PTV is the main competitor of GEO with regards to viewer ship because of the reason that geo is a satellite channel and is accessible in specific areas whereas PTV is a national antenna channel, which is easily accessible. Geo is trying to compete with PTV and trying harder and harder to be the No.1 channel in Pakistan. Other satellite channels like Sony, Starplus etc, are GEO’s major competitors among satellite channels.

11 channels is their total capacity because they are using 2 beams and each beam contains 5-6 channels.

Geo is the only independent and liberal channel with the unique honor of consistently breaking news. Geo is a liberal channel it has no restriction from the Government of Pakistan because its transmissions are telecasted from Dubai, which is a free zone. The Government of Pakistan can influence GEO about the News and programs they air but GEO is not bound to report to the Government. However, they cannot ignore and go against the Government as they operate within Pakistan as well. They Government have the right to jeopardize GEO’s operations.

Despite the liberty GEO enjoys it cannot ignore the cultural ethical values of the society that is why GEO has a Quality Control Department Specifically working on censoring each program and News before it can be aired on TV. They are bound to follow the rules of the censor board.

The technological environment includes all the ways by which it creates value for the constituents.

In case of a catastrophe in the environment GEO network is affected in two ways. It is positively affected when viewers depend on Geo News to give them Live Coverage on the situation like wise, it is negatively affected at the same time when the demand for the entertainment channels lessen because people are grieved by the chaos. This way Geo entertainment loses viewer ship.

Democratic leadership can produce high quality and high quantity work for long periods of time. Many employees like the trust they receive and respond with cooperation, team spirit, and high morale. Typically the democratic leader:

--Develops plans to help employees evaluate their own performance

--Allows employees to establish goals .

--Encourages employees to grow on the job and be promoted

--Recognizes and encourages achievement.

Geo firmly believes in the use and influence of Internal Communications to create a working environment that is based on the hallmark of professionalism and on the concept of ‘service above self’.

The idea is to create a relationship between the organization and its people, encourage excellence, and inculcate a spirit of achievement.

As an organization that lays great emphasis on Human Resource, its training and development, inevitably it realizes the meaningful contribution of its team that has worked passionately to make the channel grow and achieve unprecedented results.

Geo’s HR Department plans and executes cohesive and integrated communication designed specifically for its people to share the sense of pride and joy in Brand Stewardship. This of course is in addition to numerous events and occasions that it holds to allow social, cultural and sporting activities as one big team.

Managers interact with their employees and communicate with everyone on an open forum culture. Managers communicate on the phone and over the internet the head office in based in Karachi.

Geo organization is very informal and partially formal. They follow an “Open door Policy”. Formal conversations are less because GEO believes in Teamwork and working in a friendly environment. Despite a friendly atmosphere, no such incident has occurred yet in which different kinds of rumors has spread. Everyone has the right to give ideas and opinions regarding improvement such as new technology, innovation etc.

There is a code of conduct that all employees have to follow strictly. For example:

Geo consists of 1600 plus employees around the world and 180 employees in the Lahore bureau itself because Geo has a very wide and large hierarchy.

Geo consists of multiple layers of management and thus forms a Tall Organizational Structure. Information whether upward or downward must pass through so many organizational layers.

In GEO span of control tends to be wide at lower level and is relatively narrow at upper level management.

When asked about its organizational chart we were told that it has a very complicated and wide hierarchy organizational chart, which is 3 meters long and is available on a 64 mb visual file, which is kept in the Karachi H.Q. An organizational chart of the Lahore bureau is:

It is highly decentralized but also partially centralized.

Making a new decision is “highly centralized” only the C.E.O has the authority to implement any decision at any time without reporting to anyone.

In case of hiring the person to hire is “centralized” that is, if there is a designation/post to be made or filled this is up to the upper level managers to decide if it should be implemented or not. Whereas the selection of the candidate for that specific post is “Decentralized”. The HR department has the authority to select the required candidate.

No matter how an organization is structured, those at the top of the organization are accountable for the actions and decisions of those subordinate to them (within the chain of authority). Geo’s mainframe hierarchy of delegating responsibilities to others in routine or in emergency involves all concerned employees to act with the highest level of professionalism. When a subordinate fails, all who are responsible shoulder that failure and the necessary authority is alerted (e.g. subordinate, superior, and superior to the superior.) in order to rectify an issue. Geo serves this chain of command and delegates the duties to other employees in such a manner that if a departmental head needs to go for some reason, he can delegate his duties for an interim period to his next senior most person available. He can acquire all his authority in a limited manner but can’t take any financial decision on his own, he will need to sanction it first by the board of directors and the CEO of the company to avoid any complexity in the decision making process.

