Strategic Plan
MGMT 303A
Prof. Chandler
Date Due: September 30, 2002
Student Names:
Scott Ayers
Bruce Bilodeau
Stacey Bilodeau
Gonsalo Nava
Executive Summary
Adelphia Communications provides cable entertainment, Internet services, long distance services, paging services and home security for over 9,000,000 homes as of December 31, 2000, and serves 5.7 million basic cable subscribers. Adelphia operates their telecommunications services primarily over networks using broadband, giving them the ability to broadcast voice, video and data in either analog or digital format. Adelphia also provides digital commercial insertion services for national, regional and local advertisers.
Adelphia currently operates cable systems in 32 states and Puerto Rico. Within the United States, systems are organized into six clusters: Los Angeles, PONY (Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York), New England, Florida, Virginia and Colorado. These systems are located primarily in suburban areas of large medium-sized cities within the 50 largest television markets.
Adelphia
is reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The infusion of $1.5
billion debtor in possession (DIP) funding allows us to operate smoothly and
provide quality cable services and advanced services throughout the
reorganization process. In addition, the funding will allow for us to direct
new vision and set new goals for renewed successes. These goals include:
transitioning to empowered teams, increasing customer satisfaction, increasing
employee satisfaction and increasing market share. In order to reach these
goals, we need to do, among other things; acquire necessary resources and
conduct skill surveys; enhance reception quality and provide better customer
support; implement flex-time scheduling and flexible spending accounts; provide
tailored packages and initiate aggressive marketing strategies (adelphia.com).
Authorization and Approval of the Strategic Plan
The members of the Board and Adelphia’s Senior Communications Officers hereby authorize and approve of the contents of this strategic plan.
Board
Members:
________________________________ _______________
Erland E. Kailbourne Date
Chairman and Interim CEO;
Retired Chairman and CEO of Fleet Bank's New York Region
________________________________ _______________
Dennis P. Coyle Date
General Counsel and Secretary,
FPL Group, Inc., and Florida Power & Light Company
________________________________ _______________
Pete J. Metros Date
Managing Director of Mannesmann Dematic Systems
________________________________ _______________
Leslie J. Gelber Date
President and COO of Caithness Corporation
________________________________ _______________
Anthony T. Kronman Date
Yale Law School Dean and Legal Ethics Expert
________________________________ _______________
Rod Cornelius Date
Former Vice Chairman of Cablevision Industries
Senior Communications
Officers:
________________________________ _______________
Christopher T. Dunstan Date
Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
________________________________ _______________
Steven B. Teuscher Date
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
(adelphia.com)
Organizational Description
The roots of
Adelphia were planted in 1952, when John Rigas borrowed money from family and
friends to buy a small movie theater in Coudersport, Pa., not far from his
hometown of Wellsville, N.Y. To cover expenses and repay his debts, he kept his
day job and spent evenings at the box office selling tickets and popcorn and
running the projector. An RKO film salesman urged him to take advantage of a
local cable franchise that was for sale. After months of prodding, John
reluctantly bought his first cable franchise for $300, a fairly steep price for
admission into an industry that did not yet exist.
Along with his brother Gus, John spent the
next two decades slowly building their "community antenna
association" into a respected cable operation. They began to go
door-to-door, convincing neighbors to take down their TV antennas in exchange
for more channels on cable. In some cases, they bought the neighbor’s antenna
and removed it from the roof as an incentive.
By establishing trust with other cable pioneers, borrowing funds and buying small suburban cable firms instead of city franchises, the Rigases turned Adelphia into an industry giant. In 1972, the company was incorporated under the name "Adelphia," derived from the Greek word for "brothers".
Since then, technological innovation has been the cornerstone of customer satisfaction and competitive success. Adelphia entered the telecommunications market long before affiliations between cable and telephone companies were commonplace. In the early ‘90s, the company began building fiber optic networks to deliver communications solutions to the business community. Over the past decade, Adelphia has made significant strides in product development and the implementation of fiber optic technology.
Today, Adelphia is the sixth-largest cable
television company in the country, serving more than 5.5 million customers in
3,500 communities in 32 states and Puerto Rico. Adelphia currently offers the
following home and business services:
·
Digital Cable
Entertainment
·
Broadband and
Narrowband Internet Services
·
Long Distance
Telephone Service
·
Paging Services
·
Home Security
(adelphia.com)
MISSION
Adelphia Communications provides and sells cable services to consumers, nation-wide, along with digital television, high-speed Internet access, long distance telephone service, and paging services. We also provide digital commercial insertion services for national, regional and local advertisers.
