Human Resource Practices of companies in Bangladesh: A Study on

BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Limited.

Course Title: Human Resource Management
Course Code: MGT2201

Submitted to:
Sabrina Sharmin Nishat
Lecturer, Department of Management Studies
Faculty of Business Studies

Submitted by:
Name ID Section
Dewan Ashikul Alam 18241101 A
Nusrat Ara 19241008 A
Nafisa Tabassum Tithi 19241019 A
Ifaz ur Rahman 19241149 A
Md. Kento Azeez 19241069 A
Faiyaz Reza Niloy 19241087 A
Ramisa Fariha 19241101 A

Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka-1216. Department of Management Studies

October 18, 2020. Faculty of Business Studies
Bangladesh University of
Professionals
Letter of authorization
Letter of Transmittal

13th October, 2020

To
Sabrina Sharmin Nishat
Lecturer,
Department of Management Studies,
Bangladesh University of Professionals,
Mirpur, Dhaka.

Dear Madam,
It is indeed a great pleasure for us to be able to hand over the result of our hardship of the HRM
report on BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals LTD. This report is the result of the knowledge that has
been acquired from the respective course.

We tried the best that we could in preparing this report. The information acquired for this report
has been partly taken from the internet. Most of the details were gathered from the general
manager of that company. All of us gave our hundred percent for making the report come
together.

We fervently hope that you will find this report worth reading. Please feel free for any query and
clarification that you would like us to explain. We hope you will appreciate our efforts and
excuse minor errors. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely

Nusrat Ara (19241008)

Nafisa Tabassum Tithi (19241019) [Team Leader]
Ifaz ur Rahman (19241049)
Md. Kento Azeez (19241069)
Faiyaz Reza Niloy (19241087)
Ramisa Fariha Ahmed (19241101)
Dewan Ashikul Alam (18241101)
Foreword
We hereby declare that this report has been based on all the information collected on the given
topic. This paper was neither in whole nor partly submitted in any academic papers before.
Name of Authors:
● Nusrat Ara
● Nafisa Tabassum Tithi
● Ifazur Rahman
● Md. Kento Azeez
● Faiyaz Reza Niloy
● Ramisa Fariha Ahmed
● Dewan Ashikul Alam
Acknowledgement:
Our heart pulsates with the thrill for tendering gratitude to those persons who have helped us in
the making of this report.
First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude and indebtedness to our lecturer
Sabrina Nishat, for her inspiring guidance, constructive criticism and valuable suggestion
throughout the work of this report. We are sincerely thankful for her guidance and pain taking
effort in improving our understanding of not only this report but also the entire course of this
semester.
Last but not the least, we would like to thank M A Arshad Bhuiyan, head of HR of BEXIMCO
Pharmaceuticals for patiently extending all sorts of help for the accomplishment of this
undertaking.

Department of Management Studies

Faculty of Business studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals
Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka-1216.
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................. ix
Chapter-01.................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Introduction............................................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Origin of the report................................................................................................................. 2
1.3. Purpose and scope of the report................................................................................................2
1.4 Research questions................................................................................................................... 2
1.5. Objectives............................................................................................................................... 2
1.5.1. Primary Objectives................................................................................................................2
1.5.2. Secondary Objectives............................................................................................................2
1.6. Methodology........................................................................................................................... 3
1.7. Limitations............................................................................................................................. 3
Chapter-02: Literature Review........................................................................................................4
2.1. Training and Development.......................................................................................................4
2.2. Recruitment and selection........................................................................................................4
2.3. Employee retention and Compensation.....................................................................................4
2.4. Job satisfaction....................................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER-3: About BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Limited...............................................................6
3.1. Organizational Background:....................................................................................................6
3.2. Company Background:............................................................................................................ 7
3.3. Organizational Structure:........................................................................................................7
3.4.1. Vision:................................................................................................................................. 8
3.4.2. Mission:............................................................................................................................... 8
3.4.3. Core Values:........................................................................................................................ 8
3.4.5. Customer satisfaction............................................................................................................9
3.4.6. People focus......................................................................................................................... 9
3.4.7. Accountability...................................................................................................................... 9
3.4.8. Corporate Social Responsibility.............................................................................................9
3.5. Corporate Culture................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter: 4: Human Resource Practices.........................................................................................11
4.1. HR Planning......................................................................................................................... 11
4.2. Recruitment and Selection process..........................................................................................11
4.2.1. Recruitment Process........................................................................................................... 13
4.2.1. Selection process:............................................................................................................... 13
4.3. Appointment Process............................................................................................................. 14
4.4. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT...........................................................................................14
4.5. Settlement & Compensation...................................................................................................16
4.6. Career Development.............................................................................................................. 17
CHAPTER-5: Human Resource Activities.....................................................................................18
5.1. Congenial work environment:................................................................................................18
5.2. Performance based appraisal and feedback system:.................................................................18
5.3. Rewards and recognition:......................................................................................................19
5.4. Employee Empowerment:......................................................................................................20
5.5. Health and Safety:................................................................................................................. 21
Chapter-06: Role of Human Resource practices in the growth and development of the company:......22
Chapter-07: Recommendation......................................................................................................23
Chapter-08: Conclusion............................................................................................................... 24
Chapter-09: References................................................................................................................ 25
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Human capital is possibly the most vital, yet overlooked, means of establishing competitive
advantage for companies today. Business periodicals have featured the “global war for talent, the
need for better ways to encourage innovation, the complexities posed by the maturing workforce,
or the preparedness of the talent pipeline. Human resources leaders should not be satisfied with
simply demonstrating the efficient use of human capital and begin to work on empirically
demonstrating how talent drives the performance of their organization. Human Resource
Management brings out the important values of trust, care, teamwork, encouragement and
development which help the organization meet the principle of being a good employer and
thereby motivating staff to give their best. Human Resources departments are transforming as the
modern business faces numerous and complex challenges, and exploit opportunities. The
transformation of human resources today is a direct call of the rapid changes within businesses
due to factors such as globalization. In the global competition within the flat and connected new
world, decision making in organizations has become increasingly intricate and convoluted. The
new global world has widened the talent pool for excellent and marginal workers, and for
permanent and fluid workers. An organization ‘s talent can be a source for a sustained
competitive advantage and can affect important organizational outcomes such as survival,
profitability, customer satisfaction level, and employee performance (Pfeffer, 1994; Prahalad,
1983). Human resources need to take advantage of technology and data analytics to build a
global human resource information system that collects and stores data from various sources.
The system will help to analyze the data to provide business insights, predict future needs and
develop strategies to fill those needs. Companies with the ability to foresee and sustainably
manage their workforce needs especially for high skills – will gain the decisive competitive
advantage.

