ArticlesBase.com - Free Articles Directory
Free Online Articles Directory
21.08.2008 Sign In Register Hello Guest
Email:
Password:
Remember Me 
forgot your password?


Organizational Clarity--As Clear as a Bell

Author: Donald Mitchell Author Ranking Gold | Posted: 28-02-2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 7 | Rating:  (52) Article Popularity - Blue (?) Got a Question? Ask.
Sign Up Now!

What happens when you face an overwhelming irresistible force? You need a direction that's as clear as a bell to deal with all aspects of the irresistible force.

AT&T shows us both how and not how to do this. Until the court-ordered breakup of AT&T that separated the long distance service from the local Bell operating companies, the Bell System provided telephone service that was the envy of the world.

By contrast, in many other countries the telephone systems became government monopolies that provided less than desirable service at high costs. Even in this new century, telephone calls are difficult to make and receive in parts of many countries.

More and more governments began selling off these monopolies to the public in the 1990s as a way to help spur improvements in costs and service. Many people (especially in the northeastern part of the U.S.) will tell you that their local telephone service has deteriorated in service, while prices have soared since the divestiture of the so-called Baby Bells.

This tendency for governments to turn telephone businesses into government-owned and -operated monopolies was an irresistible force that AT&T had to deal with throughout most of the twentieth century. Early in its life as a company, AT&T realized that its ability to avoid being taken over as a government monopoly depended on having happy customers. Also, as a regulated monopoly, pricing would be dependent on having a lot of assets to serve customers, because pricing was based on a determined level of return on the assets employed by the business.

This circumstance meant that the business would have higher profits and be larger if the company had lots of happy customers, as well. AT&T invested rapidly in new technology, developing redundancies to improve reliable service, and in new equipment. Service was provided on the basis of "the customer is always right," which is especially true when every dissatisfied customer could complain to her or his member of Congress and demand that the monopoly be broken up.

The Bell System got the message about what needed to be done to maintain itself relative to the irresistible force of the governmental desire to operate many monopolies for itself, like the postal service.

What the company failed to do was to guard against another strong irresistible force, the government's desire to break up privately-owned monopolies when competition is likely to bring lower prices. It was that failure that led to the break-up of the company after many decades of unparalleled growth and success.

Does your organization understand what must be done to coexist and prosper with all of your irresistible forces?

Rate this Article: Current: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s).

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/organizational-clarityas-clear-as-a-bell-344735.html

Print this Article Print article   Email to a Friend Send to friend   Publish this Article on your Website Publish this Article   Send Author Feedback Author feedback  
About the Author:

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through 2,000 percent solutions and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at http://www.2000percentsolution.com .

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Comment on this article Comment on this article
Your Name
Your Email:
Comment Body
Enter Validation Code: Captcha


Related Articles

Get More Value from Your Values . . . By Walking Good Talk
By: Donald Mitchell | 26/02/2008 | Management
It's one thing to proclaim your values. It's far more valuable to follow those values.

The Well-Aligned Enterprise Using the Right Operating Principle Goes Further
By: Donald Mitchell | 28/02/2008 | Management
When an organization can encapsulate a key principle in a way that everyone can understand and act on, that principle will guide everyone to accomplish more of the right things.

Have the Right Organizational Goals in Mind to Be More Successful
By: Donald Mitchell | 26/02/2008 | Management
Many leaders and managers make mistakes by seeking the wrong benefits. That error can undermine any improvement an organization might pursue.

Admit You Are Wrong, or Make Your Situation and Eventual Embarrassment Worse
By: Donald Mitchell | 17/03/2008 | Management
Hiding mistakes to avoid embarrassment often requires making worse mistakes, mistakes that create even worse problems and embarrassment.

Form Alliances with Matchmakers to Gain Even More Profitable Alliances
By: Donald Mitchell | 11/03/2008 | Management
Your choices of allies and partners determine the ease by which you will add other allies and partners. These choices will either open doors to profitable opportunities or close those doors.

How to Put It All Together in Gaining Advantages from Irresistible Forces
By: Donald Mitchell | 28/02/2008 | Management
Think about irresistible forces before they change direction to check out how well you are ready for shuch shifts.

Are You Ready to Adapt to Irresistible Forces?
By: Donald Mitchell | 29/02/2008 | Management
It's not enough to know about irresistible forces; you need to be prepared to adapt to them.

To Prepare for Future Challenges, Throw Away Your Hockey Stick Forecasts
By: Donald Mitchell | 29/02/2008 | Management
A common assumption about the future is that circumstances will be difficult for a while, but then a era of easy success will follow. Wrong!

