Global Communications Benchmarking

Introduction: Global Communications Benchmarking

The purpose of this white paper is to identify and analyze several companies that have faced specific issues related the challenges identified in the Global Communications scenario, and use the specific benchmarks from those companies in the realms of organizational communication, emotional intelligence, and organizational commitment to compare and contrast the application of those concepts with the scenario. Christyn Mendoza analyzes the first two companies, Dell Computers, Inc. and Capgemini, covering the organizational commitment concept Psychological Contracts and their importance in their outsourcing strategies. Then John Askew analyzes Kyphon Inc. and 24/7 Customer to evaluate benchmarks made in emotional intelligence, and its use to foster company growth and retention. Additionally, Yesicha John's analysis of Kmart and Church's Chicken, discusses how these companies used their communication channels to improve organizational communications and their performance. Finally, this paper will compare and contrast the benchmarks discovered form these companies against the issues identified in the Global Communications scenario.

Part One: Individual Company Synopsis

Dell Computers, Inc. by Christyn M. Mendoza

Today outsourcing has become a common course of action in the technology industry; however, this is a new trend. Dell Computers Inc. was one of the first technology based organizations to make the move to overseas technical support. Dell made this transition to overseas support almost six years ago. Dell allocated several sites, including Ireland the Philippines, but primarily India. The primary reasoning behind this transition was to lower labor costs. The computer industry had become flooded with competitors and Dell needed to make a move to increase profit fast. Dell has roughly 80,000 employees worldwide, and in the initial move to overseas technical support, nearly 6,000 of those employees were laid off; mostly from the Dallas, Texas facility.

Over the past few years Dell has seen a brief increase in profitability and earnings; however, recently they have taken a major hit over time in the consumer market. One of the most prominent signs was Dell losing the number one position based on overall marketshare to a main competitor Hewlett Packard. Because of the negative and positive side effects of outsourcing, Dell would be wise to look closely at the decision making process step "Evaluate the Decisions (Bateman & Snell, 2004)" to ensure the negative results will not continue to spiral downwards. However, pressure from consumers, numerous political groups, and politicians themselves, have begun to resonate with Dell. Dell has begun to resend some of their position moves regarding several key roles back to domestic facilities.

Despite the changes, Dell has been praised for their "whole turning lemons/lemonade thing" (Nilay, 2007) in the past and are using outsourced tech support in the same manner. As the Indian consumer market grows, Dell is uniquely positioned to grow along with this market. In an effort to avoid the usual tariff for overseas companies, Dell has begun to build a manufacturing facility inside India to be staffed by formal Indian tech support analysts already familiar with the company's product line. Dells advantage utilizes Psychological Contracts (McShane & Glenow, 2005) formed in the initial overseas move. Not only does Dell have a competitive price edge, but a direct line to consumers in one of the fastest growing markets on the planet.

Capgemini by Christyn M. Mendoza

Capgemini is an organization embracing the global delivery model in relation to consulting services. For years now the company has worked in France, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. In fact, the overseas market of their product is more prosperous than domestically because Capgemini is better known therein. In 2008 Capgemini is working on expanding its role domestically and internationally. A new, more flexible contract has been negotiated for product development in Indian markets because previous contracts were agreed upon in haste; thus not achieving the savings goals desired by both parties. Another important role out in 2008 is a plan to ensure the Indian delivery systems are not seen as a back office production or a side thought. The Psychological Contract (McShane & Glenow, 2005) between the parties in India was not clearly defined, but great improvements' have been made via recent negotiations. Careful evaluations will be taken to the economic state as well. It is important to ensure the business does not negatively decrease because of an unstable economic environment.

The main concern for Capgemini is expansion of consulting services globally. Capgemini has extensive consulting services in the United States and will continue to do so to improve sales and growth. Unfortunately, in 2007 despite best efforts, revenues only grew 4.5% ("Building a Global Powerhouse" 2008), which is dramatically less than planed. In order to remedy low revenue increases Capgemini is setting a specialized consulting entity in the United States. This decision to create such an entity was based on findings from Evaluation Decisions (Bateman & Snell, 2004) from the decision making process. The findings from this analysis showed improvements need to be made internationally as well. These changes will not be as cumbersome domestically or in the United Kingdom where their business is growing dramatically. The Indian markets will require more attention because consulting services are not as widely used in this market.

Capgemini has taken bold steps towards their global delivery system in the past few years and seen vast improvements in business in 2007. Unfortunately, key areas of development are lacking both domestically and internationally. The CEO, Paul Hermelin ("Building a Global Powerhouse" 2008), along with the organization as a whole, have made choice decisions that will hopefully, lead to a 2008 with increased revenues not achieved in 2007. The organization also hopes to make more of a domestic statement. With the plans in place now, these goals look to be extremely