
external environment

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.1.1 Economic Environment
Liquidity constraints continued to beset the economy resulting in declining consumer
spending. It became impossible to acquire critical parts for the servicing of plant and
equipment. This resulted in low capacity utilization and low productivity for the company
(Tel One Tele buzz 2013).

The economic meltdown experienced during the period under review resulted in financial
institutions failing to extend credit lines to the corporate world. This resulted in Tel One
failing to acquire financial capital in forms of loans from the local banks. The inception of
the inclusive government saw the economic environment slightly improving as
multicurrency system was introduced. However, the operational environment remained
tight with the majority of potential customers remaining cash strained. Due to the
liquidity stress, the company strictly transacts on cash basis without credit facilities
thereby restricting the scope of its business to the few who can afford the prices which are
high.

.1.2 Political Environment

The period from 2000 to 2014 witnessed major shifts on the Zimbabwean political
landscape which resulted in the fall of Zimbabwe’s economic competitiveness on the
global arena.

The land redistribution program that was done haphazardly in Zimbabwe in the year 2000
saw land being taken away from the white commercial farmers to the less experienced
black majority small-holder farmers. The commercial farmers, who were part of Tel
One’s major customers, left the country and what followed was the vandalism of the
company’s network in the farming areas and the revenues declined in those farming
districts. The political unrest that exists in the country disturbed the development and
foreign direct investments in Zimbabwe resulting in fewer and fewer money going
towards the telecommunication sector especially the government owned Tel One. The
company found it difficult to operate since some of its infrastructure like the copper
cables was being vandalized as a way of sabotage. This reduced the company’s revenue
base. At Tel Onethe deal between South African Telecom failed because of the
uncertainty in the country.

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.1.3 Social Environment
Owing to the challenges obtaining in the political and economic sectors of the economy,
the social environment ordinarily negatively responded. Labor was generally disgruntled
with the company’s failure to meet demands by the employees. This resulted in the
company losing skilled labor and other critical staff to other countries regionally and
internationally. According to the (Tel One Telebuzz 2010), the company had lost over
39% of its critical technical staff and 48% of its remaining staff was aged. This resulted in
the company making do with semi and unskilled labor which to a certain extent
discontinue organizational culture. Over the period the student was placed with the
organization, the macro socio-cultural environment has been of contributory in
diminishing the ethical flow in business in the organization, however the student can
confirm to evidence of international standards and civilization within the organization’s
business operations; as ascribed to the use of the English language, employee corporate
wear and official communication of decisions both internally and externally. Equipment
could no longer be efficiently serviced hence break downs were now more prominent
than before.

.1.4 Technological Environment

The rapid change in technology has negatively impacted on the local telecommunication
companies especially Tel One which is government owned which lagged behind in terms
of the latest technological trends due to capital inadequacy to replace the aged equipment
with automated process communication systems (Tel One Strategic document, 2014-
2020). The change of technology has dismally affected our business, such as the use of
cell phones; this has seen Tel Onerevenues declining (Tel One Telebuzz 2013). The
organization’s major customers reduced their usage on fixed lines as most employees now
use cell phones. Tel One has become the net payer to other service providers, because
customers phone cell phones from landline and not cell phone to landline (Tel One
Strategic document, 2014- 2020). However, with the emerging of the Retail Internet
market Tel One is highly capitalizing through pre-owned and new equipment, and has
since envisioned connectivity of every citizen in the nation, from their home by 2020
even targeting growth points and communal areas. The emerging technology has seen the

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 revival of the organization and currently Tel One is the major provider of internet in the
home.

Fig 1: A picture of the VSAT setup kit, new home equipment for wireless internet.

.2 Telecommunications Industry
The telecommunications industry in Zimbabwe is a highly controlled and regulated
industry in Zimbabwe with POTRAZ as the main regulating board. Major players within
the industry comprise; Econet, Zol, Net One, Telecel, Power Tel, Liquid, Telecel and Tel
One. Tel is actually in monopoly as it is the only player from the list that offers fixed
telephone services (landline services). The key services now being offered by all the
companies within the telecommunication in Zimbabwe is the internet services.
Competition is quite stiff and is actually growing, hence, efficiency is on the rise within
the industry. Tel One and Zol are the major rivals on internet provision, hence are the
main regulators of price and service provision.

Competition is highly in service provision through speed, reliability, bandwidth, as well

as data capacity within different packages.

