Step One of the 9-Step Model: What are the issues and opportunities facing Global Communications? Make sure that you take into consideration all stakeholder perspectives and ethical dilemmas that may be present. Who, in fact, are the stakeholders?
There are several issues facing Global Communications. Its falling stock prices have weakened stockholder confidence in the company's ability to make a profit. Competition is fierce as there are too many players in the field of telecommunications. It is hard for consumers to tell the difference between phone companies, which results in regular customer turnover, in other words, poor customer retention. The stakeholders affected by these issues are the Board of Directors, management, the employees, the union, and the consumer.
Cable companies began offering Voice over Internet Protocol enhanced long-distance services, which further cut into Global Communications, and other communication providers profits. The cable companies took advantage of their high bandwidth capacity, which was regularly left unused. The global market place is new to Global Communications and it has a long learning curve ahead of it. Nancy Everhardt is new to the global voice business and her inexperience could hurt Global Communications earnings over the course of several years.
The latest union negotiations were difficult because of GC's financial problems. These financial problems led to cuts in both education assistance and health benefits. The union reluctantly agreed to the cut in benefits as long as they were short term, and it is hoping that GC can make a financial turn around. If profits do not improve, it could prove disastrous for the management/union relationship ...