(ix)
Chapter-01

1.1. Introduction

BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of medicines
in Bangladesh. It is part of the BEXIMCO Group of companies. BEXIMCO, having its state of
art manufacturing facilities, are certified global regulatory bodies of Australia, Saudi Arabia,
Brazil, Germany, and the United States. The company is consistently building upon its portfolio
& currently producing more than 500 products, it comprises of therapeutics that include anti –
invectives, analgesics, gastrointestinal, respiratory, cardiovascular, dermatology, oral anti –
diabetic, intravenous, ophthalmic & central nervous system. BEXIMCO is the only Bangladeshi
company to win the National Export Trophy (Gold) the national honor for export, a record 5
times. It was founded in 1976 & started their operation in 1980. Its headquarters is in Dhaka.
Manufactured products under the licenses of Bayer AG of Germany & Upjohn Inc of United
States. BEXIMCO started manufacturing their own formulations in 1983 & launched export
operation in 1992. They first exported their formulation in Russia. Then they expand their export
market to the Middle East, south-east Asia, Europe, Africa, USA, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, Philippines. Now BEXIMCO exports medicines to more than 45 countries. BEXIMCO
Pharma was listed in Dhaka & Chittagong Stock Exchange in 1992. BEXIMCO is the only
Bangladeshi company to be listed on the alternative investment market of London Stock
Exchange in 2005. It is the only pharmaceutical company in Bangladeshi to enter the US Market
through acquisition of an abbreviated new drug application. Its manufacturing facilities are
located in Tongi, Gazipur, which covers an area of 23 acres. The main site houses consist of self-
contained production units including oral solids, metered dose inhalers, intravenous fluids,
liquids, ointments, creams, suppositories, ophthalmic drops, injectables, nebulizer solutions. The
bulk drug unit for producing paracetamol is also located within this site. BEXIMCO’s penicillin
API & formulation units are situated at kaliokor, a few kms from the main factory. The Plant &
machinery throughout the plant have been designed & procured from renowned European
companies.

The Human Resource Practices play active roles in influencing the profitability and growth of
the BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. This report elucidates some of the HR activities and
practices such planning, recruiting and selection, training and development, performance
appraisal and employee compensation. This study further aims to identify the positive changes
encountered by the company due to its HR activities and practices.

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1.2. Origin of the report:

This report has been prepared as an academic requirement for the course “Human Resource
Management” under the supervision and guidance of Lecturer Sabrina Sharmin Nishat,
Department of Management Studies, Faculty of Business Studies, Bangladesh University of
Professionals.

1.3. Purpose and scope of the report:

The purpose of this report is to highlight the core Human Resource practices followed by
BEXIMCO Pharmaceutical Ltd. The report primarily discusses the HR activities, practices, and
processes conducted by the company to ensure the satisfaction of the employees as well as for
the growth of the company.

1.4 Research question:

This report aims to explore the answer to the following research questions:

RQ1. What are Human Resource practices followed by BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd?

RQ2. What are the outcomes of the Human Resource practices followed by the company?

1.5. Objectives:

Setting appropriate objectives is one of the primary prerequisites of any report. The objectives
play crucial role in determining the outcomes of a report.

1.5.1. Primary Objectives:

 To identify the HR practices followed by BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

 To understand how HR practices are being implemented.

1.5.2. Secondary Objectives:

 To determine the association of HR practices to the overall growth and development of

the company.
 To understand the impacts that the HR practices have on the employees and the company
as a whole.

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1.6. Methodology:

For this study, the primary data have been collected through a structured questionnaire where
open and closed-ended options have been considered. And a qualitative research strategy,
consisting of group observations have been done for secondary data collection where different
research papers and data are observed and surveyed which were used to gather the required
information. Therefore, by using these methods, the researchers were able to ascertain
underlying factors that are relevant to understanding the human resource practices of BEXIMCO
pharmaceuticals.

1.7. Limitations:

One of the limitations of this paper is the restraint of conducting a direct interview due to the
corona situation with the HR manager of the BEXIMCO pharmaceuticals which would have
been better for us to get more in-depth knowledge about the human resource practices of the
company. However, the primary data have been collected using the questionnaire method but
some difficulties were faced in the case of the collection of secondary data since more in-depth
recent information about the HR practices of the BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals is not available.

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Chapter-02: Literature Review
Human resource refers to the accumulation of efficient man forces who work together to achieve
the company's goals. A few researches were conducted on the HR practices followed by various
companies in Bangladesh. According to Rousseau, D. M., & Greller, M. M. (1994), practices
used in recruiting, training, performance review, and Compensation all contribute to employee
beliefs in a psychological contract with their employer. Human Resource Management plays a
vital role in the development of any company. Collins, C. J., & Clark, K. D. (2003) stated that
the indirect effects of HR practices on customer satisfaction were significantly large

Mahmood (2004) has assessed the institutional context of human resource management practices
in Bangladesh, and he observed that other than organizational contingencies, the institutional
context such as national education and training system, national industrial training system,
regulatory framework, and overall societal context had a significant influence on the
development of HRM practices in Bangladesh.
Ahmed (2001) discussed the linkage between human resource management and corporate
strategy. He revealed that corporate strategies developed by Michel Porter, such as cost
leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies, had a significant impact on HR strategies and
practices

