Management at Sprint
Management at SPRINT
Introduction
Sprint Nextel Corporation is a based in the United States and it is engaged in telecommunication business. Sprint Nextel Corporation was founded in the year 1899, by Jason Brown and Cleyson Brown. The corporation has been operating as Sprint Corporation until the year 2005when it underwent branding to Sprint Nextel Corporation. The corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and it mainly specialises in the provision of both wire line and wireless communications networks.
Management comprises of the following various function, which include organising, directing, staffing, planning, controlling and leading. All the activities that are normally carried out within an organisation require some form of management (Worley & Cummings, 2009). This paper will analyse Sprint Nextel Corporation with respect to the following aspects of management; diversity management, ethical, social, and legal responsibility, international business, general planning and general and strategic planning, organisation structure and chart organising work and synergism, work teams utilisation, staffing, employee training and development, motivating employees, leadership and management, managing conflict and stress, managing change, controlling, appraising and rewarding, operations management and plans, and operations control.
The management of Sprint Nextel Corporation encourages the existence of diversity and inclusion in the organisation. The management holds the opinion that diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a key driver of innovation and creativity in the organisation. They believe that the degree of innovation and creativity prevailing within the organisation will facilitate the development of a distinctive connection between the market place and the workplace (Sprint, 2012). The management claims that the existence of inclusion and diversity facilitates the members of staff to view the world from a broader point of view thus making the organisation to develop meaningful ways of serving its customers.
The management of Sprint Corporation focuses on identifying and developing new ways of promoting diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation. This is mainly because they are of the opinion that it is through the promotion of inclusion and diversity that the organisation will be able to continue being a world – class Telecommunications Company. The following are the cornerstones that the management of this corporation are utilising in order to promote diversity and inclusion; suppliers, community, employees, and customers, creating a culture of inclusion, and the development of the office of diversity and inclusion.
Ethical, Social, and Legal Responsibilities
The management of Sprint Nextel Corporation is committed at ensuring that all the activities that are being carried out in the organisation are in line with the social, legal, and ethical responsibility standards. The corporation is listed in the New York Stock Exchange, as a result, the company is required to uphold high levels of integrity, and this is because the public has invested in the organisation (Worley & Cummings, 2009). Failure to uphold high levels of integrity within the organisation will lead to a situation whereby the company faces myriad of challenges in its efforts to raise money at the stock exchange, and this will be attributable to declining investor confidence.
The corporation can be said to be socially responsible, and this is because it engages in various corporate social responsibility programs. For instance, it participates in the sponsorship of sporting events as well as art and entertainment. With regard to sports, the corporation has participated in sponsoring the following types of sports; NBA, NASCAR, and Snow Sports such as skiing events (Sprint, 2012). In 2007, the company created the Spirit Centre in the city of Kansas. The organisation participates in the following art and entertainment facilities: Maverick Centre, Kansas City Power and Light District, Theatre in the Park and Starlight Centre.
The corporation maintains a high level of legal responsibility. This is because it upholds the law of the land, in each and every region that it operates. The company has various subsidiary companies. In the acquisition of these subsidiaries, the company follows the rule of law to the latter (Worley & Cummings, 2009). The company also provides policy documents for all the services and products that they are offered to the customers. In addition to that, the company ensures that it has provided the investor with the kind of information that the corporation is required to release to the investors.
International Business
Sprint Nextel Corporation is mainly based in the United States of America. This is mainly because it was founded in the United States and the Co-Founders were both Americans. However, it is imperative to take note of the fact that, over the years, the corporation has undergone through myriad developments and growth. As a result, the company operates in approximately seventy countries across the world with an exception of the United States. In all those countries, Sprint Nextel Corporation provides both wireless and wire line communications networks (Sprint, 2012). The existence of their presence in almost seventy one countries across the world has made Sprint Nextel Corporation among the largest communications network companies in the universe.
General Planning and General and strategic planning
The company is headed by ten board members who are chaired by a non – executive chairman. The board of directors is the main organ within the organisation that is tasked with the responsibility of carrying out general and strategic planning. The board is composed of different members representing various committees that are found within the organisation, to ensure effectiveness of the board (A., Hoskisson, & Ireland, 2009). The general function of these committees is to provide the board with credible information pertaining to the different committees that will facilitate the development of effective general and strategic plans. These committees also audit the general the strategic plans that have been developed by the board of directors. This ensures that they are achievable in the manner described in the strategic plan. The following are some of the committees that are found within Sprint Nextel Corporation; financial committee, audit committee, executive committee, compensation committee, and the nominating and corporate committee.
Organization structure and Chart
Sprint Nextel Corporation has a unique organisation structure and chart. It is composed of various executives who occupy the various offices that are found within the organisation structure and chart. The highest office on the organisation structure is the office of the chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel Corporation. The office is then followed by the offices of the chief financial officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Service and Information Technology Officer, and chief sales officer (Sprint, 2012). The three offices are then followed by the office of the president of Sprint Emerging and Wholesale solution and the office of the president of Network Operations and Wholesale. These two offices are then followed by the offices of the senior vice president of Corporate and Business Development, Human Resources, Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Communications, and Corporate Secretary.
Organising Work and Synergism
Sprint Nextel Corporation is composed of various subsidiaries. The headquarters of the corporation is located in the city of Kansas in the United States. The corporation is the holding company off all these subsidiaries and the board of directors are the ones who are tasked with the responsibility of developing a general and corporate strategy for the entire organisation (Worley & Cummings, 2009). This implies that the corporation develops a strategic plan which is implemented across all the subsidiaries. In the development of the general and strategic plan, the members of the board take into account all the subsidiaries so as to develop a strategy that will enable the organisation to run efficiently.
