Good Sport Problem Solution Assignment

Good Sport Problem Solution Assignment Words: 3746

Problem Solution: Global Communications Global Communications has recently felt the pressures of competitors in the telecommunications industry. With new competitors entering the field constantly and cable and satellite companies reaching out to new adventures, it makes it increasingly difficult for them to survive. Cable companies have been able to offer complete packages to consumers including telephone, computer and television services with success.

The technological edge and financial abilities that larger companies have in the industry creates even more pressure on Global Communications to set themselves apart by becoming a leader in technology and success. Recently stocks for Global Communications have fallen from $28 per share to $11 which leaves them with no choice but to restructure and refocus the company. With the increased competition that Global Communications has felt senior leaders have had to come up with a plan to structure the company in a way that will help them bring life back in to the company.

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The following problem solution template will present different alternatives for the company to consider in achieving what is best for everyone involved with the company. The plan will focus on the reputation of the company and those involved with the company both inside and outside of the direct workings. Situation Analysis Issue and Opportunity Identification A new plan formulated by the senor leaders includes many changes with the services that they will offer and the sources of employment for the Global Communications.

In an attempt to increase profitability they plan to outsource a portion of their technical call centers to India and Ireland. They would also like to make new services including computer and wireless phone cards available. Once these changes are implemented the company should experience a 40% decrease in costs associated their call centers. These changes will create a decrease in the number and quality of jobs that are available to current employees who have recently suffered from a 20% decrease in their benefits.

Thousands of people who are currently employed by Global Communications will inevitably lose their jobs while some will be allowed to transfer to new locations. The catch with the relocation of current employees is that they will have to take a 10% decrease in pay to stay with the company. The new plan is not only one that does not seem to benefit the current employees but stands to create more issues within the union. As a company they have reached a point where their next move is vital to their success as a company and their reputation.

From this point the leaders of the project will need to come up with alternative plans to better fit all of the individuals. The employee union put up much fuss in the fact that they were not involved in the preliminary planning and must be considered in alternative solutions. They need to play an active part in speaking for the employees that they represent. Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas In their attempt to keep all parties involved satisfied the senior leaders have to take into account all possible interest, rights and values of different stake holders.

This becomes increasingly difficult when they find that not only do they want good end states for themselves but also for stockholders, board members, the union and employees. With the wide array of different perspectives they face many conflicts in their solution. Board members are the people who are elected to voice the opinions and views of the stockholders. With stock prices falling as much as they have in the recent years for those who have backed the company financially it is no wonder that this is going to be a main focus in changing the company and profitability.

Their main focus should be to raise profits to reward those who have footed the company and prove that they are a company that should be stood behind. The backbone of the company would be the workers who keep the facility producing and the union that represents them. Recent negotiations left employees with a 20% reduction in health and education benefits as an attempt to help the company flourish. By agreeing to take cut backs like these it proves that both the union and employees are important holders in the company and are concerned with the success of Global Communications.

With them already giving up so many of their benefits it would seem unfit to outsource jobs that they have already made sacrifices to keep. Lastly the senior leadership team has their jobs on the line if things do not work out in a manner that keeps all stakeholders satisfied. If the team is not able to increase profits and keep jobs local they stand to lose not only the time that they have invested in this project but also with the company as a whole. They are now left with a decision of which stakeholder is most important in the future success of the company.

Because they had not sent the new vision to the union for review is it ethical for them to forget completely about their obligations to employees. Problem Statement Global Communications is working toward finding a way to globalize their company while advancing the obligations that they have to their current employees by making changes to their working environment. They want to keep all of their stakeholders in consideration and keep them satisfied while lowering the costs that they have so they can drive stock prices back up. End-State Vision

The main goal for Global Communications will be to keep as many of their stakeholders happy as possible while making the necessary changes in order to succeed in the telecommunications market. Their plan should keep all parties satisfied as they go through the transition of getting themselves a great new start in an industry that they fell behind in. In any accord they need to offer positions to their current employees to prove to them how valuable they are and that they are trying to do what is best for the company. Whatever their decision is it needs to immediately go into effect to ensure a position in their market.

The ultimate challenge for Global Communications is going to be to increase their profits and still keep everyone satisfied. Leaders have seen the wrath of the union and will now attempt to not only meet with them more regularly but also include employees in discussions of changes within the company. Their previous tactics of not communicating with the union will be replaced with verbal communication techniques that allow for nonverbal elements to be seen as well. “Employees make extensive use of nonverbal cues to transmit prescribed feelings to customers, co-workers, and others. In implementing more face-to-face communication between the union and decision makers plans will be allowed to change when problems arise and become open to discussion. From this point the company will be evaluated on a regular basis and other areas for change can be discussed. When they extend job offers to their current employees they will make sure to include a notation stating that they will be conducting monthly evaluations and pay increases will be made to compensate for the recent loss of benefits and the pay decrease.

