Jorge Cardenas, R ick Farmer, Les l ie Menard, and Les l ie Morgan

OLCU 613 Seminar in Organizat ional DynamicsFebruary 24, 2011

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS:

VERIZON AND AT&T

Based in New YorkWireline, wireless communicationsBroadband InternetFiber-optic communications, information and

entertainmentFormed in 2000 from a merger

Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp.

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

Based in Dallas, TexasFormed in 1997 from four other entitiesAdded BellSouth, Cingular Wireless, YP.com, and AT&T

Corp.Mobile broadband and broadband Internet IP-based television and communicationsWi-Fi and wireless communications

AT&T, INC.

Assessed against four areas: Employee Motivation Internal and External Communication Power Bases and Power Structures Organizational Culture

Organizations similar in structureOrganizations diff er in products and culture

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Interview – employee felt valued

Tiered compensation structure

Leadership training and employee development

Interview – employee did not feel valued

Tiered sales but competitive environment

Luke Wilson motivational speech

MOTIVATION

Formal Memos, meetings, press

releases, etc.Informal

Blogs, email, text messaging, social media

Thinkfinity Extensive website

offering database resources and teaching aids for K-12.

Formal Memos, meetings, press

releases, etc.Informal

Blogs, email, text messaging, social media

Aspire Contribution to

preventing high school dropouts

COMMUNICATION

Reward LEAD program

Referent Shifting leadership

Legitimate and Expert Flat organizational

structureCoercive

Unknown

Reward Varied benefit packages

Referent Frequent leadership

changesLegitimate and Expert

Flat organizational structure

Coercive Unknown

POWER BASES

Respect Diversity Inclusion

Individual rewardsOrganization sees

“crisis and change as opportunity, not threat”

Teamwork with an emphasis on sales

Morale issuesTiered recognition

de-emphasizes individual effort

CULTURE

Verizon: Individual recognition Training and leadership skills Communications carry value and meaning Rework executive compensation structures

AT&T Increase individual rewards Place higher value on human capital

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

AT&T. (2011). AT&T: Rethink possible. Retr ieved February 15, 2011, from AT&T Company Informat ion: http: / /www.att .com/gen/ investory-relat ions?pid=5711

AT&T. (2009). Execut ive Summary: 2009 Cit izenship and Sustainabi l i ty Report . Retr ieved February 15, 2011, from AT&T: http: / /www.att .com/gen/corporate-c it izenship?pid=18039

AT&T, Inc. (2011, January). AT&T Code of Business Conduct . Retr ieved February 2011, from AT&T: http: / /www.att .com/Common/about_us/downloads/att_code_of_business_conduct.pdf

Bischoff , G. (2003). Frustrated union attacks Ver izon in the pocketbook. Telephony , 244 (15), 12 - 13.

Employee, A. (2011, February 4). (R. Farmer, Interv iewer) Bur l ington, Washington.Employee, V. (2011, February 5). (R. Farmer, Interv iewer) Bur l ington, Washington.Gunther, M. (2003). A big win for the l i t t le guys. Fortune , 147 (12), 21-22.Hel ler , R. (2008, Ju ly 8). Employment pol icy: choosing and implement ing the r ight

employment pol icy is a v ita l ingredient to the success of a business. Retr ieved February 18, 2011, from Thinking Managers: http: / /www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/emp

Hutson, B. (2010, September). Learning how to LEAD: Ver izon helps new employees develop their management potent ia l . Black Enterpr ise, 41 (2) , p. 61. Retr ieved February 18, 2011, from Academic OneFi le v ia GaleGroup.

REFERENCES

Mick, J . (2009, December 23). Amid low employee morale, AT&T turns to inspirat ional speech from Luke Wilson . Retr ieved February 17, 2011, from Dai ly Tech: http: / /www.dai lytech.com/Amid+Low+Employee+Morale+ATT+Turns+to+Inspirat ional+Speech+From+Luke+Wilson/art ic le17211.htm

Morgenson, G. (2007, June 17). Hear ye, hear ye: corral l ing execut ive pay. The New York Times . New York.

Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizat ional Behavior (14th ed.) . Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prent ice Hal l .

Shields, M. (2010). Verizon's strategy: s imple, boring, eff ect ive. MediaWeek , 20 (23), 26-27. Retr ieved February 14, 2011, from EBSCO host database.

Verizon Communicat ions. (2009, October 5) . Verizon announces restructur ing focused on growth accelerat ion and product iv ity enhancement. Retr ieved February 14, 2011, from Verizon: http: / /newscenter.ver izon.com/press-releases/ver izon/2009/ver izon-announces.html

Verizon Communicat ions, Inc. (2010). Code of Conduct. Retr ieved February 20, 2011, from Verizon Communicat ions, Inc. : https: / /www22.verizon.com/about/careers/pdfs/CodeOfConduct.pdf

Verizon Communicat ions, Inc. (2011). Corporate Responsibi l i ty - Workplace . Retr ieved February 15, 2011, from Verizon Communicat ions, Inc. : http: / /responsibi l i ty.ver izon.com/home/results/workplace/

REFERENCES