Telstra

Background Telstra is a descendant of the bit Master Generals (PMG) department of the Australian Commonwealth Public Service. In 1975 tele communication theory and postal functions were divided into two statutory commissions Telecom Australia and Australia Post. Telecom Australia, the government-owned communications carrier, later integrate with a snitchly smaller government body, OTC, then responsible for international scrubs. Telecom rebranded itself as Telstra in the early 1990s. Telstra has faced disputation since the late mid-eighties from competing providers.It retains ownership of the fixed-line mobilize network, as salutary as champion of two competing pay-tv and data cable networks. Other companies falseering fixed-line engrossfulnesss must at that placefore get out with Telstra. Competing telecommunication companies stupefy constantly accuse Telstra of overcharging for wholesale devil to their networks the ACCC has often agreed plainly decisions by the re gulator are slow. 1 Current Situation Australias leading telecommunications and breeding Services Comp whatever, Telstra quite a little Ltd is well poised to acquit a juicy take aim of assistant of process in the super competitive communications grocery in Australia and abroad.Telstras do offerings include Local, long-distance and international telephony run unsettled telecommunications serve Data, network and online service Wholesale services to other carriers peal directories Pay television services Telstra employs approximately 40,000 staff and generates grosss of any(prenominal) US$18 billion in its virtually recent financial year. 2 drudgery compendium After careful deliberation, a SWOT ( efficacy, weakness, opportunities & scourges) analysis was developed that was reflected in a leadion of OB (Organisational behavior) Theories that demonstrate the general abilities and cloth of Telstra.All of these theories give be explored further with regard to how they shape policies, provide direction or limit growth in relation to the SWOT analysis (Ref. to addition A). Issue abstract Competition Competitors use tactics like price reductions, novel product introductions, and advertising campaigns to gain advantage over their rivals. Competition is more or less intense when there are many direct competitors, when effort growth is slow, or when the product or service skunk non be differentiated in nearly manner. 3Competition is only a recent gainsay for Telstra as it had government protection and maintained an effective monopoly of telecommunications in Australia for many long time. However, with the recent deregulation of the market and the emergence in p directers, Telstra has more(prenominal) and more been threatened with higher competition from competitors. The increase of players in this market go forth surely experience customers to go shopping for the best carry offs, thus Telstra is being and depart be forced further in the future to improve its image and offers so as to retain an effective market share.Thus said, the telecommunications industry has changed as ball-shaped sentiment towards telecommunications has turned negative in recent eld, and has come to the stage where the market originally rewards commercial discipline and conservatism deep down the industry. 4 In the corrections that has followed these events, plus the collapse of the dotcoms and tier 2 Telcos, and the investment rebalancing post the millennium bug era, an estimated 3 trillion US dollars has been wiped off the entertain of Telco stocks general in the last two years.The Australian industry has not escaped this market reaction, or the pressure that accompanies a sudden retardant in revenue growth from the exciting ride of the nineties. But in this reporting period so further, the Australian telecommunications industry sees a number of carriers earning mediocre revenues and showing slightly signs of profi t improvement, and many are experiencing growth in customers and market share. Most signifi spatetly, the first five years of open competition in Australia go delivered abundant benefits for consumers depress prices, give away service, more investment and innovation, and more choice. 5 According to Telstra staff, five years of open competition has in addition made Telstra a punter company, a better competitor and a better servant of their customers. Telstra had to change and adapt, which they have and theyre now seeing the benefits. Still, Telstra must retain some level of strength and influence over the telecommunications market as several of Telstras competitors complain that Telstra as a company is too broad. Supposedly, they keisternot contest against Telstra receivable to its size, range of services, and nationally coverage.Telstra is too powerful, and its competitors are calling for structural separation, and dismantling Telstra into smaller companies that would ru n the wholesale network and serve retail customers. 6 exist Competitiveness salute competitiveness is best described as keeping appeals low in order to achieve profit and prices that are spellbinding to customers, in which Telstra can offer low prices by managing their costs and keeping them down. This operator being efficient, accomplishing their goals by using their resources wisely, and minimizing waste. 7 With regard to cost competitiveness, Telstra is able to compete with the best in the market, although deregulation and the increase in telecommunications companies such as Optus and Vodafone are proving themselves as potential threats to Telstras dominance of the telecommunications market in Australia. Telstra go bys to deliver on cost control. The cost performance of the company has been disciplined and chthonianpins revenue performance. It is a prerequisite for success in providing value for their customers.Telstra also needs to impart into consideration the challeng e that sustained technological change creates for Australias telecommunications system. In additions, as a geographically vast country with a highly discharge population, located at a great distance from its trading partners, Australia depends more heavily than other countries do on the quality, efficiency and innovativeness of its telecommunications system. As new technologies gallop the benefits telecommunications can bring, Australians in particular, stand to gain from an environment that promotes prompt adoption and widespread use.Within three to five years, it is estimated the process of convergence will offer the greatest opportunities in this respect. crossing, viewed from a technological perspective, refers to the process by which services that were frontly maintained over distinct communications infrastructures are integrated around a common, high capacity, digital platform. This brings with it the blurring of boundaries between once-distinct services and the entry of suppliers from previously separate markets into a now combining and necessarily wider market place. 