This will continue until each individual is at the same pay rate they are currently are at. Alternative Solutions In an attempt to further the understanding of what is happening to Global Communications a benchmarking was done to see how other companies have faced similar problems with globalization and competition. The benchmarking will allow for possible solutions to come into play that have previously not been thought of. Companies that were researched include Wal-mart, Apple, Inc. , Sprint/Nextel, Johnson & Johnson, Sara Lee, Electronic Data Systems Company, Mc Donald’s and Turner Communications.

There were a few possibilities that were never previously looked at when completing the benchmarking assignment. Sure the company can decide to outsource at lower costs, but they can also do generic benchmarking, complete mergers and acquisitions, diversify the product that they offer or they could even create new entities or divisions. The different companies that were researched used a combination of each techniques to face their problems and have only become stronger companies because of their decisions. Similar to the tactics of Wal-mart they would be able to accomplish lower costs by outsourcing their costs to foreign nations. Generic benchmarking is when the best practices of a company are within a different industry, in order to produce better success, without necessarily jumping on the bandwagon. ” They could also choose to be like Sara Lee and compete with mergers and acquisitions. Or they may want to take advice from a company like McDonald’s and diversify their “menu”. Lastly they may want to create new entities or divisions like that of Turner communications. Global Communications needs to remember their roots and the way that they have previously treated employees and customers.

They need to focus more on the people that they have who recently have proven that they are willing to do what is necessary to ensure the success of the company. At a company they need to keep in mind that they have already given up twenty percent of their benefits and if they decide to stay with the company through their transition they will be giving up ten more percent of their income. If employees decide to stay with the company they are proving that they not only believe in the company but they also are willing to live through the tough times to ensure their success.

With all of this in mind they will want to do whatever they can for these people because they are truly devoted to the standings of the company. This could possibly mean that they forget about outsourcing and come up with a plan that will refocus their attention on organizational commitment instead. Analysis of Alternative Solutions In attempting to weigh out the possible plans set forth to Global Communications an alternative solution evaluation matrix was completed to access the goals that were to be achieved and determine possible solutions that met up with those goals.

For the goals that I found important I had chosen to focus on the lowered cost of production, more open communication within the company, the implementation of a new product that will set them apart and meeting their obligation to employ locally. Highest of importance on the list would the lowered cost of production because this is the main issue that has caused the urge to outsource. Following with middle to high importance would be the local employment and the new product that sets them apart.

As a company they need to keep their employees that have done so much for them happy and they need something that sets them apart in the market to ensure success. Lastly I was able to rank opening communications as a middle importance because I feel that most of that will come with the others being met but they will also be dealing with that more fundamentally by showing that they are willing to work with the employees. When using the evaluation matrix as a guide I was able to find a new solution for Global Communications that did not directly involve outsourcing.

Instead I have decided that they may want to create new entities or divisions. I found that in completing the matrix this alternative met opening communication and keeping things locally at a medium to high level because it will allow jobs to stay and will require negotiations by the union to place people in different positions. It should at a medium level meet the goal of lowered cost of production because there will be divisions now but they will be able to focus on presenting a better product and be able to have people who are more knowledgeable at each step.

On a low to medium level it will meet the new product and the differentiation. This tactic will allow for a better product coming from them and they will be able to branch to the markets that they want to but it does not seem to be the focus of this alternative. Risk Assessment and Mitigation Techniques With any new venture there are going to be uncertainties but when dealing with large companies or small ones it is important to assess the possible outcomes. Global Communications may want to assess these risks before making any decisions on what to do.

By creating the new entities or divisions there is a possibility that they will take on too much or branch into areas they are not ready to compete in. The thought that they will take on too much really is not an issue because it will be more so just breaking up what they are currently doing with the new element for competition. They will have more focused areas so that will likely not happen. However, they may branch into areas they are not ready to compete in and that will need to be faced by keeping things in markets they are familiar with and have knowledgeable people to work in.

In outsourcing for lower costs they will run into issues with their domestic relations and possibly with their product quality. The domestic market will be tough on them being that they stand to cut many jobs locally if this is the path they take. They would want to compete with this by keeping part of their operations local. They will also want to ensure product standard if they decide to do this so quality will not diminish creating less loyalty from customers. Optimal Solution The main element in determining that Global Communications should create new entities and divisions happens to be the evaluation matrix.

The use of this tool helps determine what possible solution will best fit the end state goals that Global communications is longing for. By creating the new divisions they will be able to better fit their employees to things that they excel in and will be able to offer a product that is better for their customers. The new divisions will allow for things to be outsourced when it comes to their competitive edge that they are seeking. The company will be able to look to the global market for many of their telephone operations or their call center operations.

Those that they currently have working in the local call centers will then be able to advance themselves by providing more of what they are familiar with. Current employees will be able to form teams that focus on solving the problems that they saw while working in the call centers and they will be able to suggest new products that will benefit many of the problems that they faced in their previous positions. The main element in this would be that a majority of their current employees will be able to keep their jobs and it should also open up negotiations within each division by the union.

