Introduction
Global communication is a large telecommunications industry. The company has a large number of employees who the company prided in as their reason for success. The company has markets outside Europe and in the Asian continent. The company has faced tough competition from upcoming companies. The competition has been lodged from the local to the international level. This move prompted the company’s management to analyze what could be wrong with the company and made proposals to handles the different problems facing them.
In this paper, we shall look at the various problems facing the company and the initiatives the company can take to ensure its survival in the global market. The paper evaluates the opportunities the company has which they could take advantage of. The various weaknesses the company is faced with will also be evaluated and a proposed way to address them is explained. The goals the company could set to improve their revenues have also been accessed and the exact ways to implement the procedures have been outlined. The challenges that may be encountered in the course of implementing the procedures have also been assessed. The company’s goals will be evaluated after some time to gauge whether the company in achieving these goals. Measurable quantities have been outlined.
Development of a strategic plan
For Global Communications to develop a strategic plan to address their problems, an understanding of the problems at hand must be there. The problems that are facing Global communication are numerous. The company’s stocks have depreciated indicating a loss of confidence by the investors. The company has also found its sales decreasing over time and the company has progressively been cutting off employees’ benefits and ways as a result. Global Communications have faced competition from others stagnating their ability to move goods and services. These problems have resulted from a build-up of events and decisions by the management.
Failure to release new products
The competition that saw Global Communications lose big portions of customers was a failure to release new products. Some new calling features and suites for both local and international calls were innovated. The cable companies also had innovative solutions that encompassed computers, televisions, and plain old telephone service. With their new products introduced in the market, Global Communications was slowly edged out. The slow speed at which Global communications learned that they needed to change products to compete with others contributed to their being overtaken by the competitors.
Global Communications was also being faced with possible employee fallout. Demoralized employees cannot be effective in any organization. The employees are motivated by the kind of treatment they receive in the organization. If they were not valued such that they can be laid off at any time, the employees would be unwilling to commit themselves to the company’s course. The mixed signals sent to the Global Communications employees demoralized them. At first, the management withdrew some benefits that the employees had enjoyed over time. When the company realized that its earnings had gone very low, the benefits were withheld. Later the company announced plans to lay off quite a good number of employees (Boyatzis, 1998).
Outsourcing plan
Global Communications in response to the poor performance sought ways to counter the retrogressive trend. A proposal to change the business operations was made. An outsourcing plan was adopted to ease the huge spending on salaries and wages. The delay before the company sought ways to respond to the challenges facing them contributed to their poor performance.
Every company is made up of several groups of people. When the company runs into problems, all these groups are affected, some more than others. What results is a war of words and a show of might depend on how influential the groups are in the organization. The board is one group of people who are interested in the success of the company. The board members are the final authority regarding any drastic move the company has to take. They are the ones who review the proposals by the management. They have the ultimate responsibility to keep the company running. The board members in Global Communications would like the company to remain profitable and in business.
The board members are the ones directly charged by the shareholders to safeguard their interests. Shareholders would not like the company to maintain its poor performance on the stock exchanges and would therefore press upon the board members to take action to salvage the company. Shareholders want their shares to grow in value. The board members have the obligations to ensure shareholders expectations are met.
The senior management
The senior management who is in charge of the various departments of the firm is the other group interested in the company. These managers are the ones supposed to assess the performance of the business and report whether the business is profitable. They are the ones who identify the problems that the organization encounters in the course of the business. They make appropriate proposals for presentation to the board. The managers are also charged with the overall running of the business. They have the right to propose how to address problem areas. The management is also charged with the supervision of the employees to ensure they are doing their work.
Employees are others who have an interest in the company. They are the ones who carry out the proposals of the board and the senior management. Employees make it possible for the company to make money. The employees have a right to know the financial position of the company. If the company intends to change its operations, the employees need to be made aware in good time so that they can undertake training as necessary. Any decision that will affect the employee’s pay should also be communicated and negotiations are done. The employees should know the reasons for pay cuts and consent should be sought from them.
The Union and the general public also have an interest in the company. The employees support families through their income and if the company lays employees off, they deny some families livelihood. Every company should not only work for its good but the common good of the public. The Union defends the employees against exploitation. The Union must defend the rights of the employees including going to courts.
