Foodpanda’s Leadership practices in

COVID- 19 Pandemic

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 Term paper
HRM 509: Leadership
Foodpanda’s Leadership practices in COVID- 19 Pandemic

Submitted to:
Saptarshi Dhar

Assistant Professor

Institute of Business Administration

Jahangirnagar University

Submitted by:
Tasnuva Fatema (ID: 499)

Shurid Ridwan (ID: 514)

Ishmam Nur (ID: 522)

Batch: 24

Institute of Business Administration

Jahangirnagar University

Date: 9 September, 2020

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 Letter of Transmittal

Saptarshi Dhar
Assistant Professor,
Institute of Business Administration
Jahangirnagar University
Savar, Dhaka

Subject: Letter of Transmittal

Dear Madam,

We are very pleased to submit our HRM term paper on ‘’ Leadership in Crisis: Companies in Bangladesh
that Responded Best to the COVID- 19 Pandemic ‘’ for our ‘’Leadership’’ course.

We have chosen “Foodpanda” as our organization. We gathered information from the HR personnel of
that company and a few details were taken from internet. We tried our level best to portray the present
scenario of the organization in the pandemic and their practices during this tenure. We hope that you will
find our paper worth reading. We will be thankful if you give your valuable advice on our efforts.

Sincerely Yours,

Tasnuva Fatema (ID: 499)

Shurid Ridwan (ID: 514)
Ishmam Nur (ID: 522)

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 Executive Summary
COVID-19 has hit the world in the most unprecedented way possible. Businesses are shutting down,
people are getting laid off and new pay structures are being introduced in companies just to stay afloat in
the current dire circumstances. Food delivery organization are the middle man of the business and the
restaurants being shut and the customers being skeptical about hygiene during this pandemic makes the
food delivery business very vulnerable. In this report it is discussed how the most famous food delivery
company Foodpanda tried to cope with the situation when their orders fell down by 80% and how their
crisis management policy during COVID-19 helps them to recover within weeks. The report tried to
identify and explain those leadership practices of Foodpanda that have been effective in adapting to the
current challenge of COVID-19.

At first, the company and its background were discussed in the report. Its revenue model and overall
function was described here. Then how the pandemic hit the business of Foodpanda was discussed here.
Then this report portrays how the leadership practices helped the company to come over the situation and
stabilize their business during this crisis moments. Their communication strategy, business strategy and
service strategy were elaborately narrated in the middle part of the report. It was shown how their
leadership practices helped the business to sustain during the crisis moment. And then came down the
four major employee practices – Insurance facility, Financial aid, Ration Bag facilities and other
Financial Aid helped the employees to overcome the crisis the pandemic also.

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Contents
Letter of Transmittal.................................................................................................................................3
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................6
Company Background..............................................................................................................................7
Challenges..................................................................................................................................................9
Financial Strategy..............................................................................................................................10
Leadership Practices...............................................................................................................................12
Communication Strategy...................................................................................................................12
Product/service Strategy...................................................................................................................12
Business Strategy...............................................................................................................................13
Revenue generating strategy:............................................................................................................13
Employee practices..................................................................................................................................15
Corporate social responsibility..........................................................................................................16
Strategies to be executed..................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................17
Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................18

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 Introduction

Background:

COVID-19 has hit the world within the most uncommon way conceivable. Businesses are closing down,
individuals are getting laid off and modern pay structures are being presented in companies just to remain
afloat within the current critical circumstances. Within the middle of such financial and public health
chaos, food delivery services have won within the widespread. They are conciliating the palette of the
common individuals who are forbidden to step out and cannot appreciate the basic joys of life such as
enjoying their favorite food while dining in their favorite restaurant.

Objectives:

The paper is prepared on a basic objective. And the objective is to identify and explain the particular
leadership practices of Foodpanda that have been effective in adapting to the current challenge of COVID
19. The objective can be segmented into the following 3 stages.

- To portray the current situation of Foodpanda during the COVID-19 pandemic.

- To highlight the leadership and employee practices taken by Foodpanda authority during COVID -19
- To measure the effectivity of the steps taken.

Methodology:

Both primary and secondary data has been used while writing this term paper. Primary data was collected
from a HR executive over the phone.

The secondary sources are various articles and reports about the company during COVID-19.

Limitations:

The limitations of the study is not being able to conduct survey or interview face to face during this
pandemic. All the information are in percentage form as the real amount were classified and the
executives are unwilling to share. Some of the strategy weren’t explained by them as those information
were confidential too. Besides time limitation was a factor to prepare the report.

