Category: AT&T

Job analysis refers to the information about the roles and tasks in performance of a given job. It ensures that the employees will be handling manageable tasks that are assigned to them. Job description refers to the written explanations about what a particular job entails in terms of the responsibilities and the results expected by the employer (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011).

The first function of job description is that the description gives a detailed explanation on the skills and the competencies that are necessary for easier execution of the tasks and production of the expected results. Secondly, the job description provides the expected results from whoever is going to perform that job. Thirdly, job description ensures that employees in a given organization have their specific duties so that no one overwork or is underutilized (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011).

One of the organizations whose workers are unionized is the AT&T, which is one of the successful unionized organizations in the United States of America. The organization develops technological products such as phones and software’s. It has allied itself with some of the best companies in the United States such that it is a formidable force in the telecommunication industry (Kleinfield, 2009).

The legal issues which the company is likely to encounter includes the dynamics of its work which is technology related. AT&T has encountered the effects of recession in the global environment. This has resulted to low sales of its products automatically leading to low revenues.

In a strategy to increase the revenues and the profitability, the management of the company is considering layoff of some of its employees in the recent future. However, the challenge is that the workers are unionized and the union from such layoffs protects them. This means that the company has to negotiate with the workers union on the terms of compensation incase the planned downsizing succeed (Kleinfield, 2009).

The human resource is a challenge whereby due to its variety of products and the changing demands of the customer some of the technological aspects of the products are being integrated together to bring out high quality products with multiple key features. This is becoming a challenge because it means that the job descriptions for the workers keep on changing. Workers have to keep upgrading their skills or else they become irrelevant.

However, some of the workers are dissatisfied with these changes in their job descriptions without adjustment in the terms of employment. Some of the engineers are complaining of multiple tasks and positions yet their pay does not correspond to the tasks they handle. They have written to the union to request the company to implement the increments of the affected workers (Kleinfield, 2009).

There are federal and state laws, which provide direction on how such issues should be solved. The first one regards the way in which the unionized employees receive compensation, which relates to the terms of employment. The compensation has to take into consideration the job descriptions as well as the reason for the dismissal of the employee (Abraham, 1996).

The company looked for ways in which to upgrade its system and because of the upgrade; most of the employees were of no benefit to the company. This led to massive uproar and the company was sued by the giant labor union to compensate the workers (Kleinfield, 2009). Though the workers received compensation for the dismissal, it is not yet clear why the workers need compensation yet they cannot fit the new job descriptions.

The argument is that the worker is entitled to work under the job description contained in the contract with the employer. Any other change in the work description need an agreement and should be included in the contract. However, the worker dismissal is illegal for not doing a task that is not included in the job description because it does not breach the terms of agreement between the employer and the employee.

The company must ensure that changes in the job description are well documented and that both parties recognize that there are changes in the job description. This would save the company from having workers who are dissatisfied because they feel they are doing more than what they had agreed.

The terms of employment also require constant review to ensure that they are in tandem with the responsibilities and the results expected from the employees. Many companies have resulted in employing their staff on contract basis to ensure that the terms are reviewed within a short period. This ensures that as the company redesigns the job description, the current employee will not be affected if he or she does not qualify for the next job description. Litigations can stop if companies can embrace contractual form of employment.

Labor Unions are of major influence on the welfare of employees and they usually negotiate the terms of employment for their workers. They are based on the premise that “united we stand divided we fall’. They therefore bring employees together and make a union, which can withdraw the workers from companies at will.

They help employees as they negotiate for better payment than what a single employee can do. They have however been accused of corruption and at times colluding with employers to keep the employees demands at bay (Abraham, 1996).

References

Abraham, S. (1996). The impact of the taft-hartley act on the balance of power in industrial relations. Massachusetts: American Business Law Journal (33).

Jackson, S., Schuler, R. & Werner, S. (2011). Managing human resources. New York: Cengage Learning.

Kleinfield, S. (2009). The biggest company on earth: A profile of AT&T. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

T-Mobile

Introduction

T-Mobile is a German-owned subsidiary of Duetsche Telekom. It was founded in 1990, and is headquartered in Bonn Germany. It specialises in mobile communications and DSL services. The firm also sells wireless devices such as mobile phones and iPads.

The Company has employed 36,000 people under its wing; they are located in Europe, The United States, The Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. In Europe, T-Mobile has a presence in Austria, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovakia, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. This organisation is ranked third among telecom company multinationals of the world. However, in terms of the number of subscribers, the firm is the twelfth internationally. It has about 150 million consumers.

Company history

The organisation was initiated in 1990 when the state-owned Duetsche Bundespot provided the first mobile telecommunications services. These services were eventually placed under DeTeMobil. Duetsche Bundespot was later called Duetsche Telekom in 1995, and was privatised in 1996.

The wireless communication subsidiary was called T-Mobile. In 2002, international operations were anglicised from T-Mobil to T-Mobile. T-Mobile was eventually called Telekom in the parent country. Consequently, the brand – T-Mobile is officially recognised in international markets only.

Impacts

The company recorded revenue earnings of $18.7 billion in 2010 in the United States. In the international market, the organisation reported revenues of 62.4 billion Euros. Most of its sales came from the provision of its wireless and data services, although product sales are playing a huge role.

T-Mobile was responsible for the first release of a high-speed data network in the USA and a number of other countries such as the UK, Hungary and Czech Republic. This caused the company to become a force to reckon with in terms of the quality and innovation enhancements it provides. The firm has been known for aggressive pricing within the mobile wireless telecommunications service industry.

It has done this by spearheading several unlimited service plans within the sector. The organisation has also been at the forefront of providing wireless email to BlackBerry users. Android operating systems can also be attributed to this very same organisation. In a competitive market such as the USA, T-Mobile has won awards for best customer care in the wireless industry for two years, that is; in 2010 and 2011.

This has implications on the level of customer satisfaction, which is a strong competitive factor. In the US, the company has an underdog status. Some of its innovations rarely get the publicity they deserve because of this. Many consumers in this market tend to migrate from other service providers because they are attracted to T-Mobile USA’s low calling plans. However, the product range found in most T-Mobile markets is not as diverse as it is in other competing firms like AT&T.

The firm is strongest in the UK and US owing to its full subsidiaries there. In Czech Republic, the organisation has about 5.273 million consumers. The company is also strong in Macedonia since it has ninety-eight percent coverage of the entire population. In Netherlands, T-Mobile is the second largest mobile service provider. Other countries such as Croatia and Austria have not offered such a huge market for T-Mobile services.

In Montenegro, only thirty-four percent of the population utilises T-Mobile services; they are mostly located along coastal areas and cities. Nations such as Hungary and Germany are technically not T-Mobile markets after the organisations merged with other mobile competitors in those nations. T-Mobile is not the number one wireless service provider in US markets; in Europe, Duetsche telecom is recognised as the largest telecommunications operator in the wireless and wire line sectors.

This can be demonstrated by its high revenue levels in these areas. In fact, in the United States mobile wireless industry, the organisation is ranked fourth in terms of size. However, the organisation gains a competitive advantage through innovations. Most of its competitors have scale advantages that T-Mobile cannot offer to its consumers.

As a result, the firm has worked around this fact by being a value challenger. It has always striven to push the industry barriers by dwelling on the customer. This company has been identified as an important value competitor in several mobile industries around the world. In the United Kingdom, the organisation is owned by ‘Everything Everywhere’, which has and operates the country’s largest mobile network. Therefore, its impact in the UK is much greater than it is in the US.

New developments

Currently, T-Mobile is in the process of completing a merger with AT&T in the US market. It cost the acquiring company a whooping 39 billion dollars to finalise the deal. This agreement has received a lot of media attention owing to the implications of the move. Many senators and consumer watchdogs have asserted that the strategy will create less competition and will cause consumer prices to increase.

On the other hand, AT&T, which is the acquiring company, will benefit from greater coverage as many consumers have complained about its cell phone coverage and the number of dropped calls that occur in their network. The firm will virtually cease to exist, save for its 8% stock ownership in AT&T. The employees and retail outlets that were spread across the US will be released. This can have adverse effects on the economy because all the advertisement investments and wage payments made by T-Mobile will no longer exist (Sorkin et al. 19).

The current proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile has been called ‘anticompetitive’ by the US Department of Justice. The country has four wireless service providers; therefore, elimination of one player can strongly undermine the competitive landscape in this industry. Furthermore, it is unlikely that a new mobile service provider cannot fill T-Mobile’s shoes in the required time (US Justice Department 8).

A lot of resources will be used by the new competitor in the US market. It will be quite difficult for that organisation to construct a network as expansive as T-Mobile’s. Consequently, competition will be dramatically undermined in this country. If these arguments are considered seriously, the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile may not take place.

The US Justice Department affirms that although the transaction will create a number of efficiencies, those benefits will be outweighed by the negative effects on consumers and the competitive climate.

The company is also facing challenges with its capacity in some parts of the world like The Netherlands. Since 2010, the organisation has been coping with challenges in the Dutch market. Most of their problems stemmed from the provision of smartphones.

The firm was not in a position to cope with the demand for iPhones from consumers. Several overloads were recorded in Utrecht, Amsterdam and other densely populated areas in that country. People were not able to send SMSs or receive calls when service outages occurred. T-Mobile has invested millions of Euros in a network upgrade.

It is expected that the upgrade will be completed by the end of the year, so that overloads may be reduced. These network coverage issues are also prevalent in the US. The company has rather limited coverage in some parts of the country. Some customers complain about dropped calls as well as call diversions to voicemail. Another challenge lies in the UK. The organisation is dealing with fair-use issues.

In February 2011, the firm reduced its internet-use capacities to 500MB from 3GB. This was done in order to minimise use of streaming and downloading services from consumers; it introduced fair use through static website viewing. Many consumers could no longer chat, watch video clips, or download materials after instatement of this limit.

Given the current popularity of smartphones and online services, it can be asserted that the company has taken a step back in service provision. T-Mobile UK must contend with dwindling consumer satisfaction in this particular market. In the US, complaints have been lodged against the level of internet service quality. These are all issues that need to be rectified in the future.