The President and C.O.O will report to the C.E.O. Managing Director of News and Managing Director of Entertainment reports to the President. Director News reports to MD News and Content Head of Production reports to MD Entertainment. The News and Entertainment departments have separate levels of hierarchy but they operate from the same office. Further hierarchy is extended to each bureau/regional office.

Geo is a highly organized and departmentalized firm. The control and coordination is narrowed and made easier, so top managers can see more easily how the various departments are performing. This allows GEO to treat the department as a profit centre. The Marketing department is mainly the “Profit center” of GEO. They calculate the profits of Geo and use that information in making decisions about advertising and promotional events, commercial airtime allocation etc.

Geo has its own specific way of classifying and grouping work activities.

It is classified according to:

1)Functional Departmentalization

2)Geographic Departmentalization

Geo has developed departments according to a group’s functional activities, such as the:

The functional departments of GEO are further sub-divided into geographical departments in order to carry out the operations and activities of different cities, regions and districts. To keep themselves up to date with the latest news and events across the nation and globe.

Karachi

Besides that there are also out station reporters of Geo who work individually and has no office for example:

Sailkot

Gujranwala and almost in all districts.

Earth Station:

Dubai .This is the station where all transmission and telecast of programs is undertaken.

United Kingdom and the United States of America.

GEO News is now a part of our lives. This is where news is broken, processed, analyzed, and disseminated. GEO news just doesn’t happen. It needs dedicated, committed men and women who want to make a difference – GEO News is different because it makes a difference! Producing, Editing, Anchoring, Reporting and Footage all take place under this department.

Enter the world of glamour, creativity, and visually striking images. Enter GEO Entertainment. We have career options for producers, associate producers, script writers, production designers, art directors, fashion designers; make up artists, music composers, location locators, talent hunters, concepts writers and more. So if you have a script, an idea struggling to find shape, think you can act, believe you have the organizational skills and aesthetics to become a producer, nourish an ambition to be part of the wonderful world of show biz, walk into the spotlight.

This is where information meets entertainment and shows are created that are exciting to watch while being provocative and thoughtful. The Geo Infotainment Department is on the look out for concept writers, scriptwriters, producers, associate producers, and researchers.

GEO has created a unique space for creative people who understand market forces. In Product Development, concepts originate are polished and tested against stringent market research, and are placed in time zones that are viewer specific.

Product Development at GEO is concerned with the enhancement of our brand. It oversees the evolution of the brand and treats each program as a product that needs to be polished, marketed, positioned, and enhanced. Product Development creates concepts for promoting our products and develops media plans and campaign strategies that place our programs at the very centre of our audience’s attention.

For those marketers who want to unleash the creative urges in their hearts, this is the place to be. Un-knot that tie, roll up your sleeves, cut out the power dressing and enter a world that is changing and moving 24/7.

GEO has treated children seriously. We believe the child has a lot to tell us. His curious, imaginative mind has inspired us to produce programs like ‘Dekho Suno Samjho’ and ‘Bachey Man Kay Sachay’. A child’s genius constantly amazes us. If you feel that you understand children and know what they want, this is your playground.

GEO Children’s Division needs scripts, concepts, fresh young talent, performers, hosts, and producers who have refused to grow up and still have a child lurking in their hearts.

The Human Resources Department remains a crucial element in the overall composition of the GEO setup. It is the Power House that fuels the GEO Factory with the best of the best, through attraction, recruitment, selection, optimum compensation, welfare, diversified benefits, grievance handling, training & development, formulation of policies and procedures, encompassed with an ever vibrant HR Strategy aligned with the corporate vision and mission of GEO TV.

Serving as the vital link that generates identity, self-perception, confidence, vitality, motivation, communication and continual enhancement of overall net worth of every individual functioning as a profoundly valued component of TEAM GEO.

HR at GEO is one of the many exceptional brands that exist to nourish your experience at GEO TV.