8From the consumer perspective, convergence brings unobjectionable gains. Reliance on a common infrastructure allows efficiencies to be obtained, reducing costs and charges. That infrastructures high capacity allows new services to be offered, extending the range of means and applications that consumers can access. At the same time, the merging of markets brings previously separated suppliers into head-on competition with all the benefits that competition yields. Although potentially a threat for Telstra as it whitethorn lose market share in particular areas, it is also an opportunity if it can take dvantage of glum prices to attract more customers. This will depend on the strength of Telstras innovations in drawing customers attention, only if also on way Telstra can uphold profits while lowering prices without staff have sexbacks or branch closures. 9 It is against this backdr op that the impact of regulation needs to be assessed. By adding uncertainty to what is already a highly uncertain environment, the current regulation of access discourages investment both by Telstra and by Telstras competitors.At the same time, the bias in the direction of trying to represent ever lower charges for access seekers, regardless of costs that has emerged in ACCC decision-making distorts price signals and expectations in ways inimical to efficient investment and to technological change. This lack of any internally consistent, sozzled approach by the ACCC to decisions such as these is, in Telstras view, unjustifiable. It is no defence to say, as the ACCC does in its most recent ledger entry to the Commission, that overall Telstras PSTN is profitable.Even lay outting aside the absurdities evident in the manner in which the ACCC has reached this assessment, the ACCCs argument seems to imply that so long as Telstra is not going below, access pricing decisions can be taken without proper regard to their consequences for Telstras ability to recover costs and finance investments. No doubt, this decision comes as a huge threat to Telstras competitiveness in the communications industry and Telstra is set to potential lose a large slice of the market share or shareholder confidence, depending on how the company responds to the announcement.The reality is that at the margin, Telstra must allocate its funds among competing uses in the light not of the short name or immediate profitability of the grouping of services they support, but of their return over the lifetime of the assets being acquired. Even if it were the case that Telstras PSTN was profitable in some economically relevant sense today, it is the future profitability of the service that counts and the ever strengthening competition in this area, combined with move heavy-handed restrictive intervention, hardly makes investment in the CAN attractive when ompared to alternatives. No less impo rtantly, the fact remains that the ACCCs decisions, by setting access charges below cost, cannot but distort and depress investment in regulated assets, as the return on that investment to Telstra is reduced below the return it yields to consumers and service suppliers as a whole. It is these impacts at the margin, rather than aggregate comparisons of costs and revenues, that are economically relevant. Quality Quality can be measured in legal injury of performance, additional features, reliability (failure or breakdowns), and conformance to standards, durability, serviceability, and aesthetics. In addition, the excellence of a product, including such things as attractiveness, lack of defects, reliability, and long-term dependability. defines the expectations that many plenty these days have of companies and consequently, the course of service that Telstra endeavours to deliver. 10 The importance of quality, and standards for acceptable quality, has increased dramatically in rec ent years.Firms cannot get by offering poor quality products as they could a few years ago. customers now demand high quality and value, and generally will accept nothing less. 11 Telstras performance in regional and arcadian Australia is constantly under scrutiny. Telstra welcomes this scrutiny because the level of improvement in service levels and performance in regional, rural and remote Australia over the past two years has been dramatic. 12 In fruition of the special needs of regional customers, Telstra Country enormous was undercoated in June 2000.According to Telstra, it was one of the best business decisions they ever took. Telstra Country Wide today services three million customers who account for more than $3 billion in revenue to Telstra, no doubt a strength in revenue for Telstra, although raises questions as to whether service is being reduced to make way for increased revenue. 13 Even so, remote customers can now make untimed local calls to conjunction service t owns hundreds of kilometres away, which better reflects the reality of life in rural Australia. Mobile coverage now reaches 97% of the population.To achieve this, Telstra has been working with the Federal Government to establish mobile services to smaller towns and to improve the quality of mobile conjunctives nationwide. 14 Speed In the Information Age, speed is allthing to nearly everyone, which makes it a priority for Telstra to deliver the kind of services that mint expect. While Telstras services in rural Australia are often reported to be lacking in terms of connection time for call up and internet, as well as the ability of Telstra staff to respond to customer requests or complaints, new technologies are being sought that can reduce these problems.Hence, how loyal can Telstra develop and get a new product to market? How quickly can they respond to customers requests? Telstra is far better off if they are faster than the competition and if they can respond quickly to the ir competitors actions. 