Proposed and projected outcomes (The future)

The proposed merger that T-Mobile is working on was not just done for the fun of it. The German parent (Duetsche Telekom) decided that it was not economical to keep investing dollars in network upgrades for T-Mobile USA when growth prospects were quite low (Dubro 5).

Duetsche Telekom was exhausted with the excessive investments required in the US markets, so the merger was a way of offloading these problems to another party. As a result, if the merger does not occur, the company will be in total disarray. Many customers have been migrating to other mobile service providers after the merger announcement.

They have not just been doing this because of fear of change. A number of them are dissatisfied with the lack of data coverage for their smartphones, so they are going to competitors for fulfilment of this need. If the merger does not go through then the firm will need to be aggressive about its network upgrades. Currently, the firm’s board members have asserted that they are not ready for a failed merger as no back-up plans have been made (Gruenwald 2). There is a possibility that the merger may be reversed.

If that occurs, the organisation will really need to consider investing in network coverage. Expansions of its 3G networks in the USA have been particularly slow. It may also need to look for other cost-cutting measures such as wage-bill reductions, by either scaling down on the number of workers in the firm or by minimising their individual earnings. Data improvements will need to be done in the UK too. T-Mobile customer satisfaction ratings are reducing because of its data service limitations.

It needs to change this trend in the future. Part of the reason why the company has not been able to achieve this was because it did not have its own spectrum. The firm’s spectrum holdings do not allow it to enact a long term evolution so a new approach will be needed if the merger fails. In fact, since the spectrum issue is so important, the firm will really need to look for another partner in order to get out of its predicament. If AT&T cannot be allowed to engage in this partnership, then Sprint may be a plausible option.

T-Mobile is still regarded as a good company to own by other mobile operators, so this arrangement is not too far-fetched. The main reason why the US Justice Department was opposed to the AT&T/ T-Mobile deal was its effect on competition. Such an argument may not be so powerful if T-Mobile partners with a smaller wireless provider in the US market.

Since T-mobile will dissolve into AT&T, the company will need to prepare its consumers for a transition into the new organisation. Currently, the company has announced that it has already created compatible phones, which will facilitate a switch to AT&T (Wimberley 13).

The company is also working on a number of other mobile products that will be introduced in the near future. Examples include T-Mobile myTouch, T-Mobile myTouch, LG Doubleplay, HTC, radar, T-Mobile springboard and the RIM Blackberry Torch 9860. Some of these products will be part of the new portfolio that AT&T will launch after completion of the merger.

Conclusion

T-Mobile’s future in the USA does not look very promising either in the short-term or long-term. The organisation needs to focus on the UK market by growing its wireless network and by elimination of glitches in its data networks. The company should avoid getting too comfortable in international markets, because mergers can occur to derail its market position.

AT&T

Introduction

AT&T is a US-based firm that was founded in 1983. It is a telecommunications company that offers mobile services, fixed-line internet and broadband services, digital television services, and fixed-line telephone services. Its headquarters are found in Dallas Texas, and has approximately 294,600 employees under its wing.

Company history

AT&T is regarded as a communications service provider. In fact, it is ranked as the fourteenth largest organisation in the world on the basis of its revenue. The firm is the second largest mobile wireless service provider in the US. The company had a number of subsidiaries that included Southwestern Bell mobile systems (this was responsible for mobile services), Southwestern Bell publications and Southwestern Bell Telecommunictions. It later acquired 2 cable companies in 1993.

In 1997, it left the cable company business to focus on its core service – telephone services. Its subsidiary SBC bought Ameritech in 1999, and caused the organisation to record about 46 billion dollars worth of revenue. In 2005, SBC stopped doing business under a different name, and was later absorbed into AT&T. Bell South was bought into AT&T, thus bringing together all wireless services that were offered by that organisation.

In 2007-2008, the firm kept acquiring a number of firms that led to its transition to new media. It bought Edge wireless, which was a GSM carrier. The company needed to expand its spectrum, so it bought Aloha Partners. It was affected by the economic downturn and dismissed 12,000 employees. It bought Centennial, Wayport and Qualcomm.

Impacts

Currently the firm covers about 98.6 million connections in its wireless network. The organisation’s revenues were approximately $124 billion in 2010. The percentage that was attributed to wireless communication services was 43.2%.

These revenues have increased by 2 billion dollars from the previous year. Consequently, the company is doing well. The increases in revenue can be explained by the firm’s success in the wireless data sector, increases in broadband connections, growth in wireless areas, and an increase in U-verse television subscribers (AT&T 12).

The major reason behind this organisation’s success is its wide reach. Approximately eighty percent of the population is covered by AT&T. The number may increase to 93% if the merger with T-Mobile is completed. The company had the exclusive rights to sell wireless services through the iPhone and iPad.

This meant that a wide number of consumers started with them when they joined the smart phone market. Such a formula has worked well for the organisation even in the past. Its strategy has always been to offer universal service to consumers. AT&T has therefore gained control of the US market and then used these economies of scale to become competitive.

The organisation’s approach can be proven by the high number of acquisitions that have occurred in the 1990s and 2000s. Furthermore, because the company has been in existence for so long, it knows how to work its way around communications regulators in the wireless and data service industries. It also employs aggressive marketing in order to attract customers to its network.

New developments

The company is participating in a 39 billion buyout of T-mobile USA. This move will provide the company with very many benefits. First, it will save a lot of money involved in operational expenses used for expansion. It will not have to invest in infrastructural structures that cover areas where T-Mobile had been.

Furthermore, the company will increase its product portfolio. Several devices were available in T-Mobile, but were unavailable at AT&T. It can also offer customers better coverage by sealing some of its service loopholes through T-Mobile’s former network. These two companies both have GSM technologies, so they are likely to merge products effectively. It will probably catapult to become one of the strongest wireless service providers in the United States.

AT&T has been struggling with its low performance in the network coverage sector for some time (CNN Money 2). Many customers often complain about poor service reach and dropped calls. At some point in 2007, the company was categorised as the worst wireless provider in the US.

Many clients claimed that the organisation has not been investing in its network hence its congestion issues. In fact, when compared to other competitors such as Verizon, AT&T has a larger spectrum, yet Verizon has better network quality. The organisation has tried to offset these network issues through certain short-term measures. It changed its calling plans so as to minimise the congestion. Now rates are based on use, so that network overload pressures can be minimised.

Issues of information security have also been at the forefront of this company’s problems. In 2010, the company’s system was hacked by a group known as Goatse security, which found 114,000 email addresses and other sensitive information from AT&T. This revelation was publicised, and it tarnished the company brand. Other parties have also criticised the organisation for assisting the government to tap into consumers’ calls. Privacy concerns have been cited as one of the reasons why customers are not satisfied with the firm’s offerings.

Proposed and projected outcomes

In the USA, T-Mobile entered into a contract with its consumers to provide them with certain calling plans for a set period of time. It is likely that once these contracts expire, AT&T will increase their prices. Consumers are likely to get better services because T-Mobile’s and AT&T services can be merged smoothly to provide them with better network coverage.

Migration of consumers to Verizon wireless for iPhones will no longer be a major issue because traditional AT&T customers will get some of these products from T-Mobile’s former portfolio. Since the subscriber base is likely to go up, then quality in broadband services is likely to improve too. In the long term, it is likely that rural communities will get access to these services in larger numbers.

Due to opposition from the US Department of Justice and other stakeholders in the communications industry, there is a slight chance that the merger may not take place. If this is true, then AT&T will definitely have difficulties in coping with the network issues in its operations. Growth levels have not been that high in the wireless sector. If the merger does not take place, then the company will miss out on a much-needed injection of subscribers (Dealbook 4).

The company could decide to take advantage of the corporate sector. Nowadays, companies are looking to provide their workers with wireless devices. AT&T could take advantage of this fact by tapping into that market. Owing to its network challenges, AT&T needs the merger just as much as T-mobile. This organisation cannot underestimate the effect of a network expansion without installation of the infrastructures needed to do so.

After the merger, it is likely that the company will still keep looking for other acquisitions. This time, the company may decide to look outside US borders in emerging economies. Countries like India have been suggested as possible targets. There have been plenty of rumours that AT&T is having talks with Reliance Communications in India. However, the company’s managers have strongly denied this.

It has also been asserted that the firm may be thinking about getting to new markets through satellite broadcasting. Many industry stakeholders are speculating about AT&T’s bid to acquire DirecTV. It is not certain what the organisation will do in the end (Fart 9).

In order to solve the network issues, the use of different data plans may not be the only option. The company could explore its text messaging services. Experts agree that text messages are a high margin and high dollar service that can be exploited without leading to further congestion within the network. The firm can look for other carriers that can offer these data services.

In the long term, it is likely that radical changes will take part in AT&T’s business portfolio. Industry stakeholders believe that the dividing line between the television set, the computer, and the internet will be eliminated. This will provide consumers with plenty of choices and greater freedom.

In the end, greater net neutrality will be advocated by consumers and watchdogs alike. However, AT&T is likely to reject this kind of approach, so industry regulators, legislators and other authorities are likely to step in. If internet neutrality is introduced, then service providers like AT&T will not be able to squeeze their consumers as much as they do now; users will simply switch to another entity (Web pro news 6). There is evidence to illustrate that this may occur quite soon.

The line between computers and mobile phones is already blurred. AT&T responded to this issue by minimising peer to peer downloads. In the near future, it is likely that the organisation may block voice-over internet protocols on iPhones. Skype is a strong competitor for AT&T because the company has a similar service television service called U-verse. The future may eliminate the need for contracts and instatement of costly text messages, so AT&T’s business strategies may need to be dramatically revised.

Conclusion

AT&T will have an upper hand if the merger occurs. It will report greater cost efficiencies and better network coverage. However, the long term prospects of the organisation may need to be revised in order to place the consumer at the heart of the company’s innovations.