They should have a better working process because their internal workings will be more divided and they will eliminate the unnecessary elements that could be creating dead weight in their productions. By creating new entities and divisions Global Communications will be able to lower production costs and acquire the new products that they long for. Each employee will have more of a say in what is going on within the company because of the meetings that will be held to offer new ideas and suggestions for bettering the workings of the company.

Processes should speed up and be more efficient because of the round robin format that will be implemented at the meetings. Implementation Plan To start this new process of creating divisions and creating new entities there will be some things that need to be done and tracked. I believe that it should be the objective of the leaders to make sure that all of these things are on track but they will also delegate responsibilities to others in order to keep things moving. The initial thing that needs to be done by upper management is to create divisions where they place people who excel in different areas of the processes that need to be done.

This task should be completed in 1-3 months but the implementation of divisions should be completed in approximately one month so they can test out people in different areas. They will need to assign new leaders for each area but need to have the divisions completed by the third month. The company will also want to create their new products or gain entities to create new products. This can be done globally being that they are looking to outsource. This should be completed by the 6th month and should be completed by upper management.

This should not be a huge task being that they were looking at outsourcing in the first place but is going to take some time to complete with the divisions being created at the same time. New products should be launched within the first year being that the company needs to see a speedy turn around to get them back in the telecommunications game. Each division will have new assigned tasks and be responsible for their new improved portions of the product to be launched within the year. This may take a lot of working together and outsourcing.

They may also want to look back into mergers with other companies at this point but that is to be determined divisionally. They also need to keep in mind that they will still be doing cuts on employees locally and will need to find a way to complete their monthly reviews of the staff that they do have still on with them. They want to make sure that the benefits are back on track and that people are best fitted to what they are assigned to do. These reviews should be done monthly by management in each division.

As a company they are going to want to hold meetings at least once a month as well to see what is working in each division and what is not. Being that they are going about this in a restructuring way they need to make sure that things are working and that things are getting done the way that they need to. This time together should be looked at as a round table discussion where everyone is able to give feedback on how processes are working. Evaluation of Results To ensure the success there needs to be a checks and balances of each of the goals that are to be achieved.

Global Communications needs to lower production costs, keep communications open, and target new products. They need to be tracking production costs on a weekly basis for the first six months of the implementation because of where they stand financially. They are going to aim to keep most of their labor locally which makes this even more essential being that labor costs are going to be higher here. They should be able to offset by doing the major productions globally but this needs to be tracked weekly for six months and then monthly following that.

To keep track of the communications and union negotiations there needs to be meeting that are set up and held monthly to see where everyone stands. This is going to be an ongoing process and should stay that way. New products need to be introduced at a rate of one within the first year but then once every six months. They need to make sure that the products are quality and that they are keeping ahead of the competitors. By tracking all of this information they should be able to see where things are going not only for them but also have insight to what competitors are going to be doing.

This will ensure their success in the telecommunications market and hopefully keep them out of the position they are currently facing. Conclusion To be successful in the telecommunications industry a company needs to be open to change and constantly be a step ahead of the competition. In this industry there needs to be constant change and companies cannot stand by as others take away their market shares. When faced with a problem they need to act on it and be willing to take the heat for the choices that they make.

The decisions are not always easy and generally come with some form of backlash but when dealt with in the correct fashion they only will make the company more competitive. By dividing out the labor that is being done they should be able to lower costs and have a more specialized product to offer their customers. The new plans of tracking success and having regular meeting will ensure that they are doing what is best for all parties involved and will also help keep individual divisions and entities on track.

By breaking their productions and decisions into smaller more manageable tasks they will be able to get more accomplished and budget better for larger innovative launchings. This will create a good place for them in the market and possibly make them come out on top. References Apple History. (2006). http://www. apple-history. com/ Retrieved December 8, 2008. Electronic Data Systems Corporation (2008). Retrieved on December 9, 2008, from http://www. eds. com Global Communications Scenario. Retrieved December 2, 2008 from University of Phoenix Online.

Johnson & Johnson. (2008). Johnson & Johnson. Retrieved December 6, 2008, from HooverAcademic: http://premium. hoovers. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/subscribe/ McDonald’s Corporation. (2008). McDonald’s Corporation. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from Hoover Academic:http://premium. hoovers. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/subscribe/ McShane, S. , & Von Glinow, M, (2005). Organizational behavior: Emerging realities for the workplace revolution. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Sara Lee (2008). Retrieved on December 13, 2008, from http://www. arelee. com Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (2008). Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from Hoover Academic: http://premium. hoovers. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/subscribe/ Wal-Mart (2008). Retrieved from http://www. Walmart. com on December 8, 2008. Vosevich, Ph. D. , Kathi. (2008). Sprint Nextel Company Profile. Retrieved December 6, 2008, from Faulkner’s Advisory on Computer & Communications Technologies: http://www. faulkner. com. ezproxy. apollolibrary. com/products/faccts/

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