Name: Md.

Ashiqur Rahman, Roll: ZR-55, Batch: 20

E-mail: ashiq.r.niloy@gmail.com, Tel: +8801921550170
Group: A3, Industry: Mirpur Benarasi Palli


1. Capital: Dholaikhal
A great challenge is faced by this industry in terms of capital, or to be
more specific access to finance. According to the existing entrepreneurs, micro-credit
facility is the most desired form of financing in this industry which at this moment is
not available. Other than this, the entrepreneurs face huge difficulty obtaining bank
loans as a source of finance. And fingers cannot be pointed to anyone because of this
difficulty because most of these entrepreneurs are workers-turned-owners, therefore
lacking credit worthiness. For a commercial bank the risk of giving a loan and
interest is too high for the likes of these entrepreneurs. Because of these perceived
difficulties in the banking process, entrepreneurs often go for informal sources like
borrowing from a known person. Now, unless any public or private institution comes
up with a specialized solution for these entrepreneurs the existing challenges are
difficult to handle. With the increasing wave of competition, this problem in capital
sector can prove to be lethal in the sustenance of this industry.


2. Capability: Plastic Industry
Before going to the challenges, first it is important to understand the
potential of this industry and what would be the benefits if we could overcome these
challenges, gain our maximum capability and capitalize on this industry. Bangladesh
plastic Industry is already making a huge contribution to the country employing
more than half a million people and contributing around 1% of the GDP. And 98% of
this industry comprises of SMEs. Because of the availability of cheap labor and the
fast developing plastic waste cycling industry due to the rising cost of petroleum, the
main raw material of polymer, Bangladesh has the potential to grow a competitive
advantage over other countries. Also plastic industry logs 10% of its earning from
the garments sector and Bangladesh is the biggest ready-made garments exporting
country in the world. All these things considered Bangladesh is supposed to be
excelling in the plastic industry which is happening but not in a scale that is
expected. And the major problem behind this is, the lack of experienced and trained
workers, particularly, mold makers, machine operators and skilled technicians. Also
our lagging behind in technology is playing a vital role in our slow progress. Now the
plastic industry in our country is in a very good position to excel and give our
country huge turn-over but a couple of very solvable problems are holding us back.
The Government has to play the main role here and promote the importance of the
industry and its need for skilled workforce.

3. Culture: Mirpur Benarasi Palli
Competition is almost always said to be healthy for the growth of an
industry but, in Benarasi Palli it is found to have a negative impact on the culture of
the community. First of all, it is indeed a big community and they all have a very
personalized operation, which in turn results in a weak sense of community.
However, when asked about their relationship with other entrepreneurs or their
heritage, different people act differently. Some thinks that Benarasi Palli has a very
strong community, any kind of unfair business is absent, they are like a family etc.
On the other hand, some others think that there is unfair competition. When we dug
deeper, we found out that due to the huge competition and changing market trends
towards foreign products some of the entrepreneurs are branching out and
manufacturing products of foreign designs or outlets. Now, this approach is not
appreciated by many other entrepreneurs who are sticking to their old domestic
designs. And these veteran marketers have seen a steady decline in their customer
base and they have identified the reason behind this, and that is the branching out
to foreign designs by other shops and they feel these people are destroying the
heritage of Benarasi Palli. So, there is a major grouping regarding this. Besides,
there is a huge gap between the marketers and the manufacturers as many of the
shops outsource their production and they only handle the sales. Also there isnt any
close tie with the suppliers. The Mirpur Benarasi Palli Malik Shomiti, the industry
association is supposed to have a role in alleviating these problems. But,
unfortunately this isnt strong and functional. The members, meaning all the owners,
meeting each other, maintain a very formal gesture like greetings or handshakes.
But they dont really have a great tie among themselves. They dont even enter each
others shops or have a conversation. Aside all these, the workers themselves have a
strong bonding. But the relationship among the owners is hampering the overall
culture of the industry.