All of the subsidiaries were acquired with accordance to the laws of the United States that govern the acquisition and sale of businesses. At the time of purchase, all these subsidiaries had a form of management that was tasked with the responsibility of implementing certain tasks (A., Hoskisson, & Ireland, 2009). As a result of this, the management of Sprint Nextel Corporation allowed the subsidiaries to continue being operated using their initial organisation structures. However, this does not prevent that management of Sprint Nextel Corporation to alter the organisation structures and charts of these subsidiaries whenever need arises.
Work Teams Utilisation
The management of Sprint Nextel Corporation encourages the carrying out of tasks through team effort. This is because the management is of the opinion that team work improves the level of productivity throughout the organisation. The organisation is managed by a group of managers who are commonly referred to as the executive team. The executive team is comprised of each and every person who is a member of the board of directors. These are the people who are tasked with the responsibility of developing both general and strategic plans for the organisation. In addition, the middle level management teams in charge of various duties and responsibilities (Sprint, 2012). This team is mainly comprised of head of the various departments that are found within the organisation. The members of staff within the organisation are also grouped into different teams that work in the various departments which are found within the organisation.
Staffing
The human resource management department has been tasked with the responsibility of recruiting the members of staff as well as managing all their affairs. One of the ways through which the department recruits its staff is through the presentation of application letters and curriculum vitae. This is one of the main means that the organisation uses for the purposes of recruiting its members of staff (Worley & Cummings, 2009). The second one is head hunting. Head hunting is a practice that is carried out by the organisation whenever it identifies a person who possesses very distinctive talents that would benefit the organisation. Most of the members of staff within the organisation have been recruited through the reviewing of application letters and curriculum vitae. It is imperative to note that the management of Sprint Nextel Corporation allows its subsidiaries to recruit most of its members of staff. However, in some cases the executive team may decide to second a specific professional to go and carry out a special task in any of the subsidiaries.
Employee Training and Development
The management of Sprint Nextel Corporation invests in the training and development of its employees. This results from the fact that both the executive and middle level management appreciate the fact that training and development serve to improve the skills of the organization employees. As a result of training and development, employees are able to display high levels of performance (Sprint, 2012). The company has formed various strategic partnerships with institutions of higher learning so that they can be able to develop employee workshops that are geared towards improving the professional and technical skills of the employees.
Leadership and Management
In a bid to improve the levels of productivity and decrease the level of inefficiency within the corporation, the management of Sprint Nextel Corporation had placed special emphasis of leadership and management. The management has developed various leadership and development programs that are geared towards imparting and enhancing leadership and management skills (Sadler, 2003). The main objective of these programs is to facilitate the development of leadership and management skills amongst the employees. This is because when there are high numbers of employees who possess these skills, the level of inefficiency within the organisation is likely to decrease. Most of the employees will be able to make rational and informed decision thus increasing the number of employees with the ability to work under minimum supervision.
Motivation, Appraising and Rewarding of Employees
The management appreciates the fact that motivation is critical to the performance of the members of staff. In line with this, the management will reward each and every person that presents innovative and creative ideas (Worley & Cummings, 2009). There will be various types of rewards that will be award to employees that display high levels of innovation and creativity. The management will award the following rewards to members of staff that exhibit high levels of innovation and creativity: salary increments, promotions, scholarships, insurance packages, scholarships to pursue an academic program of choice at one the leading universities in the world.
Managing Change, Conflict and Stress
In order to be effective at managing change in the organisation, whenever the management want to introduce changes within the organisation it does it in a progressive manner. Such changes in the organisation provide employees with adequate time to adjust to the changes before the full changes are implemented. It is also imperative to point out that, before the management introduces changes within the organisation, it consults widely and most importantly it seeks the opinions of the employees (Sprint, 2012). This is because employees are the one given the responsibility of implementing the changes. The management holds various meeting with its members of staff. During these meeting issues which are considered to urgent and contentious are deliberated upon so as to develop long lasting solutions. The management also hosts a family fun days as well as it allows employees to go on paid leave. This are moves which are geared towards enabling employees to relieve the level of stress that is brought about by engaging in certain professions.
Operations Control, Management and Plans
All the operations of Sprint Nextel Corporation are managed by an operations manager. For the forth coming years, the corporation is aiming at reducing the level of green house gases that are being emitting by the organisation by twenty percent. The organisation is also aiming at increasing its level of reliance on renewable energies (Sprint, 2012). The management is aiming at reducing it level of reliance on electricity by fifteen percent. The organisation is also planning to reduce the level of paper work by approximately forty percent. The operations manager will strive to ensure that all of the above objectives have been achieved by the year 2017.
Conclusion
A manager is a person that has formal authority that is usually derived from the company’s memorandum of association. The main disparity is that a leader is an individual that acquires power through formal appointment. However, a leader is an individual that acquire power through social influence. This is mainly through the winning of the hearts and minds of the people. Manager is mainly concerned about the utilisation of resources within an organisation in order to achieve the desired objectives. On the other hand, a leader is a person whose main concern is to have effective interaction with the people in order to achieve the desired objective. Therefore, management plays an imperative role in an organization success and achievement of it objectives.
References
A., M., Hoskisson, R. E., & Ireland, R. D. (2009). Understanding Business Strategy: Concepts and Cases. New York: Cengage.
Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Sprint. (2012). Our Operations. Retrieved from Sprint: http://www.sprint.com/responsibility/ouroperations/
Worley, C. G., & Cummings, T. G. (2009). Organization Development & Change [With Online Access Code]. New York: Cengage.