2.1. Training and Development: Billah & Islam (2009) found that HR practices significantly
associate with employee turnover and organizational commitment. According to Absar, M. M.
N. (2012), human resource planning and training and development were found to have positive
impacts on job satisfaction.
2.2. Recruitment and selection: According to Absar, M. M. N. (2012), recruitment and selection
are some of the most important functions of Human Resources Management (HRM).
Weeratunga (2003) stated that the ultimate goals of recruitment are to attract and retain the
interest of the right candidate and projection of a positive image of the organization to those who
come in contact with it.
2.3. Employee retention and Compensation: According to Zobal (1998); Moncarz et al. (2009);
Chiu et al. (2002), Compensation is a very valuable tool for retention and turnover. It is also a
motivator for an employee in commitment to the organization, which in result enhances
attraction and retention.
2.4. Job satisfaction: According to Finn (2001), job satisfaction is the extent to which the
employee is satisfied with his present work due to how many of his needs and wants are
satisfied. Yang (2009) said job satisfaction could be explained as "agreeable emotional condition
resulting from the assessment of one's job as attaining or facilitating the accomplishment of
one’s job values.” A study conducted by Absar, M. M. N., Nimalathasan, B., & Jilani, M. M. A.
K. (2010) showed employees' satisfaction towards recruitment and selection, and training and
development and dissatisfaction towards the overall HR planning. The study further stated that

4|Page
pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh need to develop proper human resource policy and
give emphasis on appropriate human resource practices to enhance the satisfaction of their
employees and build them to be effective human resources.

Agarwala, T. (2003) stated, competitive pressures have encouraged organizations to be proactive

in diagnosing HR problems and to adopt more innovative HR practices since these were no
longer a matter of trend, but rather survival. According to Som, A. (2008), current research
shows that HR practices are important to enhance corporate performance.

5|Page
CHAPTER-3: About BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Limited

3.1. Organizational Background:

The Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited, generally known by its trade name
BEXIMCO, is a multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Dhaka,
Bangladesh. The company was founded by brothers A. S. F. Rahman and Salman F Rahman in
1972, soon after the establishment of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Since the 1970s,
BEXIMCO has been a pioneer in Bangladeshi industry, the Group has evolved from being
primarily a commodities trading company to a leading, diversified group with a presence in
industry sectors that account for nearly 75% of Bangladesh's GDP. BEXIMCO's corporate
mission is "Taking Bangladesh to the world".
Over the years BEXIMCO has expanded its areas, they now have operations and investments
across a wide range of industries including textiles, pharmaceuticals, PPE, ceramics, real estate
development, construction, trading, marine food, information and communication technologies,
media, DTH, financial services, and energy. They are Bangladesh's largest conglomerate, with
the largest market capitalization on the country's stock market. The Group sells its products and
services in the domestic Bangladesh market as well as international markets. Its subsidiaries
export products to 103 countries worldwide. It has retail outlets in South Asia and Eastern
Europe. They are the largest employer in the private sector in Bangladesh and employ over
70,000 people worldwide.
BEXIMCO intends to influence its market position and global scale, further diversify operations
into highly profitable sectors, capitalize on the domestic growth opportunity and selectively
pursue international opportunities going forward. In recent times BEXIMCO has launched its
newest vertical, the BEXIMCO PPE Division which is responsible for producing the highest
grade of internationally certified PPE products for medical use. And continues to make
significant contributions to Bangladesh's society.
BEXIMCO is well positioned to capitalize on strong growth across industries in both the
domestic and global markets. Each Group company is managed by an independent, professional
team with significant depth of experience. Management teams have established a clear strategic
plan that will further strengthen the overall platform. They intend to leverage its market position
and global scale, further diversify operations into highly profitable sectors, capitalize on the
domestic growth opportunity and selectively pursue international opportunities going forward.

6|Page
3.2. Company Background:
BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Limited (BPL) is a leading edge pharmaceutical company in the
private sector of Bangladesh, which is a part of the BEXIMCO Group of Companies. Also
known as BEXIMCO Pharma, it was founded in 1976 and started operations in 1980,
manufacturing products under the licenses of Bayer AG of Germany and Upjohn Inc. of the
United States. It is the first company to go beyond the national boundary and export its quality
products in overseas markets in Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was the first drug company from
Bangladesh to sell its products in the US. More than that, BPL has probably fulfilled the national
aspiration of turning a once import dependent country into an exporter of quality medicines. It
has geographic footprints in more than 50 countries.
BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. was the first Bangladeshi firm to list on the London Stock
Exchange. Today BPL holds 10.0% of shares in the domestic market after competing with such
MNCs like Novarits, Hoecsht, Rhone Poulene, GSK, and Fisons and so on. The total number of
shareholders are around 68,000 and the total number of employees are around 3,500 and its
authorized capital is about 2,000 million.
BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. manufactures and markets its own branded generics for several
diseases including AIDS, cancer, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes for both national and
international markets. It currently produces more than 300 generic medicines which are available
in over 500 different presentations and the broad portfolio encompasses all key therapeutic
categories including antibiotics, analgesics, anti-diabetic, respiratory, cardiovascular, central
nervous system, dermatology, gastrointestinal etc.
BEXIMCO Pharmaceutical Ltd., the fast-growing manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical
products and active pharmaceutical ingredients announced an agreement with the Serum Institute
of India Pvt. Ltd (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, for cooperation and distribution of
an agreement to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, for which BEXIMCO will be the exclusive
supplier in Bangladesh. In May 2020, the company introduced the world's first generic
Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment.

