Organisational Audit Of T Mobile Management Essay

Organisational Audit Of T Mobile Management Essay According to Kourdi, Business Strategy is the plans, choices and decisions used to guide a company to greater profitability and success. An inspired and clearly considered strategy provides the impetus for commercial success, whereas a weak or misunderstood strategy may lead to a company going out of business. Understanding what constitutes strategy is therefore crucial in developing a successful business, as is avoiding the tendency to label every plan and decision strategic when most are about implementing strategy rather than setting it. Equally important is for a strategy to be clear and effectively communicated to everyone with a role in implementing it, and to shareholders and other stakeholders. For the purpose of this assignment, my chosen company is the T-Mobile. History and Background of T-Mobile T-Mobile UK is a joint French and German-owned mobile network and mobile broadband operator in the United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by Everything Everywhere, the UKs largest mobile network. T-Mobile UK started life as Mercury One2One, a GSM mobile network operated by the now-defunct Mercury Communications. Later known simply as One2One, it was the worlds second GSM 1800 network when it was launched in September 1993. In its final days it was operated as a joint venture between Cables and Wireless and American cable provider Mediaone Group, which had a number of investments in Britain dating back to its days as the US West Media Group. One 2 One was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999 and rebranded as T-Mobile in 2002. On 1 April 2010 Deutsche Telekom and France Telekom finalized the deal to merge their UK based operations, causing Orange UK and T-Mobile UK to cease to exist, although the brands was maintained for at least 18 months. On 11 May 2010 it was announced that both the Orange and T-Mobile brands would remain on British high streets, although their new merged parent company will be called Everything Everywhere  [1]  . The T-Mobile brand is present in 11 European countries   Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany (as Telekom), Hungary, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Globally, T-Mobile International subsidiaries have a combined total of approximately 150 million subscribers, making the company the worlds third-largest mobile-phone service provider by subscribers and the third-largest multinational after the UKs Vodafone and Spains Telefà ³nica. T-Mobile offers both pay-as-you-go and pay-monthly contract phones. The pay-monthly contracts consists of set amounts of minutes and flexible boosters which allow the customer to change them month-to-month depending on their needs. Prior to this T-Mobile had a contract option known as Flext, which gave the user an amount of money to use for calls, texts, MMS and mobile internet as necessary. (Wikipedia, 2012) 3.0 The challenge that T-mobile is facing T-Mobile is the largest mobile service providers in UK. They are at the moment facing severe competition from other service providers such as 3G, Vodafone, Virgin, O2. Competition is coupled with other environmental factors that create a very challenging market for them. The current situation (Riots August 2011) in UK, the increasing debt situation in US and Europe had further worsened the business environment, which makes it unsuitable for business like T-Mobile to grow. The situation is quite alarming and it is high time for T-Mobile to act and tackle the above serious problem. In delaying to do so, would definitely give opportunity to competitors to take the lead. 3.1 The Business Strategies for T-Mobile In reference to the problem above, several strategies can be implemented by T-Mobile during this recession period. Doing nothing is not an option and passivity will only make things worse. At a starting point, T-Mobile would have to make sure that all the strategies that would be agreed upon would have to be in line with its Mission and Vision. Mission and Vision are the inspiring words that would assist T-Mobile to focus in a particular direction by keeping its values. The following are the two business strategies of T-Mobile that need to be implemented. 3.1.1 Concentrate on continuous support to customers. T-Mobile is dependent on their revenue-paying customers and cannot afford to stand by while those customers decline. One-way to make sure T-Mobile survives the economic downturn is to keep focusing on the customers. In a down economy people focus their spending on companies they trust most, as they get choosy. Customers need to be valued, not just for their money, but also for whom they are. In order to do this, T-Mobile has to make sure that its staffs are addressing the customers need for a strong sense of belonging and significance. For instance, make sure that staffs are positive and proactive with complaints rather than negative and reactive. Leaders of a large consulting firm have told their staff that they should worry more about their clients than about themselves, thinking up ways their clients can survive, even if every microsecond isnt billable. Generosity might not bring anything now, but help to position for the future, hopefully with healthier customers and bigger ideas. The big threat to T-Mobile is its competitors such as; 3G, Virgin, Vodafone, O2 and others and without any doubt, the competitors are also working on strategies of how to survive the down turn. So, T-Mobile has to try its utmost in delivering outstanding services to its customers. 