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 Company Background

In December 2013, Foodpanda Bangladesh started its journey with just 5 employees. The goal was to
simplify the life of customers by making food delivery as convenient and affordable as possible.  The
Foodpanda app is the ultimate solution for users to order take-away from the best selection of restaurants
around them in three simple steps. After three years in operation, Till 2017 Foodpanda employs more
than 200 highly motivated and dedicated employees who are constantly striving to offer the best food
delivery experience for its users. Foodpanda initially started its operations in Dhaka, and soon after,
expanded to Chittagong and Sylhet, with more than 700 plus vendors on its portal. 

Foodpanda is bringing food lovers around the world their meals from curated local restaurants. Since its
inception, the on-demand food delivery service has grown to more than 100,000 partner restaurants in
more than 325 cities across 13 Asian and Central European countries[CITATION The16 \l 1033 ].

Foodpanda mainly focuses on business to customer, b2c communication system. It delivers food
from renowned restaurant of specific areas to customer and corporate office using our excellent
riders. It delivers food within 60 minutes. Foodpanda has the following key elements:

Foodpanda mainly focuses on business to customer, b2c communication system. It deliver food
from renowned restaurant of specific areas to customer and corporate office using our excellent
riders. It delivers food within 60 minutes. Food panda has the following key elements:

Value Proposition: Foodpanda is the market creator for different restaurants. Tagging
restaurants online with Foo panda means getting more business from more customers Food panda
value creation is to highlights the restaurants which are registered with them and gain customers
by the ease of the delivery system.
Market or Audience: Foodpanda provide food delivery to individual customers, corporate
clients, public bodies foreign embassies and cultural centers, private and public clubs, banks,
telecommunication companies and many mores.
Revenue Model and Cost Base: Foodpanda generate their revenues and pay their costs mainly
through commission from restaurants and delivery fee which is charged for delivering the order
to the customers. They have a percentage of the retailer bill and for the advertisement and others
promotional offers.
Competitive Environment: E-business is a developing sector of the business market in
Bangladesh and like others business sectors this sector also is not risk free and competitors free.

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 Foodpanda faces a lot of challenges and obstacles from its competitors. A business is always
affected by its surrounded environment and Food panda also faces this type of challenges.
Value Chain and Marketing Position: The value chain of Foodpanda involves the customer
placing order on the website and Foodpanda gets notifications of the order being placed. And for
the order confirmation they call the customer. Then they placed the order to the restaurant and
once the food is ready to deliver Food panda send their excellent riders for delivering the food to
the customers. Every order is supported by the company’s best customer service team.
Representation in the physical and virtual world: Foodpanda hasn’t any physical outlet, it
operates through only online and phone calls.it is basically only an online business.

Management: The management team of Foodpanda are highly skilled and trained. Employs are
skilled, experienced and knowledgeable about technology of e-business and well aware of all the
aspect of this e-commerce business, what is has to be offer, its laggings its benefits, its challenges
and profits.

Organizational structure:

CEO

Delivery
COO CFO CMO Team
Excutive

Customer Business Digital Delivery Team

Data Account
Service Develop Mkt
Entry s Depts Supervisor
dept. ment Dept.
Dept
Cutomer software
Care Development Delivery
Vendors Team & It Team
Agents
Dept

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 Challenges

The pandemic hit Bangladesh in March 2020 and from then our economic growth has resumed since then.
In the first couple of weeks, it was difficult for restaurants to operate as usual. When the government
announced the general holiday the restaurant industry saw a large chunk of their workforce leave for their
homes out of the metros. Some restaurants were not being able to operate because of staffing issues.

Because of the pandemic most of the restaurant were closed and Foodpanda’s order dropped by 80%
which was a great threat for the survival of Foodpanda. To come back in the race Foodpanda has taken
some major initiatives which helped them survive in this crisis.

Initiatives during COVID 19

Health safety first
Health is the first priority for anyone in this crisis. So to run a business in this situation an
organization has to take care of the health issues of their employees as well as their customers.
To guarantee hygiene they are in consistent communication with their restaurant accomplices taking after
the most recent World Wellbeing Organization (WHO) rules whereas exhorting them on the wellbeing
and security hones past their nourishment cleanliness desires. Foodpanda is committed to the prosperity
of all its stakeholders and will proceed to screen the circumstance, upgrading measures as required.

For the riders, authority have been proactively coming to out to them on preventive measures for COVID
19; giving the complete armada of riders over Bangladesh with facemasks, gloves and hand sanitizers;
they are too within the prepare of securing PPE as ordered by the government. Other than, riders have
been experiencing temperature screening day by day at the center workplaces some time recently
commencing work to guarantee they are fit to serve the customers.

For the security of the customers, they have presented contactless delivery where the riders will leave the
orders at a secure place to avoid any unnecessary contact. They are encouraging online payment options
through debit or credit cards – a cashless payment method to minimize contact in addition to availing
contactless-delivery[ CITATION The201 \l 1033 ].