Works Cited

AT&T. “AT&T reports record 2.8 million wireless net adds, string u-verse sales, continued revenue gains in the fourth quarter.” AT&T. AT&T, 27 Jan. 2011. Web..

CNN Money. “AT&T: Top 500 American companies.” CNNMoney.com. CNNMoney, 2011. Web..

Dealbook. “Back to the future for AT&T.” New York Times. New York Times, 21 Mar. 2011. Web..

Dubro, Alec. Grim future for T-mobile. Speedmatters, 12 Sept. 2011. Web.

Fart, Michael. “The future of AT&T: of atrophying flesh and phones.” The Economist.com. The Economist, 10 Jun. 2010. Web..

Gruenwald, Juliana. “T-Mobile’s future uncertain, with or without AT&T.” National Journal.com. National Journal, 2 Sept. 2011. Web.

Sorkin, Andrew, Merced Micheal & Wortham Jenna. “AT&T to Buy T-Mobile USA for $39billion.” New York Times. New York Times, 20 Mar. 2011. Web..

US Justice Department. “Justice department files antitrust lawsuit to block AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile.” Justice.gov. US Department of Justice, 31 Aug. 2011. Web..

Web pro news. “Dumb consumers preferable to dumb pipes.” Webpronews.com. Webpronews, 3 Apr. 2009. Web..

Wimberley, Taylor. “It looks like T-Mobile is future proofing their new phones to run on AT&T.” Android and me. Android and me, 22 Mar. 2011. Web..

Holding the fact that oligopoly is the market that is dominated by a limited number of players (sellers and suppliers) who determine the amount or the rate of profit they expect irrespective of the economic situation. It is important for the government to regulate their operations in order to shield the common citizen’s interests.

In the oligopoly market structure, there is a possibility that the stakeholders might agree to fix a price of their goods and services without reflecting the customer’s economic interests. In other words, oligopoly market structure is controlled by few corporate institutions hence limiting a chance for others to enter the market (Robert, 2011).

The basic factors to determine who is to join and not to join the market are determined by the few players with an intention to avoid fair competition or allow natural price setting in the market where market forces dictate the prices of goods and services. In this case few companies in the oligopoly market structure strive to retain power of determining the prices of goods and services regardless of other factors in the market.

With this kind of a market structure, there is a possibility that citizens are subjects to extortion by the few companies. In addition, other interested players are denied or shortchanged their constitutional rights to do business anywhere and in any area of interests. It is therefore the role of the government to regulate these trends in the market (Robert, 2011).

The Government is therefore mandated by the citizens to control the pricing structures of such markets formations. By controlling the pricing structure, the government will ensure that the citizens are free from exploitation and their social interests are considered when fixing prices.

If the few companies are let to operate freely without government hand in price and operational control, then there is a possibility that they will control the market, as well as exploiting the locals. Considering the fact that some of the services are basic, the government should be interested in making sure that some of these services are available to all.

If government fails to control the operations of these companies, the country’s economy will be dented, hence putting at risk the economic growth projected and the job creation in the industry. If this happens, it is possible for the country to witness social unrest hence making the country ungovernable.

To avoid this, basic service providers, such as telephone service companies, should be regulated well to avoid inconveniences in the market place. considering the fact that the government promotes entrepreneurship, it is therefore important for the government to regulate the industry whereby it is expected to provide a platform where fair competition is enhanced.

In oligopoly market structure, price competition is not one of the elements and they set prices out of agreement between the stakeholders. Thus, it is important for the government to provide quality competition in prices and services as the way of promoting innovativeness and creativity in the industry.

Fair competition will enhance job creation and fair pricing structures emanating from natural price forces within the industry (Hyman, 2011). These provisions allow the government to intervene and control market despite of the economic consequences that are determined by government’s direct involvement in the market.

The United States economy is not healthy since the cost of living has gone higher than it was expected by its citizens. Euro crisis has also been felt in the United States economy. This therefore calls for the government to put all economic structures and requirements in order to protect common citizen’s interests.

To reduce human suffering and ensure that government prevents the loss of jobs, and instead supports a program where job creation is possible, the government must be willing and able to intervene in the operation of the oligopoly market structure in the economy. Oligopoly market situation is an exploitive system which does not support the government economic justifications.

To avoid the occurrence of economic crisis, the United States government stands to control the prices of goods and services in all areas of the economy. This will ensure that the cost of living is controlled and inflation rate does not go up from the expected. It is also important to note that the economy stands to grow by creating alternative means in all sectors of the economy.

With this regard, the government is expected to protect the upcoming companies. The entry of other players in a large basic services ensures job creation and standardization of the prices in the industry. By this, there will be competition hence providing better and fair prices to the locals.

This will lower the cost of living directly. With this respect, the government is justifiably entitled to the prices and operational intervention in an oligopoly market structure (Hyman, 2011).

Merger is a tricky decision which involves serious exposure of the two sides to avoid taking up liability of another corporate institution. Management issues are also a concern in a major situation where others feel that they should not lose the company control capacity.

Self-expansion therefore remains the only alternative in this case. Besides being the only alternative strategy, capital, management and sustainability issues also arise (Djankov, 2004). In addition, there should be a considerable reason that might be sufficient to bring t forth the need to merger with other stakeholders in the industry.

The challenge is whether the company has the capability to source enough capital to facilitate self-expansion. Another possible challenge is whether the company management will be able to control and manage the growth expected.

If the company management does not have the structures and capability to control and manage growth, than the company might face a challenge of attracting more customers, as well as retaining the present customers. There is a need to streamline the relationship between the internal stakeholders if growth control and management is expected.

Sustainability of growth also turns to be a challenge mainly when the company fails to raise enough capital. Sustainability means the ability to manage the growth, as well as making sure that the company business is growing positively (Djankov, 2004).

To streamline the relationship between the stakeholders, (i.e. managers and others) government must be willing and able to structure legislatives to harmonize their relationship. Decisions made by the management offer that stakeholders should be analyzed by several bodies to ensure that others’ interests are preserved.

This will create an organization culture where all stakeholders will work together for a common good of the organization. In addition, the motivation programs should be created to ensure that all stakeholders participate in the organization objectives and those who perform well are awarded accordingly without discrimination.

Managers should also consider the company product or service consumers by providing good prices for high quality goods and services (Epstein, 2008). The company management is expected to analyze the economic environment and the economic capacity of the targeted customers before fixing prices of goods and services they sale.

This will promote the relationship between the company and the customers where customers will find it necessary to associate with the company. To the other players, the management should ensure fair competition, as well as discouraging this motivation. This will enhance competition in the industry hence promoting creativity and innovation in the industry (Epstein, 2008).

To maximize the industry profits AT&T stands to lose the interests of other stakeholders. By having an objective of maximizing the industry profit, the company must charge higher for their services to make this objective realistic. This means that the targeted customers will seek fair prices in the industry, hence failing to associate with the company. The company therefore will lose its market share to others.

By adding value to the shareholders, the company might not be able to meet its objective in the future, where more resources are needed to cope with the ever changing business environment.

More value to the shareholders will only motivate them but will not be sustainable for long. It is important for the company to balance between its corporate objectives and the interests of its shareholders as a way of ensuring sustainability both, economically and socially.

Instead of the above two economic moves, the company should give more value to the targeted customers where fair prices and quality services are assured. This will ensure that the company’s future is guaranteed mainly because the company will manage its market share.

Another alternative is to provide additional services and products to form a portfolio of a well spread investment (Hyman, 2011). This will secure the company’s future in the telecommunication industry, hence a guaranteed prosperity of the company.

References

Djankov, S., McLiesh, C., & Klein, M. (2004). Doing business in 2004 understanding regulation.. Washington, D.C.: World Bank :.

Epstein, M. J. (2008). Making sustainability work: best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf Pub. ;.

Hyman, L. (2011). Debtor nation: the history of America in red ink. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Robert, J. (2011). Transactions and Strategies: Economics for Management. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Introduction

This audit report was prepared for AT&T Inc. The company is operating in the telecommunication industry. It has been operational for several decades now providing Americans and other countries with the best services in the telecommunication industry. At the present moment, AT&T is the biggest provider of fixed telephony services in the U.S.

The company is also involved in the supply of broadband and subscription television services in the United States. Due to the success that the company has enjoyed over the years, it has managed to be among the largest companies in the region in terms of size and revenue. In 2010, it was rated as the seventh largest company in the United States; fourth among non-oil companies in the country (AT&T, 2011).

AT&T has provided its customers with high quality mobile phones, next generation television and data solutions for multi-national corporations within the United States and its environs. The company is internationally acknowledged for the provision of IP based communication services to business especially in the United States.

In addition, the company has been credited as the firm that provides the fastest mobile broadband services in the United States; it has an international coverage. It also has the largest Wi-Fi network and hotspots in the U.S. Other than that, the company is also expanding its services to provide entertainment services through television (AT&T, 2011).

To achieve all these, the company has employed a number of policies, measures and guidelines. It has a strong leadership, strict policy with clearly set goals and objectives and purposes. At the same time, the company has competent staff on diverse fields and necessary tools and equipments to sustain its operations.

This audit report shows the status of the various aspects of the company concerning their strengths and opportunities that they have for improvement. To achieve this, eight areas of the organization were scrutinized. They included policy, leadership, objectives, inputs, performance, technology, work procedures and staff. All these areas will be discussed in this report.

General Statement of the Results

After a thorough examination of the eight areas of the company, it is true to conclude that they all support the operations of the company. This is due to their viability that is as per the expected standards.

However, for the success rate of the company to increase, it has to improve on some of its operations and procedures. Otherwise, the results of this audit report reflect a true and fair view of the organization. For more clarity, each area that was examined is discussed below.

Policy

AT&T has a strict policy that has to be followed and applied by all its employees. This policy ensures that all the activities and operations that are conducted by the organization are in line with the goals and purposes that have been set by the organization. With the strict rules and guidelines that the company has in place, it has been able to achieve most of its targets that have made making it to be sustainable in the market.