3.3. Organizational Structure:

BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Limited has a three-tier management structure, comprising the
Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and the Management Committee. There is also an
Audit Committee, constituted in 2006. It consists of eleven members including the Chairman, A
S F Rahman and the Vice Chairman, Salman F Rahman. The five-member Executive Committee
is headed by Mr. Osman Kaiser Chowdhury who is also a member of the Board of Directors. The
Executive Committee is accountable for both operational and financial performance of the
company. This committee is also responsible for budget approval, policy adoption or changes,
new project review, compliance audit etc. The Management Committee comprises ten eleven-
notch professionals who are one of the best in Bangladesh in their own fields. This committee is
led by Mr. Nazmul Hasan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is responsible for the overall

7|Page
management of the business. This committee reviews and manages day-to-day business
operations and recommends strategy options to the Executive Committee.
The Board is the highest level of authority within the Company comprising mainly non-
executive directors, none of whom receive directors' remuneration from it. The Board meets with
the Executive Committee, comprising six executive directors, twice a year to conduct a full
review of the Company's operations.

3.4. Mission, Vision and Core Values:

BEXIMCO Pharmaceutical Ltd is the manufacturer and marketer of pharmaceutical products
under chemical divisions of BEXIMCO Group. BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals is one of the
leading pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. It also is one of the biggest suppliers of
pharmaceutical products of any Bangladeshi based company. BPL is the first Bangladeshi
company to supply pharmaceutical products to Riffles Hospital, the most prestigious hospital of
Singapore.

3.4.1. Vision:
Their vision is building a healthier tomorrow where citizens of Bangladesh will live longer,
healthier and happier. Their activities have always been centered on non-developed core
competencies to deliver the best in the industry ensuring superior value and return to their
customers. They strive to be one of the most trusted, admired and successful pharmaceutical
companies in the region with a focus on strengthening research and development capabilities,
creating partnerships and building presence across the globe.

3.4.2. Mission:

They are committed to enhancing human health and wellbeing by providing contemporary and
affordable medicines, manufactured in full compliance with global quality standards. They
continually strive to improve their core capabilities to address the unmet medical needs of the
patients and to deliver outstanding results for our shareholders.

3.4.3. Core Values:

Their core values are an indispensable part; It guides them to take decisions and help realize their
individual and corporate aspirations.

3.4.4. Commitment to quality

They adopt industry best practices in all their operations to ensure highest quality standards of
their products.

8|Page
3.4.5. Customer satisfaction

They are committed to satisfying the needs of their customers, both internal and external.

3.4.6. People focus

They give high priority on building capabilities of our employees and empower them to realize
their full potential.

3.4.7. Accountability

They encourage transparency in everything they do and strictly adhere to the highest ethical
standards. They are accountable for their own actions and responsible for sustaining corporate
reputation.

3.4.8. Corporate Social Responsibility

We actively take part in initiatives that benefit our society and contribute to the welfare of our
people. We take great care in managing our operations with high concern for safety and
environment.

3.5. Corporate Culture

BEXIMCO is adopting all modern technology which strengthens the quality of product in a more
efficient manner. From my point of view I think this is another reason for the success of BPL in
Bangladesh and also across the globe. BEXIMCO’s most vital resource is its people. Its
dedicated team of professionals form various disciplines are integrated in a conducive
environment to achieve companies’ objectives. The people of BEXIMCO strongly believe in the
company’s philosophy of serving the nation and contributing to the society.BEXIMCO’s over
1,981 young, energetic, professionals ensures the timely promotion and smooth running of the
product to every part of the country. Thus, this is another factor for the success of BEXIMCO.

The following major departments coordinate the activities of BPL:

1) Central Product Management Department

2) Planning Department

3) Purchase Department

4) Sales Department

9|Page
5) Sales Education and Training Department

6) Medical Services Department

7) Business Research and Development Department

8) Market Research and Statistical Cell Department (MRC).

9) International Marketing

10) Fine Chemicals Department

11) MIS Department

12) Finance and Accounts Department

In this competitive business market “Market Research” is a vital part of any type of company,
especially who have a variety of products (like-medicine, cosmetics, consumer goods etc).
Market Research is necessary for marketing any type of sense about the market and which saves
the time, resource, wastage of energy and money. Market Research helps to know about the
condition of existing product, helps to set the further steps, helps to achieve the objectives and
target of the company which is set by the top management, helps to know the condition of the
competitors, market share and market growth rate etc. through market research company can
keep the record of each and every product and also some other factors like which product is
earning more value for the company and which product is not, which one is the number one
product in terms of unit or which one is the highest selling drug in different markets ( like-
antibiotic, paracetamol, ranitidine etc) and also the performance of the Medical Representatives
(MRRs). It also helps to identify that product which one needs a large promotion to increase its
sales in volume. The Marketing Research Department not only keeps the products record but
also keeps the doctors record, which doctor helps to earn more revenue by prescribing medicines
of BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals.

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Chapter: 4: Human Resource Practices

4.1. HR Planning

BPL maintains its HRM process by planning, organizing, directing, managing, and controlling its
functions of producing, developing, and motivating its manpower forces. The human resource
planning is a process of which forecasts an organization’s future demand of candidates to fulfill
any job vacancies of the company. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the HR department to
recruit and select the best candidate according to the skills required to perform the job. HR
Planning is considered as a sub system in the total organizational planning. Organizational
planning includes managerial activities that set the company’s objectives for the future. It is an
integrated part of strategic management. HR Planning is also called manpower planning. BPL
maintains some planning programs for their future development job, the employees and their
workforce.

HR plans are made to be based on organizations objective, i.e. HR formulates plans depending
on the organization’s missions, organizations objective to fulfill their strategic goals. Therefore,
when the organization's objective is evaluated, the need or future requirement of the organization
is identified only then HR starts to formulate a plan to fulfill those requirements which will lead
the organization closer to its required objectives. And in developing those objectives, the
answers of some of the following questions are the requirement of the HR department of BPL to
formulate HR planning,

- Are vacancies to be filled by promotion from within or hiring from outside?

- How do training & development objectives interface with HRP objectives?

- How to enrich an employee's job? Should the routine and boring jobs continue or be
eliminated?

- How to downsize the organization to make it more competitive?