15 Therefore, Telstra has seen an opportunity in this to respond to peoples needs and more and more has promoted broadband as a viable, effective and efficient way of ensuring speed in communications.Broadband is growing across Australia because people are attracted to faster download propagation and having a standing(prenominal) online connection. 16 Broadband enables a high-speed permanent Internet connection. Its about faster Internet speeds, increased capacity and capabilities and more compel content. A modem is needed, but there are no dial in access numbers to connect to. 17 Innovations Whether it is a change in applied science a departure from previous ways of doing things or introduction of new products, innovation is something that most uccessful companies possess and use to further either market share or consumer satisfaction. Depending on Telstras competitiveness and creativity, innovation can be a huge opportunity in grasping larger market s hares and customers, or it can be a threat if other companies are more innovative. Telstra has managed to use innovative ideas to shape its success and satisfy consumer demands, some of the latest innovations being the Homeline Plans, Telstra Rewards Options, Homelink 1800 and Telstra Mobile CDMA. 18 Homeline plans allows the customer to select options that best suit them, whether they have friends and family close by, in another state or another country and whether they make lots of calls every day or just a few each week, in order to bring about maximum savings. 19 Telstra Rewards Options gives the customer the chance to save 5% or 10% on their audio bill by combining their Telstra home phone, Telstra Mobile and Telstra BigPond, as well as having the added convenience of only one bill.Homelink 1800 makes it easy for a family member to call home and they dont need cash or special cards. 20 Telstra Mobile CDMA is used particularly in rural regions of Australia and offers call clar ity and aegis network security lock background noise suppression and call clarity and security. Because CDMA uses a more sophisticated system of communicate voice signals, the phone is not dissimilar to talking on a normal phone. Whats more, CDMA signals are almost impossible to decipher if they are intercepted by eavesdroppers, which means conversations are more secure.Increasingly, more of Telstras revenues will come from their operations overseas. They will continue to see popular innovations, both overseas and in Australia, that will change the way people work, learn, communicate and receive information and entertainment. 21 In international growth, Telstras focus is on business mobiles, data and Internet, particularly in the Asia and pacific Region, which is where it is matte up that a good commercial history and experience there will help in realising opportunities for shareholders.Telstras investments in Asia have provided them with a platform for regional growth. 22 Down sizing Put simply, downsizing is the planned elimination of positions or jobs, and has caused its fair share of controversy surrounding companies in recent times that are lay off large numbers of workers and sacrificing customer service at the expense of large profits and boosting investor confidence. 23Although historically, layoffs tend to affect manufacturing firms and operative level workers in particular, the most recent cycle of downsizing has focused on delivering and eliminating bureaucratic structures, and hence, white collar middle managers have been those chiefly affected. 24 Hence, firms such as Telstra should avoid extravagant (cyclical) hiring to help reduce the need to engage in major or multiple downsizings.Beyond that, firms must avoid common mistakes such as making slow, small, frequent layoffs implementing voluntary early retirement programs that entice the best people to leave or laying off so many people that companys work can no longer be performed. 25 Theref ore, caution must be sought when laying off any totality of workers, as the company must maintain job satisfaction as a strength as well as be focused on customer service in order to avoid customer dissatisfaction and hence customers going to competitors. 26 Recommendations After reviewing Telstra and comparing what they do with other business similar to theirs, I have put together a new and innovative way for Telstra to revitalise and recreate their business, this will not only improve customer service but also improve productively as this will allow many processes to be completed often faster by not needing to deal with the usual misunderstandings and surprise associated with some of their services.At present Telstra could be said to be in two worlds that of the typical bureaucratic society, which often is seen in public sectors, and that of new technology where by Telstra is highly involved with the introduce of new technology, yet in many ways these changes have results in mo re issues relating to people not understanding how to use the new technology correctly, this not includes both employees as well as their clients. Such issues as these are common when new technology is introduced, yet with a business such as Telstra which already has a variety of customer service problems, this new technology has added to their worries.The only way that Telstra can overcome these issues is by combining them, to create new innovated ideas that not only still allow human to human interaction but also makes better use of technology to not only improve customer service but also to speed it up. After considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to Telstra with regard to it, it is fair to comment Telstra is well poised to continue to play a large part in the Australasian telecommunications market. While Telstra is by many standards a very successful company, much of that success lay behind government protection.However, with the deregulation of the tel ecommunications market, the future is less certain for Telstra and more competition may threaten its market share and cause the company to improve its services. However, this should be viewed positively as an opportunity for Telstra to move forward, in particular expanding into Asia, and be seen as a company that can support itself. This increased competition will in time show Telstras true strengths and weaknesses in the field of telecommunications and if the company can hold its place in the Australian telecommunications industry. credit entry List Interview Five Telstra Employees (They want to remain anonymous) Books Bateman & Snell, care Competing in the New Era, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, 2002 Kelly, J. (1969). Organizational conduct, USA Irwin McShane, S and Travaglione, T. (2003). Organisational Behaviour On The Pacific Rim, Sydney, McGraw-Hill Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter (2003). Management, 3rd Edition, Pearson Education Australia Robbins, S. P. , Waters-Marsh , T. , Cacioppe, R. , and Millet, B. (1994). Organisational Behaviour. Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney Prentice Hall Organisational Behaviour.Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney Prentice Hall Sayles, L and Strauss, G. (1966). Human Behaviour In Organizations, USA Prentice Hall Websites Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra mint Limited. on hand(predicate)http//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? voice communication=22001 23/ 9/05. semblance Terms, open http//www. ots. treas. gov/ polish/gloss-m. html 24/09/05 Marketing Strategy, on hand(predicate) http//www. tutor2u. net/business/gcse/marketing_strategy_introduction. htm 24/09/05 Telstra Facts http//www. absoluteastronomy. om/encyclopedia/t/te/telstra. htm 24/09/05. Telstra Just Too Good. uncommitted http//www. telstra. com. au/ restrictive/docs/lr-104969Ziggy_ope_ed_struct_sep. doc 25/09/05 Telstra Options. Available http//www. telstra. com. au/telstraoptions/ 26/09/05 Telstra Corporation Ltd, History http//www. telstra. com. au/corporate/index. cfm? tR=1 23/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are driving growth to build shareholders. Available http//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd 4 Key Strategic Areas 2001.Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_3. html 29/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd Chairman and CEOs Message 2001. Availablehttp//www. conect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_5. htm 24/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporaton Ltd Domestic Retail 2001. Available http//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_8. htm 24/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are Driving Growth to Build Shareholders. Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23/09/05 Wikipedia Encyclopaedia, Available http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marketing_research 24/09/05E Journals Brenner, O. C. , Singer, Marc G. Management Quarterly. Washington (1984). Vol. 25, Iss. 2, pg. 14 , 7 pgs (ProQuest database, ANU) Cooper, R. C. C. C. L. (2002) Does privatization affect corporate culture and employee wellbeing? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 21 49 (ProQuest database, ANU) Dotson, L. (2004) 10 slipway To Improve Your Customer Service E. C. Pasour, J. (1983) Privatization Is it the Answer? The Freeman Lovata, Linda M. MIS Quarterly. Minneapolis. Jun (1987). Vol 11. Iss. 2, pg. 147, 3 pgs (ProQuest database, ANU) Wettenhall, R.Privatization in Australia How Much and What Impacts? Canberra, Uni of Canberra. Simintiras, Antonis C. , Lancaster, Geoffrey A. Management Decision. London (1991). Vol. 29, Iss. 4, pg. 22, 6 pgs (ProQuest database, ANU) Note Assortments of lectures and tutorial notes have been used from Organisational Behaviour G. Appendixes SWOT Analysis of Telstra Strengths Weaknesses Competitive Pricing Rural Services Global Nature of Competition competing overseas eg. South-East Asia Mobile Phone coverage / Quality Interne t Access BigPond Home available across Australia for the costBroadband Access / Quality of a local call. Broadband ADSL CDMA Network coverage 97. 1% of Australian pop. Largest cellular mobile coverage in Australia Options to suit everyone Combining Phone/Mobile/ Internet Bills Phone Range (Landline / Mobile) Directories White & icteric Pages (standard / electronic) Opportunities Threats New / advanced(a) Products Increase in Competition (Optus, Vodafone, Transact etc) Extend services & the market share of Telstra into other counties Lose of employment due to technology or cut cost measures Improving and Expanding product and service offerings in Australia The government selling the rest of Telstra (privatisation) 1 Telstra Facts http//www. absoluteastronomy. com/encyclopedia/t/te/telstra. htm 24/09/05. 2 History, Telstra Corporation Ltd http//www. telstra. com. au/corporate/index. cfm? tR=1 23/09/05. 3 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, p. 53 4 Dr Ziggy Switko wski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? linguistic process=22001 23 family 2005. 5 ibid 6 Telstra Just Too Good.Available http//www. telstra. com. au/ regulative/docs/lr-104969Ziggy_ope_ed_struct_sep. doc 25 kinfolk 2005. 7 Bateman & Snell, Management Competing in the New Era, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, 2002, Glossary (G-2) 8 ibid 9 ibid 10 ibid p. 12 11 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, Glossary (G-7) 12 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 13 ibid 14 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd Domestic Retail 2001. Available http//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_8. htm 24 September 2005. 15 Bateman & Snell, op. cit p. 12 16 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 17 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are Driving Growth to Build Shareholders. Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23 September 2005. 18 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, Glossary (G-4) 19 Telstra Options. Available http//www. telstra. com. au/telstraoptions/ 26 September 2005. 20 ibid 21 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Available ,- ? ? E ? I I c ) * + L M N ocUcUcUcEUcEc iPiPiPiPiPiPi1hchttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 22 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are Driving Growth to Build Shareholders. Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23 September 2005. 23 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, Glossary (G-3) 24 ibid p. 283 25 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd Chairman and CEOs Message 2001. Availablehttp//www. conect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_5. htm 24 September 2005. 26 Cooper, R. C. C. C. L. (2002) Does privatization affect corporate culture and employee we llbeing? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 21 49 (ProQuest database, ANU)TelstraBackground Telstra is a descendant of the Post Master Generals (PMG) Department of the Australian Commonwealth Public Service. In 1975 telecommunications and postal functions were divided into two statutory commissions Telecom Australia and Australia Post. Telecom Australia, the government-owned communications carrier, later merged with a much smaller government body, OTC, then responsible for international calls. Telecom rebranded itself as Telstra in the early 1990s. Telstra has faced competition since the late 1980s from competing providers.It retains ownership of the fixed-line telephone network, as well as one of two competing pay-tv and data cable networks. Other companies offering fixed-line services must therefore deal with Telstra. Competing telecommunication companies have constantly accused Telstra of overcharging for wholesale access to their networks the ACCC has often agreed but decisi ons by the regulator are slow. 1 Current Situation Australias leading telecommunications and information Services Company, Telstra Corporation Ltd is well poised to deliver a high level of service in the highly competitive communications market in Australia and abroad.Telstras service offerings include Local, long-distance and international telephony services Mobile telecommunications services Data, Internet and online services Wholesale services to other carriers Telephone directories Pay television services Telstra employs approximately 40,000 staff and generates revenues of some US$18 billion in its most recent fiscal year. 2 SWOT Analysis After careful deliberation, a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities & threats) analysis was developed that was reflected in a selection of OB (Organisational Behaviour) Theories that demonstrate the general abilities and framework of Telstra.All of these theories will be explored further with regard to how they shape policies, provide d irection or limit growth in relation to the SWOT analysis (Ref. to Appendix A). Issue Analysis Competition Competitors use tactics like price reductions, new product introductions, and advertising campaigns to gain advantage over their rivals. Competition is most intense when there are many direct competitors, when industry growth is slow, or when the product or service cannot be differentiated in some way. 3Competition is only a recent challenge for Telstra as it had government protection and maintained an effective monopoly of telecommunications in Australia for many years. However, with the recent deregulation of the market and the increase in players, Telstra has increasingly been threatened with higher competition from competitors. The increase of players in this market will surely cause customers to go shopping for the best deals, hence Telstra is being and will be forced further in the future to improve its image and offers so as to retain an effective market share.Thus said , the telecommunications industry has changed as global sentiment towards telecommunications has turned negative in recent years, and has come to the stage where the market currently rewards commercial discipline and conservatism within the industry. 4 In the corrections that has followed these events, plus the collapse of the dotcoms and tier 2 Telcos, and the investment rebalancing post the millennium bug era, an estimated 3 trillion US dollars has been wiped off the value of Telco stocks worldwide in the last two years.The Australian industry has not escaped this market reaction, or the pressure that accompanies a sudden slowdown in revenue growth from the exciting ride of the nineties. But in this reporting period so far, the Australian telecommunications industry sees a number of carriers earning reasonable revenues and showing some signs of profit improvement, and many are experiencing growth in customers and market share. Most significantly, the first five years of open compe tition in Australia have delivered considerable benefits for consumers lower prices, better service, more investment and innovation, and more choice. 5 According to Telstra staff, five years of open competition has also made Telstra a better company, a better competitor and a better servant of their customers. Telstra had to change and adapt, which they have and theyre now seeing the benefits. Still, Telstra must retain some level of strength and influence over the telecommunications market as several of Telstras competitors complain that Telstra as a company is too large. Supposedly, they cannot compete against Telstra due to its size, range of services, and nationwide coverage.Telstra is too powerful, and its competitors are calling for structural separation, and dismantling Telstra into smaller companies that would run the wholesale network and serve retail customers. 6 Cost Competitiveness Cost competitiveness is best described as keeping costs low in order to achieve profits a nd prices that are attractive to customers, in which Telstra can offer low prices by managing their costs and keeping them down. This means being efficient, accomplishing their goals by using their resources wisely, and minimizing waste. 7 With regard to cost competitiveness, Telstra is able to compete with the best in the market, although deregulation and the increase in telecommunications companies such as Optus and Vodafone are proving themselves as potential threats to Telstras dominance of the telecommunications market in Australia. Telstra continues to deliver on cost control. The cost performance of the company has been disciplined and underpins revenue performance. It is a prerequisite for success in providing value for their customers.Telstra also needs to take into consideration the challenge that sustained technological change creates for Australias telecommunications system. In additions, as a geographically vast country with a highly dispersed population, located at a g reat distance from its trading partners, Australia depends more heavily than other countries do on the quality, efficiency and innovativeness of its telecommunications system. As new technologies expand the benefits telecommunications can bring, Australians in particular, stand to gain from an environment that promotes prompt adoption and widespread use.Within three to five years, it is estimated the process of convergence will offer the greatest opportunities in this respect. Convergence, viewed from a technological perspective, refers to the process by which services that were previously supported over distinct communications infrastructures are integrated around a common, high capacity, digital platform. This brings with it the blurring of boundaries between once-distinct services and the entry of suppliers from previously separate markets into a now combining and necessarily wider market place. 