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Rethinking Priorities, Keeping Focus
At a time of crisis, business leaders can do away with the desirables. They can also keep the
focus on what is crucial and important. This would bring in the desired focus on the team
members as they see a limited set of areas to contribute to. Such a thing, makes things more
feasible and achievable. That’s why the CEO of Foodpanda permits the corporate employees to
work from home, even when all the organization of same or different category starts their
operation the leader of Foodpanda still maintains work from home in this pandemic. Now is the
perfect time to focus on something positive in the midst of the hard—like learning a new skill.
Learning and development programs can increase employee engagement and retention while also
improving employee performance. That’s why the CEO managed premium skill development
online courses for their employees for free of cost.

Financial Strategy
The business model of the Food Panda is that it is a discovery-based model where it acts as a
middle man between the restaurants and the customers by lending its logistics force to deliver
the food. It takes a part of the cut for every order placed. Food panda can also generate profit
through delivery fees.

Revenue Model of Food Panda

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The major revenue models of Food Panda are given below:

Premium Advertisement Services for Restaurants: Food panda got revenue from restaurants
to put advertisement of the restaurants. Restaurants paid money to food panda for the premium
advertisements

3rd Party Ad Service: Food panda receive money from ‘Google AdSense”. Google paid money
to food panda to post Google’s ad on their website. It’s an easy way to make money for food
panda.
Commission on Orders from Restaurants: If any consumer order any food through Food
panda apps or from their official website food panda got a cut from the restaurants. This
commission is main source of the food panda revenue.
Delivery Service: Food panda use their logistics to deliver foods from restaurants to consumers.
They are the middle man between consumer and restaurants. Their main job is to deliver the
foods in fastest times to consumer. So they charge for their deliver service. It is also a vital part
to receive revenue for food panda.
But during this pandemic Foodpanda used all the money earned to serve the employees. From
March to June their sales falls down by 80% but still Foodpanda didn’t sack a single employee.
There was no pay cut, not even 1%. Rather the salary and intensives remain same as before.
Taking these decisions was very risky for the leader but he took it anyway to serve the employee
and customer better. And when the lockdown was over and restaurants kept opening they
recovered within weeks for the leadership shown by the CEO.

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Leadership Practices

Foodpanda has taken several leadership strategies that helped its customer and employees to survive the
hard tenure of COVID-19 pandemic. Here, some best practices of Foodpanda is being depicted.

Communication Strategy
During this pandemic, everyone knows that things aren’t “business as usual.” The leaders need to give
people the opportunity to understand what’s happening and ask questions by communicating frequently
and quickly. The CEO of Foodpanda sends consistent messages and hosts online meetings updating
employees regarding travel, office closures and confirmed employee cases while maintaining
confidentiality

They are constantly communicating with their riders and restaurant partners about the latest World Health
Organization (WHO) guidelines. They have also developed easy to understand best practice videos on
restaurant hygiene.

During the crisis, more than ever there is a need for real information—pleasant or otherwise. Alongside
this, there should be suggestions on how it can be handled or what needs to be plugged or done
differently. Employees realize that the scale of this challenge will throw up situations that organizations
may not have faced in the past but this doesn’t mean that they can’t be overcome.

Product/service Strategy
They’re continually improving their trade to cater to the desires of the market. Within one week of the
pandemic they introduced Foodpanda shops to supply the customers with the foremost basic foodstuffs
and pharmaceutical they might require remaining securely at domestic. They are always working on
including more shops to their platform so that clients can remain securely at domestic with the comfort of
getting everything they require delivered.

They have made the opportunity for home chefs to connect their stage so that they can win through
nourishment made at domestic — they unequivocally accept that this is often a awesome way to make a
living for a large number of individuals who don't have formal employment at this time.

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 Offer
Increase
Discounts Availability in
New
and Free Every Area
Customer
Delivery

Business Strategy
Revenue generating strategy:

 Increase New Customers: Food Panda marketing and sales activities and promotional
campaigns are quite extensive. Their advertisement is numerous websites are making more and
more potential customers aware of their site and urging them to visit the site. Afterwards, a good
amount of visitors are turning into buyers. And during this pandemic the bachelors or the single
residents in the urban areas became the new top customers and Foodpanda served them in this
stressful time. Thus they got some new loyal customers.

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 Offer special discounts: Food Panda exclusive discounts such as “EID”, “Mega Deals”, and
“Sunday Offer” are quite persuasive strategies to keep customers engaged to their site and buy a
product. These promotional campaigns boost their revenues and a good amount of money earned
from these was used to alter their new insurance policy where they stated that if any field worker
got infected by the virus then he will get insured money and sabbaticals.
 Availability in Every Area: Food panda is trying to cover every area in the big cities so that
they can each and every person. They are now the highest users all over the country. Their
flexibility and marketing strategies to reach everyone is very profitable idea and it leads them to
highest position in food order business. For that they need huge human resources. Whereas
during this pandemic other companies were shrinking their business Foodpanda recruited 200
new corporate employees to serve the customer better in future [ CITATION Ice20 \l 1033 ].

