Case Study: At&t

Case Study: AT&T

Angela Miraglia-Dunn

Argosy University

October 22, 2011

Dr. Smith

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.............................................................................................3

CASE STUDY INTRODUCTION..................................................................4

AT&T HISTORY...............................................................................4-5

TYPE OF LEADERSHIP......................................................................5-6

CHARACTERISTICS OF INNOVATION AND CHANGE IN AN ORGANIZATION...6

SWOT ANALYSIS.................................................................................6-7

SYSTEM FOR THE CASE STUDY................................................................8

APPLICATION OF THE SYSTEM...............................................................8-9

CHALLENGES AND THEIR SOLUTIONS...................................................9-11

ROLE OF ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.............................................11-12

PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION............12-14

APPLICATION OF INNOVATIVE PROCESSES AND THEORIES TO INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS...................................................14-15

LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................15-17

CORE ASPECTS OF LEADERSHIP..........................................................17-19

HINDRANCES TO LEADING INNOVATION AND CHANGE........................19-22

EFFECTS OF LEADERSHIP ETHICS.......................................................22-26

RESEARCH SUMMARY......................................................................26-27

INTERPRETATION............................................................................27-28

CONCLUSION......................................................................................28

REFERENCES...................................................................................29-33

Abstract

AT&T's 134-year history of innovation is a story about people from all walks of life and all kinds of backgrounds coming together to improve the human condition. It is their diversity, coupled with an inclusive culture that welcomes all points of view which makes them who they are: a great place to work, a desired business partner and a committed member of the communities they serve. This welcoming culture is something they live and breathe every day; their employees expect it and their customers and shareowners benefit from it (AT&T, 2011). AT&T is the largest communications holding company in the world by revenue. Operating globally under the AT&T brand, they are proud to offer one of the worlds most advanced and powerful global backbone networks, carrying 23.7 petabytes of data traffic on an average business day to nearly every continent and country, with up to 99.999 percent reliability (AT&T, 2011).

AT&T Corporation organizes its business into two segments, business services and consumer services. AT&T's consumer services business, the bedrock of its existence for more than a century, provides domestic and international long-distance telephone service to roughly 35 million residential customers in the United States, as well as Internet service through AT&T WorldNet and AT&T digital subscriber line (DSL) service to a much smaller portion of the U.S. population. AT&T's business services segment, which the company regards as its future, involves offering global communications services to three million customers, ranging from small businesses to large, multinational corporations. For its corporate clientele, AT&T provides domestic and international voice service, domestic and international data and Internet protocol (IP) services, networking services, and domestic and international wholesale transport services (Grant, 2011).

Case Study Introduction

AT&T is nation's fastest mobile broadband network and it's getting faster with 4G serving millions of customers and enabling them to travel and communicate seamlessly with the best worldwide wireless coverage offering the most phones that work in the most countries. AT&T offers voice coverage in more than 220 countries, data roaming in more than 200 countries and mobile broadband in more than 130 countries (AT&T, 2011). AT&T is the only U.S. national service provider to offer a 100 percent IP-based television service with AT&T U-verse TV, which provides an exciting alternative to cable with a better DVR, better features and apps and a better TV experience (AT&T, 2011).

AT&T manages the nation's largest Wi-Fi network (based on branded and operated sites) with nearly 27,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots, including locations in all 50 states, and access to more than 215,000 hot spots around the globe (AT&T, 2011).

AT&T is one of the world's largest providers of IP-based communications services for businesses, with an extensive portfolio of Virtual Private Network (VPN), Voice over IP (VoIP) and other offerings--all backed by innovative security and customer support capabilities (AT&T, 2011).

AT&T Corporate History

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. That was the foundation of the company that would become AT&T a brand that has become synonymous with the best, most reliable telephone service in the world (AT&T, 2011).

In 1984, through an agreement between the former AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice, AT&T agreed to divest itself of its local telephone operations but retain its long distance, R&D and manufacturing arms. From this arrangement, SBC Communications Inc. (formerly known as Southwestern Bell Corp.)