Situation Analysis and Problem Statement: Global Communications

Situation Analysis and Problem Statement: Global Communications

Situation Analysis and Problem Statement

The industry of communications is changing and intensifying more everyday. Two-way communications begin as early as the 1800s with first telegraph. Now, we have multimedia and mobile telecommunications. People are communicating today with one another by cellular phones, computers, fax machines, palm pilots, and other personal and portable devices. Since these means of communication have penetrated the industry and marketplace, companies and corporations are having a difficult time to remain competitive. These corporations have to come up with new product lines and innovative ways to remain profitable. For example, BellSouth has had to make changes to compete with likes of Sprint and MCI. They had to start offering more than just local and long distance service. Such is the case with Global Communications. In order for them to remain in business, they had to come up strategy to increase profits and compete with other companies in the industry. First, let us take a look at the background of Global Communicaitons.

Situation Background

Global Communications is a telecommunications company that has been for over 25 years. The company is a part of a growing and competitive industry. Due to the competition, Global Communications stock has declined and company officials need to come up with a plan to increase profits or file bankruptcy or close its doors for good.

Senior management has come up with a strategic plan to move the company in other markets which will give more of a competitive edge. This plan calls for Global Communications to increase sales with their small business and consumer customers. The company will move into the local and long distance markets. They will partner with satellite providers to have more of a presence the market of wireless internet services. The company also plans on moving two of its call centers to Ireland and India. By making this move, they will cut some costs and truly live up to its name, "Global". Issues and problems oftentimes accompany new plan of implementation. Not everyone is going to be happy and profit. The next section outlines some issues associated with this new plan.

Issue Identification

Anytime a company decides to implement new strategies and plans, there are going to be some problems and issues associated with it. Effective strategy implementations can prove difficult at times. These implementations require the coordination of appropriate individuals throughout the organization. When Delta Airlines considered the idea of filing bankruptcy, they had to not think about the customers, but also the employees, stockholders, union and the community and city in which they are located. To implement a strategy, senior management must determine the market strategy of the company.

According to Table 1, one of the issues with Global Communications new plan is cutting jobs in order to move the call centers to Ireland and India. Anytime the topic of layoffs and decrease in salary come into play, there are going to be some problems. For example, just look at Delta again, they have had to make some major cuts in the jobs area. The company has had to layoff thousands of employees just to stay in business. The company's handling of the union in this case is a big issue. Union membership and its influence are on the decline in the United States. A great many of corporations and organizations are keeping their businesses union-free. But for those that do have unions, not being up front with them about the companies strategies can cause major issues. In recent news, Delta plans to ask a bankruptcy judge permission to cut the pay of its pilots by 19% in order to save about $300 million dollars a year. The pilots have given up some much already and now this. I would say that Delta is going to have another fight on its hands. Global Communications is also going to have a fight, because according to the scenario, the union has already given up benefits and now jobs are being cut for lower labor in cost in India and Ireland. As painful as it may be to cut jobs and decrease salaries to increase profits, opportunities arise out of these situations.

Opportunity Identification

According to C.M Dalton (2005), "opportunity seldom shows up at one's door dressed in top hat and tails. Opportunity often needs to be carefully cultivated and nurtured over time." Leaders are oftentimes encouraged to embrace change in order to go from being good and becoming great. Global Communications saw an opportunity to become a company of greatness. By implementing their new plan, as listed in Table 2, the company will be able to compete with other companies that are providing local and long distance services to not only small businesses but also consumers. The idea of partnering with a satellite provider for wireless capabilities will certainly have a positive effect on business. Multimedia and wireless communications are thriving markets right now. A person can do just about anything on a computer nowadays from shopping to banking. In order for Global Communications