4.2. Recruitment and Selection process

Recruitment is the process of searching candidates for future vacant jobs of the company and
making them apply for the same and its aim is to attract more and more candidates for the vacant
job. Therefore, BEXIMCO Pharma has an extensive recruitment and selection process.
According to their needs, from the applicants of the job, they select the right person fit for the job
who will eventually help the organization's needs and fulfill standards which will increase

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effectiveness & efficiency of BPL. They generally recruit 3 times a year and sometimes recruit
according to their need. But no written document of the applicants is maintained in its
recruitment and selection process.

To reach the current position where BPL is today, the recruitment and selection process plays a
very important role since this process gives the company the required candidate according to the
jobs requirement. But it's not easy to find the required candidate even though BPL has a sorted
process of recruitment and selection.

Therefore, now comes the question, from where BEXIMCO gets their expected applicants,

1.Job Posting Programs: Job posting is a way of letting the interested candidate know about the
vacant position, description of the responsibilities and other information to invite them to apply
for the job. The notices are usually posted on the office notice board. This program motivates the
current employees to join the HRD recruitment team for assistance so that the employee can feel
the importance of their role and position. However, all the vacant positions are not published like
this. Only the bottom level positions are required in these cases.

2.Advertisements: BPL provides advertisements about job vacancies in both the Bengali and
English national dailies. They also post vacancy notices in online job portals such as bdjobs.com
however they do not invite applicants via LinkedIn for some issues. Moreover, they add that,
they have already plenty of responses from the advertisements and posts of the daily newspapers
and the job sites, so, they do not really need to have it on LinkedIn right now.

3.Employee Referrals: It means contacting personal contacts to identify job possibilities and
opportunities. It is a recommendation from the contemporary employees concerning a job
applicant. It is a useful way because it saves both time and money for the employer. Since the
employee knows about the person the recruiter can easily trust his employee as he or she acts as
a reliable source.

4.Employment Agency: An agency helps to find the appropriate applicant for the company in
exchange of money or any other benefits according to the contract. It can show its efficiency if it
can have the clear understanding about the designation it is trying to fill. Full transparency is
expected from both the parties. This type of agencies are usually hired for recruiting the top level
of employees

The aforementioned procedure helps the HR of BPL to attract more applicants so that they can
select the expected candidate from that pool of candidates. But BPL also has its own recruitment
and selection, the procedure of the process is mentioned below,

The steps that the HR department of the BPL follows to recruit and select the required candidates
for the step are mentioned below:

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4.2.1. Recruitment Process

The main goals of recruitment are to replace the turnovers, expansion, increase the capability of
the firm by adding new skills.

1) Determining the number of vacant posts: The HR department determines the number of
future possible vacancies of BPL and to do this the HR evaluates the future skills that the
company will need to fulfill the vacant jobs, it determines what more skills the company
requires to grow in this competitive market. According to those requirements, the number of
vacancies are determined.

2) Determining the job criteria: HR department consults with other departments regarding
vacant job criteria. As different jobs required different criteria, skilled manpower.

3) Job Advertisement: the job advertisement of BPL is done considering the requirement of
skills that the company needs to grow and develop. Therefore, basing on that requirements the
advertisement of BPL is prepared so that they receive applications from their expected
applicants. BEXIMCO Pharma Post their job advertisement on newspaper, bdjobs.com and their
own web portal.

4.2.1. Selection process:

1) Inviting Applicants: After circulating a job post, applicants submit their CV or Resume
through e -mail, bdjobs.com BEXIMCO Pharma account. BEXIMCO Pharma also has a CV
bank. After submitting their application an auto generated tracking number & CV identification
is given to the candidate.

2) Screening: After submission of CV, the HR department sorts out selected applicants for the
written test. Screening based on various factors & requirements.

3) Written Test: After selecting applicants, they are called for a written test. Written test
consists of 100 marks. Bangla - 20, English - 20, General Math - 20, General Knowledge - 20,
essay - 20. Those applicants’ securing highest marks are called for viva

4) Viva Test: Viva test consists of 100 numbers. An independent viva panel conducts the viva
test. Panel board given the at most power regarding interview, their decision is considered the
final one. No interferences will be allowed in this process.

5) Selection & Job offer: After the end of interview, number of written & viva tests will be
counted. The applicant receiving the maximum score will be chosen and will be considered for
the vacant post. His selection letter will be sent through email, mailing or call up by the HR
department. The applicant must have to sign a contract paper for the job.

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6) Managerial Job Selection: Managerial post could be a very important post for each and
every organization. Once a corporation chooses an individual for a managerial job to be
established himself accurately. They have to go through the mental ability tests as well as the
personality tests by the assessment center. Assessment center has its own characteristics. BPL
follows those very carefully. It evaluates the managers by giving them specific job tasks, role
playing, group discussion, case studies, management games, etc. It's high validity may predict
each long and short success and advancement in management position. BPL does not recruit
fresh graduates for this position rather a minimum 5 years of experience is required.

4.3. Appointment Process

After the written test and the reference check the candidate is offered some specific conditions. If
agreed with all the conditions then the candidate is provided with a blank application form where
he/she needs to fill some necessary information regarding himself/herself. This form is needed to
be submitted along with the CV. After that his/her name is included in the company PIS
(Personal Information System). Based on this PIS he/she will be getting the salaries and other
compensations.

1.Pre-Employment Medical Check-Up: After submitting the application the candidate must go
through a medical checkup. This checkup is done in the specific medical Centre assigned by the
company. However, the fees of the medical checkup is paid by the candidate himself/herself.
Company will not bear the cost of the medical checkup.

2.Offer Letter: After the medical checkup a formal offer letter is given to the selected candidate.
This letter contains all the details about the basic salary, compensation, utilities, and job
responsibilities and so on. This is the written document of the final selection and being one of the
employees of BPL.

4.4. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Training has specific goals of improving one’s capability, capacity, productivity and
performance. It enhances a person’s values, aptitude, perception and knowledge about the job,
and so on depending on the training type.

