Abstract
The organization of interest is Internode, which is an Australian internet provider startup company. The company intends to serve the geographical area of Adelaide, Australia, especially residential regions. The target demographics include young adults and middle-aged adults who value high-quality internet and customer service. In the past, the company’s NBN Fiber Plans program mainly served the residential area of Mawson Lakes and Pooraka, which was approximately comprised of 10000 households.
The most important past accomplishment is the fact that Internode achieved the highest rate of customer satisfaction within the communities it served. The organization is governed as a standard company with three main groups such as customer support and sales, field technicians, and operations managers. The latter oversees the internet provision, whereas technicians are responsible for connecting clients to the network, and customer support guides clients through the offers.
Mission statement: To help out communities and customers stay connected through high-speed and reliable internet. The goal is to become the top internet provider in Adelaide by ensuring operational excellence. The main service is an internet connection, and the primary customers are nearby communities, especially young adults and middle-aged adults. Vision statement: Internode seeks to bring communities closer through superb internet, customer service, and quality by being the leader of the industry.
The core values include operational excellence, respect for all humans, and happy relationships as the main basis. Internode believes in continuous improvement regardless of achievements. The company focuses on respecting the needs of its clients, consumers, and communities, and thus, focuses all of its efforts on satisfying these needs to the greatest extent. Internode values long-term happy relationships with all of its clients, communities, business partners, and investors.
Introduction
The world is becoming increasingly connected and reliant on online services, which was even more evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic (Vogels et al., 2020). Internode is a company that seeks to connect people and communities not only by providing high-speed internet with superb quality but also by empowering these communities through aid and respect. The startup is located in Adelaide, Australia, and although our current goals are focused on the communities in close proximity, we do not intend to limit ourselves to this city alone. Our long-term goals span the entire nation of Australia, and we seek to bring unity and connectedness through our services in the form of the NBN Fiber Plans program.
Internet in Australia
It is important to note that the current giants of internet providers are not providing Australians with high-speed and reliable internet. According to the Guardian, “Australia is plagued by internet disconnections, drop-outs, and slow download speeds, a survey has found” (Australian Associated Press, 2017, para. 1). Another survey claims that “six in 10 Australians have had issues with their service in the past six months” (Australian Associated Press, 2017, para. 2). Our nation is a highly developed one with a strong economy and infrastructure, and yet our communities are still struggling with an internet connection, which is why we seek to solve this problem with our NBN Fiber Plans program.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help out communities and customers stay connected through high-speed and reliable internet. Long gone days when the internet was an optional service because it is an essential part of the modern world. We seek to solve this issue at its core by providing the most reliable and high-speed internet connection. People’s daily efforts will no longer be disrupted due to the subpar internet service of our competitors. Our mission statement puts customer satisfaction as the top priority, which is a cornerstone of any successful enterprise.
Our Vision
Our vision statement is focused on the fact that Internode seeks to bring communities closer through superb internet, customer service, and quality by being the leader of the industry. The startup wants to dominate the market of internet providers by acquiring the largest piece of the market share. Despite being a small startup company, we won “Internet Service Provider of the Year in the 2019 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards” (Internode, 2020, para. 1). This shows that we are on a path to making out vision a reality. The key ingredient for our success so far is the leadership of our managers, which is rooted in respect and relationship building.
Our Values
Our core values include operational excellence, respect for all humans, and happy relationships as the main basis. By providing the correct leadership to our teams and stakeholders, we will be able to promote these values to the highest manifestation through focus and entrepreneurial spirit. Internode believes in continuous improvement regardless of achievements. The company focuses on respecting the needs of its clients, consumers, and communities and thus, focuses all of its efforts on satisfying these needs to the greatest extent. Internode values long-term happy relationships with all of its clients, communities, business partners, and investors.
Leadership at Internode
Since leadership is a core ingredient for our past successes and success to yet come, it is critical to elaborate on how it is important. The main leadership we use is the servant leadership style, which focuses on leaders solely serving their followers (Gotsis and Grimani, 2016). The modern world is changing drastically, and thus, our competitors’ inability to adapt and be flexible under such conditions is the prime reason why their services are subpar. We believe that leadership needs to promote diversity, inclusivity, and compassion not only for shareholders but also for employees, customers, and communities. Such is the role of the servant leadership framework of Internode, which adheres and complements our vision, mission, and values.
