There are many indications that the wireless phone industry is a highly competitive industry. Some of these indications are the presence of price wars, overall declining prices, increased advertising, many choices in service providers, and many choices in devices (Hanley, 2013). A business in a highly competitive industry needs a solid business strategy to make sure it is making the right business choices. A strategy can help focus the business and provide guidelines for what is most important when decisions need to be made about where resources should be used or where money should be spent.
If a business chooses to not have a strategy it can mean that the business will not succeed. For example, businesswoman Margaret Heffernan talks about a company she worked for that had no strategy, other than trying to make money from whatever clients it could find (2010). This lack of focus meant that when the economy was not as strong as before, and there was less money to be spent, client did not stay. The company’s services simply weren’t important enough to any of its clients because they weren’t focused. Lack of strategy meant the company did not survive bad economic times.
Mission Statement
The mission of Verizon Wireless is to provide our customers with the services and devices that effectively link them into their online lifestyle.
Vision Statement
Verizon strives to be a leader in communications field, providing high quality, reliable, and affordable wireless service to enhance our customer’s ability to communicate with others wirelessly around the world.
Five Key Objectives
- Develop and maintain a world-class research and development team.
Because of the very rapidly moving technology and highly competitive nature of the wireless business having a high quality research and development team is the first of the businesses key objectives. Without staying current within the business, all the other efforts will be for nothing. The first of the objectives has both operational and human resources impact on the business. Operational because choices will have to be made from the point of view of directing resources into this part of the company. Human resources because the key to a good team will be the hiring of those with experience in this area and good forward thinking skills to keep the company competitive over time. This key objective is important for the achievement of the “effectively link” part of the mission statement, and the “leader in communications” and “high quality” part of the vision statement.
- Develop and maintain a highly responsive and highly effective team of field repair and installation staff.
Because customers have grown highly reliant on their wireless service to get through their day-to-day lives, the reliability of the service is an important factor for customer loyalty. The way to have reliable service is to have responsive and effective repair staff. This is becoming more important as the weather has become more severe in recent years. This second of the objectives have both operational and human resource impacts on the business. Operational because building and supporting a responsive repair staff requires focus of the operation on this area of the business, including significant investment. It has human resource results because the right people will have to be hired that will be willing to be on call and go out to repair at any time. This key objective is important for maintaining the “link” discussed in the mission and the “reliable” part of the vision statement.
- Be attentive to costs in all areas of the business and develop processes with the goal of saving money whenever possible without diminishing product or service quality.
The competitive nature of the wireless business requires that there is a constant focus on costs. A prime reason why customers move from one service provider to another is finding a better deal. Thus, it is important for Verizon to remain competitive with the prices available from other service providers. This key objective primarily impacts operations. It will be the operational goal of all the departments to keep their costs in check, at the same time maintaining customer service. This key objective is important for the part of the vision statement that requires the service be “affordable.”
- Put into place media, digital, and print advertising campaigns that will communicate the advantages of our product and services to potential customers.
The fourth key objective puts into words the reality of the market for wireless services. The business requires very good communication to potential customers because of all the choices that are available. The advertising campaigns provide a chance to bring special offers to the attention of future customers and to also remain in the minds of present customers, with the goal of not losing them. As a communications company, it is also important that when communicating with potential customers the company does effectively and with clear messages. This objective is important for reaching and maintaining the “leader in the communications field” part of the vision statement.
- Strive to move into new markets within developing countries with the goal of someday providing global service to our customers.
Finally, the fifth key objective is to expand the markets of Verizon wireless to those places that don’t now have effective wireless service from Verizon in place. Using a cellular phone abroad more affordably is something that is important to Verizon’s customers (Taub, 2013). The way to expand this network for our customers is to keep investing in new markets and expanding the range of the network that Verizon supports. This key objective supports the “around the world” part of the vision statement and provides support for the “online lifestyle” mentioned in the mission statement.
References
Ebben, J. (2005). Developing effective mission and vision statements. Inc. 1 February. Retrieved from
http://www.inc.com/resources/startup/articles/20050201/missionstatement.html
Hanley, M. (2013). Top ten signs that the wireless market is competitive. The Digital Policy Institute. 5 April. Retrieved from
http://digitalpolicyinstitute.org/top-ten-wireless-market/
Heffernan, M. (2010). Do you really need a business strategy? CBS Moneywatch. 12 October. Retrieved from
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-44340641/do-you-really-need-a-business-strategy/
Taub, E. (2013). Roam the world and keep the cellphone on a budget. The New York Times. 29 May. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/technology/personaltech/packages-lower-cost-of-travel-with-a-cellphone.html/