3.1.2 Expand in other countries. Other than the two strategies above, T-Mobile can consider expanding in other part of the planet where recession is not present and where the markets are on great demand and wide. The secret to survive a recession is opportunity recognition. The first step in opportunity recognition is to know and believe that there will always be opportunity for those who seek and pursue it. Having focussed a lot in the European market and USA since its existence, T-Mobile might consider penetrating the UAE and Asia markets. For instance, China and India with its high population are two countries that are developing at a rapid pace. T-Mobiles good reputation in the Europe and USA is a good reason for other countries to welcome its presence. Sometimes, it is best method to move away from the recession zone and built from scratch for a better result other than keep fighting in the bush with less profit or no profit at all. Having branches also around the globe would support other branches that are in trouble such as recession, high inflation, political and legal implication or even natural disasters. The strategic plan above addresses the what which is the answer for the challenges that T-Mobile are facing, the why and as from this point the implementation will address the: who, where, when, and how. The Organizational Audit of T-Mobile The first and foremost task that needs to be done in order to implement the above strategies is the gathering of information in relation to the strategic plan. Organisational audit or strategy audit is to arm T-Mobile managers with the tools, information, and commitment to evaluate the degree of advantage and focus provided by their current strategies. An audit produces the data needed to determine whether a change in strategy is necessary and exactly what changes should be made. T-Mobiles actual direction is the sum of what it does and does not do, how well it is internally aligned to support the strategy, and how viable the strategy is when compared to external market, competitor and financial realities. Thus, the internal assessment and the external or environmental assessment, make up the major elements of an organizational audit. The following are the steps that T-Mobile will have to analysed and at the same time make the necessary adjustment before venturing. Ammunition has to be made available before reaching the battlefield otherwise it will be a disaster before venturing. Before Implementation An analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat of T-Mobile An analysis of the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal aspect that can impact T-Mobile strategic plan An examination of T-Mobiles stakeholders and how to bring them more closer to achieve the goal as one body Making sure that resources such as: human, financial, physical and information resources are available and ready to achieve the objectives together During Implementation Ensuring an honest and solid integration between departments. All the elements in the business plan; the mission, vision, values, goals, strategy and behaviours need to be understood by each and everyone. Simultaneously, commitment and support are needed throughout the process at all management levels: strategic, tactical and operational level. After Implementation Proper monitoring to make certain that targets are achieving in the time frame set and rectifying any issues that may arise in order for the implementation to be a success The SWOT Analysis of T-Mobile An examination of the strengths weaknesses, opportunities and threats of T-Mobile, also called the SWOT analysis. Strengths (S) and Weaknesses (W) are considered to be internal factors over which T-Mobile have some measure of control whereas Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) are considered to be external factors over which it has essentially no control. SWOT analysis is the most renowned tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic position of the business and its environment. Its key purpose is to identify the strategies that will create a firm specific business model that will best align an organizations resources and capabilities to the requirements of the environment in which the firm operates. According to David (2006) a SWOT analysis involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieve that objective. (David, 2006) Strengths The qualities that enable T-mobile to accomplish its mission T-Mobile has been able to create strong brand equity and also made itself recognized across the Europe and the US. Customers are familiar with the T-Mobiles brand; they hold a strong positive and distinctive bond with its name. T-mobile