4. Customer: Mirpur Benarasi Palli
Customer-orientation was emphasized by almost all the respondents.
But, unfortunately the nature of the products prevents this industry from having a
customer orientated operation. Because, the variety of designs and absence of
specific standards drive customers to surf through as many shops as possible before
buying the product. So, expecting customer loyalty is a stretch. But, focusing on
what the customers want or might want is driving this industry. Customization of
products is prevailing in almost any outlet. Ironically, the challenge also lies in this
customers choice and varied demands. As an example, the trend towards Indian
products or branded products has proved to be a huge challenge for the marketers.
Some of the marketers have even changed their whole product line as mentioned
earlier. Also the extent of seasonal demand creates problem like under-supply or
over-supply in the supply chain. But, fixed costs of the businesses remains the same
all throughout the year. This leads sometimes to capital deficiency in certain times of
the year.
5. Competition: Dholaikhal
There are almost 4000-5000 shops in Dholaikhal with almost no
variety in product and this creates huge competition itself within the industry.
Moreover, the industry is in a single location and a concentrated area. The major
problem that the entrepreneurs mentioned was the amount of unfair business inside
the industry. And according to them this is a recent problem which was caused by
plummeting sales in past couple of years. As there is no specific standard
competitors drive customers with lower price levels. Like, if one shop offers a part
with BDT.1000, some other shop lure away that particular customer by offering the
same product with BDT. 900As repeat purchase cannot be ensured because of lack of
marketing knowledge of the entrepreneurs, this is creating predatory instinct among
the counterparts in short-term. However, Competition from existing motor parts
imported from China, Japan, Taiwan, India (South-trade Promotion Program) poses a
huge long-term threat to this industry.

6. Collaborator: Jewelry Industry
The collaborators, meaning the suppliers, marketers and distributors at
this moment have a healthy relationship among them, mainly because of the
intermediation of BAJUS. However, in 2008-09 the situation was worse because of
political association of the value chain actors which is fortunately under control now.
But, political association poses a generic threat always in the relationship of the
collaborators. A major problem still lies in the supply chain regarding the value of
raw materials. The price of gold in local market is at this moment per unit BDT.5000
more than that of the international market. This is because BAJUS updates the price
of gold every three months when they think the price has stopped fluctuating
erratically, whereas, it is updated every day in international market. This creates a
conflict between the customers and the marketers and as a result between the
suppliers and the marketers.


7. State and Society: Software Industry
The contribution of the state to this industry is null. They are neither
helped nor hindered by the regulations or actions of the government. The influence
of the union whose existence is even unknown by some of the respondents is also
minimal. Instead of being a regulatory body they just keep a schedule of the firms.
The high licensing cost was criticized by many of the respondents. They blame this
high licensing price of BDT.200,000 for many entrepreneurs being primarily not
being interested in the industry. The most shocking factor here was the mention of
the unfair competition from the counterparts involving government contracts. There
were claims of corruption and less than transparent tender allocation process. So,
the government must address this area. They are not involved in the regulations of
the industry, doing nothing for it to thrive but internally hampering the business
environment.

8. Globalization and International Forces: Mirpur Benarasi Palli
Several claims about the negative impact of globalization was reported
in this industry. Marketers feel that because of globalization, availability of sky
channels, intrusions from Indian and Pakistani marketers, their businesses are being
hampered manifolds. People, mainly women being their main customer base, are
more prone to buy products they see in Indian movies and TV shows. This gives a
competitive advantage to the Indian marketers. And the Benarasi Palli marketers are
struggling to cope up with varying change in the designs of those products because
of lack of access. Also, because of the intrusion of these designs, divisions among
the industry is being created as mentioned earlier, which in turn is leading to an
unhealthy business environment. However, some of the marketers mentioned some
of the positive sides. They think they are getting international exposure because of
globalization. Some of them even mentioned taking their products to Europian
countries in fairs and getting optimistic responses.


9. Technology: Furniture Industry
Enterprises who only assemble imported products from foreign countries
dont face many troubles regarding technology. But the manufacturers are at a
position of comparative disadvantage because of our lack of new technology. The
manufacturers in many cases not even aware of newer technology and thus continue
using traditional methods. Example, surface furnishing, an important aspect quality
is still done by hand polishing over the modern methods. More problems rise for the
high volume manufacturers. Machineries like Planner Machine, Molder Machine, Panel
and Band Saw Machine, Mortiser, Sanding Machine, Boring Machine, Router, Grinding
Machine, Lathe, Edge Bending machine etc bring more preciseness, speed and
quality in high volume production. But, the enterprises are either unaware of the
existence of these machine or dont possess enough capital to acquire these
machines. Steps must be taken in this sector for the better growth of this industry.