Organized, analytical and resourceful. Working well with people with a balance of regular responsibilities and new project-based work. Keeping up with trends online to work in the fast-paced GEO environment. Handling stress, skills to organize, project-oriented, and self-starting. Ability to successfully manage strict deadlines and multiple projects. Trouble-shooting, loads and loads of common sense, and thinking from a broader perspective and command on the English language. Belief in systems and providing support to department leadership and all divisions. This is all under the GEO operations department.

Creativity needs to be disseminated. This is where the engineers, technicians, maintenance engineers, light and sound engineers, transmission staff comes in. They are the people who keep the studios operational and bring those stunning visuals to your screens from the most difficult terrain and venues.

Television is a business. In the back room, sit people who are number crunchers, planners, forecasters, financial analysts, budget monitors, and trend spotters. They understand the industry and with constant research make sure that projections are met and budgets and time lines are respected.

Every program, time slot, and viewer is an opportunity that needs to be explored, marketed, promoted and valued. Marketing is the department that not only maximizes the value of geo programming but also helps develop it by soliciting feedback form the industry and creating specific creative solutions for clients and brands. If you think you understand how to maximize the potential of an idea, and can create solutions and packages for brands and clients, this is the most dynamic team in media for you.

Sales or $ales, is where the money is at! This fast-paced department brings in the rupees that enable us to produce the content that our viewers depend on.
True believers of GEO, armed by the content in hand, and the philosophy in mind, go out everyday in to the fast changing and unpredictable market and maximize the value of the channel. At the front line are the foot soldiers of GEO who sell space around our programs and fill the advertising needs of the channel. These are the true dream merchants.

GEO is always on the look out for those men and women who tell stories visually, who paint our palette blue and orange, who understand moods and emotions. We need people who have strong aesthetics, who like to break the rules of visual grammar, who can telescope saga in a 30 second graphic and animation ad. These are our window dressers who are concerned with the look and feel of the channel. They illuminate our screens, design our sets and promote our programs wielding all the creative tools at their command. They hold the magic wand.

GEO is in a consistent state of evolution and in this fortitude TEAM GEO is diversifying more into avenues that play the beat of our nation’s youth. At GEO Music we have envisioned with providing generation Y! With a platform to project their true potential in front of the world at large.

Presently, GEO Music is in the process of evaluating and redefining what the music market has to offer in terms of quality music standards.

GEO Music is probing the rudimentary talent of our nation scoping it, to find diamonds in the rough conscious nurturing these music fanatics of tomorrow, providing them with the right podium to illuminate their expertise in today’s global community

GEO-TV carries out research in various mediums on components like advertising, market intelligence, television viewer ship and masses’ penetration of those mediums. These are the basic components, their roots captivates not only the micro changes but also the macro variations on the spectrum of information and entertainment.

GEO Talent is astounding new initiative by GEO TV. Scouting for talented, hosts, anchors, vocalists, actors, and people pertinent to performing arts whose potentials can be nourished by the expertise of GEO Talent Department.

Events are all about teamwork and clockwork. Time is of essence and execution is everything. This genre of programming needs organized people who know what needs to be done and when. Never short of excitement and danger, the event must go on! Most of the time events, whether musical or magical, are live. One wrong move can lead to many embarrassing shots on the screen. Lich and orchestra, an event has many pieces that have to be sung synchronized and in turn. If you like working as part of a high energy team and are interested in music, sports, magic and everything in between.

Sports are a new genre of programming that has also not been explored much in Pakistan. From Cricket to Polo and everything in between.

Game Shows are a fast and upcoming genre for GEO. Game Shows are also a live genre mostly and full of audience participation. This programming genre ties action as well as puzzles and reality, all rolled into one. From selecting participants to making interesting formats and producing the most entertaining and diverse content platforms for audiences and viewers, Game Shows are an excitement new development in local television.

Information Technology is the lifeline of the organization supporting all the functions without any interruption catering for all software needs and MIS requirements 24/7.

The anchors, presenters, hosts, and entertainers are the faces of the channel. They need to look attractive, presentable, friendly, and inspirational. Our Fashion Design Department gives us our look. The department is there to groom fresh talent, conduct make over, and give them outfits that are striking and tele-genic.

GEO has a highly equipped and modern Transmission Department, which remains awake when others are fall asleep.