.0 Attachment Experience:
Credit Control Department
Throughout the course of the attachment the student was placed under the credit control
department specifically to the Current Accounts Section. However the student indirectly
assumed exposure with several other departments; the Final Accounts Section, Treasury
Section, Billing and Receivables Section as well as the Retail Sales department as result
of the direct integration within the departments.

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 Through the Current Accounts Section the student was assigned to the control of post
billed Telephone Accounts balances due, basically collecting outstanding revenue for the
organisation. The student would initiate payment negotiations with clients on telephone
post bills. Where necessary the student would prepare Account Reconciliations for
clients, sorely for consensus, in the event of any anomalies on invoices and receipts.
Main Tasks (Current Account Section):
.0.1 Invoice Preparations
Tel One provides the Fixed Line Telephone service either on a prepaid or post paid
platform. 79% percent of the clients are on post billed service, hence clients enjoy the
service prior to payment (Tel One Annual Report, 2016). The department only focuses on
the post billed clients.

On post billing, Invoices for service are therefore prepared every single month-end for
usage of the same month. Invoice preparations for such begin on the 24th of every single
month with Exchange meter reading, which is a task conducted by the Billing Section.
The student however took part in the task together with co workers from department.

From meter reading the captured units would then be captured electronically onto Excel
which would then be eventually run in the Receivable System known as the Tel One Leap
System. Invoices will then be produced and manually confirmed on a Random Sampling
basis.

.0.2 Confirmation of Invoice delivery with Clients:

After invoice preparation the official invoices would then be confirmed on the 1st day of
every month or the nearest Monday, upon which invoices are posted to clients both
electronically and via mail. The first week of postal, the student was involved in the
process of confirming receipt of invoices with clients as assigned by the supervisor, the
process involves immediate assistance in cases of clients not having received their
invoices. Use of emails and telephones would be used in the process.

.0.3 Processing of RTGS payments and E Payments:

69% of Tel One clients are corporate organisations and SMEs. Over 90% of such clients
make payments via RTGS especially due to the current liquidity crisis in the economy
(Tel One Annual Report, 2016). Transfer payments processing in Tel One is quite broad
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 and highly regulated by several departments who integrate to reduce any possibility of
fraud. The students department who be the first point of RTGS payment confirmation
through which all clients paying via transfer would be required to provide a Proof of
Payment with the department. Payments would be captured in excel and forwarded to the
RTGS office under the Finance department who would then forward payments to the
Treasury department. The Treasury department would the confirm payment on the
company Bank Statement, before payment would be captured in the Cash Book.

After entry into the Cash Book, payments are then receipted into the system by the RTGS
office.
Process:
 Clearing RTGs on bank statement extract by allocating account numbers to the
amounts
 Verifying information on RTGs copy from client against information received on the
bank statement extract
 Use information in data base to credit client’s account if client fails to bring RTGs
 Computing breakdown figures and comparing same value with payment on bank
statement extract
 Updating of information on bank extract on the excel workbook for reconciliation and
report purposes
 Raising payment EVs by entering client’s name ,account number and amount
 Verifying EVs for accuracy before approval by the supervisor and management
 Creating one time charges for ADSL paid by RTGs
 Investigating missing and unknown RTGs payments
 Filing receipts in date order for easy collection by clients

.0.4 Payment Plans:

The student engaged in payment plan negotiations with client with outstanding balances.
Prior to payment plan agreement the student would request an initial payment from the
client which normally would need to be substantial to the balance owing, all based on
negotiation. Negotiations would then be approved by the department supervisor before
being put in writing.

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.0.5 Revenue Collection and Debt Management
This is done in different ways that include
 phone calls-communicating with the client through the phone to inquire on plans
towards bill payment
 email-reminders can be sent via email and this can be effective if customer’s lines
have been disconnected due to non-payment
 physical tracing-visiting the client and have a face to face negotiation with the client
towards bill payment
 Advising clients to pay standing orders ,stop order
 Calling and visiting clients before disconnection

The termination of service, to minimise debt expense, due to

 Non-payment of account
 Abandoned properties
 Deceased clients
 Illegal users

 Disconnection of lines for non payment is a way of getting to the non paying user.
 Issuing final reminder to clients inform of letters to clients who did not respond to
calls and visits and this is also done to the guarantor
 Identifying changes in payment patterns and propose action to avert indebtedness thus
following up on previous payment plans.
 Physical tracing of bad debtors
 Issuing summons for debts with amounts of $10000 and below
 Handing over to lawyers debts above $10000and apply for
 default judgement
 warrant of execution and if granted
 Property attachment through messenger of court to recover the company’s money
 Furnish lawyers with particulars of claim where a debtor has entered an appearance to
defend for example printouts and contract
 Apply for civil imprisonment if there is nothing to attach

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  For deceased estates, write letters to beneficiaries to visit Tel One offices to change
account name from the deceased to the beneficiary’s or spouse and the absence of
response in fourteen days (14), recover service.
 Recommendation of write offs and blacklisting of bad debtors
 Bad debts recovery-this is the process where debts that seem uncollectable are paid
for and lines reactivated.