Yes, the company has a clearly stated productivity mission statement that is known by all the employees. This mission is clearly executed and is given the top priority in all the operations that the organization is involved in. The mission of the organization is “To connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else (AT&T, 2011).”

As a result, managers are required to submit a productivity plan that is in line with the overall organizations productivity plan. This ensures that all the branches of the organization are working together to achieve a common goal. These productivity plans are evaluated twice a year. To ensure that the operations of the firm are effective and efficient, employees of all levels are involved in decision-making.

This includes the middle and lower level staff of the organization. In addition, all the departments ensure that there is an improvement in their productivity. To ensure that all the duties and responsibilities are taken seriously, all the employees are held accountable for the productivity efforts that have been delegated to them.

In general, the policy that is in place at AT&T is strong and solid. It covers all the aspects of operations that the organization may be involved in. This policy can therefore be viewed as one of the factors that have contributed to the success of the company over the years.

The company should thus maintain its strict policy and amend some of the sections to ensure that is keeps up with the changes that may occur within the organization or the telecommunication industry.

Leadership

The leaders at AT&T support and encourage teamwork efforts. They also require a balanced effort from all the work units of the organization. They operate and encourage improvements on their operations based on innovations that arise mostly from their employees.

To ensure that their staff comes up with the best ideas, the leaders focus more on competition in the productivity ideas that originate from them rather than from in individual personality. They also utilize information that has been gathered from productivity audits.

This helps them to focus more on their strengths and improve on their weaknesses, making them a better company in the long run. At AT&T, leaders support research and development. The leaders also require that an annual report be presented to them.

Having a proper leadership model in place is essential for the success of any organization. AT&T is well aware of this fact. It has competent leaders who posses desired leadership qualities and skills.

The leaders of AT&T encourage teamwork, competition among employees, innovations, research and development, evaluation and analysis of operations. Through research and development, the company is able to come up with new ideas and innovations that are capable of meeting the needs and demands of their customers in the United States and all aroid the world.

Objective

At AT&T, all the managers have specific productivity objectives that have to be achieved within a given time period. These objectives are in line with the overall goals and purposes of the organization. However, not all the employees are aware of these productivity objectives. This has derailed the firm from achieving its objectives and targets in some instances.

Despite this, the objectives that have been set by the organization are very challenging to the employees. They are however attainable as long as all the employees perform their specific roles and objectives to achieve the desired output. At AT&T, the productivity cause of action is monitored. The company has in place powerful tools and mechanisms that can measure progress of productivity.

As a result, the organization is capable of solving the problems that occur in the course of achieving its objectives. In the process, the company is able to correct its weaknesses and prevent their further occurrence. Furthermore, a reporting system has been put in place that determines the variance in the operations of the organization in terms of attaining the objectives that have been set by the organization.

AT&T has clearly defined productivity objectives that are familiar to most of the employees with the exception of only a few of them. While formulating these objectives, the managers of the different departments have ensured that they are corresponding with the main goals and purposes of the organization.

This ensures that as the departmental productivity goals are attained, the overall goals and objectives of the organization are also achieved. This therefore ensures that both the departmental and organizational developments are realized at the same time. This is what has made AT&T a successful company over the years.

Inputs

All the resources that are required for the process of production are included in the budgets of the cost centers. These inputs include capital, labor, machinery, equipments, and raw materials. Despite the availability of labor, not all the employees allocate100% of their time to the production process. This has been a heavy blow in production due to its slow pace.

The organization has an information system that successfully monitors the employee and resource utilization to ensure that labor and other resources are utilized efficiently. This aims at minimizing costs and reducing wastage and ensuring that a maximum level of output is achieved from the limited resources that are available.

To maximize on production, the organization has always ensured that all the resources are available in good time. This ensures that all the schedules and fixtures are met. The company also ensures that the quality of input is in line with the expected quality of output.

Each work or production has a fixed budget that it has to stick with. This ensures that the costs of the organization are controlled to avoid unnecessary expenditure. Before production begins, job specifications are clearly laid down and explained. This ensures that all the goods and services are produces as per the quality and standards of the organization.

All the inputs at AT&T are carefully selected and planned. The company has a diverse labor force comprised of dedicated individuals who have the necessary skills and knowledge that is required for the process of production.

At the same time, the company has all the necessary raw materials, machinery and equipments that are required for production. These materials are provided in good time and are processed according to specific procedures and guidelines to produce a desired output that will satisfy the needs of all their customers.

Performance

AT&T has a workforce that is diverse in terms of ethnic background, qualifications and skills. The workforce at this organization is highly skilled and trained to perform specific duties depending on the position that a specific employee holds and the roles and duties that he/she is expected to perform. The standards of employees at the firm are specific, measurable and realistic.

The organization has an information system that monitors the performance of all the employees. This ensures that all the staff at the organization work according to the rules and guidelines of the organization and perform their duties and responsibilities as per the expected standards.

However, each employee is not expected to control the resources that are required to meet an expected level of output, as it is the duty of team leaders and managers of specific branches of the organization. For each unit that is produced, the teamwork effort that was put in place can be measured and credited to all the individuals that were involved in the process of production.

The firm does not measure the productivity via resource utilization levels. The results that are obtained from the performance of key productivity are good indicators of each unit of work that is produced at the organization.

For all the time that AT&T has been in operation, it has offered numerous opportunities for its diverse staff a conducive working environment. It has a diverse work force with different qualifications and backgrounds and has given them the chance to develop their careers within the organization.

Through its organization culture, these employees are able to achieve their individual and organizational goals and objectives at the same time. In addition, the organization recognizes the effort that its employees have put in the production process and therefore appreciate their efforts through performance-based rewards. This rewards teams and individual efforts, a move that motivates the employees to work even harder.

Technology

All the costs that have accrued because of expenditure on new technology have been justified by the productivity improvement data. The schedule of using the machines has been organized in such a way as to reflect maximum productivity of the firm. In addition, each department is responsible for its work unit and machine utilization.

This means that each unit ensures that its production is efficient with regards to the utilization of the available machineries, equipments and that it has. To be sustainable, the company has in mind both the long term and short term considerations of the organization.

To ensure that the operations of the company are consistent, short-term considerations do not compromise the long-term goals and purposes of the organization. In fact, the short-term considerations act as the means through which the organization can achieve its long-term goals and objectives. AT&T has up to date technology that is available in the market given despite their budgetary constraints.

Although having the latest technology is costly, it ensures that production costs are minimized through the reduction of operating costs in the long run. Technology also maximizes the production process that every employee at the organization is involved in.

It makes operations to be conducted with ease and perfection. At the same time, employees need not to use much time and energy in the process of production. As a result, the rate of production is increased and the organization is able to meet the needs and demands of its customers without any delays.

AT&T has been operational for several decades now. In the course of its operations, it has faced a number of challenges in terms of production and meeting the consumer requirements. As so, the organization realized that it is only through embracing technology and coming up with sophisticated innovations that will meet the ever-changing needs of the consumers.

In this respect therefore, AT&T has budget allocated for technological needs and advancement. Technology is essential in almost all the operations that AT&T conducts. It has ensured that all the processes and applications are conducted effectively and efficiently to meet all their requirements.

Work Procedures

AT&T has high quality products and services. This has made the company to attract many customers within the United States and neighboring countries. To meet this increased demand, the company had to boost its level of production. However, to ensure consumer retention and loyalty, the companies has a strict policy that ensures that the quality of their products and services is maintained as production increases.

Security and safety procedures also have a positive effect in the production. This ensures that both the employees and the assets of the company are safe from any danger. To ensure that production is maintained at a high rate, operations that consume a lot of time are eliminated.

Quality checks for automated procedures are also checked to ensure that the quality of production is maintained as per the expected standards of the company. On the other hand, employees do not have the power to change procedures that have negative effects on the production process.

The method analysis is done every year and the relationship between machinery and manpower aims at maximizing the production activities of the organization.

AT&T has been operational for many years and in the course of its operations, it has realized the importance of having consistency in the quality and quantity of the goods and services that it is producing.

At the same time, the company has to expand its production processes to meet the high market demand of its customers. To achieve this, it has implemented a mix of activities and procedures that ensure maximum production and quality of the goods produced is maintained.

Staff

AT&T Inc. is well aware of the need of having a strong team behind its operations. As a result, the organization has hired a diverse staff in terms of skills and ethnic backgrounds that have the productivity and awareness skills that are required to enhance the productivity of the organization (AT&T, 2011).

Employees of all levels, from the management to the lower levels are conscious about the productivity of the organization and work tirelessly to ensure that this is achieved. As a result, all the employees strive to be up to date with the knowledge, skills and technology that is required in their specific expertise. This ensures that they are highly skilled and up to date hence their work is of a high quality.

The company appreciates the hard work that every employee contributes to the organization. It recognizes both the individual and team efforts of the employees and as a motivator, the company rewards both individual and team efforts through performance based rewards. The communication system that has been put in place supports the productivity process of the firm.

It ensures that information easily flows from one point the other without being distorted. Therefore, all the employees work according to the exact instructions and guidelines that have been set by the company. The communication system also ensures that the cooperation among workers is maximized by ensuring that all the employees understand each other.

Despite all this, the company does not have backup staff that will fill the gaps in case of a high staff turnover. This implies that if such a crisis occurs, the available employees will have to multi task and this may reduce the productivity of the firm. Finally, the supervisors and managers have been trained to ensure that the ensure that the employees have the required knowledge and skills that is required to boost productivity.

Recommendations

Most of the areas that were examined showed that the operations at AT&T work to maximize the productivity of the organization. The company would not stop at nothing to achieve it targets, goals and objectives. Despite this, there are some recommendations that I would suggest for the company that if well utilized, will increase the productivity and sustainability of the company.

First, the company needs to create more partnerships with other companies in the same industry and in other industries as well. The organization also needs to involve its employees and other stakeholders in all its operations, especially decision making. Doing this will ensure that the productivity of the company is increased hence it will be sustainable in the short run and in the long run.

