Step one of the 9-Step Model: Global Communiations

Step One of the 9-Step Model: What are the issues and opportunities facing Global Communications? Make sure that you take into consideration all stakeholder perspectives and ethical dilemmas that may be present. Who, in fact, are the stakeholders?

There are several issues facing Global Communications. Its falling stock prices have weakened stockholder confidence in the company's ability to make a profit. Competition is fierce as there are too many players in the field of telecommunications. It is hard for consumers to tell the difference between phone companies, which results in regular customer turnover, in other words, poor customer retention. The stakeholders affected by these issues are the Board of Directors, management, the employees, the union, and the consumer.

Cable companies began offering Voice over Internet Protocol enhanced long-distance services, which further cut into Global Communications, and other communication providers profits. The cable companies took advantage of their high bandwidth capacity, which was regularly left unused. The global market place is new to Global Communications and it has a long learning curve ahead of it. Nancy Everhardt is new to the global voice business and her inexperience could hurt Global Communications earnings over the course of several years.

The latest union negotiations were difficult because of GC's financial problems. These financial problems led to cuts in both education assistance and health benefits. The union reluctantly agreed to the cut in benefits as long as they were short term, and it is hoping that GC can make a financial turn around. If profits do not improve, it could prove disastrous for the management/union relationship. The stakeholders affected by this issue are the employees and the union. The union is threatening legal action and involvement of the federal government.

The globalization plan is another issue that could pose a problem for Global Communications. Outsourcing the technical call center to India and Ireland could be perceived as deceptive by the union representatives. Joel Thompson, VP of Human Resources, has the most experience in the telecom industry of anyone else at GC. His experience is invaluable and could serve to improve relations with the union and its stakeholders,