Diverse cultural backgrounds and multi-ethnic origins add up to create a strong resource base at GEO. Each member makes a valuable contribution while overall functioning as a team. Committed to doing more for their country, GEO people remain dedicated and passionate about their work. GEO people are focused on broadening horizons and meeting new challenges. Creative and multi-talented, these fine individuals take pride in shaping the future of Pakistan.

We spoke to some concerned managers of GEO to find out more about GEO's recruitment and human resource management initiatives.

Imran Aslam, President of GEO TV, believes, "a sense of purpose can be instilled when an employee, not only clearly knows the vision of a company, but is included in making that vision. When an employee knows that he or she deserves to be a part of the organization, and most importantly is empowered to implement that vision, the culture of success appears."

Mir Ibrahim Rahman, CEO of GEO, went on to explain how some of the above has been possible at GEO. "One of the things we try to continuously remind ourselves is how lucky we are to be a part of a media industry. Where our product and hard work is not only a source of livelihood, but also a source of well being for the people who rely on us. This is a very important realization that aligns our goals, sense of responsibility and job satisfaction."

GEO's vision of promoting dialogue, unbiased news and issue-based entertainment was always very clear and can be found in its mission statement, vision statement and across many corporate communications. "But none of us had done anything like GEO before and we almost had to instill a culture of dialogue and interaction not only on the channel but off air as well. We did this by continuous involvement, discussion and consensus in almost everything we did. It did become taxing at times but it's the GEO way," says Mir Ibrahim Rahman.

Azhar Abbas, Director News, explained further, "I remember how policy was actually being drafted and made right then and there during our training exercises by the people we were training. That's the kind of spirit which excited people because we all became aware that together we were making something." GEO went through a very comprehensive recruitment exercise. "I believe it was the largest and one of the most successful launch recruitment drives in the country," claims Zaheeruddin Khan, Chief Operating Officer of GEO. "Receiving over 60,000 applications! That was a crucial time period when we had to go through each and every letter and email which were seen by all the senior managers collectively, going through bags and bags of envelopes and applications every night."

We asked Abdur Rauf, Director Infotainment, what was the target market for the campaign. "GEO was looking for passionate people. If you had gone through some of the ads that were placed, one can notice that the invitation was for everyone and anyone who was interested in media and television. You didn't have to have any experience or professional qualification because we were willing to train you."

There was actually quite a grueling process one had to go through to be hired by GEO. Rumor had it that at least 3 directors had to meet you and on an average, you had to go through at least 5 rounds of interviews. "Though we gave everyone a fair chance based on merit, you were not spared in the interview itself. Some of us were more grueling than others, but on the whole we probably seemed like a scary bunch," said Raheel Rao, Director Entertainment, pointing towards Abdur Rauf.

Women, minorities and regions were given special attention so that Pakistan was properly represented in the employee base as well. GEO has more women working in reporting and production than any other channel.

"We knew we had to have ingredients which not only represented Pakistan in our own company but also have individuals who we were targeting. Women reporters had a special women recruitment committee which tried to meet the parents of all women recruits in order to make them feel comfortable about GEO's culture and specific job requirements," said Beena Sarwar, reporter/producer who was heading the committee at the time.

GEO ended up initially interviewing over 6,000 people from whom they selected approximately 600 of the brightest, most passionate and professional staff ever gathered before for the television medium in the country. That is a selectivity rate of .01%, unheard of even in a multinational.

Syed Zulfiqar Ali, the Human Resource Manager stated, "that the massive intern programme of GEO is a result of its belief that its enormous infrastructure should be utilised for the development and grooming of Pakistani youth into real media professionals."

"What's great was that after we had selected and chosen the best and the brightest we professionally trained them as well!" explained Hamid Mir, Bureau Chief of GEO News, Islamabad. There were over 16 foreign broadcast reporters, camera operators, editors, producers who trained everyone in everything related to TV. This multi-tasking approach, though expensive and tiring, made the individuals better team players and more aware of how the system works. Technical training was conducted by BBC Technology, consulting arm of BBC, which has conducted similar projects elsewhere in the world with SKY Network, ABC and Dubai TV. Intelligent Media Consultants (IMC), an Atlanta based media consultancy with a proven record of launching over 10 new channels in the past 6 years, provided hands on training for GEO TV personnel. IMC has an impressive client base including Aaj Tak (India) and CNN Espanol as well as CNN Turk. Both continue to advise GEO on operational issues and provide support in camera operation, editing, production and training for reporting of news.

