Global Communications Gap Analysis

Gap Analysis: Global Communications

Global Communications finds themselves amongst tough telecommunications competition and an ever increasing global market. There are many and opportunities they will face as they carry out decisions they make. Also there are internal and external conflicts that can occur. (GC) finds it is difficult to grow, cut costs, and be profitable while serving everyone's needs at the same time.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Decision making is difficult and should not be rushed. (GC) executives might not have taken enough time to consider the implications of implementing their plan. It seems (GC) is missing a clearly defined plan. It is almost as though every associate had a role to play and they were not very well connected. Even when they recognize that their plan is not going very well they face the pressure of groupthink from Katrina when she says: "Since we have already spent considerable time devising and agreeing to this strategy, we're better served to address the challenge that we've set up." It is almost as if (GC) made an expedient decision. "The greatest

(GC) has become almost nothing amongst all the competition. There is no cut and dry solution to the various problems they face as they try to revamp their business strategy. There are going to be many non-programmed decisions (GC) will have to make. "Managers typically face non-programmed decisions: new, novel, complex decision having no certain outcomes. There are a variety of possible solutions, all of which have merits and drawbacks." (Bateman & Snell, 2004, p. 5). (GC) has the opportunity to downsize and to change strategies to be competitive again. One solution (GC) has come up with is to go overseas to find cheaper labor. While it may be cheaper to find labor elsewhere they face the obstacle of getting the Union to approve this. The Unions purpose is to protect the jobs of its members. The Union already feels like they made sacrifices with their benefit cuts the previous year. Negotiations will surely be complex no matter the decision, and this is a new challenge for (GC). The greatest strength of the expedient approach is that it gets the job done. (Hoch & Kunreuther & Gunther, 2001, p 3). At the same time, however, expedient decision making has inherent weaknesses. It is not beneficial to arrive first with the wrong product." (Hoch & Kunreuther & Gunther, 2001, p 4). They came up with a solution but maybe it is not going to take them to their end goals.

(GC) had to get the board to approve the plan before revealing the plan to the rest of the company. However, the board members have a possibility to leak information through the grapevine without giving GC the opportunity to make a formal announcement. This is the opportunity to implement a well defined plan that foresaw this as a possibility and to "monitor and influence" (Kreitner& Kinicki, 2004, p. 25). the grapevine. If (GC) doesn't go forward with what they approved with the board in a timely fashion their employees will get their information from the grapevine. "Research about the grapevine provided the following insight: (1) it is faster than formal channels; (2) it is about 75% accurate; (3) people rely on it when they are insecure, threatened or faced with organizational changes; and (4) employees use the grapevine to acquire the majority of their on-the job information. (Kreitner& Kinicki, 2004, p. 25). Global Communications had to get the board to approve the plan before presenting to the rest of the company. However, the board members are a source for leaking information to the grapevine without giving GC the opportunity to make a formal announcement.

(GC) needs to choose the right medium of delivery for the announcement to the employees about restructuring. Choosing the right medium can enhance or detract from the announcement and will affect how the employee's receive the information. "If a unique and ambiguous issue is handled through email or another lean medium, then issues take longer to resolve and misunderstandings are more likely to occur. (McShane & Glinow, 2005. p. 13). The media richness they choose can truly affect the outcome of the announcement.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The players (Katrina, Sy, Nancy, and Joel Thompson) as a group are some of the biggest stakeholders. Their decisions are highly visible where others will see the outcome. "The men and women charged with running entire companies sometimes face an even more complex type of defining moment. They are asked to make manifest their understanding of what is right on a large stage - one that can include labor unions, the media, shareholders, and many other company stakeholders" (Badaracco, Joseph, 2002, p. 122). These players have to deal with all stakeholders mentioned.

The Board Members had the power to approve the proposal to downsize and go global looking for cheaper alternatives. They want the company to succeed because of their interests in the profitability of the company. Maybe that interest is stronger than their desire to protect current employees jobs. Overall their interest in the company is profit driven.

The Union represents the workers. The Unions job is to protect the workers and negotiate the best wages and benefits. The Union will probably not think it is fair to give American jobs to other countries, they will probably try to negotiate a better outcome for current employees.

(GC) employees are the group being most affected but have the least decision making power. Their jobs and respect for the company are at stake. They will loose trust in management because they will see the change as the monster that took their job away. They might want to stay on and take the lower paying job but maybe they will find internal conflict with that decision.

End-State Vision

(GC) wants their company to become global and profitable. They plan to add various new services to help the company grow. This includes contracting with other service providers to offer more telecommunication services to their customers. They want to retain current workers but cut salaries in the process. The U.S. would no longer be their only market basis. They need to cut costs to be profitable. They plan on moving the call center to other countries with cheaper labor. If all these things happen (GC) will find themselves as a successful, competitive, growing telecommunications company once again.

Gap Analysis

Adding new services can be complicated and costly to contract with other