Telstra takes a planned approach to the formation of an overarching strategy. The method is determined by a formal company official, where corporate objectives are set to develop a coherent business practice (Neugebauer, Figge, and Hahn, 2016, p. 323). An example of the set target includes meeting security for information, which is desired to be achieved by accessing necessary resources. An example of a tool acquired to facilitate a strategic plan is a multi-cloud system (Telstra Corporation Limited, 2020, p. 10).
Based on the company’s executives’ decision, partnering with a hybrid cloud security organization was deemed crucial to meet overarching cloud plans. The business collaboration aims to see Australia’s incumbent telecommunication providers integrate a security solution layer into an enterprise management portfolio (Haeruddin et al., 2020, p. 80). According to Gregory (2019, p. 12), Telstra’s partnerships with another business helped lay the security foundation while the deal was concealed by investing between 5 to 10 million dollars in vArmour networks.
In situations where an intended strategy is the business’s norm, then there are real impacts on the organization’s performance. Based on Telstra’s annual reports, the company looks forward to setting tactics to improve the customer’s experience and cut costs. The company plans to create an infrastructure business unit that would drive performance and future operationality for investors’ entry. Telstra looks forward to remaining a premium brand that provides 5G services. In 2018, the company announced a plan to lead the Australian market through simplified operations and a reduced cost base (Süßspeck, Campbell and Hinton., 2018, p. 8; Gregory, 2019, p. 10). The strategy was named Telstar2022, and this is an indicator of a planned strategy, drawing from the school of thought that says a planned strategy is the best approach to success
Strategic approaches help organizations to excel in the market and appear unique in operations. A corporate-level strategy is a plan designed by an entity to determine which organizations they relate to most in a given time frame (Patrisia and Dastgir, 2017, p. 123; Liu, 2016, p. 4). Normally, a large corporation such as Telstra makes operations with multiple businesses to accomplish diverse goals. Telstra exercise has embraced a corporate-level strategy to diversify business and operation, and this is evident in its shares in the media company Foxtel, where it owns more than 30% shares (Gregory, 2018, p. 5; Holmes et al., 2020, p. 201). Moreover, other businesses provide fixed-line services and operate alongside Telstra. In addition, the company is a multinational technology firm that empowers organizations to operate in a connected world. Madsen and De Percy (2020, p. 222) inform that there are more than 3000 workers outside Australia in about 20 foreign states availing services to businesses, government, and carrier customers, which affirms a corporate-level approach.
The types of corporate-level strategies incorporated include stability, expansion, retrenchment, and combination from studies on corporate-level strategies. Among these organizational plans, Telstra utilizes stability, combination, and expansion to lead the Australian market through product simplification and improvement of customer experiences (Wilson, Thomas, and Barraket, 2019, p. 106). For Telstra’s numerous business units, such as the retail of SBU, to achieve operational efficiency, the entity has developed a clear vision, missions, and goals. The strategic aim is to attain profit by designing and delivering excellent communication solutions to customers.
Telstra’s business-level strategy is to create intuitive and straightforward solutions with real benefits and cost advantages to businesses, people, enterprises, or governments. In that way, the approach adopted by the company is differentiation. According to Porters’ models, a differentiation model is where a firm seeks exceptional dimensions that multiple buyers value in the market (Omsa, Abdullah, and Jamali, 2017, p. 10; Viltard, 2017, p. 3). A business selects one or several attributes that most customers see as essential and uniquely present to meet people’s needs. Telstra is rewarded for its specialty in the premium cost of services in the industry. The company has attained popularity through availing of quality products and services such as home phones, fixed broadband, wireless broadband, and pay-tv. Since its inception, Telstra has focused on being a technology product leader and is recognized for its customer-based practices. Ideally, the firm has a market-based management plan that gives it a competitive edge.
In the technology industry, the market is ever-changing due to advancements in innovations and the growth of telecommunication product penetration. Currently, Telstra provides numerous benefits to clients over other telecommunication carriers in the Australian market. Core elements of competitive edge include broad recognition, extensive services to consumers, control over fixed lines and mobile infrastructures, geographical networks coverage throughout the country, and financial stability flow. Telstra can finance its research and development project, thus cutting the edge of introducing advanced networks.
The moment businesses establish performance growth at the domestic level, they consider extending operations beyond borders. For more than 70 years, Telstra has been operating at an international level, empowering businesses to thrive in a connected world (Telstra Corporation Limited, 2020, p. 103). The company’s heritage is Australian, but it has a longstanding international business, majorly focusing on the Assan-Pacific region. To operate worldwide, Telstra has adopted a global marketing strategy in countries such as China and Singapore (Cuervo-Cazurra, Mudambi, and Pedersen, 2018, p. 214; Hitt, Li, and Xu, 2016, p. 4). The plan reflects other types of international strategy options through the main purpose. For instance, a multinational method is where a company advertises in foreign states to promote the local market. At the same time, the transnational approach seeks a middle ground, which is not what Telstra intends.
Innovations have geared the ay organization avail product and services to customers. Technology expertise is an internal factor that prompts the company to operate internationally, coupled with an external force of market availability overseas (Dougherty, 2020, p. 52). Digital innovation is an effective tool that the company uses to develop new products and services. A knowledge base with the company has also enabled improvements in existing services and attained productivity as a competitive advantage. Telstar has continually invested in computer technology, and this shaped the face of human resources. The company’s environment is made up of circumstances that influence the potential for goal accomplishment. For example, internal communication between leaders and workers defines a culture that promotes growth and abilities to push beyond the boundaries. Thus, internal and external factors positively or negatively influence the way companies to operate.
Organizations do not operate in a vacuum and therefore have to be watchful of activities to preserve society’s interests. The philosophy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) stresses organizations’ needs as good entities to citizens (Ferrell et al., 2019, p. 493; Freeman and Dmytriyev, 2017, p. 8). Companies meet this not by just obeying the rules but by carrying out practices in a friendly way to the surrounding. At Telstra, CSR is taken as a value-based approach to how operations are done. In that way, the company goes beyond legal compliance to contribute to the community and industries served. Business ethics is embedded in the company’s mission and vision of establishing connectedness in a future where every person can thrive, which means the company pays attention to people’s needs. The future strategy is built on customers worth through key pillars of advocacy. One of the company’s values is care, which it shows by acting ethically concerning the customers, stakeholders, and communities (Telstra, 2017, p. 15).
Telstra recognizes that long-term success depends on how a company conducts business, and this implies that it leverages the ethical behavior of serving customers rightfully to create a competitive advantage. In FY17, the corporation introduced policies to bring consistency across the organization to what people expect (Chief Sustainability Office, 2017, para. 3). Telstra engaged in sustainability reporting to ensure consideration of people, the environment, and society. Moreover, through reporting, the entity becomes transparent about risks or opportunities faced. Lately, Telstar released a sustainability report, Bigger Picture 2020, that details progress in integrating performance ratings and helping people thrive in a digital world. In that way, the company is mindful of how to relate to the environment, customers, and community.
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