"In fact," explained Mir Ibrahim Rahman, "many people thought we were wasting money doing all this training. We did it because giving fancy equipment and being surrounded by state-of-the-art technology was not enough. Those material things are run by people at the end of the day. In addition, the people must feel empowered. It's a great feeling for a twenty something MA Journalism graduate from Sahiwal to be able to say that BBC and CNN producers taught him how to produce and edit an 'OC/VO sot' with a 'piece-to-camera'!"

Responsibilities of HR Dept.

When any post is vacant, GM HR Syed Zulfiqar Ali sends the request to the HR Department for the vacant post.

HR department determines two things

Firstly, Advertisements are given in the Geo website and if necessary on print also.

GEO is one of the most progressive organizations in the country. It believes in complete transparency and objectivity in its hiring process. All members of TEAMGEO are selected on their merit and qualification.

The organization is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on any basis. The company has one of the best environments for women employees, and it actively encourages women seeking employment.

Members of TEAMGEO come from a diverse background, and are expected to be progressive, open-minded, professional and hardworking. It is not essential to be academically strong, but a strong work ethic is essential. Excellent communication skills are required, this includes being able to use basic computer applications. An interest in reading and writing is always an advantage. When we asked about the job rotation process, their HR manger told us that there is job placement in our company, which is similar to job rotation.

In GEO, vacant posts are also filled internally to provide an opportunity for the workers already working in the organization.

In GEO, fresh or experienced candidates are also preferred and hired.

The selection is entirely base on merit, which confirms to selection criteria without any bias towards, gender, religion, race, color, nationality, age, and according to the procedures laid down in the HRD policies.

Selection Procedure

Filling out application forms.

Application screening.(short listing)

Tests. (Written and Practical)

Interview.

Final selection.

Orientation

Training

AN IMPARTIAL & OBJECTIVE interview process is one of the most progressive trends at GEO. All short listed candidates will be called in for an interview. They will be given a minimum 48-hour notice before the date, time and place of interview via email and telephone. Each candidate will be interviewed by at least three different persons ensuring the integrity and fairness of the selection process. There is a written test for certain jobs. The selection process may take 30 days from initial interviews to the final selection.

Orientation program is held when new employees joins the company. They give an opportunity to the all-new employees that they hire to rotate in the factory departments daily so the employees must know in which environment and in which circumstances they had to work.

Once they are hired Geo provides them with foreign training usually from CNN and BBC .However, the training is an ongoing process apart from the off job training. For this purpose, they are attached with a senior to supervise them.

GEO has more polices than any other company and these policies are well communicated to the employees. All rules regulations, policies and procedures are mentioned in the employee handbook, which is kept highly confidential from the non-employees. GEO has a strong control on the policies and employee code of conduct and are very strict about them. GEO does not compromise on their polices and implement them strictly. GEO uses the 360 degrees appraisal in which subordinates evaluate their seniors. Each individual (subordinate) evaluates their boss’s behavior, leadership; attitudes etc. and they are free to give any opinion or complaint against them. The committee then begins inquiries and strictly, Follows Company polices respectively. Subordinate’s comments are very essential for the promotions of their seniors.

Department-to-Department evaluation is also done in GEO in which one department evaluates the performance of another department.

When Geo faces a problem in the implementation of old policies then the policy defining department reviews it and works them out to make necessary changes in the policies. Once a policy is changed or altered it is sent to the approval department after being approved by the approval department it is then lastly sent to the Upper level management. If the upper level management approves the new policy in order for its implementation it is updated on the website, notice boards and open forums. It is also circulated on hardcopies.

Geo uses the external market mechanism such as content based competition and relative market share that is, GEO has to keep up with the latest trends in the media market and follow those trends to maintain and set their standards. GEO has also proved itself to be a trendsetter in the market.

There is a Quality Control team in GEO to monitor the quality and standard of all productions and content. First of all the script is approved by the department then the casting of the production is approved. A pilot is of the script is created as a sample and is previewed and is passed by the department. The final production is then sent to GEO’s Censor board for approval. If the production is according to the standards set in the pilot it is passed and sent to be aired on TV. Finally, GEO then takes feedback about the content from the public(viewers).