Value Facet Analysis

The main recommendation that I made on this report is the development of partnership between AT&T and other companies. This will lead to the organization development of the firm. From this relationship, the company will be able to interact and learn from other organizations. This will make it to be successful both in the short run and in the long run.

While the organization will be experiencing organization development, it will also be experiencing the development in its organization culture. Employees will be more focused on achieving the goals and objectives by working together as a team.

Through partnerships, the organization will see how other organizations respect the values of their employees and adopt similar practices that will ensure that the firm recognizes and respects the values of its employees. As such, a mechanism will be developed to ensure the values of the employees and that of the organization are on the same course so that both benefit in the short run and in the long run.

The suppliers, customers and other third parties are among some of the stakeholders that the company should collaborate with. To ensure that the organization benefits from the relationship that it has with its partners, it has to ensure that the values of these stakeholders are recognized and respected. From the partnership, the company will stand a better chance of understanding the values of its competitors.

It will be able to know their operations, strategies and activities. With this knowledge, the company will be able to come up with strategies and procedures that will ensure that is outcompetes its rivals and gain a large market share in the industry. This recommendation does not however consider the value of the owner. Due to the above considerations, the company should put this recommendation in practice.

Conclusion

AT&T has been one of the most successful companies in the telecommunication industry. It provides a number of products and services to individuals and business entities that are based in the United States and its environs. The company has been sustainable because of its strong leadership and management models that ensure that productivity is maximized and the costs are minimized.

This audit examined various areas of the companies and concluded that most of them were working as per the expected standards. For it to continue to be sustainable in the long run, it has to make some amendments in its operations such as the formation of partnerships with other companies. This will boost its production.

References

AT&T. (2011). About Us. AT&T. Web.

Executive Summary

AT&T is an American multinational company that offers telecommunications solutions to retail and enterprise consumers. The company is one of the largest employers in the United States and provides competitive salaries and benefits among the top Fortune 500 companies. This paper reviews the human resource management (HRM) issues as they relate to best practices of the professional and particular strategies of the company.

Most notably, AT&T manages its workforce through a HRM team that consists of the corporate executive of the company, the human resource department staffs, the strategic business units heads, and members from delivery and business support, and production.

The organizational inclusive team arises out of the company’s strategy to blend its human resources (HR) goals with its other business goals. As a result, its various departments and divisions all work together to implement employee growth and development programs. The company has an explicit diversity and inclusiveness program for its people.

It recognizes employee cultural differences, occupational differences, and other sources of uniqueness that can help it better deal with its customers. Consequently, it actively promotes the inclusiveness of people with diverse backgrounds to its workforce so that it benefits from their unique perspectives. This includes people with disabilities. Sexual harassment is one of the localized HR issues that AT&T has to deal with.

Beyond that, there are universal cultural differences that will always be at play in the company. In addition, there are different categories of people making up the organization, such as it leadership, retirees, active workers, and their dependents who all act as stakeholders to its HR policies.

The paper highlights the strategies used in staffing, employee benefits, and wages used by AT&T and offers recommendations on areas of HR policy improvement.

Brief history of AT&T

AT&T is a multinational telecommunications company that started in America and has its headquarters in Texas, USA. Alexander Graham Bell founded it and the initials in the name stand for American Telephone and Telegraph. The company’s mission is to connect people, irrespective of where they are.

To achieve its goals, AT&T continuously innovates as it operates in the communication and entertainment industry. AT&T today has more than 28,000 workers located throughout the world. Senior leaders at AT&T lead the diversity initiatives for employees that aim to grow the company by servicing its consumers well.

Main products or services

AT&T continues to evolve and specializes in consumer and enterprise technological solutions. It provides data, video, and mobile services solutions, which include business within cloud, security, and mobile business features.

The company has 250 million mobile customers. The company operates a cellular service in the United States and Latin America. It also offers video subscription services and TV through fiber optic lines and satellites.

Human resource (HR) concerns and features at AT&T

As a multinational organization, AT&T has staffs from diverse cultural backgrounds. The company faces a challenge of regulation compliance, given that employees are social in nature. They may show biases towards race, religion, sex, nationality, and other sources of prejudice in the workplace.

While the company has relevant policies, it has to work constantly on specific cases of ethical violations that depend on different cultural interpretations. The staff diversity program at AT&T is part of the leadership priorities and business goals that include workforce inclusion, among other features.

The company adopted a program known as the ‘Chief Diversity Officer Forum’ in 2009 to help it integrate and gain from enterprise-wide activities that would help it remain competitive as a company that embraces diversity. AT&T ensures that all employees are able to connect with their world through the forum that meets quarterly and with other initiatives of inclusion.

Diversity in this case is not only cultural, but it also includes communication challenges and medical disabilities that make employees different. In fact, AT&T actively recruits students with disabilities in one of its student career programs. Within the organization, various training programs are available for employees at any level to use in advance their skills, which include tolerance and understanding of cultural differences.

Employee harassment

Sexual harassment is one of the localized issues that the company deals with constantly as reflected in its codes of conduct for all employees (Stephenson, 2014). The issue arises because of gender difference among its employees. AT&T was the subject of several lawsuits on sexual harassment, where employees were complaining of the company’s failure to intervene and prevent the harassment.

On its part, the HR management has always insisted on valuing employees and not tolerating any sort of harassment that could arise in the organizational setting. In 2010, there was a sexual harassment issue reported by two former employees who worked at the retail division of the company.

The complainants mentioned the use of derogatory language and behavior, together with inappropriate description of female features of employees and customers. There was also the question of being sexually suggestive in remarks to employees who were breast-feeding.

In its defense, the company management argued that the employees received adequate information about potential remarks that colleagues would make and it was the duty of the victims to let their colleagues and supervisors know their personal boundaries. Unfortunately, the particular incident also had features of employee victimization after raising the complaints.

The victim employees did not receive any consideration for promotions and the company did not take any action against the harassment, which forced them to resign as a way of avoiding the humiliation (Beaven, 2010).

While much of the harassment account comes from the victims and there is a chance of exaggeration, it still brings out a localized issue that AT&T has to deal with due to diversity in the workplace (McDonald, Charlesworth, & Cerise, 2011).

Union relations

AT&T is one of the largest employers in the United States and it protects middle class careers with its competitive wage and benefits programs. The company works harmoniously with its various employee unions, which bargain for fair contracts that safeguard the middle-class careers of employees.

On its part, the company ensures that any terms of agreement allow it to maintain necessary flexibility, which is paramount in the fast-paced technology centered telecommunications industry.

Salary and benefits issues

Even as the company works towards the provision of competitive wages and benefits, it grapples with high costs of providing medical benefits to its employees in the United States. The company acknowledges that since 2004, medical costs per employee increased by 54 percent. On the other hand, nationwide inflation rates increased to 15 percent in the same period, despite the sharp increase during the recession in 2010.

The rapid cost of employee medical benefits is responsible for the decline in the amount that firms are providing to their employees as medical benefit. Nevertheless, AT&T is still among the companies that continue to subsidize high quality health care. The medical benefits go to active employees, dependents, and retirees.

As of 2012, AT&T provided work contracts for its technician staffs with a total compensation of $90,000 in wages and $43,000 in benefits. A consequence of being one of the best paying companies in America is that the company receives thousands of jobs applications annually (AT&T, 2012). In 2011, the figure stood at 190,000 applications. In future, AT&T does not plan to reduce wages, even as the cost of benefits goes up.

Currently, its benefits program covers medical, dental, vision, flexible spending account, health reimbursement accounts, pension, savings, life insurance, leaves of absence, long-term care, disability, adoption reimbursement, employee assistance programs, commuter benefits, and voluntary benefits (AT&T, 2012).

The different categories of benefits help in bridging the socio-economic gap among employees to put them at a relatively equal position, despite their various job capacities and salaries. For many of the jobs at AT&T, total wages and benefits exceed the national median household income. The company recognizes the similarity of its employees’ demands for better compensation, irrespective of their background or disability situations.

It, therefore, places health benefits as a key feature of its employee compensation program. The objective here is to offer high quality cost effective coverage in health care that its employees and their families would enjoy without discrimination.

A challenge for AT&T is the growing retirement bill for the company. By 2011, it had about 335,000 retirees who were eligible for receiving benefits from the company. The company was able to meet its obligation through its ongoing pension plans, which makes it one of the 34 percent of the Fortune 500 companies that are still carrying the program.

At the same time, AT&T is among the 26 percent of large employers in the United States that still offer health benefits. The figure significantly reduces annually as many companies face challenges of increased business costs. The company gives its call center workforce about 25 days off annually, exclusive of holidays and vacations. At the same time, it provides 34 paid days off for its employees.

On average, employees will enjoy 60 days off and still receive their wages for the days off. As a result, the company generates a high attachment effect on its employees and compels them to identify more with their similarities as colleagues, rather than their differences in education, job, and cultural backgrounds.

Global HR issues

In the global context, diversity issues of HR are culture and gender related. Cultural diversity is not just the Western context of other people being different in their perception; instead, it encompasses everything that makes people similar and different from one another.

Diversity, therefore, concerns race, gender, age, disabilities, and sexual orientation. AT&T seeks to find the best and brightest employees and, in many cases, they will happen to have differences among them. They could be African, Asian, and Hispanic European, male, female, and gay. Therefore, depending on the category used to analyze diversity, any employee could be a minority.

The biggest challenge is the expectation of other cultures to understand the cultural orientation of AT&T, given that it is an American multinational (Ivancevich & Konopaske, 2013).

There are underlying cultural considerations rooted in American context that the company embodies, which are under constant revision. AT&T has to respect its workers diversity; it does this by valuing its people wherever they are in any of its global operations.

The message that the company is putting out is that it is ready to work with people from all backgrounds by providing an environment and culture that help them work productively together.

Some of the notable ways that inclusion strategies happen at the company is through combined individual and team exercises, role playing, engagement with education material, and work through diversity issue to grow the employee appreciation of their differences and how the contribute to the group’s goals.