.0.6 Risk Management/Vetting (Post-Paid Services)

 Receive new application forms from sales for vetting
 Vetting using Financial Clearing Bureau (FCB) to mitigate credit risk- this is meant to
check the client’s credit worthiness before engaging into a contract with the client.
This acts as an initiative towards minimising the number of bad debts and the amounts
to be written off.
 Crediting client’s accounts correctly to avoid losing payments to undeserving clients
who in turn will not pay and the disadvantaged client may terminate the contract due
to frustration.
 Attending creditors’ meetings at the high court for liquidating companies and those
under judicial management
 Recover Cost or loss through processing Repayment of Works Documentation

.1 Extend of Theory Application:

In estimation, 25% of the acquired theory was applied during the course of attachment.
Over 75% the duties involved practical involvement with everyday clients, hence general
people skills were of much relevance. Communication skills learnt by the student through
courses such as Business Communication were of much use as the student would be
involved in continuous communication with client; over the phone, in person and on
email. Another general course to mention would be the ‘Christian and Ethical Values’
course, ethics were inevitable in dealing and meeting people.

Accounting courses such as the Computer Information Systems course were also of
applied in all computer systems encounters, though different systems were used, the
knowledge applied was much synonymous to what the student had learnt from theory.

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 In general the corporate world proved to be quite dynamic and unpredictable such that
theory should only be a basis where one should be flexible in addressing tasks and
resolving problems.
.1.1 Communication Skills:
Business Communication taught the student to be a good listener as communication is
always 2 way. One of the great skills the student was requested to apply upon induction
was to be a great listener. The student took it from both sides; theory and practice, and
application proved to work as much of the departmental operations involved listening to
client concerns and excuses in negotiations.
.1.2 Computer Information Systems
In theory the much was acquired from the Computer Information Systems course, much
to do with systems security in avoiding fraud, also, general appreciation of Computer
Systems to Manual.

In practice, while student was placed on attachment, both computer and manual systems
were used and theory application was highly evidenced, even unknowingly, but to later
realise the fact that concepts were taught in a lecture

Basically the corporate world proved to be quite dynamic and unpredictable as some of
the tasks handled by the student requested immediate solutions to randomly encountered
situations.

.1.3 Auditing
Internal controls imparted in audit lectures were in full force and strictly monitored by the
organisation. The student had the chance to come across some confidential information,
and as one of the fundamental principle governing auditors, the auditor should not
disclose such information unless or otherwise authorised by the law and the company.
The principles which also guide auditors like independent, objectivity and integrity also
applied during the discharge of duties. While checking payments authorised there was an
appreciation of principles of internal controls system learnt in Auditing 1 & 2 where one
person generates a payment and three independent signatories authorise it.
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 In capturing data in the system there was also segregation of duties whereby one person
had rights to input transactions and the other part has rights to view, authorise and process
transactions hence no one person can input a transaction and authorise at the same time as
per the principles of in the internal and accounting information systems modules.

.2 New skills acquired:

Tel One, like every other organisation has its own organizational culture. New skills were
therefore acquired through the embrace of the organization’s culture.

.2.1 The Leap System

The student was introduced to a custom system used by Tel One in their invoicing known
as Leap. The system is basically a customer database for telephone accounts where client
details, service usage and billing could be accessed. The system is quite user friendly with
a simple interface that clearly shows options and commands.

The student was issued an Employee Account with restricted authority during the first
half of placement which was later upgraded in the other half for the execution of more

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 functional duties assumed.

Fig 2: A screen shot of the Tel One Leap System for Invoicing

.2.2 Telnet System

The system was complimentary to the Leap system. It is an older version of the Leap and
it is used the execution of the functions pertaining to archived system information. The
system uses the computer cmd command and is accessed through Local Area Network
(LAN).