Before enrolling employees in a training program, BPL first identifies the training needs. It is a
2-step process:

● Identify the department/sector in the organization which needs training;

● Identify those employees who really need the training;

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Training programs in BPL are conducted after hiring new employees as well as for existing
employees. There is no fixed frequency of training programs for existing employees but the HR
department tries to make it happen at least once every year.

The training programs can be categorized into 2-types:

1. Functional training: Employees from different functions of BPL participate in this
specialized training. Important functions are the Human Resource department, marketing
department, R&D, production etc. functional trainings are designed to fulfill specific
needs of departmental jobs after need identification.
2. Behavioral training: Soft skill training on topics such as communication skills, leadership
skills, interpersonal skills, adaptability and so on. All employees can participate in these
training from bottom to top level management.

Again these 2 types of training is given in 2-ways:

1. On-the job training: This is not only for new recruits but also for existing employees.
Following this method, employees are in a continuous learning procedure, learning new
things while performing their jobs. Job rotation is very crucial in on-the job training. It
enhances employee knowledge with minimal additional cost and time. The work is a lot
easier if it’s an in-house training. Senior management takes seminars & workshops for
their department executives.

2. External training: BPL arranges training outside the organisation when required. After
identifying training needs they decide whether the training can be done in-house or if
they need to hire a trainer. If it’s an external training they find the best trainer in the
market and together they set the type of training, length, depth, and other relevant
criterias.

After experiencing training performances are evaluated by the trainers. Employee feedback is
received and feedback is also given to employees based on score of activities, willingness,
employee curiosity, ethical standards, peers, trainers and supervisors usually rate employees and
peers.

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4.5. Settlement & Compensation

A good compensation acts as a positive reinforcement for the employees. Employees can be
compensated with money, goods and services. It is given over the basic salary an employee is
paid.
In BEXIMCO pharmaceuticals limited, compensation is set after the yearly performance
appraisal and evaluation. These compensations and benefits are set for the different classes of
employees such as, managers, deputy managers, assistant managers, mid & entry level
employees and so on.

Employees get increments as compensation after the performance evaluation by the Likert Scale.
For example, an employee rated “average” will get 3 increments, the one who has been rated as
“Satisfactory” and “outstanding” will be getting 4 and 5 increments respectively.

In the assembly line worker level BPL arranges for a collective bargaining through the Trade
Union in every two years. In every collective bargaining period there is an increase of benefits
for the workers.

The employees and workers are also provided with motivational benefits, such as mobile phone
allowances and medical allowances.

In BPL employees can get medical allowances in specific hospitals depending on the services,
types and nature of treatments. It can be up to 30%.
Employees can also avail:

❖ Sick leave,
❖ Maternity & paternity leaves,
❖ Allowance on hotel bookings,
❖ Retired benefits,
❖ Annual leave of 40 days,
❖ Vacation & holidays
❖ Insurance facilities,
❖ Discounts on other products under the brand. For example, products of Yellow, which is
a sister concern of BEXIMCO Group.

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4.6. Career Development
HR managers are responsible for designing and developing an effective career development
system for their organization.

HR managers in BPL follow 4 steps for developing personnel career

The steps in career development are:

(1) Identifying career needs.

(2) Developing career opportunities.

(3) Integration of employees needs with career opportunities.

(4) Regular monitoring.

Step:1 IDENTIFYING NEEDS

They arrange workshops where they study employee psychology and tries to figure out what
employees want from their career and what they aspire for. The HR manager also plays an
important role of providing information and assistance in making decisions about the career
needs of the employee.

Step:2 DEVELOPING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

The employees are provided with information regarding job postings that are available in the
organization and, for future reference, what requirements they will have to fulfill to achieve the
promotion which they aspire.

Step:3 INTEGRATION OF EMPLOYEE NEEDS WITH CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

The main job that is done here is ‘career counselling’. The HR manager discusses the strengths
and weaknesses of the employee. This helps the employee to identify areas of development so
that he/she can meet future challenges of his/her job.

Step:4 REGULAR MONITORING

Employees are regularly monitored so that progress towards his/her career plans can be tracked
and that the support is being provided to meet those plans.

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CHAPTER-5: Human Resource Activities

5.1. Congenial work environment:

BEXIMCO is a leading edge company based in Dhaka, Bangladesh and is acclaimed for its
remarkable quality of products but mostly for a congenial work environment. A friendly and
secured work environment is a key for any company to flourish and attain success.
BEXIMCO knows the importance of a good working environment and tries to keep its
environment friendly for the employees. They believe that if the working environment is good
then the employees can work effectively and efficiently and can produce maximum output for
the company.
According to a recent review on Glassdoor, a site acclaimed for its reviews on companies based
on Bangladesh, the employees gave the working environment of BEXIMCO 4 stars out of 5 stars
demonstrating how good the work environment is.
Generally, a good working environment has contributed greatly to the leading companies often
helping them in recruiting and keeping good employees and also producing outstanding results
from the employees.

5.2. Performance based appraisal and feedback system:

It is important for any company to have a performance-based appraisal system because it ensures
that the employees in a company are motivated and they are performing to their maximum
potential.
There are some significant factors, which contributed BEXIMCO to reach the sky and being in
the front row among the world class competitors one of them is keeping a competitive yet
friendly work environment by introducing a performance-based appraisal system. BEXIMCO is
well aware of the wonders and effectiveness of a performance-based appraisal system. Due to
this BEXIMCO has a very scientific and effective employee performance appraisal system which
helps to monitor standards of employee performance and at the same time enables the
management to observe and resolve the weaknesses and shortcomings that the people have.
The performance-based appraisal system of BEXIMCO includes appraisers who have been
trained exclusively for assessing employees and giving them feedback. There is a separate team
for monitoring the results of the company and also keep track of performance of individual
employees. The monitoring team monitors the performance for 2 weeks before recording the
results. After that they monitor for another 2 weeks and they send both results to the appraisers.
The appraisers analyze the results, to see if there are improvements or not, and evaluate the
employees according to their performance. They also solve any underlying problems, motivate
employees, give them feedback and guide the employees so that they can overcome their
shortcomings and barriers. Due to the time period of results the appraisers can assess the
employees once every month.In this way, the employees can improve constantly and take a stab
at better outcomes.

