Fortune 500 Company
AT&T
Nate Peterson
College of the Ozarks
Abstract
This research paper is about the background of AT&T and how it has become the successful Fortune 500 Company that it is. Inside of the paper shows AT&T’s philosophy and strategy along with their products and services they provide. The marketing and planning techniques that AT&T applies are also broken down and appear to be a main factor of their huge success. The financial structure is also broken down throughout the paper and exhibits are shown of AT&T’s balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flow’s. The last main point that I would like to explain is the economic issues that face AT&T and a few short and long-term recommendations that could resolve the issues.
The use of cell phone technology has grown more and more popular as the years goes by. There are many different services out there that a customer can buy, but there are none quite like AT&T. Although Verizon Communications is still ahead of AT&T as a Fortune 500 company, it will not be very much longer, as AT&T’s popularity continues to grow. There are many reasons why AT&T is reaching the top of the wireless communications market, which will be shown in this paper.
AT&T was founded in 1876, following Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone. In 1985, the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. was formed, which is now known as AT&T. As the parent company of the Bell System, AT&T provided the best telephone service in the world. The Bell System was divested in 1984. AT&T agreed to divest itself of its local telephone operations but retain its long distance, R&D and manufacturing units SBC Communications Inc. (formerly known as Southwestern Bell Corp.) was b ...