AT & T

AT&T is one of the world’s largest, most advanced and powerful, global communication companies that carry on an average business day, some 67.0 petabytes of data traffic supporting its customers on nearly every continent and country. As a global communication organization,

their products provide seamless communication for millions of customers enabling them to travel with the best worldwide wireless coverage, offering the most phones that work in the most countries, with voice coverage in more than 225 countries, data roaming in more than 210 countries, and 3G services in more than 170 countries.

AT&T is always looking to produce and source new innovative products with leading edge technology to keep their customers satisfied. Already

managing the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network that includes more than 34,000 hot spots at popular restaurants, hotels, bookstores, and retailers, they also provide access to nearly 1 million hot spot globally through roaming agreements. Quality is deeply rooted in the culture at AT&T. They give their representatives the tools they need to be successful at customer service so when you encounter a problem, they will promise to provide personal, smart, fast, and friendly service. The tools they use in their indoctrination and training program guarantees an unsurpassed customer service experience.
As a part of operating a business, there are things besides the day-to-day operations that the leader and his/her senior leadership team are concerned about, specifically the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

AT&T, being the global conglomerate that they are, host a series of meetings throughout the year to look at these factors. Before proceeding any further, my experience using a SWOT analysis has identified some of the same problems in each area, specifically; a weakness can also be identified as an opportunity or a threat. Looking at some of their strengths, we already know that their list will include workplace diversity, culture awareness, social awareness, values, attitudes, beliefs, traditions, recognition, and empowerment. Other strengths might include brand name, hot spot superiority, Wi-Fi services, 3G service, and area of coverage. The list is probably much longer than what we have identified in this writing but it is my contention that the leader is fully aware of these additional

attributes.
When you ask an unsatisfied customer, they are not hesitant in identifying the weaknesses of a product or their service provider. Some weaknesses might include customers not getting good reception, the wait time to speak with a customer service representative is far too long, internet service is not responding or it is constantly disconnecting. An on-line student attending school cannot successfully accomplish their work assignments with constant internet problems. A leader not valuing the diversity of his/her workforce, not empowering followers, and not being an active listener are all potential weaknesses a leader might encounter. Some weaknesses might be the result of a lack of training for employees.
Remembering an old parable, opportunity is always knocking – will you answer. In organizations, there are plenty of opportunities for improving our product, services, and our people. As technology continues to evolve, organizations must work tirelessly to stay abreast, ahead, and competitive. Not only do we improve our product, we invent new products to replace the old. The market is always looking forward to the next robust invention that better meets their needs, both professionally and personally. There are some diehard customers that only want to purchase AT&T cellular phones, computers, printers, and accessories because it works for them and meets their needs. AT&T has the opportunity to gain a larger market share by inventing a more robust product that makes customers go WOW. They have the opportunity to improve their customer service by not having their customers wait for extended periods on a service representative. This opportunity is also a recommendation that AT&T partner with another communications carrier to help boost their wireless coverage in areas where service is poor. Finally, they can find a solution for the internet service issues customers experience.
Threats are eminent to businesses and they are plentiful.

Whether it is caused by external or internal means, the leadership at AT&T must realize that their entire network is vulnerable to cyber-attacks, hostile take-overs, service disruptions due to national tragedies, patent infringements, sabotage, and potentially a host of other threats. In today’s global economies, hackers are intentionally and deliriously attempting to break through firewalls and obtain sensitive and confidential information from organizations. Hackers around the globe, subsidized or not, are attempting to cause disruption, panic, and destruction in the operation of businesses, especially businesses as large as AT&T. There are companies that steal patent information, making phony copyrighted products. There are also potential threats where the leadership failed to create contingency plans for dealing with tragedies and succession plans. However, in my research, none of these issues was identified in my

analysis.
AT&T’s focus on quality is kindred to that found in our text. The leadership is poised for continuous improvement in their employees, processes, and products. Quality is a cause and deliberate act so things like productivity, market share, longevity, business expansion, value, and return on investment can be measured so everyone will know where they stand. This company is extremely concerned about the quality of their product and services. As stated earlier in this writing, representatives are trained so they can make a promise to provide personal, smart, fast, and friendly service, and this is quality at its best. In my research, we have unsuccessfully identified elements lacking in their quality culture. Because AT&T is a global company, the company has done a phenomenal job in nurturing and instilling the importance of quality in their products, services, and culture.
AT&T has a great number of customers, both external and internal. A customer can be identified as someone who buys and sells goods or services with or for a company. A sales representative is a customer, a person who buys the company products and uses their services is a customer, and employees of the company can be a customer. A delivery driver is a customer and so are some visitors, especially those wanting to know about the product and services. Based on the needs of some customers, more specifically those noted earlier in this writing, AT&T should look at using the equipment or towers of other communication carriers to improve the service they provide to the cell phone customers. One of the main things this organization can do is to continue their strong company indoctrination and training program so they can continue to provide