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BEXIMCO always ensures that the appraisers are well trained and know how to effectively
appraise employees as it is a key factor of a good performance-based appraisal system. Also,
they have incorporated a self-appraisal system inside their performance-based appraisal system.
BEXIMCO believes that it is imperative to reflect on the activities of oneself to bring out an
employee’s true potential. Self-appraisal is an important part of the performance appraisal
process where the employee himself gives the feedback or his views and points regarding his
performance. BEXIMCO carries this out using a self-appraisal form where the employee rates
himself on various parameters, tells about his training needs, if any, talks about his
accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, problems faced etc.
Effective and timely feedback is a critical component of a successful performance management
program and should be used in conjunction with setting performance goals. If effective feedback
is given to employees on their progress towards their goals, employee performance will improve.
BEXIMCO understands the crucial role that performance management feedback plays in a
company’s success. They know that without a performance management feedback the employees
will not grow and develop which in turn will affect their results. Without effective monitoring
and feedback BEXIMCO cannot retain their top position and due to this they have a smoothly
functioning performance management feedback system which is mainly based on three things-
· Holds people accountable for meeting performance goals and objectives
· Provides constructive feedback to help staff improve performance
· Takes appropriate action to address poor performance

Due to this cohesive and structured performance management feedback system BEXIMCO has
been growing from strength to strength over the last decade and reached the heights it is at.
BEXIMCO also has a positive and two -way communication amongst all levels and is regularly
administered in such a way, where the people feel they can express and share their ideas,
thoughts, discomfort and grievances on various personal and management issues and can get
feedback on anything.

5.3. Rewards and recognition:

For a company to prosper at a continuous basis the most important thing is the work of
employees and the results they are able to produce. A company must keep their employees happy
and motivated and must also ensure that the employee has good job satisfaction. If the above
mentioned things are ensured then the company will continuously keep on producing better
results. Rewards and recognition has a huge part in motivating employees and keeping them
happy.
In an effective organization, rewards are used well. Rewarding means recognizing employees,
individually and as members of groups, for their performance and acknowledging their
contributions to the company’s mission.
BEXIMCO is very good at identifying superior performance and has a very good reward and
incentive system in action to reward those performances accordingly. BEXIMCO provides very

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competitive remuneration and auspicious facilities and benefits for its employees. They have
bonuses which can be attained by completing yearly goals and also they sub-goals which provide
monthly bonuses. Their reward and incentive system is based on three main things-
1. Conducts thorough annual performance reviews
2. Assesses individuals fairly
3. Differentiates high performers appropriately
Below are some of the types of rewards and incentives BEXIMCO gives to its employees-
1. Pay and allowances: Regular increments in salary every year and grant of allowance act as
good motivators. In BEXIMCO pay hikes and allowances are directly linked with the
performance of the employee. To get increment and allowance employees perform to their best
ability.
2. Bonus: Bonus is a onetime extra reward offered to the employee for sharing high
performance. Generally, when the employees reach their target or exceed the target then they are
paid an extra amount called bonus. Bonus is also given in the form of free trips to foreign
countries, paid vacations or gold etc. some companies have the scheme of offering bonus during
the festival times.
3. Wage incentives: These are wage rate plans which offer higher wages for more productivity.
Under the differential piece wage system efficient workers are paid higher wages as compared to
inefficient workers. To get higher wages workers perform efficiently.
4. Status: Status refers to rank, authority, responsibility, recognition and prestige related to job.
By offering higher status or rank in the organization managers can motivate employees having
esteem and self- actualization needed actively in them.
5. Promotions: Managers in BEXIMCO provide promotional opportunities to employees who
perform better than their peers. Whenever there are promotional opportunities employees
improve their skill and efficiency with the hope that they will be promoted to a high level.
Promotion is a very big stimulator or motivator which induces people to perform to their best
level and BEXIMCO utilizes this to their advantage to attain better results.
All of the above-mentioned rewards are given by BEXIMCO based on the performance of the
employee and the results they are able to produce.

5.4. Employee Empowerment:

BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. believe that their collective set of dedicated and highly skilled
employees are the key elements that have guided them to gradually elevate in this competitive
industry.A strong emphasis on employee empowerment at every level is what helps the company
to continuously evolve for the better. The company continuously invests in training and
development of their employees. Through their HR initiatives the company emphasizes on
creating an environment where the objectives and aspirations of the employees are intertwined
with that of the company’s.

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5.5. Health and Safety:
BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. prioritizes the health and safety of their employees. The
company has employed health and safety training for the workers and employees to equip
themselves for any adverse situations that may arise and also to prevent accidents and losses.
As prevention from COVID-19, the company has undertaken several measures. The
manufacturing sites have implemented new working conditions that strongly ensure social
distancing. At the company’s office-based facilities, employees work remotely with a minimum
number of people attending the office. Each of these employees are properly screened before
their entrance into the office. Moreover, the company has ensured the availability of masks,
sanitizers and disinfectant all over the offices as well as the manufacturing sites.
Furthermore, the company has taken the initiative of forming an emergency response team which
is available 24 hours a day. This team is composed of qualified doctors and healthcare
professionals who are accountable for responding to the concerns of the employees and for
providing them with medical support if they exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.

