The building of long-term and transparent relationships with our stakeholders is a business imperative. The
group has a deliberate and measured approach to its interaction with stakeholders, developed over the course
of a number of years. These interactions take account of the impact that the stakeholders may have on the
business. The frequency and form of that engagement is commensurate with such estimated impact.
Initiatives such as media roundtables, bi-annual analyst perception audits and feedback from employees result
in stakeholder concerns being identified and presented to the executive committee for consideration and/or
further action.
Blue Label Telecoms has identified the following as the stakeholders that contribute to its sustainability, either
directly or indirectly:
Stakeholder group
Stakeholder engagement
Employees
Communication with employees is achieved via the intranet, staff meetings, monthly newsletter and e-mail correspondence providing information in respect of new products, competitions, business initiatives, charitable initiatives and the like. Once a month the group holds a one-day strategy meeting for senior managers to agree and plan the most effective manner of implementing the board strategy. Senior managers are thereafter required to convey the group strategy to their businesses.
Shareholders, investors, analysts and the media
Presentations covering the financial performance of the group and an overview of the strategic direction of the group are made to the investor community by the joint chief executive officers and the chief financial officer at year-end and interim stages. Meetings and discussions are held during the year with these parties on an ad hoc basis. The company also held a media roundtable in may 2009 to provide the media with a better insight to Blue Label Telecoms and its operations and to introduce the respective segment heads of the group. Results and presentations of the group are published in the press and company website.
Customers
The group’s customer base is comprised of corporate clients, chainstores, large independent retail clients, wholesale/cash-and-carry stores, and petroleum industry forecourts. Field representatives and key account managers engage directly on a continual basis with these customers in terms of new products, market trends, business queries, device installations and marketing. Blue Label Telecoms senior management liaise regularly with senior management of customers and suppliers, as appropriate, to achieve enduring relationships.
Business partners
The relationships that Blue Label Telecoms has with its business partners such as Microsoft, Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, municipalities and parastatals, among others, are managed in terms of distributor and/or dealer agreements and collaboration agreements. Relationship managers are appointed to each partner to provide a single and dedicated point of contact. In most instances engagement with these business partners occurs regularly and at least once a month in the form of informal and formal meetings.
Communities
The Prepaid Company formed a community division known as TPC Community Channel. This division specialises in the development and empowerment of broad-based communities through the deployment of mobile technology and products. The community channel aims to not only distribute the group’s products more widely but to create job opportunities for the members of the communities and to share a portion of the revenues earned with those communities.
Government, regulatory
bodies and the public sector
The group regularly engages government (at a national and local level), parastatals and other public organisations through various tender processes. From a compliance point of view, the completion and rendition of statutory returns is undertaken diligently. Blue Label Telecoms is not a member of any industry association and/or national/international advocacy organisation in which the company has positions in governance bodies, participates in projects or committees or provides substantive funding.
Suppliers
Suppliers are subjected to a formal procurement process whereby issues such as quality of product, credit worthiness and BBBEE status are confirmed prior to becoming suppliers. Suppliers of services are, if appropriate, initially engaged through a tender process and if successful, agreements are concluded which are then managed by Blue Label Procurement.Tthe majority of the group’s goods and services are procured from locally based suppliers.