These group interests collide from time to time. In Global Communications, the senior management has made a proposal supported by the board to cut off employees’ benefits. They conflict with the Union that thinks it is unfair to withdraw these rightful benefits. The senior management has to execute this proposal fails to which the company would close down. The costs of the company would be reduced thus ensuring its continuity. The employees’ rights have been infringed since they were not consulted over the issue. The final decision was also passed to them whether they consented or not.
The board also accepted the proposal to change the business operations, which would see many employees lose their jobs. Certainly, this decision did not have the welfare of the employees in mind. The employees had to be sacrificed for the business to continue. This would have a counter effect on the business. The public could develop a negative view. It could also motivate the public to buy Global Communications products thus supporting the company and profits would be realized. The Union would remain at war with the management until employees are given their dues. The Union had opposed the withdrawal of benefits and lay off of workers. This would mean workers would be laid off regardless of how long they have worked in the company and would miss out on all other benefits due to them. The senior management should answer the ethical questions: is it right to just send off workers without benefits? What is more important people’s welfare or making profits? These are but some of the conflicts that arise within the company. The senior management has the executive authority to implement the changes and to challenge them, some backing by the law is necessary.
For Global Communications to realize growth in the future, a strategic plan should be laid down to guide the process. Set goals should be defined to guide the company in responding to the anticipated challenges. A good strategic plan is not rigid such that it will be hard to respond to changing environment but should be flexible enough. Without a goal or vision, the company would only react to changes occurring in the market rather than shaping the market by giving competitors a run for customers. The goal for Global Communications is to increase its market share driven by satisfied customers. Several opportunities exist.
Innovative products
Global Communication will increase its market share by offering customers innovative products. The reason why Global communications failed on competition was their lack of adopting innovations to release products to customers. Changing technology has made it possible to incorporate several communication gadgets together to serve customers better. The products by Global Communications became less efficient and customers avoided them. The customers preferred products that had several features in them.
Global Communications will use the resources they have to realize their envisioned market share growth. The welfare of the employees is important. The company realizes that for innovation to grow in any organization, the employees must be well satisfied to serve customers well. This results in attracting more customers and moving the company closer to its goals. Several benefits to reward employees would be introduced. These will reward employees whose contribution to the business will bring more sales. This would motivate the employees to become innovative and focus on satisfying customers. The strength that will drive the company towards attaining the desired market share is the wide reach the company will acquire.
Global Communications envisions becoming a market leader in the telecommunications industry. The company envisions being the preferred telecommunications company that exceeds customer satisfaction and expectations. The company envisions driving innovation that will be driven by the employees. He Company intends to become the preferred employer in the industry for holding employees with the greatest regard. The accomplishment of all these goals will make the company strike out the negative view the public had developed. The company will be the source of the new inventions in the industry. The customer base will enlarge and the capacity of the company to grow will increase.
In the mission to attain the goals, various alternatives are available to Global Communications. The company is faced with the problem of low sales, which leaves them with the alternative of laying down some workers. The company could instead negotiate with their employees to explain to them their financial position and what it threatens to do. The earlier decision to lay off the workers would not be executed but brought to a negotiation table for discussion. The management would explain that after evaluating other possibilities, the alternative left for them was to change their business operations that automatically terminate some jobs. The employees would get a chance to put their suggestions on how to salvage the company. ABN Amro Bank was faced with a similar dilemma and lay off of employees was seen as an alternative. But upon holding negotiations with the employees it was realized that the company had not run out of options. The employees ended up making contributions that worked for them (Group Charter C).
The choice of this alternative served to improve employees’ management relations and royalty was attained. The Bank ended up having more satisfied employees who delivered the best services to customers enabling them to attain profitability again. The approach that Global Communication should adopt is emotional intelligence in which no party tries to win over the others. Emotional intelligence encourages dialogue between the parties that would adversely be affected by the decisions of the management. Such dialogue would ensure that no group would be aggrieved and they would work to salvage the company from collapse (Spencer, L & Spencer, S, 1993).
