AT & T
Product and Services Offering
AT&T is a telecommunication company that provides high grade products and services to its clientele. Services and products include wireless communication, internet services, telecom equipment, and local services in exchanges (AT&T Annual Report, 2014). The business has been an industry leader for some time having the ability to control a sizeable market share that assists the organization in accomplishing effectiveness within the market along with higher bargaining power. The company’s mission is to allow people to have the ability to connect with others using the most up to date specialized and high tech inventions that are beneficial to every aspect of the modern world. The organization provides a variety of cellular phones, tablets, smartphones, and broadband services (AT&T Company Information, 2016). The company has wide ranging networks from small enterprises, to consumers and larger businesses, domestically as well as globally.
AT&T focuses on different potential customers within the market based on its strengths, especially when viewing the wireless abilities offered by its specialized products. The customers include small and large business owners, organizations of every type, individuals, enterprises, and homes with the intention of connecting people in the digital arena. The company has a wide base of customers to include customers at home as well as at workplaces, individuals who travel but also need to be connected to their families and to their employees while traveling and people who desire to connect to the world of entertainment. These processes are available via the internet enabling every consumer to connect worldwide without concern for location (Wang, 2011).
Business Processes
Business processes involve the collection of tasks that are linked together to cover the delivering of services and products to the client. The process involves a clearly defined plan of inputs and outputs with the factors that are categorized into management processes, operational processes, and supporting processes ("Business Process Definition | Appian", 2016). This is the progression of service that enables the success or failure of the business.
The business processes of AT& T involve the organization understanding what is necessary to keep the business competitive. The process involves understanding what drives the adoption of mobility for the customers, how mobility allows the company to assist the engagement of the customers, the development of updated strategic planning thereby allowing the company to stay abreast of what the customer wants and delivering the products and services to the customers based on those demands. AT&T must also ensure that the organization continuously meets customer and organizational demands ("Mobility Solutions Services - AT&T BusinessDirect® | Premier Business Center", 2016). AT&T must also realize what is needed to mitigate any risks that are associated with integrating technologies for all customers.
Operational Management Challenges
Operational management challenges deal with the problems that occur due to the daily operations of the business. And while there are challenges of different magnitudes that will affect the business differently, the key is to gain knowledge on how to handle these challenges before they become major challenges. Two major operational management challenges that are faced by AT&T include employee engagement and global market challenges.
Employee Engagement
Employees are of vital importance to an organization and need to always be engaged within the business for the success of the organization. Employee engagement can be accomplished through effective communication to include meetings, face to face conversations, email, and any other effective method that can be discovered by the manager. These tools are needed and must not be ignored if the organization desires to stay competitive. Employee engagement must be continually practiced within the organization with employees also knowing that they are valued by the organization.
Global Market Challenges
One of the major concerns for AT&T and any other business that deals in the business of technology is understanding how global convergence of information and communication technologies need to work for everyone. With an estimated 2 billion Internet users and over 6 billion mobile phone subscriptions as well as an exponential number of hardware devices used for intercommunicating throughout the world, the organization must realize that universal broadband access is becoming a national priority for developing countries. There is the need to make the process easier while also allowing the improvement of educational and business usage throughout the world ("The Millennium Project- 15 Global Challenges- Challenge 6", 2016). This is a challenge that will be ongoing and that the organization must work toward accomplishing even though the challenge is great.
Operational Management Tools
The purpose of operational management tools is to assist operations managers in finding effective processes to enable the solving of problems within the organization. The quicker the problem is recognized, the quicker the problem can be resolved thereby enabling organizational performance and efficiency. While there are many tools that can be used successfully within an organization, three very successful tools include Six Sigma, process flow diagrams, and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA).
Six Sigma
Six-Sigma is a strategy that was designed to improve the quality of process outputs. This process enables the accomplishment of this task by identifying and removing the causes of defects while also minimizing the variability present within the business process. This method is statistical and requires individuals who are trained in the process. Some of the tools used include process mapping, trending charts, calculations of potential defects, and best practices for work within a team ("Operations-Management Tools", 2016)
Process Flow Diagrams
Process flow diagrams show how processes are used within the organization. While many view this process to be more effective within the engineering field, technology processes can be used to show the flow of processes to enable the success of the technology process. Please review an example of the process flow diagram for a mobile network listed below (Management, 2016).
("Flow diagram for a mobile network - Google Search", 2016)
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
This process is used to identify the root cause of an issue or problem and is a very structured approach that begins with the identification of every possible thing that could go wrong or the failure modes of the process or product. Finding the failure modes allows for the categorizing of each one according to the probability of the occurrence happening, the impact that will occur, and the probability of it being discovered before reaching the customer. This is an effective process for the organization because calculations can be created relative to risk priorities known as a risk priority number from the categories of risk that have occurred which can be used to enable managers to prioritize the critical failure modes (Management, 2016).
Choice of the Three Listed Operations Management Tools
The reason for the choices of each process listed above is because of the benefit of the process to the organization. Six-Sigma allows the organization to create improved customer loyalty because the method reduces the risk of the organization having dissatisfied customers by enabling the training of the employees to meet customer satisfaction.
Process flow diagrams allow the design engineers to see exactly what needs to be done before moving forward with a process. Much time and effort is used in order to create products and services to meet customer need; therefore, any process that will enable the engineers to create a better product will not only engage the customer but will also increase company revenue.
FMEA reveals the cause and effect of problems with products which can also be information that can assist employees with customer satisfaction. Once defects are found in a product, this process allows the engineer to categorize that failure thereby having the ability to correct the error quickly and efficiently saving costs to the organization. This is a benefit that enables the continued success of the business.
Recommendations for A T & T
The key recommendations for AT&T are to examine business processes to include management, operational, and supporting processes to ensure that each process is working effectively and efficiently. The next step is to meet with the management team that works with the day to day operations of the business to ensure that all employees are engaged with the organization with a sound understanding of the organization’s mission and goals. The organization must also ensure that any global market challenges are known thereby giving the organization the advantage of creating a risk management plan that can assist the business as the company expands within the global market.
AT&T must also comprehend the importance of operational management tools and how to use those tools successfully within the business. Having business managers who are trained in the Six-Sigma process will allow the organization to always be ahead of competition by understanding how problems can occur with the ability to solve the problem/issue before it arises; process flow diagrams will allow engineers to be successful in the creation of new products meeting customer demand quickly, and using FMEA will allow for customer satisfaction with employees and managers understanding the root cause of issues and/or problems and handling those issues or problems quickly and smoothly.
References
AT&T Annual Report. (2014). Mobilizing Your World. Retrieved from https://www.att.com/Investor/ATT_Annual/2014/downloads/att_ar2014_annualreport.pdf
AT&T Company Information. (2016). Retrieved June 24, 2016, from http://www.att.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5711
Business Process Definition | Appian. (2016). Appian. Retrieved 25 June 2016, from http://www.appian.com/about-bpm/definition-of-a-business-process/
Management, C. (2016). Common Quality Tools for Operations Management - For Dummies. Dummies.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016, from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/common-quality-tools-for-operations-management.html
Mobility Solutions Services - AT&T BusinessDirect® | Premier Business Center. (2016). Wireless.att.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016, from https://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/solutions/industry-solutions/mobility-solution-services/
Operations-Management Tools. (2016). Boundless. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-management-textbook/organizational-theory-3/modern-thinking-31/operations-management-tools-176-6797/
The Millennium Project- 15 Global Challenges- Challenge 6. (2016). Millennium-project.org. Retrieved 25 June 2016, from http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/Global_Challenges/chall-06.html
