Global Communications

Problem Solution: Global Communications Corporation

Companies come and companies go, especially during the dot com era. The companies that survive are usually the long standing companies that have loyal customers and the new companies must offer something unique and necessary in order to survive in the game. Global Communication is a company that is having financial issues and had to come to the realization that something needs to be changed. The following information will be presented in this discussion: situation background, issues and opportunities statements, shareholder perspective along with ethical dilemma and end-state goals for Global Communications. In addition, alternative solutions and analysis of these solutions will be discussed as well. A discussion of implementing the plan and a conclusion will be analyzed. Now let's understand what the situational background is.

Situation Background (Step 1)

Global Communications is a company that needs to make a change in a very competitive industry that is ever growing and changing. Global Communications stock price has dropped from $28 to $11 over a three year period, which is a 50% drop in value from previous years. GC has competitors from various companies which include wireless, satellite and cable providers cutting into their business arena and they don't like it. Global Communications is intending to lay out a very aggressive plan that will enabled GC to reestablish itself as a leader in the communications industry but along with this plan comes major challenges in the form of issues and opportunities that lay ahead.

Issue Identification

Global Communications has many significant issues that they will need to deal with while implementing their new aggressive plan. One of the issues has to deal with staying competitive in the communications industry. GC was a leader in the industry until other providers intruded their turf and offered better service with improved technology to their customers. Losing customers brought about the drop in stock prices and the unhappy feelings from the shareholders. Another major issue facing GC is the satisfaction and loyalty of their employees. We all know that the basis of any good company is due to the make up of its employees, from top to bottom. By choosing to outsource some of their work, GC has to reduce employee salaries and in some cases fire them. Being an employee myself, if I were to learn that my job is will be given to someone else that would not make me very happy. If GC goes forward with their aggressive plan then employee morale will be very low resulting in low employee satisfaction which inevitability will result in fewer profits. Implementing this plan has its advantages and disadvantages with regards to issues but the plan also has some opportunities to offer.

Opportunity Identification

Global Communication has the potential to broaden its products and services into international markets. This opportunity is very viable due to the outsourcing of certain jobs by GC. Venturing out into other nations could be just what GC needs in order to claim a stake with a new and unique technology that will enable GC to stay at the forefront of the communications industry. Another opportunity offered through the use of outsourcing labor would be the reduction of costs on labor which would permit Global Communication to begin to recoup some of the profits lost with the declining stock prices. By implementing these improvements opportunities, Global communications will have the capabilities to meet their annual growth expectations from the shareholders. However, before the opportunities can be attained, the stakeholder's perspective and ethical dilemmas will need to be discussed.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Looking at the situation from the stakeholder's perspective, by this I mean management high up in the food chain, they are simply interested in one thing. Are we making money or not? For most stakeholders that is the bottom line at the end of the day, not issues concerning theirs employees or the union that represents those employees. The slide in stock prices and profits hit the shareholders very hard and this aggressive plan is a way to try and appease the shareholders because without them the company would not exist, the shareholders are the financial backbone of any company.

Assessing the situation from the standpoint of an ethical dilemma, Global Communication has a duty to be honest with its employees about the changes and how it would affect them. Not informing the employee union about the upcoming changes will be a big mistake not to mention unethical because the union has the employee's best interest at heart and if they feel these changes will not be beneficial for the workers then the union will make its voice be heard. As stated above, a company is only as good as its employees from top to bottom. The union would be a good ally for GC to have considering they gave up benefits at the last negotiations in order for the company to survive.

Problem Definition (Step 2)

The problem statement I established for Global Communications is stated as follows: Global Communications needs to improve their technological competitive edge and raise their market share in the industry. This problem statement emphasizes on what GC needs to do in order to become an industry leader once again. The statement illustrates how GC gaining a competitive edge will enable them to raise their market share within the communications industry.

End-State Goals (Step 3)

The end-state goals are good indicators of how successful Global Communications will be once the implementation of their plan has taken effect. The success can be measured by how effective GC is in establishing the following end-state goals:

Ð'* Global expansion

Ð'* Improved technological services and offerings

Ð'* Increase profits while reducing costs

Alternative Solutions and Benchmarking Validation (Step 4)

The concluding analyses for alternative solutions for Global Communications are numerous. There are three primary solutions that Global Communications should consider. First, GC needs to introduce new products and services to its customers and to reestablish themselves as the leaders in the communications industry. Secondly, GC needs to put major emphasis on its international marketing strategy for their products