When General Motors were faced with reduced sales and increased competition much like Global Communications, they had to decide to outsource some operations to Indian companies that were cheaper. The idea was attractive to the management but it would have been costly to the workers. The management chose to enter into negotiations with the workers union to negotiate on their benefits. The deal worked to the advantage of the company such that the company’s market value shot up to a record high in several weeks. Again some elements of emotional intelligence were employed to solve a crisis. More so, GM showed organizational commitment to finding a solution. The management did not close out interested parties but gave room to find solutions. The management avoided victimizing the employees as though they caused the problem (Group Charter C).
The alternative
Global Communications offers to negotiate with the Union rather than just write off the employees. The negotiations would spare the company a negative public image that would be difficult to erase. The company could learn that they have not exhausted the alternatives. If this alternative were chosen, stronger and better employer-employee relationships would be cultivated. This would create royalty of employees making them satisfied. The satisfaction of the employees would directly lead to good customer service thus capturing larger markets. The company would also strongly defend itself as a preferred employer since the welfare of the employees would be taken care of.
This alternative presents the opportunity to advance towards the goals they have set. Other firms in similar or worse financial positions employed the alternatives and that they worked for them. The company will be working towards meeting its goals and all stakeholders are satisfied. The last alternative is to lay off employees and continue with the outsourcing move. This alternative would, however, have disastrous effects on the firm. The firm would appear callous and dictatorial, a view that would affect their reputation. The firm would fail to realize the goals that have been set. The first alternative to entering into negotiations with the Union is rated high because employees’ welfare is considered. The public image of the company is safeguarded thus securing customers. Employee royalty would be attained since they would feel a part of the company. The company would have advanced towards its vision to be the preferred employer (Cherniss & Goleman, 2001).
There are risks that the firm is exposed to in taking the alternative to negotiating with employees. The employees might throw out the proposal of the company and fail to offer solutions to the problem. Negotiations with Union may lead them to take legal actions that would cost the company. This alternative would be rated low in the severity or the amount of risk they pose to the company. When the employees are threatened with their job loss, they would take all possible measures to avert the situation. They would be willing to negotiate a salvaging deal than take a defense in court.
The alternative to lay off the workers and outsource the business operations presents the highest risk to the company. The Union will result in court action since all channels of dialogue have been closed. The company risks losing trust with suppliers, customers, and the remaining employees as well as potential employees. The outsourcing of these business activities may cost the company since they would be dealing with new workers who know nothing about their values. This would lead to loss of the company’s vision and loss of business too. It is not guaranteed that the company would increase profitability; only the costs of doing business will reduce.
Solution
The solution is to open negotiations with the Union. The employees have to be consulted before the management makes decisions that will affect their salaries. This will translate into innovation that will lead to customer satisfaction. For the company to assess whether it is attaining the goals it has set, it should evaluate the number of customers they have managed to add after some time. They should also measure the percentage of penetration in the markets where they operate. The number of innovations should also be calculated. The measurement should be taken after another year to enable them to evaluate whether there has been growth. The number of employees who leave the company should be known as well as the numbers who join. This will enable the management to determine if they are becoming the preferred employers (Cooper& Sawaf, 1997).
The management should institute a team to monitor the growth from the time the plans are established. Data should be taken at the beginning to establish a base period and all achievements will be compared with the base. It will be easy to show growth in empirical form. The team would have to be supported with offices and finances to ensure they meet the responsibility of monitoring progress.
Table 1. Issue and Opportunity Identification
Table 2. Stakeholder Perspectives
Table 4. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Techniques
Table 5. Optimal Solution Implementation Plan
Table 6. Evaluation of Results
References
Boyatzis, R. (1998). The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance. John Wiley and Sons.
Cherniss, C and Goleman, D. (2001). The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace. Emotional Intelligence: Issues in Paradigm Building.
Cooper, R.K. & Sawaf, A. (1997). Executive EQ: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership & Organizations. Grosset / Putnam.
Group Charter C. (undated). Global Communications Benchmarking Research.
Managing with Emotional Intelligence: Empathy (2002). Insights Newsletter, Vol 2, Issue 2.
Spencer, L. M., Jr., & Spencer, S. (1993). Competency At Work: Models For Superior Performance. John Wiley and Sons. Web.