Global Communications - Issue and Opportunity Identification

Running head: GAP ANALYSIS: GLOBAL COMM

Gap Analysis: Global Communications

Jason Jones

University of Phoenix

MBA 500

Gap Analysis: Global Communications

Global Communications was once a major player in the telecommunications industry. However, over the past few years, the company and the telecommunications industry has experienced some economic pressure due an increase in competition and industry confidence speculation. Identifying the issues, looking at a potential opportunity for the company and realizing what ethical dilemmas the key stakeholders face are just a couple of items that Global Communications must identify.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Too much competition in the telecommunications industry has caused a major problem for Global Communications. This, along with waning confidence, has led Global Communications to develop a new business plan in hopes of increasing growth and profitability while becoming more of a global resource.

Competition in the telecommunications industry is at an all time high. Diminishing returns and speculation about the current state of the industry is a problem. When cable companies decided to enter into the mix, the industry also took a step back. Along with increased competition, poor communication within Global Communications has the company in a bind. News about a potential layoff and the outsourcing of jobs has spread throughout the Technologies Workers Union and caused what could be internal nightmare for the company.

If Global Communications wants to re-establish themselves as a major player in the telecommunications industry, they need to work on there internal communication with the Union in hopes of not creating a public relations nightmare. Effective communication is vital to all organizations (McShane, 2005).

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The four major stakeholders involved in this situation are: Katrina Heinz, Sy Rodriguez, Joel Thompson and Maria Antez. Each of the four involved has interests and dilemmas they have to be concerned with. Katrina's main objective is with increasing revenue and profits. Sy's main objective is establishing effective client relationships. Joel's main objective is following policies and procedures pertaining to human resource management while Maria's main objective is representing the Union in negotiations and communications. The dilemma facing them is a major one: Too much competition.

The leadership team at Global Communications has identified some cost-cutting measures to help improve profitability. The three stakeholders for Global Communications, Katrina, Sy and Joel, must now communicate these changes to the Union representative. The new strategic plan of globalization and outsourcing has raised concerns and presented ethical dilemmas from both parties. The company also has a history of being respectful, honest and fair when it comes to employee treatment. Sy Rodriguez is not only concerned about how the new plan will hurt the employees who have stayed loyal to the company, but also how the company is going to look to the public. The integrity and accountability of Global Communications could take a major hit. Joel and Maria are focused more trying to be fair to the employees. Katrina was trying to be respectful with the new plan by keeping it quiet until the Board had approved it. However, she was unsuccessful and now she's trying to be accountable for the mistake. In any organization, employees rely on receiving information through the grapevine and this was certainly the case with Global Communications (McShane, 2005). All these ethical dilemmas need to be handled carefully.

End-State Vision

Global Communications will strengthen their position as a leading provider of telecommunication services, focusing primarily on domestic and international markets. Although confidence in the telecommunications industry is low, Global Communications plans to rebound by introducing new products and services, identifying cost-cutting alternatives and aggressive marketing. Although this approach will improve profitability and increase growth, other factors must be taken into account. How does Global Communications tell our employees the company may be downsizing and outsourcing jobs? How will our competitors react to this change? Although all these are valuable dilemmas, Global Communications must adapt to the changes in the telecommunications industry in order to survive. People with good communication skills make more innovative decisions (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2004).

Gap Analysis

The telecommunications industry is hurting and most companies within the industry are struggling. Global Communications is no different. Economic pressure and an increase in competition has Global Communications re-evaluating there business strategy. In order for Global Communications to re-establish themselves and become a major player in the telecommunications industry once again, they must first focus on where they currently are where they ultimately want to be.

Currently, Global Communications is in the process of rolling out a new, aggressive strategy. This new strategy will focus on two main objectives: increase growth and improve profitability. In order to increase growth, Global Communications plans to release new products and services in local and long-distance markets across the country. One problem with this is the solutions provided by the cable companies. For Global Communications to compete with this strategy, they have developed a partnership with a satellite provider. Global Communications plans to improve profitability by outsourcing jobs, layoffs and an aggressive marketing campaign on an international level. This will provide the company a chance of becoming a global resource. One problem with this approach is it may violate certain ethical values of the company. Global Communications has a history of loyal employees and a reputation of being fair. Laying off jobs and outsourcing them to other parts of the world shows disloyalty from the company without even trying to be fair and honorable to those employees who have been with the company for years. Global Communications needs to address these issues in a responsible way while trying to explain the business drivers behind the decisions. Explain how sacrificing positions now for the good of the company will create more jobs in the next few years. Global Communications