.0 Managerial Problems:
Management in Tel One is centralised, hence managerial problems are inherent to the
policy. Basically decision making is one way, being made from the top and streamed
down the chain of command.

.0.1 Centralised decision making

Decisions in Tel One are made by top management. During the student’s period on
attachment, the student realised that employees had several work dissatisfactions that they
could not deal with mainly resulting from the fact that they have no say to the

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 organisation’s operations. As a result of employees being dissatisfied performance is
compromised.

.1 Literature Review: Introduction

The section looks into past literature on critical issues within the Telecommunications
industry in Zimbabwe at the moment. Key issues to be reviewed are technological
changes impact on business in telecommunications, competition being a drive in service
delivery and how culture hinders transformative growth in large corporate.

.1.1 Technology
Technology development leads to radical and disruptive innovations which heighten the
call for organisational transformation. To succeed in transformation, leading enterprises
focus on transforming their operations using advanced technologies with the promise of
greater performance in the future (Berman, 2012). The evolvement in communication to
mobile platforms affected Tel One’s dominant operations as the sole and only provider of
fixed line telephones. The impact goes on as the organization continues to seek a market
that seems to slowly becoming non-existent.

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 Jing & McDermott (2013) in their study show that there is evidence from the private
sector that transformation assisted technologies can boost operational efficiency and
effectiveness. Technological evolvement in telecommunications over the years, has seen
the once monopoly, Tel One, exposed to several threats hence efficiency in service
delivery becoming inevitable lest business be lost.

.1.2 Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is described as the basic expectations that a group within an
organisation has conceived, learnt, or developed in coping with its problems of internal
integration and external adaptation (Schein, 1996). Burnes (2004b), also connected
culture with the environment, seeing it as a collective reaction to uncertainty and disorder.
Culture is a central component in how an organisation interacts with both its immediate
surroundings and that outside the firm. As such it is an important part of the
transformational process. “Transformation is a journey of continuous examination,
adaptability, and improvement with the fundamental goal of ‘cultural innovation’.” Cora
(2013).

The aspiration to carry out the transformation process requires a shift in cultural
orientation to that of one that places a prominence on promoting autonomy of thought and
action (Cora, 2013).

Organizational culture can be a hindrance if the organization prefers culture than changes.
Tel One has had to embrace the changes in the industry for going concern mainly by
restructuring the Sales and Marketing division in a way that is more efficient and
economic. Brand management has also seen massive transformation, from the past
neglect approach attributing from being a monopoly, to a more strategic approach that
entails the need to develop and willingly continue to exist. In the public sector
transformation strategy is largely successful in changing the long-standing, bureaucratic,
public-sector culture, to a more devolved style in which challenge and participation is
encouraged (Herbert, 2009). Foley & Alfonso (2009) also remark that government
departments realise standardization and simplification efficiencies by adopting a shared
services culture. This offers better collaborative competencies and values such as
openness, responsiveness to multiple perspectives, and development of mutual

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 understanding. Based on this analysis, organisational culture’s influence on business
transformation can be summarized by the following proposition;

.1.3 Competition in Telecommunications

The digital information revolution has driven the speed of competition and globalization,
consequently requiring organisations to progressively consider and pursue transformation
to maintain or gain competitive advantage (Rouse, 2005b). Shinkle, Kriauciunas, &
Hundley (2013) in their study identified increasing competitive position as a reason for
implementing change in both private and public sector organisations. For continued
success in a competitive environment, both studies point out the need to carry out
organisational transformation. The transformation of SOEs under the stress of industry
competition has been widely viewed as a central route for these organizations to solve the
inefficiencies and agency problems associated with state ownership (Li et al., 2012).

Erakovic & Powell (2006) also identify competition as the foremost feature presumed to
influence the need for organizational transformation during the shift in ownership. From
this assessment it is reasonable to argue that SOEs that transform in response to market
pressure cease some control to private players and will display enhanced firm
performance. Therefore an industry or market with high levels of competition will likely
witness correspondingly high levels of organisational transformation. Such is evidence in
the Telecommunications industry in Zimbabwe, as services have since improved through
massive competition amongst top players.

Competition in the Telecommunications Industry in Zimbabwe is highly executed

through; promotions, advertising and to a lesser extend pricing.