Evidence
Our choice of servant leadership is not a mere intuition since it is backed with scientific evidence and objective data as well as facts. Evidence suggests that there are “mediating mechanisms that intervene in the indirect relationship between servant leadership and climates for inclusion” (Gotsis and Grimani, 2016, p. 985). In other words, “servant leadership is inclusive by empowering diverse employees and fostering equitable and more humane workplaces, as well as by being more sensitive to various societal expectations” (Gotsis and Grimani, 2016, p. 985). Therefore, increased sensitivity to social expectations enables us to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction. It also promotes diversity and inclusion, which facilitate our goals of building long-term relationships with the communities we serve.
Servant Leadership in Practice
It is important to note that implementing servant leadership in practice is significantly more challenging than it sounds. Firstly, our leaders lead not through authority but rather influence. Secondly, our leaders must earn the right to lead rather than being appointed or assigned to do so. Thirdly, our leaders put the needs of our employees before their own. Fourthly, our leaders’ prime responsibility is to empower and motivate as well as help our employees. By focusing on these implementation steps, Internode is able to both attract the best talent in the country and grow our current one to the highest levels of performance and effectiveness.
How Servant Leadership Benefits Others
It should be noted that our choice of servant leadership benefits not only both managers and employees but also customers, communities, business partners, and shareholders. By attracting and harnessing the most effective, motivated, and energized talent, we will be able to provide the best service in the country, which translates into increased customer satisfaction. Communities will benefit by having a respectable and trustworthy employer in the region whose workers and leaders care about their issues and are willing to aid them.
Our business partners will be able to build long-term partnerships, which is mutually beneficial since we uphold our values and promises. Our shareholders will benefit from servant leadership by owning a company, which utilizes a sustainable and profitable business model, devoid of possible controversies and reputational issues.]
Summary
Internode is a startup company with a clear mission and vision as well as a specific set of values. Our mission is to help out communities and customers stay connected through high-speed and reliable internet. Our vision statement is focused on the fact that Internode seeks to bring communities closer through superb internet, customer service, and quality by being the leader of the industry. Our core values include operational excellence, respect for all humans, and happy relationships as the main basis. Our leadership style of choice is servant leadership style, which focuses on leaders solely serving their followers.]
Critical Reflection
The potential barriers to organizational communications might include divisions between field technicians, operations managers, and customer support and sales managers. Since these three groups have a differential set of tasks and responsibilities, it is possible that they might become too distanced from each other by building their own organizational sub-cultures. Therefore, these potential communication barriers will be overcome by an increase in interaction and exposure to each other through various activities.
In other words, these groups will be exposed and be able to interact with each other by a number of measures, which range from specific office layout design to communication through engagement activities. My perception of an excellent leader is based on servant leadership ideals of putting the followers’ needs before my own. Therefore, these approaches are designed to empower these employee groups and make them happy as well as satisfied with their work. Thus, I think that such a method will be effective at uniting the company and eliminating any potential communication barriers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Internode is a startup company, which values operational excellence, happy long-term relationships, and respect for all humans. Therefore, such an organization needs to promote these values through its managers and employees first in order to initiate the cascade effect, which will further impact the company’s customers, business partners, shareholders, and communities. The relationships built will be beneficial for all stakeholders of the company since it is part of the company’s values, mission, and vision.
Reference List
Australian Associated Press. (2017) âAustralian internet slow and plagued by disconnections, survey findsâ. The Guardian. Web.
Gotsis, G., and Grimani, K. (2016) âThe role of servant leadership in fostering inclusive organizationsâ, Journal of Management Development, 35(8), pp. 985-1010.
Internode. (2020) âInternode takes out Internet Service Provider of the Year!â, Internode: News and Media. Web.
Vogels, E. A. et al. (2020) â53% of Americans say the internet has been essential during the covid-19 outbreakâ. Pew Research Center. Web.