The systems and culture at AT&T work together such that the respect message translates to all actions and company decisions concerning workers. The company’s HR leadership acknowledges that realizing its diversity and inclusion goals does not happen in a fortnight. In that regard, it keeps on seeking ways to improve.

Rather than export its approach whenever it encounters new diversity challenges, the company chooses to understand first the necessary training needed to appreciate the underlying differences (Koster, de Grip, & Fouarge, 2011).

AT&T devises a blend of its culture and the foreign one to foster inclusion after finding out as much as possible about the differences, which could be cultural. Consequently, the company changes as much as it influences its workforce to change into embracing more heterogeneity.

Recruitment at AT&T

As AT&T seeks to hire the best, it ensures that it remains near the top in students list of potential employers. The organization does that by building strong collaborative relationships with faculty and staffs of higher learning institutions. It capitalizes on opportunities to be part of the students’ classroom experiences where it is able to highlight its orientation towards innovation and technology.

The company relies on a dedicated college recruitment staff to bring in fresh graduates for its full time employment opportunities, as well as internships (AT&T, 2012). Getting fresh graduates into the employee development programs lets the company shape their cultural orientation to fit the company’s ideal culture that is inclusive of peoples differences due to their diversified backgrounds (Daspro, 2009).

Apart from specific job skills for filling particular vacant positions in the company, the human resource department considers the following attributes for every job or internship candidate.

It looks at enthusiasm about technology and innovation, interest in communications, entertainment and information technology, a commitment to honesty and integrity, and the ability to respect and thrive in a fast-paced diversified work environment.

As the company develops and reacts to changing consumer demands, it is in constant need of professionals to fill its emerging areas of business. For example, in recent years, AT&T has been hiring individuals with Internet Protocol (IP) expertise, and Radio Frequency (RF) protocol engineers and micro controller.

Many of these professionals do not necessarily come from dominant American backgrounds of education, culture, and work. They must, therefore, pass through various induction programs to fit within the AT&T human resource.

AT&T’s human resource management team

The HRM team at AT&T makes up the HR leadership council, which works are the key driver of all other HRM practices.

The team includes corporate executives of the company, the human resource department staffs, the strategic business units heads, and members from delivery and business support, and production because they make up most of the AT&T workforce. The HRM team is interdisciplinary and it links corporate and business-unit HR activity (HR transformation at AT&T Consumer Services, 2002).

Human resource strategy of AT&T

After the split of the organizational business interest into AT&T, Lucent technologies and NCR cooperation, each company conducted its HR transformation using similar steps. At AT&T, the transformation began with the determination of business needs such as customers, growth, and cost reduction. It then reviewed the organizational structure, dynamics, and systems before defining the strategic implications of HR.

The implications were continuous learning, team working, and empowerment. After that, AT&T worked on identifying HR systems that would support organizational, cultural, and structural changes (HR transformation at AT&T Consumer Services, 2002).

Part of managing HR as a business process involved the leveraging of HR capability using leading edge practices like leadership, staffing, education, and performance management. Lastly, the HRM strategy lately has been to devise high-level HR initiatives that cater for the organization’s special needs, such as downsizing and workforce planning (HR transformation at AT&T Consumer Services, 2002).

The AT&T HRM strategy constantly shifts to reflect changing demands of the business, such as rapid technological convergence in broadband telephony.

Consequently, the organization seeks to match the workforce capacities, skills, and capabilities with the emergent customer services. A key feature that affects the success of the HR strategy is the deployment of relevant staffs to positions that help the organization to meet its customer’s expectations.

AT&T has a devolved employee education framework that places line managers in charge of business-wide reviews of skill gaps. With HR as part of every business process at divisional and regional levels, the HRM team is able to deal with everyday workplace issues. The aim of the education program in the company is to design ideal features that focus on cooperation in work practices with job sharing and remote working.

It supports pilot schemes that the leadership council introduces to ensure that the workforce has adequate work-life balance. At the same time, it seeks to invest in employees such that they are well educated and receive personal support whenever it is necessary. Lastly, the HRM team aims to influence decisions on production, work content, job content, and technology.

Recommend actions the human resource team should take at AT&T

AT&T needs to create a complaints resolution division that would cater for employee misgivings that relate to any part of its HR policies (Banfield & Kay, 2008). For example, the company was accused of neglecting employee concerns about harassment, even though it has explicit policies against the same violation.

The incident and its resolution suggest that the company has good intentions, but it lacks the necessary mechanisms of ensuring that employees adhere to the regulations. As much as AT&T strives to promote inclusion and tolerance, it cannot effectively affect employee conduct without appropriate disciplinary measures.

The company must recognize the power that supervisors and line manager hold against their subordinates. Any abuse of the power constitutes discrimination on job scale differences and can lead to the manifestation of other prejudices among employees.

Within its HR department, the company needs a policing unit that has enough influence and executive leadership mandate to recommend or implement disciplinary measures that would include reprimand and termination (Bratton & Gold, 2012).

The positioning of employees within the organization in leadership and management capacities should reflect their maturity in the inclusion values of the company and personal respect towards people’s differences.

At the same time, those in charge of shaping the company’s internal culture must be represent its ideals well beyond the business centered qualities of being innovative and willing to go the extra mile in delivering customer solutions (Ananthram, 2013).

The critical points for AT&T are its service centers and retail centers where employees directly interact with customers and experience diversity in their interpersonal relationships. Understanding the emotional context of their labor and its implications in their behavior is important.

Already, the company demonstrates its concern by providing adequate off days and paid leaves for workers such that they have better work and life balance.

Beyond that, AT&T must continue its training programs, especially on sociological aspects of the work environment and its challenges to equip its employees with necessary coping abilities for high stress situations. This would prevent future incidences where they let emotions affect their behaviors, their colleagues and customers (Gianfranco, 2013).

Related case law precedence

At AT&T, cultural diversity is one of the business goals that emphasizes on the understanding of not only its customers, but also the cultures of its employees and customers. AT&T has to comply with a number of legal requirements that govern human resources in the United States.

Among the notable legal regulations governing the conduct of AT&T human resource management are the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Engstrom, 2011).

The AT&T HRM team runs a compliance program that ensures the company’s business strategies do not violate any legal statute. The HRM staffs have relevant experience and they review the existing HR policies and implement new policies.

Implementation includes the supply of updated work manuals to employees on important issues. Beyond that, it must also include listening to managers and employees and understanding compliance risks and opportunities (Ananthram, 2013).

Concluding thoughts

AT&T does a commendable job of fostering employee cohesiveness and contributing to personal development and career advancement for its diversified workforce. The company goes out of its way through various HRM initiatives such as employee benefits programs to ensure that it not only remains innovative, but also protects the middle class careers of its employees.

The attachment of HR goals with overall organizational objectives allows the company to sustain its HR programs in the long term. Consequently, it emerges as one of the favorable places to work in among the Fortune 500 companies in the United States.

The accuracy of the paper and its analysis is limited to the company and scholarly sources consulted. The biasness exhibited in any of the consulted secondary materials may, unfortunately, extend to the findings presented in this paper.

Personal reflection

From this assignment, I learned that despite a company’s best efforts to influence ethical and cultural inclusive behaviors for its employees, there could still be situations that challenge that position. I also noted that the alignment of HR goals with other business goals is beneficial to the overall growth of the company, given that people are the main contributors to the attainment of business goals.

Putting people first and respecting their differences is a good strategy for excellence. However, the strategy cannot work without adequate mechanisms for implementing it. In fact, every goal of HR management needs space and other resources to implement; otherwise, the organization will still grapple with problems of managing its people.

References

Ananthram, S. (2013). Challenges and strategies for global human resource executives: Perspectives from Canada and the United States. European Management Journal, 31(3), 223–233.

AT&T. (2012). AT&T compensation in a competitive marketplace. Web.

Banfield, P., & Kay, R. K. (2008). Introduction to human resource management. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Beaven, S. (2010). Two former employees sue AT&T claiming harassment and retaliation. The Oregonian. Web.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: Theory and practice (5th ed.). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Daspro, E. (2009). A cross-cultural comparison of multinational firms’ recruitment practices in Mexico and the United States. Latin American Business Review, 10(1), 1-19.

Engstrom, D. F. (2011). The lost origin of American fair employment law: Regulatory choice and the making of modern civil rights 1943-1972. Stanford Law Review, 63(5), 1071-1143.

Gianfranco, W. (2013). Employee emotional labour and quitting intentions: moderating effects of gender and age. European Journal of Marketing, 47(8), 1213-1237.

HR transformation at AT&T Consumer Services. (2002). Human Resource Management International Digest, 10(5), 6-11.

Ivancevich, J. M., & Konopaske, R. (2013). Human resource management (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Koster, F., de Grip, A., & Fouarge, D. (2011). Does perceived support in employee development affect personal turnover? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(11), 2403-2418.

McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S., & Cerise, S. (2011). Below the “tip of the iceberg”: Extra-legal responses to workplace sexual harassment. Women’s Studies International Forum, 34(4), 278-289.

Stephenson, R. (2014). AT&T’s code of business conduct. Web.

AT&T, one of the largest mobile carrier companies, has agreed to purchase Leap wireless Company. The move aims to maximize the telecommunication’s company dominance over the airwaves. The deal will cost approximately 1.2 billion. This deal will be the first acquisition for Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chief Executive. Randall’s initial deal to buy T-Mobile was stopped by the justice department in 2011(Gryta).

Concerned regulators are closely monitoring the AT&T deal. The company is hopeful, stating the odds are good and the regulators will let the deal materialize. This means AT&T will have to give up US wireless spectrum. These deals are a series of procurements that have seen bigger companies buy off smaller upstarting companies that offer cheaper plans. Subscribers of the services stand to face several changes due to the deals.

Providers that offer cheaper services are fast diminishing, while smaller players in the industry like T-Mobile are a growing threat to AT&T. These deals have also had effects on the stock markets, raising the prices. In July, more than a third of Leap’s shares increased to 7.98$ between 12^th and 15^th. This had no impact on the price for AT&T who are still purchasing the shares at 15$ each.