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Chapter-06: Role of Human Resource practices in the growth and development
of the company:

Human resource department is a department that plays a critical role in the growth of the
company. From hiring the right person to the job, training them, keeping them engaged and by
doing many other activities HR department works hard to achieve different goals of the
company. Some of the ways how the role HR helps in the growth of the company are discussed
briefly,

o Building the Brand and Culture of the company: BPL has a strong brand and
corporate image and the reason why BPL is able to build and maintain such a strong
brand and corporate image in the current competitive market is because of its HR
department. Human Resources becomes a critical piece to this branding process. It acts as
a facilitator, aligning a company culture to its brand. From recruiting the necessary
talented workforce to retaining high-performance employees, HR has the potential to
make or break the company's branding. Since BPL has a strong brand image, its market
share is high and this increases by 15 percent to 20 percent every year. Therefore, by
maintaining the brand image HR is playing an important role in the growth of the
company.
o Plan for growth: The BPL needs to have a strong and advanced plan for the future to
maintain the position in this competitive market. And to ensure this HR of the company
uses different tools to give a competitive edge to the BPL. For example, the HR evaluates
the SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the BPL to find out
the proper macro environment which can help the company to conduct its activities in a
competitive market. Therefore, HR gets an overview of the current business position of
the company which guides the BPL to formulate better strategic plans for the company.
o Hire the right people: One of the main responsibilities of HR is to hire the right people
for the right job. And without having skilled manpower, it’s not possible for BPL to reach
the height that it has reached today. In order to hire the right people for the right job of
BPL, the HR of BPL takes different initiatives for example, the post that needs to be
filled, the skills that are required for that post, etc. Everything is determined by the HR
department of BPL. Therefore, by selecting the job-fit person, the HR is helping in the
development and growth of the company.
o Reducing employee turnover and motivating them: After recruiting and selecting the
employee, it’s more difficult to retain those skilled employees. Therefore, the HR plays
an important role to retain the employees by giving them feedback, performance
appraisal and providing them the required training to progress in their job. As a result of
this activity by HR, the employees are motivated to do their job more efficiently and
effectively which ultimately results in the growth and development of BPL.

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 o Developing talent: One of the main activities of HR is to arrange the training programs
according to the need of the employee. As it is already known that BPL is one of the
leading pharmaceuticals of Bangladesh and this would not have been possible without
skilled manpower. And behind this achievement of BPL, the HR department plays an
important role. They arrange different training sessions according to the needs of the
employee and prepare them as skilled manpower of the company. The HR also prepares
future potential candidates to fulfill future important vacancies of the company.
Therefore, by providing proper planning and preparing potential candidates HR is playing
an active role in the growth and development of the company.
o Implementing and issuing different policies for the growth of the company: another
responsibility of the HR is to issue different policies when there is an emergency and
maintaining the existing company policies like leave policy, equal employment policy
and other policies. Therefore, by ensuring the implementation of the policies of the BPL,
the HR is maintaining the corporate culture of the company resulting in the development
of the company.
o Preparing and promoting leaders: The HR department needs to have the knack of
recognizing the potential candidate who has the capability of becoming a future leader.
Therefore, by recognizing those candidates and preparing them for future jobs, the HR is
playing an important role for the growth and development of the company.
o Developing technologies and programs: The HR does different research and suggests
different development programs for the company. The HR suggests the use of improved
technologies and arranges programs for those. In this way, HR plays a role in the
development of the company.
o Forecasting future needs of the company: the HR does different research about the
company and the existing companies of the market. Therefore, HR knows what is the
opportunity, what could be the future threat. As a result, according to the need so that the
company gets a competitive edge in the market, the HR department arranges different
training sessions, suggests different development programs, prepares different projects
and does many other activities to support the ultimate strategic goal of the company.

Chapter-07: Recommendation
BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh.
The company has accomplished this position through the hard work and perseverance of its
highly skilled and diligent set of employees. Despite being one of the most renowned and
successful companies, BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd has some room for improvement.
● The HR policies of the company should lack the rigidity and must be transparent to the
employees. Some of these policies should be readily amenable as per the
recommendations of the employees.

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 ● The HR department should emphasize on utilizing digital platforms to recruit eligible
candidates. The department can resort to e-recruitment to attract, assess, recruit, and
select suitable candidates. This will not only save time but also reduce costs.

Chapter-08: Conclusion
 The HR department of BPL has played an important and effective role in maintaining and
developing the positive company culture, engaging the employees more in their jobs by
motivating and training them. Furthermore, the HR practices and activities have played vital role
in helping the company to overcome various challenges that it has to face in this competitive
industry. The HR of BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals have the capability to critically analyze
dynamic situations and come up with feasible solutions that are easy to implement. Therefore, it
can be said that, without the contribution and support of the HR department in all of these
activities it would be quite difficult for BPL to reach the current position that it has reached.

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Chapter-09: References
1) About - BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (2020). Retrieved 17 October 2020, from
https://www.BEXIMCOpharma.com/about.html.
2) Risha R. 2019. Career development in HRM. Retrieved from
3) https://www.economicsdiscussion.net/human-resource-management/career-development-
in-hrm/31801
4) BEXIMCO Pharma.com. 2020. Mission & Vision - BEXIMCO Pharmaceuticals Ltd..
[online] Available at: <https://www.BEXIMCOpharma.com/about/mission-vision.html?
fbclid=IwAR1qZrl9M_8qpZ3axkzUXfGxCER9c9wLfiPoUf4wXwNsQjzifq2VY58DqZ
A> [Accessed 17 October 2020].
5) Hr.psu.edu. 2020. Performance Management: Giving And Receiving Feedback. [online]
Available at:
<https://hr.psu.edu/sites/hr/files/GivingAndReceivingFeedbackSupervisors.pdf?
fbclid=IwAR26fGln8Dl-x8ZcLFwE2T5HrU7G-
a5NYfOdt_ZXuMI2EDScKZIOv5HEZXI> [Accessed 17 October 2020].
6) Hr.psu.edu. 2020. Performance Management: Giving And Receiving Feedback. [online]
Available at:
<https://hr.psu.edu/sites/hr/files/GivingAndReceivingFeedbackSupervisors.pdf?
fbclid=IwAR26fGln8Dl-x8ZcLFwE2T5HrU7G-
a5NYfOdt_ZXuMI2EDScKZIOv5HEZXI> [Accessed 17 October 2020].

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