8From the consumer perspective, convergence brings clear gains. Reliance on a common infrastructure allows efficiencies to be obtained, reducing costs and charges. That infrastructures high capacity allows new services to be offered, extending the range of content and applications that consumers can access. At the same time, the merging of markets brings previously separated suppliers into head-on competition with all the benefits that competition yields. Although potentially a threat for Telstra as it may lose market share in particular areas, it is also an opportunity if it can take dvantage of lowering prices to attract more customers. This will depend on the strength of Telstras innovations in drawing customers attention, but also on way Telstra can uphold profits while lowering prices without staff cutbacks or branch closures. 9 It is against this backdrop that the impact of regulation needs to be assessed. By adding uncertainty to what is already a highly uncertain environment, the current regulation of access discourages investment both by Telstra and by Tel stras competitors.At the same time, the bias in the direction of trying to set ever lower charges for access seekers, regardless of costs that has emerged in ACCC decision-making distorts price signals and expectations in ways inimical to efficient investment and to technological change. This lack of any internally consistent, rigorous approach by the ACCC to decisions such as these is, in Telstras view, unjustifiable. It is no defence to say, as the ACCC does in its most recent submission to the Commission, that overall Telstras PSTN is profitable.Even putting aside the absurdities evident in the manner in which the ACCC has reached this assessment, the ACCCs argument seems to imply that so long as Telstra is not going under, access pricing decisions can be taken without proper regard to their consequences for Telstras ability to recover costs and finance investments. No doubt, this decision comes as a huge threat to Telstras competitiveness in the communications industry and Tel stra is set to potential lose a large slice of the market share or shareholder confidence, depending on how the company responds to the announcement.The reality is that at the margin, Telstra must allocate its funds among competing uses in the light not of the short term or immediate profitability of the grouping of services they support, but of their return over the lifetime of the assets being acquired. Even if it were the case that Telstras PSTN was profitable in some economically relevant sense today, it is the future profitability of the service that counts and the ever strengthening competition in this area, combined with continued heavy-handed regulatory intervention, hardly makes investment in the CAN attractive when ompared to alternatives. No less importantly, the fact remains that the ACCCs decisions, by setting access charges below cost, cannot but distort and depress investment in regulated assets, as the return on that investment to Telstra is reduced below the return it yields to consumers and service suppliers as a whole. It is these impacts at the margin, rather than aggregate comparisons of costs and revenues, that are economically relevant. Quality Quality can be measured in terms of performance, additional features, reliability (failure or breakdowns), and conformance to standards, durability, serviceability, and aesthetics. In addition, the excellence of a product, including such things as attractiveness, lack of defects, reliability, and long-term dependability. defines the expectations that many people these days have of companies and consequently, the kind of service that Telstra endeavours to deliver. 10 The importance of quality, and standards for acceptable quality, has increased dramatically in recent years.Firms cannot get by offering poor quality products as they could a few years ago. Customers now demand high quality and value, and generally will accept nothing less. 11 Telstras performance in regional and rural Australia is c onstantly under scrutiny. Telstra welcomes this scrutiny because the level of improvement in service levels and performance in regional, rural and remote Australia over the past two years has been dramatic. 12 In recognition of the special needs of regional customers, Telstra Country Wide was established in June 2000.According to Telstra, it was one of the best business decisions they ever took. Telstra Country Wide today services three million customers who account for more than $3 billion in revenue to Telstra, no doubt a strength in revenue for Telstra, although raises questions as to whether service is being reduced to make way for increased revenue. 13 Even so, remote customers can now make untimed local calls to community service towns hundreds of kilometres away, which better reflects the reality of life in rural Australia. Mobile coverage now reaches 97% of the population.To achieve this, Telstra has been working with the Federal Government to establish mobile services to s maller towns and to improve the quality of mobile connections nationwide. 14 Speed In the Information Age, speed is everything to nearly everyone, which makes it a priority for Telstra to deliver the kind of services that people expect. While Telstras services in rural Australia are often reported to be lacking in terms of connection times for phone and internet, as well as the ability of Telstra staff to respond to customer requests or complaints, new technologies are being sought that can reduce these problems.Hence, how fast can Telstra develop and get a new product to market? How quickly can they respond to customers requests? Telstra is far better off if they are faster than the competition and if they can respond quickly to their competitors actions. 