The company had its most active day on 12 July, with many of the investors hoping for stock gains before the deal was publicly announced. This gave the buyers a chance to purchase the shares, letting them set the price. Leap’s shares rose to 16.70$ in just a few hours due to this.

Leap’s subscribers avoid the arduous task of paper work through signing of contracts. They also enjoy the option of paying monthly. Even so, Leap has been losing its subscribers to competitors.

AT&T boasts about 107 million subscribers. It hopes to maintain Leap’s subscribers by offering them network access. It also plans to gain more users in new cities. AT&T controls very little spectrum per subscriber, while Leap brings spectrum that covers 137 million subscribers.

Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst with New Street Research, explains this. The move aims to improve its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) by expanding it and gaining more capacity. This will increase its usage and give it better connectivity (Prnewswire.com)

Analysts speculate AT&T will increase its earnings and success by gaining more spectrum, LTE technology introduction, and better connectivity. After the deal is completed, AT&T will be better equipped to compete with other mobile service providers who offer cheaper alternatives to their subscribers.

In San Diego, Leap operated under Cricket prepaid brand. The brand covers 96 million subscribers and ranks sixth in the US. AT&T is planning to start their expansion by using Cricket to expand its prepaid operations (Gustin).

Young people and low-income earners mainly use Leap technology services. The acquisition by AT&T will create a gap in the market. The effect will leave the subscribers misplaced. The effect might lead to withdrawal of subscribers, as well as hesitation of potential subscribers to join. AT&T might not get the success and expansion they expected.

Public sector regulators and interested parties are still forming inquires to stop the takeover. AT&T might not enjoy the much-awaited monotony it expects. The deal runs for approximately eight months. Anything can happen considering the attention it has created. The concerned parties are worried AT&T already holds more than it can handle.

Works Cited

Gryta, Thomas. “AT&T to Buy Smaller Rival Leap.” Wall Street Journal 15 July 2013: 18. Print.

Gustin, Sam. “AT&T’s $1.2 Billion Leap Wireless Buyout Faces Static.” Business Time (2013). Web.

Prnewswire.com. “AT&T, Verizon Communications, Atlantic Tele-Network, Leap Wireless International and DTE Energy.” Prnewswire (2013). Web.

Introduction

Growth in technology has facilitated growth in business for the companies involved in the production of mobile phones and other computerized devices that can access the network. The demand for Mobile network and data services has led to the expansion of many telecoms in the telecommunications industry, and their services have assumed an international outlook in various regions. Airtel, AT&T, and Zain are some of the multinational telecom organizations, and they have not only majored in the provision of mobile network and data services, but they have also harnessed opportunities on online platforms to sell computerized gadgets.

The companies have actively assumed the use of online platforms like social media, online stores, and marketing websites to increase sales levels. However, a critical view of the respective corporations reveals that their use of the internet for marketing is at different levels. The chosen websites are viable in providing a clear picture of the feasibility of online marketing. This paper looks into the websites of the three companies with a close focus on their efficiency in addressing the 7Cs.

Airtel’s Website

Airtel’s website is highly responsive and quite visually attractive in terms of context and content. The company has used red as its theme color for the pages on the website. The website has a menu bar that provides visitors with the required guidance to visit the relevant pages, which makes it quite easy to navigate and access information. The content of the website is characterized by an offering mix of products and services. The home page of the website highlights the products and services offered by the corporation. The loading speed of the hyperlinks within the website is quite impressive, especially when one considers that the website is characterized by numerous images of the services and products on offer.

Airtel users must feel like they are part of a community when they visit this website because it is designed to encapsulate all the business and social activities offered by Airtel. The website is fairly interactive, especially in the media section, where visitors can contact the customer service personnel for assistance. There is a personalized interface that highlights information about respective users that hold various service accounts with the corporation.

This implies that the site can be customized. The website facilitates a two-way communication platform between the organization and its customers, and most of the pages highlight various commodities on offer, which implies that the website is primarily used to market new products and services. The commercial function of the website is quite efficient, with users being able to make various purchases of products and services (Airtel, 2015). This factor is enabled by a smooth connectivity function of the site.

AT&T’s Website

AT&T has developed a highly interactive website that offers its visitors customized services. This is revealed by the provision of a login platform on the home page, where visitors can sign in to their accounts, and a connectivity feature with links that load relatively fast. This approach to marketing entails gathering as much information about clients as possible so that the company can develop the most feasible marketing approach for various customers. In terms of context and content, it is quite impressive from a visual perspective, and there are many images of the products and services on offer.

The home page only has three menu entries, which include the online shop, my AT&T, and the support link (AT&T, 2015). This implies that the website is primarily developed for marketing and support purposes. The website is designed to facilitate an easy commerce system with the online shop page facilitating the procurement of products and services. Communication on the website is two-way, and it is quite an interactive website. The corporation demonstrates the ability to understand the needs of the customers, and it has particularly ensured that new products are advertised on the website quite aggressively.

The website has applied some motivators to engage customers in discussions and commercial activities. The connectivity in the page is quite efficient, with every page on the website providing visitors with an option to log into their accounts or create new accounts for personalized services. This also represents the community aspect of the site. The personal accounts facilitate customization of services for the respective visitors, as well as direct communication between the clients and the customer care personnel.

Zain’s Website

Zain is a telecom corporation that operates within the Middle Eastern region and Africa. Its website is not as appealing in the visual context as the other two websites analyzed in this paper. The home page of the website is quite complicated, making it difficult for a new visitor to locate the necessary links. This implies that the connectivity aspect is below the expectations. One has to try clicking on several headings to identify the hyperlinks that lead to the pages allocated to different Zain entities.

The color scheme and the themes of the website are relatively dull, which fails to excite visitors to scroll through the website. The communication platform is relatively one-sided, and it is apparent that the website is primarily used to provide information about the company, rather than marketing its products and services. The website has a link on the menu that leads to a device section, where new products are advertised, but the images are quite noisy, in terms of drawing the attention of the potential consumers. One of the better features of the website is that it has language options between English and Arabic.

This ensures that potential customers do not face language barriers, and it gives visitors the feeling of being in a community. There are several products highlighted in the device link, but there are very few images to provide visitors to the site with the visual aid of the products and services on offer (Welcome to Zain, 2015). This calls for an improvement in the context and content aspects. However, the commercial function is quite efficient on the site because customers can purchase products and services easily.

Recommendations

Zain’s website needs to develop a lively outlook, especially in its context and content. The website also needs to assume more simplicity, especially on the home page (Yang, Kim, Vu & Dhalwani, 2010). The layout is quite confusing for a first time visitor to the site. The theme colors should also be simpler to draw more attention to the images of the products on sale (Sabouri & Jalali, 2009). It is also necessary for the website to provide consumers with more images of the products on sale. Visual appeal fosters more impulse buying, and this should be the primary goal of the corporation (Yang, Kim & Dhalwani, 2008).

Conclusion

Telecommunication corporations across the world have particularly leveraged the internet to harness a larger market share for their products and services. The analysis of Airtel, AT&T, and Zain has revealed that these companies have recognized the viability of online platforms for marketing purposes. It is also apparent that some of the companies have addressed the 7Cs model better than others. The internet provides a very good opportunity for the aforementioned corporations to facilitate sales, customer service, and marketing.

References

Airtel. (2015). Web.

AT&T. (2015). Web.

Sabouri, M., & Jalali, A. (2009). Evaluating web 2.0 services based on 7C framework. In Information Technology: New Generations, 2009. ITNG’09. Sixth International Conference on (pp. 1693-1694). New York: IEEE.

Welcome to Zain. (2015). Web.

Yang, T. A., Kim, D. J., & Dhalwani, V. (2008). Social networking as a new trend in e-marketing. In Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems II (pp. 847-856). New York: Springer US.

Yang, T. A., Kim, D. J., Vu, T., & Dhalwani, V. (2010). Capturing online collaboration in the design elements model for web 2.0 and beyond. Handbook of Research on Web, 2(3.0), 647-661.

Purpose of This Business Plan

This business plan is to provide vital information to potential investors or lenders such as projection of revenue, profit, and capital requirements for decision making. The failure rate for small businesses is extremely high, often because the entrepreneur underestimated the amount of capital that would be required. The Cash Flow Statement in the form of will shows the cash position of our company.

The management decisions will have long-term effects and it is important that they should be based upon a true understanding of the past with a logical estimate of the future. In the business of AT & T Sync phone, detailed knowledge of the business and its environment will be possessed by perhaps finance and administration managers. It is likely that there will be a host of factors that could adversely affect the company’s future or, alternatively, which could be exploited if the company was prepared in advance to take advantage of them.. The main purpose here is not to consider forecasting at length but to relate it to budgeting. Basic problems will be highlighted and two major areas of forecasting them considered, i.e. sales and production.

Projected Net Sales and Net Income

The duty of a company manager doesn’t end in ensuring that his/her company produces some high-quality products/services, but also includes the burden of apportioning the right prices to the costs to the point of break-even. The product prices depending on the primary purposes of the organizations: whether to make a lot of profits or to serve the society justifiably.

Sales increased from year one to year two as shown by the chart above. The profits also increased as the sales increased. This means the increase in profits was due increase in sales not the charge of gross profit margin.

Basis for Financial Projections

Sales projections: Sales have been projected to be 500,000 units in the first month which will increase at a rate of 1850 per month and 6,122,100 units in the first year. This will bring revenue of equivalent to $ 10,713,675 at unit prices of $ 1.75. Cost of sales AT & T Sync phone will be $1.34 per unit. This will be 76.6% of the revenue generated in the first year. Cost of sales will consist of all cost that brings AT & T Sync phone into the consumable state.

Payroll:-As of right now, the AT & T Sync phone production unit doe not need more than 50 employees. Also, the AT & T Sync phone is not going to yield massive profits in the first few years. When the brand starts to grow and make profit then he will be able to generate enough money to be independent.