has been able to establish 4G  [2]   network bases in Europe and the same is growing in US. Thus, having a step ahead over its competitors. T-Mobile has got numerous alliances with industry leading corporations in mobile services technologies, allowing it to offer better services to its customers accordingly. For instance, Comcast Cable and T-Mobile USA, Inc. has announced a strategic marketing alliance to offer the T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi Internet service to Comcasts nearly five million high-speed Internet customers. Thus, Comcast customers can experience the convenience, reliability and value of a T-Mobile wireless broadband connection when theyre away from home, via Wi-Fi, at the more than 4,000 T-Mobile Hotspot locations nationwide. (newsroom.t-mobile.com,2012) T-Mobiles has been able to position itself as the third largest mobile company in the world. T-Mobile has rightly chosen its slogan Everything Everywhere. The two words define T-Mobile purpose on the planet, which instantly create some kind of attachment and curiosity to existing and new customers respectively. T-Mobile was first to introduce Google-based phone in the UK, using android technology Weaknesses Weaknesses are the qualities that prevent T-Mobile from accomplishing its mission and achieving its full potential. T-mobile has no presence in the key emerging markets of the world although it is classified as the third largest mobile company in the world. Customers have reported complaints in consumeraffair.com. They faced issue such as no signal and dropped calls on the roadside, where there was good coverage for other carriers. (theultimatewireless.com, 2011) Coverage of network is not prominent in some areas. It some areas it is intermittent where as in some areas it is simply dead coverage of network. Customers are moving from one mobile service to another and brand loyalty is not present in the customers. Retention of customers strategy is absence. Offering limited bandwidth to its customers. The cap of 500 MB restrained T-Mobile subscribers from using the Internet freely. Opportunities The environment within which T-Mobile operates presents Opportunities Increasing 4G-network coverage in the UK would make T-Mobile stand out from the crowd. 4G, also known as LTE (long term evolution), are the next evolution of mobile network technology. With the customer base that keeps growing steadily, T-Mobile can could easily surprised the world one day to climb the ladder from third to first largest mobile company in the world. T-Mobile could probably expand in ASIA, instead of concentrating only in Europe and the US. China, India and UAE are the key parts in ASIA that T-Mobile could consider expansion. T-Mobile could also amalgamate with other mobile company as it did with Orange mobile company. Thus, more mobile company under the same umbrella Everything Everywhere. Threats Threats arise when conditions in external environment jeopardize the reliability and profitability of T-Mobile Intensifying competition in the UK market. For instance, Virgin Company, 3G mobile Company, O2 and Vodafone Company are the direct rivals of T-Mobile, which T-Mobile has to be very vigilant of. Economic slowdown in the European Union and the US had an adverse effect on T-Mobile. People become very choosy and cautious when it comes to spend money during those economic crises. Proper strategy is important in order to retain and attract new customers. European Union regulation on cross-border cell phone usage by customers (managementparadise, 2011). Sometimes or most of the times Government regulations can be bad for business, such as T-Mobile. 6.0 PESTEL Analysis of T-Mobile After an examination of the SWOT analysis is done, a PESTEL analysis of T-Mobile is essential. They are both commonly used together to get a better understanding of the competitive and economic environment, but they represent two contrasting approaches. SWOT analysis differs from PESTEL in the sense that, it is more flexible and can be applied to various forms of business functions where as PESTEL analysis is more nonconforming, used only to fully understand the implications of entering a new market. PESTEL Analysis is a convenient tool to analyse the macro-environment, which is also called the far environment. PESTEL is an acronym that stands for Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. It is used for determining the opportunities and risks of global expansion. Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal issues often differ domestically and even more so internationally. Hence, it provides a strong framework to set the stage to develop specific tactics to mitigate the risks involved in executing vision in unfamiliar environments such as in strategy (3.1.2) above, expansion in a different country. Political, Government and Legal Forces: Political influences relate to government or constitutional policies that may affect a business and so do legal forces. There were a number of regulatory hurdles that were overcome before the merger was agreed of T-Mobile and Orange. It was by no means guaranteed that UK competition authorities would have approved the deal without some stringent requirements, such as obliging the operators to help to provide rural broadband coverage. These were met and the merger took place back in 2010. (itvoir, 2011). The governments current policies are unable to handle the current riots, which is a direct threat for a healthy business environment, and may affect T-Mobile. So, the actual place of operation are experiencing political, governmental and legal issues representing a barrier for growth. Due to these, T-Mobile has to consider moving in other countries where their political, government and legal system are favourable to operate and grow without any hurdles. T-Mobile would have to make sure that the intended country is politically stable as well its legal system. Economical: With economic downturn, the interest rates are at low of 0.5pc. (telegraph, 2010). This is a great opportunity for the consumers in the form of low lending rates. The government is encouraging consumers, which would ignite the stagnant economy. Now this is a good sign for T-Mobile network in two ways. Firstly, they can borrow at lower rates and secondly, it will increase the consumer buying power as the low rates ignite the economy. But for now the market is quite stagnant and increasing market share looks a bit difficult. (123helpme, 2011) Infact, the strategy of expanding in another country has emerged due to the economic situation that are prevailing in the Europe. Companies including T-Mobile are finding themselves in turmoil to move a step ahead. The economic situation of the intended country needs to be analysed carefully before venturing. Socio-cultural: Socio-cultural influences encompass such factors as class, age and gender, demographics as well as issues such as culture   both local and international and diversity. When T-Mobile started with its Short Messaging Service (SMS), it was the beginning of the mobile multimedia era. T-Mobile also offers Multimedia Messaging (MMS) Service, which enables customers to send and receive picture messages. Both SMS and MMS are popular among women and are seen as a social tool for interact (Mintel, 2011) .In the summer of 2002, T-Mobile launched their GPRS (General Pocket Radio Service) which has seen great success ever since. Customers of T-Mobile generally gain access to the most up-to-date handsets, which are very admired for mobile-conscious people. With increasing trends towards the Android based mobiles and tablets, a new market has emerged. Online application stores require high-speed connectivity; this has increased the usage of Wi-Fi and Internet based services. Thus, a whole new market for T-Mobile to emerge. Approximately 20% of the population lives without a mobile phone. Not being heavy users of mobiles-by their nature, retired people need less mobile contact than those still going to work. Age groups beyond 55 figure little in to the marketing objectives and advertising targets of the mobile industry. But it will come a day where the older generation will be influenced and find the use of mobiles a necessity. (mintel, 2011) It is now easier to switch networks more frequently particularly because handsets are now offered free as part of the service when customers sign up to a 12, or more recently 18-month contract. Exceptionally with private customers (not businesses), they can sometimes have their line rental discounted for a number of months depending on the length of agreement. T-Mobile also offers Fix It option, which allows customer to choose their own free minutes and free text messages according to their usage. Technological: Better performance and faster mobile Internet speeds with T-Mobile supercharged 4G networks. Its three times faster than standard 3G.4G network that offers blazing-fast average download speeds of 10Mbps and peak speeds of up to 27Mbps. The market is competitive but T-Mobile is coping well and offering the best to its customers with new 4G networks. T-Mobile can also consider alliances with other companies that already have already a telecommunication backbone / structure. Both together, hand in hand can offer an excellent service to their subscribers. For instance, T-Mobile and COMCAST in USA came together to better serve their customers. A quote from (newsroom.tmobile, 2012): Comcast Cable and T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced a strategic marketing alliance to offer the T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi Internet service to Comcasts nearly five million high-speed Internet customers. With todays announcement, Comcast customers can experience the convenience, reliability and value of a T-Mobile wireless broadband connection when theyre away from home, via Wi-Fi, at the more than 4,000 T-Mobile Hotspot locations nationwide. As part of this strategic marketing alliance, Comcast high-speed Internet customers will receive a special offer when they sign up for T-Mobile Hotspot through their Comcast portal homepage. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨Comcast customers who subscribe to the T-Mobile Hotspot service can surf the Web, check email or view streaming media at wireless broadband speeds with a Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PDA at T-Mobile Hotspot locations These kinds of alliances would rapidly spread the name of T-Mobile around the intended country. Environmental: Although there is no evidence that they are harmful to public health, transmitter masts are regarded by many as an unwelcome presence in the environment, especially when they are close to schools. Discarded handsets also constitute an environmental problem because of the hazardous materials they contain. For a better world for youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is T-Mobiles environmental motto (t-mobile, 2011). The aim is to minimize their business impact on the environment and all T-Mobile companies in Europe have implemented environmental management programs in order to reduce waste and energy consumption. Other solutions how to safeguard a green environment is continuously reviewed. As demands of new technology increases, more base stations is inevitable but T-Mobile recognizes genuine public concern over mobile communications phones and network infrastructure. Nevertheless, it is worth for T-Mobile to check if its presence would cause any environmental issues in the intended country. The significance of Stakeholders Diagram from Mindtools.com Having known the information about the macro-environment, it is also vital to analyse T-Mobiles microenvironment (Stakeholders), which is also referred to the near environment. As can be seen from the diagram, an organisation is surrounded by both the near and the far environment. Any alteration in them has an impact on the organisation. According to Ryan (2004), a stakeholder is anyone who has a financial interest in a particular business and according to businessdictionary.com (2009), a stakeholder is a person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organizations actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources. T-Mobile has the following stakeholders: Customers Competitors Suppliers Staffs Investors and Shareholders Creditors 7.1 Loyal customers are the lifeblood of businesses and in order to retain them, T-Mobile has to spend time and listen to their customers when developing strategies. They have to get closer to their customers to better understand their needs and concerns and to anticipate their desires. Customer requirements are constantly changing as lifestyles keep on changing. Adding up to the down turn, attention should be more focussed as explain in strategy at (3.1.1) above. Customers should become the focal point as T-Mobile need them to at least survived in such a difficult period. Customers become choosy before spending a penny and their expectations are high too. So, T-mobile has to provide an outstanding and a unique service, which is not comparable to their competitors. Customers should not get the chance or should not at all attempt to make a complaint like in the examples in (3.1.1) instead all the good words should be heard from customers. Failure to do so would compel customers to look for other alternatives, such as looking for another providers, which can be done at a click on the Internet. In relation to the second strategy, the approach to customers would defer. T-Mobile has to research about the market, the culture, the buying pattern, the cost and standard of living. T-Mobile should get the trusts and build a good relationship of the new market right at the beginning. There should be proper marketing, deals and offers to attract the new market. 7.2 An awareness of the competitors position in the market place needs to be known. To do that, a competitive analysis needs to be performed and the diagram below might help. It analyses the strength in four important areas such as: Creativity, level of service, the cost that might incurred and the reputation position. Diagram from Managingabusiness.com Competitive analysis of the marketplace demonstrated that the major competitors had a poor reputation and were not perceived to be innovative or adding value. Hence, helping T-Mobile to be at the forefront of the game. For instance, the android technology was a good shot for T-Mobile. The latter is famously known to be the first provider to introduce it. 7.3 Other forces that can have an adverse effect on the changes are the suppliers. Without suppliers support, businesses including T-Mobile would not be able to survive or even exist. The bargaining power of suppliers and the actions they take can directly influence an organization. So, an excellent relationship is imperative and long terms reasonable contract should be maintained between T-Mobile and its different suppliers to gain competitive edge over its competitors. For examples, Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson, Alcatel are among its suppliers. 