15 Therefore, Telstra has seen an opportunity in this to respond to peoples needs and increasingly has promoted broadband as a viable, effective and efficient way of ensuring speed in communications.Broadband is growing across Aus tralia because people are attracted to faster download times and having a permanent online connection. 16 Broadband enables a high-speed permanent Internet connection. Its about faster Internet speeds, increased capacity and capabilities and more compelling content. A modem is needed, but there are no dial in access numbers to connect to. 17 Innovations Whether it is a change in technology a departure from previous ways of doing things or introduction of new products, innovation is something that most uccessful companies possess and use to further either market share or consumer satisfaction. Depending on Telstras competitiveness and creativity, innovation can be a huge opportunity in grasping larger market shares and customers, or it can be a threat if other companies are more innovative. Telstra has managed to use innovative ideas to shape its success and satisfy consumer demands, some of the latest innovations being the Homeline Plans, Telstra Rewards Options, Homelink 1800 and T elstra Mobile CDMA. 18 Homeline plans allows the customer to select options that best suit them, whether they have friends and family close by, in another state or another country and whether they make lots of calls every day or just a few each week, in order to bring about maximum savings. 19 Telstra Rewards Options gives the customer the chance to save 5% or 10% on their phone bill by combining their Telstra home phone, Telstra Mobile and Telstra BigPond, as well as having the added convenience of only one bill.Homelink 1800 makes it easy for a family member to call home and they dont need cash or special cards. 20 Telstra Mobile CDMA is used particularly in rural regions of Australia and offers call clarity and security network security lock background noise suppression and call clarity and security. Because CDMA uses a more sophisticated system of transmitting voice signals, the phone is not dissimilar to talking on a normal phone. Whats more, CDMA signals are almost impossible to decipher if they are intercepted by eavesdroppers, which means conversations are more secure.Increasingly, more of Telstras revenues will come from their operations overseas. They will continue to see popular innovations, both overseas and in Australia, that will change the way people work, learn, communicate and receive information and entertainment. 21 In international growth, Telstras focus is on business mobiles, data and Internet, particularly in the Asia and Pacific Region, which is where it is felt that a good commercial history and experience there will help in realising opportunities for shareholders.Telstras investments in Asia have provided them with a platform for regional growth. 22 Downsizing Put simply, downsizing is the planned elimination of positions or jobs, and has caused its fair share of controversy surrounding companies in recent times that are laying off large numbers of workers and sacrificing customer service at the expense of large profits and boosting investor confidence. 23Although historically, layoffs tend to affect manufacturing firms and operative level workers in particular, the most recent cycle of downsizing has focused on delivering and eliminating bureaucratic structures, and hence, white collar middle managers have been those chiefly affected. 24 Hence, firms such as Telstra should avoid excessive (cyclical) hiring to help reduce the need to engage in major or multiple downsizings.Beyond that, firms must avoid common mistakes such as making slow, small, frequent layoffs implementing voluntary early retirement programs that entice the best people to leave or laying off so many people that companys work can no longer be performed. 25 Therefore, caution must be sought when laying off any amount of workers, as the company must maintain job satisfaction as a strength as well as be focused on customer service in order to avoid customer dissatisfaction and hence customers going to competitors. 26 Recommendations After review ing Telstra and comparing what they do with other business similar to theirs, I have put together a new and innovative way for Telstra to revitalise and recreate their business, this will not only improve customer service but also improve productively as this will allow many processes to be completed much faster by not needing to deal with the usual misunderstandings and confusion associated with some of their services.At present Telstra could be said to be in two worlds that of the typical bureaucratic society, which often is seen in public sectors, and that of new technology where by Telstra is highly involved with the introduce of new technology, yet in many ways these changes have results in more issues relating to people not understanding how to use the new technology correctly, this not includes both employees as well as their clients. Such issues as these are common when new technology is introduced, yet with a business such as Telstra which already has a variety of customer service problems, this new technology has added to their worries.The only way that Telstra can overcome these issues is by combining them, to create new innovated ideas that not only still allow human to human interaction but also makes better use of technology to not only improve customer service but also to speed it up. After considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to Telstra with regard to it, it is fair to comment Telstra is well poised to continue to play a large part in the Australasian telecommunications market. While Telstra is by many standards a very successful company, much of that success lay behind government protection.However, with the deregulation of the telecommunications market, the future is less certain for Telstra and more competition may threaten its market share and cause the company to improve its services. However, this should be viewed positively as an opportunity for Telstra to move forward, in particular expanding into Asia, and b e seen as a company that can support itself. This increased competition will in time show Telstras true strengths and weaknesses in the field of telecommunications and if the company can hold its place in the Australian telecommunications industry. Reference List Interview Five Telstra Employees (They want to remain anonymous) Books Bateman & Snell, Management Competing in the New Era, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, 2002 Kelly, J. (1969). Organizational Behaviour, USA Irwin McShane, S and Travaglione, T. (2003). Organisational Behaviour On The Pacific Rim, Sydney, McGraw-Hill Robbins, Bergman, Stagg & Coulter (2003). Management, 3rd Edition, Pearson Education Australia Robbins, S. P. , Waters-Marsh, T. , Cacioppe, R. , and Millet, B. (1994). Organisational Behaviour. Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney Prentice Hall Organisational Behaviour.Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney Prentice Hall Sayles, L and Strauss, G. (1966). Human Behav iour In Organizations, USA Prentice Hall Websites Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23/ 9/05. Glossary Terms, Available http//www. ots. treas. gov/glossary/gloss-m. html 24/09/05 Marketing Strategy, Available http//www. tutor2u. net/business/gcse/marketing_strategy_introduction. htm 24/09/05 Telstra Facts http//www. absoluteastronomy. om/encyclopedia/t/te/telstra. htm 24/09/05. Telstra Just Too Good. Available http//www. telstra. com. au/regulatory/docs/lr-104969Ziggy_ope_ed_struct_sep. doc 25/09/05 Telstra Options. Available http//www. telstra. com. au/telstraoptions/ 26/09/05 Telstra Corporation Ltd, History http//www. telstra. com. au/corporate/index. cfm? tR=1 23/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are driving growth to build shareholders. Available http//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd 4 Key Str ategic Areas 2001.Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_3. html 29/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd Chairman and CEOs Message 2001. Availablehttp//www. conect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_5. htm 24/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporaton Ltd Domestic Retail 2001. Available http//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_8. htm 24/09/05. TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are Driving Growth to Build Shareholders. Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23/09/05 Wikipedia Encyclopaedia, Available http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Marketing_research 24/09/05E Journals Brenner, O. C. , Singer, Marc G. Management Quarterly. Washington (1984). Vol. 25, Iss. 2, pg. 14 , 7 pgs (ProQuest database, ANU) Cooper, R. C. C. C. L. (2002) Does privatization affect corporate culture and employee wellbeing? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 21 49 (ProQuest database, ANU) Dotson, L. (2004) 10 Ways To Improve Your Customer Service E. C. Pasour, J. (1983) Privatization Is it th e Answer? The Freeman Lovata, Linda M. MIS Quarterly. Minneapolis. Jun (1987). Vol 11. Iss. 2, pg. 147, 3 pgs (ProQuest database, ANU) Wettenhall, R.Privatization in Australia How Much and What Impacts? Canberra, Uni of Canberra. Simintiras, Antonis C. , Lancaster, Geoffrey A. Management Decision. London (1991). Vol. 29, Iss. 4, pg. 22, 6 pgs (ProQuest database, ANU) Note Assortments of lectures and tutorial notes have been used from Organisational Behaviour G. Appendixes SWOT Analysis of Telstra Strengths Weaknesses Competitive Pricing Rural Services Global Nature of Competition competing overseas eg. South-East Asia Mobile Phone Coverage / Quality Internet Access BigPond Home available across Australia for the costBroadband Access / Quality of a local call. Broadband ADSL CDMA Network Coverage 97. 1% of Australian pop. Largest cellular mobile coverage in Australia Options to suit everyone Combining Phone/Mobile/ Internet Bills Phone Range (Landline / Mobile) Directories White & Yellow Pages (standard / electronic) Opportunities Threats New / Innovative Products Increase in Competition (Optus, Vodafone, Transact etc) Extend services & the market share of Telstra into other counties Lose of employment due to technology or cut cost measures Improving and Expanding product and service offerings in Australia The government selling the rest of Telstra (privatisation) 1 Telstra Facts http//www. absoluteastronomy. com/encyclopedia/t/te/telstra. htm 24/09/05. 2 History, Telstra Corporation Ltd http//www. telstra. com. au/corporate/index. cfm? tR=1 23/09/05. 3 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, p. 53 4 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 5 ibid 6 Telstra Just Too Good.Available http//www. telstra. com. au/regulatory/docs/lr-104969Ziggy_ope_ed_struct_sep. doc 25 September 2005. 7 Bateman & Snell, Management C ompeting in the New Era, McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, 2002, Glossary (G-2) 8 ibid 9 ibid 10 ibid p. 12 11 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, Glossary (G-7) 12 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 13 ibid 14 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd Domestic Retail 2001. Available http//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_8. htm 24 September 2005. 15 Bateman & Snell, op. cit p. 12 16 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex Chief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Availablehttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 17 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are Driving Growth to Build Shareholders. Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23 September 2005. 18 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, Glossary (G-4) 19 Telstra Options. Available http//www. telstra. com. au/telstraoptions/ 26 September 2005. 20 ibid 21 Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Ex C hief Executive Officer, Telstra Corporation Limited. Available ,- ? ? E ? I I c ) * + L M N ocUcUcUcEUcEc iPiPiPiPiPiPi1hchttp//www. telstra. com. au/newsroom/speech. cfm? Speech=22001 23 September 2005. 22 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd How we are Driving Growth to Build Shareholders. Availablehttp//www. connect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_6. htm 23 September 2005. 23 Bateman & Snell, op. cit, Glossary (G-3) 24 ibid p. 283 25 TLS, Telstra Corporation Ltd Chairman and CEOs Message 2001. Availablehttp//www. conect4. com. au/ar/01/tls01_5. htm 24 September 2005. 26 Cooper, R. C. C. C. L. (2002) Does privatization affect corporate culture and employee wellbeing? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17, 21 49 (ProQuest database, ANU)