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.4 Recommendations:
To Tel One
Through several observations made by the student whilst on placement with Tel One, the
following suggestions came to mind:
 Introduction of E-Filing
Tel One has grown radically in infrastructure and its client base hence its traditional
way of filing its employees is no longer the best for it. Due to its growth, client files
have increase in number whilst filing space is now more congested the risk of being
unable to retrieve some client files is very high. The student recommends the
organisation to take advantage of its robust ICT platform and use it for E-filing which
is an effective and efficient way of storing client information.

 Electronic Receipting of RTGS Payments

RTGS payment capturing in the system at Tel One involves a highly regulated and
long process through which some payments are missed. As a result clients lose trust if
a payment is not captured. The student recommends an electronic means of receipting
the payments, through systems that can be equally be secured as manually.

.0 Challenges

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  Adjusting to the corporate work environment, initially with minimal induction.
However a comprehensive induction forum was later hosted by the organization,
improving the student’s adoption of the new responsibilities.

 Low levels of self-esteem and belief in one self which resulted in errors and
inefficiency in some activities assigned to the student. With time, improvements in
confidence levels were noted.

 Grasping how to use the leap billing system and its various modules was a bit
troublesome, but with practice, the student appreciated its operations bit by bit.

.0 Suggestions for Improving Industrial Attachment:

To Africa University:
 The faculty should build strong relations with the organizations that take students in
order to create opportunities for upcoming students with organizations, in an economy
such as ours.

 The faculty should encourage students on attachment to take part social events at their
organizations whilst on attachment as a platform to build better relationships with co-
employees and management.

.0 Conclusion
The student is of the view that work related learning is a very relevant process whose
value to the student should never be underrated. The student could better appreciate
completed modules from school after the practical application especially the case of
Computer Information Systems module.

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Coming from a theoretical background, the student managed to acquaint himself with
how to adapt to organizational culture with experience from Tel One. The period has
helped to transform the student from being a mere student into being a professional.
Career guidance was readily available from the senior members at the company. The
period was also of help in opening up the student to the realities of the industry in terms
of the challenges and the benefits that lie within the working environment.

The industrial attachment period awarded the student with chances to be a self-
constructive, motivated person, assertive, initiative and very innovative in the way
business is done and executing duties. All these required a strong desire to learn as much
as possible in order to understand and cope with the working environment and be able to
work with very minimum supervision. It also helped the student to be more objective in
decision.

Also learnt from the industrial attachment is the reality that the achievement of goals in
financial functions in an organization is not a one man duty but takes the coordination and
contribution of everyone from accounts clerks, operations personnel to directors. The
internship period provided a chance for one to be a team player working with everyone in
the system.

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REFERENCES:

1. POTRAZ. (2014). Postal and Telecommunications Quarterly Sector Statistics Report–

4th Quarter of 2013. Harare: POTRAZ.
2. Tel One Annual Report. Approved by the Board of Directors. (2016 )

3. Herder, P. M., Bouwmans, I., Dijkema, G. P., & Stikkelman, R. M. (2008)

"Designinginfrastructures using a complex systems perspective". Journal of
DesignResearch, 7(1): 17-34.
4. Herold, D. M., Fedor, D. B., Caldwell, S., & Liu, Y. (2008) "The effects
oftransformational and change leadership on employees' commitment to achange: a
multilevel study". Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2): 346.
5. Hettich, P. (2011) "Governance by Mutual Benchmarking in Postal Markets:
HowState-owned Enterprises induce Private Competitors to Pursue Policy
Goals".lrih’s 1.
6. Hollingworth, G., & Hoffman, J. (2012) Changing the Game Before the
GameChanges You. Paper presented at the Ericsson discussion paper.

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APPENDIX

1. AB262 –This is an internal document that used by the section that deals with returned
cheques .It shows all details of the cheques that were dishonored by the bank that is
the name of the drawer, the account number, the reference number,

2. ATM –an acronym for Automated Teller Machines. There is a form of technology
that is used by financial institutions mostly banks.

3. Expenditure Voucher –This is a Tel One document which is a form of money.

Holding an authorized expenditure voucher entitles one to cash equivalent to the
amount written on it at any Tel One is banking halls.

4. EC –An acronym for Employment Code. This is the number that is given to an
employee and as such, this number will recognize the employee. It is kept in the
human resources database.

5. POTRAZ - The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.

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6. 6. ST18 –This is an internal document, which shows confirmation of receipt of
goods. It is used by the stores department and is an effective tool for stocktaking and
for auditing purposes.

7. SAP - Systems Application Practice.

8. RTGS- Real Time Gross Settlement.

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