Verizon
Verizon has an Entrepreneurial Culture as its foundation. Ivan Seidenberg started out as a cable splicer in New York climbing telephone poles before he climbed up to his position as Chairman and CEO. Now he wants to retire and leave a legacy that will keep Verizon thriving in the years to come. In order to do that he needs to leave a legacy for his successor to follow. Therefore, he needs to unite the company with a strong corporate culture. This must extend across all departments including their acquisitions. Entrepreneurs know their best was good for today; then promise tomorrow we will do better. Verizon has done well. Over last few years, they used innovative entrepreneurial practices to grow steadily, yet remain nimble enough to seize many opportunities and acquire other companies. Without a sound corporate culture, this could be their downfall. With each acquisition they obtain more than physical and intellectual property, they get the people who created it, and their culture. They need to use the best ideas from their acquisitions and their people. This is not as easy as it might sound. On the other side of the equation from the entrepreneurial culture is the traditionally staid landline division and its culture. For the company to carry forward each department cannot have its own set of values. For continued success, the company needs one inclusive corporate norm established.
This can no longer be a just a risk taking nimble entrepreneurial spirit. They saw this when they missed their opportunity and AT&T got the Apple phone introduction. That market opened up in 2011, but that is not a misstate they want to make again. That means they have to rethink their strategy to make sure other key players such as Microsoft and Google take them seriously.
The Verizon entrepreneurial culture along with their substance establishes their norm. They need to make sure each employee they have now understands this. They cannot afford to assume, they must codify their culture and educate their staff about it as well. This needs to be done with respect. If they do not welcome feedback, Verizon will end up getting pushback instead. Once they are sure the culture is clearly codified, understood and accepted in their core operations; they need to establish a dialog with distant divisions and acquisitions. This should set the norm and assure that each employee understands it. The other businesses they assimilated and the areas they developed cannot just coexist with the Verizon corporate vision they must enthusiastically embrace it and integrate with the corporate culture.
They have a solid vision with their solid dedication to their customer and risk taking spirit that inspired them to lay thousands of miles of cable to compete better for a wider range of customers and business partners. Analyzing this, it becomes apparent that to continue to improve their culture and fulfill goals they must keep open minds about how they assimilate their business acquisitions’ cultures. Even though Verizon is large enough to absorb another company, does not mean their business thought is incorrect or their culture invalid. Some of it exists for good cause and deep discussions should take place among all the stakeholders so that they not only share common business goals, but also approach them with a common vision. With that, Verizon should be able to continue with a maturing, but consistent corporate culture far into the future.
Works Cited
Kanter, Moss Rosabeth and Matthew Bird. "Transforming Verizon: A Platorm for Change." Harvard Business School (2013): 1 - 20.