7.4 Staffs sayings, interests and contribution are also vital to T-Mobile growth. Workforce is directly impacted on an organizations performance. In an economic downturn, employees become increasingly anxious about job security and financial worries, satisfaction with the job they have, commitment to their company and engagement with their work are all affected detrimentally. This trend could be self-fulfilling in that disengaged employees could have a negative impact on T-Mobiles products or services and lead to its decline, which would inevitably see the company failing. The employees concerned are about whether or not they would keep their jobs and whether or not they would be compensated if their company did not survive the recession. So, T-Mobile has serious reason to be concerned about the emotional well being of their employees by constantly motivating them, involving them, re-assuring them, appreciating them and rewarding them. 7.5 Investors and shareholders concern are necessary to consider, as they are injectors of capitals and cash into the business. Their main concern is the success of the business without interfering about the mechanisms to make it successful. All the answers about how to tackle potential risks need to be explained to them in order to reassure the return on their investments. Recently T-Mobile USA has failed to impress the MetroPCS Communications shareholders, which has disrupted a merger between them due to a fall in revenue by 5.9% to $ 4.9 billion. (new.investors.com, 2012). Well, thats a bad example to convince the other parties to join T-Mobile. Confidence is very important to investment in a recession. 5.6 Creditors are also important stakeholders who definitely have an interest in T-Mobile growth. If they were not willing to lend more money then the latter would be in deep dilemma. So, good credit scoring, positive financial statement such as profit loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement would be desirable to convince creditors for the ongoing money borrowing. Good professional relationships with the stakeholders and regularly interacting with the stakeholders are crucial for project completion. Organizing regular meetings with stakeholders, accompanied by documentation, will help boost the confidence levels of shareholders. Lack of regular communication with stakeholders will instill in the minds of the stakeholders needless apprehensions and unfounded fears. Thus, the above stakeholders analysis is crucial to T-Mobile, as any sort of reluctance on their behalf would have an adverse effect, which may to lead to losing subscribers and goes bankrupt. 8.0 Resource Requirements to Implement the Strategy for T-Mobile Another aspect that is fundamental for T-Mobile to look at before actually implement the above strategy is the availability of resources and allocating them effectively for the benefit of the strategy. To organize the operational process of a Company, resource is a basic element of that company. A resource or set of resources helps organization to obtain competitive advantage. When the resources are combined they can lead to the formation of competencies and capabilities. According to Kourdi (2009), A better approach is to adopt a rigorous, dynamic and time-based view of resources, the factors driving success or failure. That is, success is determined by whether resources strengthen or decline. 8.1 Human resource: Having just a pool of staffs is not enough but a well trained and experience team is needed. The first stage of implementing the strategy plan is to make sure to have the right people on board. The right people include those individuals with required competencies and skills that are needed to support the plan. In the months following the planning process, expand employee skills through training, recruitment, or new hires to include new competencies required by the strategic plan. If T-Mobile cannot afford to recruit then to reinforce the workforce, re-shuffling of employees to perform different jobs is important. This can be done through job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. It is also a mean to motivate staffs, as the latter feel valued in knowing and performing different tasks. T-Mobile has to ensure high morale at works, involving staffs in decision-making, creating team spirits, providing good working environment and friendly frequent meeting. In short, T-Mobile should create an environment that connects employees to the organizations mission and that makes them feel comfortable. To reinforce the importance of focusing on strategy and vision, reward success. The rewards may be big or small, as long as they lift the strategy above the day-to-day so people make it a priority. T-Mobile directly employs around 36,000 people. It has 300 retail shops and 13 million mobile customers. (T-Mobile, 2011). They are the part of the biggest mobile operator (Everything Everywhere) In UK. (bizyahoo, 2011). It has a young, enthusiastic and trained workforce across the country that can be re-shuffling to work in other countries if T-mobile is considering expanding in other countries like China. Since the workforce is young, they will be easily adept to the new technology of the merging company, for instance, Blackberry. 8.2 Financial resource: T-Mobile would need to have sufficient funds. The answer to this would be analysis of the Balance sheet. Stakeholders support like Shareholders, investors and creditors support are primary a