Gap Analysis: Global Communications

Gap Analysis: Global Communications

MBA 500

University of Phoenix

Gap Analysis: Global Communications

Global Communications has lost subscribers or customers over the past three years causing a loss in the companies stocks. The company's management team has developed a plan to increase the company's stocks. The plan has two approaches. The first is to increase subscribers by offering more features to the small business owner. The second would cut operating costs.

The first option of increasing subscribers would be implemented and monitored over the next six months to determine its success. The company should maintain its current operation and staff to reduce any other variables that might affect the measurement of the plan. The employees and Union will also be kept informed as to the success company as it endeavors to recover.

After Global Communications evaluates the first part of the plan, the company will look into cost-cutting measures to make the company more profitable. The possibility of using offshore services will be investigated. Again the company will obtain feedback from the employees and Union officials to aid in determining cost-cutting measures.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Global Communications was facing continued losses in the company. The stock price had fallen by 50% over the past three years. In order for the company to remain solvent, solutions were needed to increase the company's profitability. The management team came up with a two-pronged approach to increase their profitability. (Unknown, 2004) First was to enhance their market position by offering new features. These features included, as was mentioned in the scenario, a complete solution where the company would offer telecommunications, video and Internet services. Offering new services along with the current service of telecommunications could allow the company to retain their current customers and attract new customers with the increased services.

The second approach to increase the company's profitability was to find cost cutting solutions. An item focused on to cut costs was to outsource their call centers and make them more regional. The opportunity could help the company cut cost by using offshore resources that had a lower operating cost.

The management team of Global Communication did not much time spent on the first item, to increase profits but appeared to focus on the problems of outsourcing and reducing the call center staff. The pending reduction in staff was a difficult issue for the Union leaders. Previous to this time the Union made concessions and gave up some benefits to aid in the companies financial difficulties. Maria, a Union leader, made the observation that this was a good move to those in the higher salary positions.

Upon the conclusion of the scenario the Union leaders wanted to revisit the union contract that was previously agreed upon. This could put the company in a tight spot if the employees went on strike in contest to the Union contract. The company needs to transition to the call centers in Ireland and India. If the transition occurred too quickly then the customer service from the call centers would suffer. (Unknown, 2004)

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Global Communications had a depression in the stocks over the past three years. The stockholders wanted the company to succeed to be able to gain a profit from their investment. They could see their investment failing and something needed to be done. If the company could change their direction and increase the value of the stocks, then the stockholders would be in a strong position with their investment. A higher value stock would draw more investors to the company and there would more funds to aid in growth and development. The loyal stockholders could recover their initial investment and those new investors could capitalize on the increase in growth. If the company continued in the current direction the stockholders would continue to lose their investment.

The customer's consideration is paramount to the decisions of the company. Without the customer there is no company. Customers demanded a better product. This was exhibited by their turning to other companies, i.e. the cable companies, to fulfill the customer's needs. Global Communications benchmarking decision to offer a complete solution could fulfill their customer's requirements. The customers deserved a good quality product along with quality service for their product that they were paying for. Customers are often looking for the best deal for their money. By offering a better product Global Communications could retain their current customers and draw new customers to their company. Retaining loyal customers is difficult when there are better products available elsewhere.

The stockholders have funds to invest in order to make the start and sustain a company. The Global Communications needs customers to support and provide for the company. Next Global Communications needs employees to operate the company. The employees provide the main structure for Global Communications by providing the service and support for the product. If the employees are satisfied in their jobs then they can provide a stable service to the company. The employees also have interest to see the success of the company. In this scenario the employees were willing to decrease their benefits to provide for the company's success. The employees realized that if there were no company then there would not be a job. At the end of the scenario the employees demanded that the company abide by their contract negotiations from the Union agreement. The Union felt that the Global Communications was not showing good faith in their employees' by turning to offshore resources.

End-State Vision

Global Communications wanted to regain and increase their position in the stock market. There were two main areas of focus in their plan to accomplish their goal. First was to offer a better product and services to small business customers. Their plan was to provide a complete package of telecommunications, video and Internet services. The company's second approach to increasing their profitability was to cut operating costs. Their focus of cutting costs was in outsourcing the call centers to Ireland and India that could operate at a fraction of the cost of the United States based call centers. By reacting quickly to