Organization

Initially this assignment startled me, after reviewing the scenarios and gaining a better understanding of benchmarking has afforded me a little more confidence with the subject matter. Within reading the assigned chapters and white paper readings, the idea of global benchmarking has become a practice that carries detail through research, and characteristics, decision making and resolve.

Background

As symptoms are identified yet there is the fact that globalization can be identified with investing, trade with the potential of growth. As I have read the globalization idea is due in part to a couple of factors per B.J. Punnett states "Technological developments have increased the ease and speed of international communication and travel. A better understanding of opportunities leads to increases in international trade and investment, and the number of businesses operating across national borders"(Reference for Business-Encyclopedia of Business, (2004., para. 3). As Constance and I review the symptoms within mergers they differ slightly. Both researched items deal with the innovation of technology, and also the underlying factors within mergers and bankruptcy.

Symptoms

Working in the communication industry for the last 14 years, I have observed bankruptcy, negotiations; outsourcing, layoffs and competitiveness just to name a few. As a part of leadership many times there are viable means of communication that is used to disseminate information to employees. Also as leadership there is certain content that can't be readily shared with employees, due to company policy and even approval from human resources. During spring of 2001, as a supervisor with AT&T Broadband, we acquired Excite@ Home during it's Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The question came about from my AT&T employees "What about our jobs?." which was a important question that needed a response. The unfortunate matter was the fact the information became public before it was ever discussed with AT&T internal employees. As always in the office there are the "organizational moles' (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004, p. 542) who use the grapevine tactic to keep the more negative information brewing within the organization. Media richness ‘the data carrying capacity of a communications medium" (McShane & Von Glinow, 2005, p. 332) in the form of face to face interaction if the form of a all company meeting would have been the best choice as a pose to allowing the information to leak publically.

During this time of acquisition, there were a few symptoms that were present. For instance lack of communication, competitive edge for AT&T Broadband to invent the broadband internet services through cable, increase revenue and customer base and possible outsourcing to provide customers a 24x7 technical support. The competitive edge comes about as AT&T Broadband would assume