Depreciation expense: The depreciation is charged at 20% on straight line. That is 110,000/20% which is 22,000 per year.

Insurance Expense: Insurance costs will be paid by the earnings of the business. Fire, theft, injury, liability and other coverage are needed. So far no particular insurance company has been selected but this cost is estimated to be 150 pounds per year for building. This cost is an estimate.

AT & T is among the largest providers of telephone services providers in the United States of America and across the globe (Kleinfield, 1981). In late 2008, AT & T announced that, as a result of the economic/financial pressure being felt across the world, that it would be cutting 12,000 jobs. This was termed as a “changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure” by the company (At & T Inc., 2007).

As mentioned, due to the tough economic conditions that were being experienced the world over in the year 2008 and partly through 2009, the company decided to lay off close to 4% of its workforce (At & T Inc., 2007). The company had announced that it would incur a cost of close to 600 million dollars for this exercise. What was surprising, however, is the fact that during this period, the company was not making losses as it seemed. For instance, the company reported a net income of $3.23 billion, up from $3.06 billion in the third quarter of 2007. As a result, the company revenue grew from $30.1 billion to $31.3 billion (At & T Inc., 2007).

As exposed by the reasons mentioned above, the corporation announced that it will spend a total amount close to$11 billion in 2009 out of a total capital spending plan estimated to be between $17 billion and $18 billion to increase and improve both its wireline and wireless broadband networks. AT & T had formerly devoted about $1 billion of its capex budget to global network initiatives. It was, however, expected that the planned cost-cutting measures of 2009 would lead to the creation of about 3000 employment opportunities (At & T Inc., 2007).

AT & T Company has improved on its financial position due to the layoffs. It is first off imperative to note that AT & T made a compensation attempt (an attempt to put some of its employees in their initial position) by adding employees in some areas of the company that was “understaffed” (At & T Inc., 2007). Sections such as wireless, video, and broadband required more employees to meet the ever-increasing customer demand.

In 2009 (after the lay-offs) the company’s capital expenditure reduced from the 2008 levels. The company made major improvements/growth in the year 2010 also. AT&T announced a startling $2 billion boost in 2010 wireless capital spending at its fourth quarter and year-end earnings call on January 28. This is an important and very substantial spending increase.

What should be understood is that the company was not facing any financial itch as reported by many media houses. The company was merely taking some precautionary measures that would see to the avoidance of one major financial meltdown.

AT & T however, managed to secure and increase its financial positions in a period when many companies were facing an economic crisis. Although many people lost their jobs, the company managed to secure its financial position.

References

“AT&T Inc”.(2007). The Center For Responsive Politics. Web.

Kleinfield, S. (1981). The biggest company on earth: a profile of AT&T. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Background of AT&T

1. AT&T is an American multinational company that offers telecommunications solutions to retail and enterprise consumers.
2. It is among the largest employers in the United States
3. Human resource strategies are incorporated in overall business strategy of AT&T (Daspro, 2009).
4. AT&T was founded by Alexander Graham Bell. It continues to grow based on its strategy of innovation.
5. Business focus is in communication and entertainment industries.
6. AT &T has more than 250 million mobile customers.
7. It offers consumer & enterprise data, video, and mobile services solutions (Engstrom, 2011).

Human resource (HR) concerns and features at AT&T

Employee harassment

Employees at AT&T come from various world cultural backgrounds.

Social nature of employees may show bias in race, religion, sex, and nationality.

Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) Forum at AT&T serves as a means of integrating and leveraging enterprise-wide. initiatives that make the company achieve its goal of being the leader in diversity and inclusiveness of people.

HR management insists on valuing employees and a no tolerance policy on harassment.

Past incidences of harassment concerned female retail store employees being verbally abused by male colleagues.

Case ended up in a lawsuit and exposed policy enforcement challenges at AT&T (Koster, de Grip & Fouarge, 2011).

Union relations

Many employees at AT&T are in a labor union (Communications Workers of America).

The company relies on its compensation policies to appease to the interest of the unions.

The Union provides workers with fair contract support and other employment agreement terms (Stephenson, 2014).

No major disagreements have been reported in the recent past between unions and the company.

Salary and benefits issues

• To retain staffs and attract talent, AT&T offers competitive wages and benefits.
• In 2012, AT&T provided work contracts for its technician staffs with a total compensation of $90,000 in wages and $43,000 in benefits.
• Company aims to safeguard middle class incomes (Ivancevich & Konopaske, 2013).
• Excellent benefits programs include:
  • medical, dental, vision, flexible spending account, health reimbursement accounts, pension, savings, life insurance, leaves of absence, long-term care, disability, adoption reimbursement, employee assistance programs.
• Company attracts more than 190,000 job applicants a year due to attractiveness of its salary and benefits (Ananthram, 2013).
• Present financial challenge is meeting the retirement bills for 335,000 retirees.
• All employees enjoy an average of 60 off days annually.

Global HR issues

• Multinationals have to attract the best talent around the world; they have to deal with cultural diversity in the workplace (Beaven, 2010).
• AT&T constantly reviews its cultural inclusion policies.
• Its policy seeks to merge organizational culture and employee or customer background culture.
• All systems within the organizing have a diversity aspect to cater for employee differences.
  • For example, job performance and review takes place though team exercises, role playing, and educational material engagement.

Recruitment at AT&T

• AT&T relies on collaboration with faculty and staffs of higher institution to recruit the best talent.
• Company seeks the following attributes from job seekers:
  • interest in communications, technology and innovation, commitment to honesty and integrity, ability to work in fast-paced environments.
• Employment opportunities depend on job demands and business development strategies of the company.
• New recruits pass through employee development programs in the company (Gianfranco, 2013).
• In addition, AT&T offers internships and jobs to students with disabilities as part of inclusion policy.

As the company develops and reacts to changing consumer demands, it is in constant need of professionals to fill its emerging areas of business. For example, in recent years, it has been hiring individuals with Internet Protocol (IP) expertise, and Radio Frequency (RF) protocol engineers and micro controller. Many of these professionals do not necessarily come from dominant American backgrounds of education, culture and work. They must therefore pass through various induction programs to fit within the AT&T human resource.

HR management team

• The company has a dedicated HR management team consisting of the following:
  • corporate executive of the company,
  • the human resource department staffs,
  • the strategic business units heads,
  • and members from delivery and business support, and production.
• The team makes up the HR Leadership Council and handles all company-wide issues of HR (McDonald, Charlesworth & Cerise, 2011).
• The council is interdisciplinary, delivering results for:
  • corporate HR strategy.
  • business units HR activity.

Human resource strategy of AT&T

• AT&T conducts HR transformations parallel to its sister companies (Lucent technologies and NCR corporation).
• AT&T identifies implications to HR as follows:
  • continuous learning.
  • team working.
  • empowerment.
• The company, therefore, actively seeks to build systems that support organizational, cultural and structural changes(AT&T, 2012).
• Present strategy devises high-level HR initiatives in a devolved way that cater for AT&T needs like:
  • downsizing.
  • workforce planning.
  • employee education.

AT&T has a devolved employee education framework that places line managers in charge of business-wide reviews of skill gaps. With HR as part of every business process at divisional and regional levels, the HRM team is able to deal with everyday workplace issues. The aims of the education program in the company are to design ideal features that focus on cooperation in work practices with job sharing and remote working.

Recommended actions the HR team should take at AT&T

• AT&T HR leadership council should create an employee complaints division.
• Enhance the companies ability to implement HR. policies at business units by creating independent HR policy units.
  • The units will implement disciplinary measures e.g. reprimanding employees terminating employees
• AT&T should focus inclusion and diversity policies in the service centers and retail centers (Bratton & Gold, 2012).

The critical points for AT&T are its service centers and retail centers where employees directly interact with customers, and thus experience diversity in their interpersonal relationships. Understanding the emotional context of their labor and its implications in their behavior is important. Already the company demonstrates its concern by providing adequate off days and paid leaves for workers such that they have better work and life balance. Beyond that, it must continue its training programs, especially on sociological aspects of the work environment and its challenges to equip its employees with necessary coping abilities for high stress situations.

Related case law

AT&T complies with a number of legal requirements that govern human resources in the United States e.g.

Equal Pay Act of 1963, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Banfield & Kay, 2008).

Remarks

AT&T succeeds in being a top and favorable employer in the United States because of alignment of its HR goals (diversity & inclusion) with organizational objectives (HR transformation at AT&T Consumer Services, 2002).

Research was limited by scope and biasness present in the scholarly sources used.

References

Ananthram, S. (2013). Challenges and strategies for global human resource executives: Perspectives from Canada and the United States. European Management Journal, 31(3), 223–233.

AT&T. (2012). AT&T compensation in a competitive marketplace.

Banfield, P., & Kay, R. K. (2008). Introduction to human resource management. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Beaven, S. (2010). Two former employees sue AT&T claiming harassment and retaliation.The Oregonian.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2012). Human resource management: Theory and practice, 5th edn. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Daspro, E. (2009). A cross-cultural comparison of multinational firms’ recruitment practices in Mexico and the United States. Latin American Business Review, 10(1), 1-19.

Engstrom, D. F. (2011). The lost origin of American fair employment law: Regulatory choice and the making of modern civil rights 1943-1972. Stanford Law Review, 63(5), 1071-1143.

Gianfranco, W. (2013). Employee emotional labour and quitting intentions: moderating effects of gender and age. European Journal of Marketing, 47(8), 1213-1237.

HR transformation at AT&T Consumer Services. (2002). Human Resource Management International Digest, 10(5), 6-11.

Ivancevich, J. M., & Konopaske, R. (2013). Human resource management (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Koster, F., de Grip, A., & Fouarge, D. (2011). Does perceived support in employee development affect personal turnover? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(11), 2403-2418.

McDonald, P., Charlesworth, S., & Cerise, S. (2011). Below the “tip of the iceberg”: Extra-legal responses to workplace sexual harassment. Women’s Studies International Forum, 34(4), 278-289.

Stephenson, R. (2014). AT&T’s code of business conduct. Web.