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Q&A Powered by:
Powered by Yedda 

Latest Management Articles

The Quickest Way to Generate Targeted Traffic Through Affiliate Marketing
By: Ravii Kumarr | 21/08/2008
The quickest way to generate targeted traffic and start earning commissions with an affiliate marketing business is to use Google adwords. One doesn't even need a website of their own to make money online using adwords. Traffic can be sent directly to an affiliate link.

The Audit's Results and Report - the True Story, According to the Iso 9001 Standard Requirements
By: Itay Abuhav | 21/08/2008
The internal audit chapter is included under chapter 8.2 - Monitoring and measurement (it's been said before on our web site already). When performing an audit you are monitoring processes. You sample a process and validate that it is done according to prior requirements. Once you stumble upon nonconformity, a process that was performed not according to a requirement, you must mention it in the audit report. But this is not the end of your story.

Internal Audit - the Iso 9001 Standard Requirements for Internal Audits and the Audits Program
By: Itay Abuhav | 21/08/2008
Internal Audit. "What a headache" - that's surely what every employee think to himself when they receives the massage of an internal audit approaching. There is a reason why. They know that someone is coming to poke their deeds...

How Scheduled Overtime Can be Better Managed
By: SteveHyans | 21/08/2008
HourDoc offers superior solutions for scheduled overtime. HourDoc’s scheduled overtime solution takes into account PTO, electronic timesheets and other valuable time and attendance hardware features. Many clients using the HourDoc scheduled overtime solution comment that better managing scheduled overtime helps them save time and money.

Why Managing Scheduled Overtime is Critical
By: SteveHyans | 21/08/2008
HourDoc offers a superior scheduled overtime solution. HourDoc’s scheduled overtime solution takes into account PTO, OT, electronic timesheets and other valuable scheduled overtime features. Many clients using the HourDoc scheduled overtime solution comment that these options help them solve scheduled overtime issues.

Top Ten Success Factors Of Lean Six Sigma - Identifying Success Factors Critical To Deployment, And Evaluating Which Tools Have The Most Impact On Pro
By: Jonathan Aston | 21/08/2008
Identifying success factors critical to deployment, and evaluating which tools have the most impact on projects New research has identified the success factors critical to the success of a lean six sigma deployment, and the ones that make a difference etween partial and complete success. The research also examined tool use in...

How to Have More Fun Running Your Painting Business
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
Everything comes with instructions, why not a painting company? Call it automating your business, any time you can automate a procedure you free up your time. An automated business can run without a manager, you. Can your company run for any length of time without you? Can you take a vacation?

Secrets of Marketing Your Painting Business
By: Patrick E Cavanaugh | 20/08/2008
Where do the jobs come from? How do we get new customers? How do we expand into a new area. How do we market? Do we just throw dollars at everything that is screaming to us, "buy from me, I will send you all the customers you want. Do we take one big burst of advertising to everyone?

More from Donald Mitchell

When One Career Door Closes, Another Career Door Opens
By: Donald Mitchell | 07/08/2008 | Careers
This career-building article looks at how more learning expands personal development, allows people with little business background to gain senior positions, and permits entrepreneurial choices at almost any age.

Set and Achieve High Goals: Launch Your Career onto a Higher Trajectory by Going Beyond an MBA
By: Donald Mitchell | 05/08/2008 | Self Improvement
This article describes the importance of setting the right career goals.

Assume the New Cost-Cutting Ideas Will Hurt Customers and Raise Costs
By: Donald Mitchell | 01/08/2008 | Management
Business leaders need to be more skeptical of cost-reduction ideas . . . before testing them out.

If You Need to Get Something Done on Time, Ask a Busy Person to Help You
By: Donald Mitchell | 31/07/2008 | Self Improvement
This article explains the six keys to success for accomplishing a great deal more than others do.

Put Your Business Career into the Passing Lane with an Online MBA Degree
By: Donald Mitchell | 16/07/2008 | Management
You know you can do that top job, but no one will consider you for it. This article explains how an online MBA degree can help your business career.

What If You Knew You Could Only Succeed?
By: Donald Mitchell | 01/07/2008 | Careers
You can accomplish more than you think you can by working on gaining more confidence, knowledge, and experience.

Take a Close Look: Then Work to Change Wrong Views and Actions
By: Donald Mitchell | 27/06/2008 | Careers
You can change the world. A good place to begin is by questioning the "official" views and getting your hands dirty to determine what the real causes of problems are.

Tough Love Helps a Financial Executive Meet His Career Goals
By: Donald Mitchell | 27/06/2008 | Careers
Many organizations don't offer mentoring bosses. When that's the case, you may want to rely on taking courses from professors who have been senior executives in major companies to get the mentoring you need for a fast-track career.

Article Categories






Give Feedback

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below