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Employee practices

Foodpanda has taken several measures to facilitate their employees during COVID-19. The most effective
steps are as following.

Insurance Facilities

Food delivery platform Foodpanda has taken yet another initiative to provide its entire fleet of riders with
insurance from a third-party agency as a facilitator, to assist battle the financial trouble they are going
through amid the Covid-19 crisis

Riders can facilitate the insurance policy that assures coverage of over Tk5,00,000 that includes coverage
of death, accidental death, permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, accidental injury,
hospitalization, and out-patient department service, per person a year[ CITATION The20 \l 1033 ].

Ambareen Reza, the CEO of Foodpanda Bangladesh, said, "Our riders deliver food, groceries, and meds
at the doorstep of customers. They are fighting the pandemic from the frontline. It is our responsibility to
not only protect them with safety measures but also with insurance policies."

Salary Increment

A rider named Rahman said that their salaries and bonuses have increased during these trying times. As
per rahman’s information a significant part of the salary in earlier times used to come from the delivery
bonus. But as the number of deliveries has fallen significantly for the current crisis, they can’t make much
from the delivery bonus. So Foodpanda has increased the amount of money per delivery that they receive.

Ration Bag Facilities

As the lockdown continues, a number of people have the advantage to work from home; many others are
fighting from the frontline just to make everyone's life easier. Ration bags has been distributed by
Foodpanda to the riders and they are continuously taking these types of initiatives to support their riders.

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Other Financial Aid

Company officials said Foodpanda’s parent company Delivery Hero has also pledged three million euros
as a financial support program for riders in their subsidiary platforms across the globe, which will
financially cover earnings in case any rider is affected by the current pandemic.

Corporate social responsibility

It is their obligation to remain adjacent to the forefront workforce of the country. They are working
despite seemingly insurmountable opposition so we can be sheltered. As an offer of help, during this
pandemic, Foodpanda has given more than 20,000 food packages and rations to frontline workers
including hospitals directly involved in COVID 19 testing, police and their own riders to show uphold for
them. To help the community at large, in a strategic move, they procured the donated food and rations
from its restaurant partners; enabling them to sustain their business when normal operations had been
down. They have likewise banded together with 10 NGOs during this opportunity to assist them with
raising funds through their platform –they have seen an incredible reaction from the client base, having
ascended over Tk 10 Lacs for the NGOs recorded on their platform. It's urging to see the community
come together to get past this time as one.

Strategies to be executed
Foodpanda is soon launching cloud kitchens across 5 zones with 50 kitchen stalls in Dhaka city
with a set plan to launch 30 kitchens across the country with close to 400 kitchen stalls by
December 2020. The purpose of these kitchens has two goals one is to make food from beloved
restaurants from different parts of the city available to customers in the chosen areas and the
other is to allow their top performing restaurant partners who are often small to medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) with limited access to funds, the opportunity to operate from their kitchens
and quickly expand their footprint across the city (and country). While working on empowering
both the restaurant partners as well as customers, their focus is and will always continue to be
operational excellence, which allows them to relentlessly pursue their goal of always delivering
the widest choice of the freshest food to customers at the best prices, without compromising on
safety and hygiene, faster than anyone else.

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Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought sufferings to almost all the businesses all over the globe. While
most of the businesses are struggling to survive during this crisis period, Foodpanda has taken several
effective steps which has helped the company survive financially and from human resource perspective.
They have taken care of their employees well and also assured that their business will not get destroyed
during the moment. Foodpanda has taken many initiatives to mobilize their business and also taken care
of their employees. Not all the initiatives came out with positive consequences but a few steps proven
very effective for the long term survival of the company. Other companies can also follow Foodpanda to
run their business during this dark period of business.

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Bibliography
Ice Today. (2020, July 06). Ice TOday. Retrieved from Ambareen Reza of Foodpanda shares insights of
the food delivery business: https://icetoday.net/2020/07/panda-to-the-rescue/

The Business Standard. (2020, May 12). The Business Standard. Retrieved from Foodpanda introduces
insurance for its riders: https://tbsnews.net/coronavirus-chronicle/covid-19-
bangladesh/Foodpanda-introduces-insurance-its-riders-80563

The Daily Star. (2016). Foodpanda completes three. Dhaka: https://www.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/news-

flash/Foodpanda-completes-three-1335961.

The Independent. (2020, April 05). The Independent. Retrieved from How online food delivery services
are coping with COVID-19 outbreak: http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/243671

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