VISION
We are the leader in the deployment of broadband, long distance and paging services to residents and businesses nationwide. By providing high quality, low cost, and reliable service we exceed the customers’ expectations.
VALUES
We embody diversity, teamwork, respect, integrity, communication, and we give the same opportunity to all individuals without discrimination. We welcome change and view it as an opportunity to grow as a leader in the telecommunications industry.
STRATEGIC GOALS AND INITIATIVES
IMPLEMENT EMPOWERED TEAMS:
Stacey Bilodeau
1. Provide adequate resources
2. Survey employees skills and potential interests.
3. Establish Team Leaders
4. Entrusting employees with responsibilities
5. Provide adequate training
INCREASE OVERALL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: Scott Ayers
1. Enhance reception quality.
2. Initiate simplified billing practices.
3. Increase the number of channel/program offerings.
4. Initiate around-the-clock online real-time customer support.
5. Replace/upgrade outdated equipment
INCREASE EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION:
Gonsalo Nava
1. Initiate Flexible Spending Accounts
2. Develop non-reward system of recognition
3. Offer subsidized educational allowances
4. Implement initial base pay rate slightly above the regional median.
5. Implement flex-time scheduling.
INCREASE MARKET SHARE: Bruce
Bilodeau
1. Initiate an aggressive marketing strategy.
2. Package broadband services.
3. Investigate early implementation of new technologies.
4. Package services to increase customer affordability.
5. Investigate potential new location(s) for introduction of services.
STRATEGIC GOAL – IMPLEMENT
EMPOWERED TEAMS
Strategic Overview
As organizations become bigger, more levels of management are added to the chain of command. This leads to higher overhead costs, a decrease in communication between front line officers and top managers and a slower response time in decision making. The purpose of implementing empowered teams is to increase competitive advantage, increase employee satisfaction and remain the leader in the telecommunication sector. In order to achieve this goal resources must be made available, an inventory of current employees must be at hand, team leaders need to be established, employees will be entrusted with responsibilities, and provided with adequate training.
Specific
Strategies/Initiatives:
Initiative #1: Provide adequate resources
In order to
implement empowered teams, Adelphia needs to secure adequate resources. This
can be in the form of money but also in the form of support from management
within the organization. The company happens to have already received 15
million dollars following a decision taken by the US Bankruptcy Court on August
19, 2002. This allocation is to be spent on restructuring the organization and
implementing empowered teams.
Adelphia shall therefore use this money to:
a. Hire a competent firm (us), which shall determine the best strategy to implement empowered teams in the organization.
b. Allow sufficient and ongoing training requested by the empowerment process.
c. Support conflict resolution with the upper management. Since empowerment involves a shift in power, conflicts will probably appear, especially in middle management. These need to be addressed and resolved.
d. Compensate the opportunity cost generated by the time lost to implement the restructuring. This process shall indeed lower the company or branch’s productivity for a yet undetermined period of time.
e. We will pilot the process with two of Adelphia’s branch offices. There will be a need for monitoring the development stages of empowered teams throughout a two-year period. During and after the two-year period, Adelphia will have to compare the evolution of the pilot branches with that of unchanged branches, in order to determine the efficiency of the empowerment procedure.
Initiative #2: Survey employees
skills and potential interests
In order to create efficient teams and search for adequate team leaders, each employee will have to fill out a resume and a survey. The survey will include behavior and personality tests in order for us to become familiar with employees traits and persona. On one hand, the surveys will be used to evaluate each employee’s skills, in order to efficiently assign them to a task. And on the other hand, the surveys will give Adelphia a better knowledge of its employees’ interests and professional goals, so that they be assigned to a task that they will be driven to perform. Last but not least, these two documents will help determine the level of reliability and accountability among the employees to later select team leaders.
a. Employees will have to be reassured that the reorganization is aimed at work efficiency and not a reduction of the workforce. In the same way, Adelphia should not conceal that some employees may lose their jobs and new employees might be hired.
b. In accordance to Adelphia’s “Values” statement, all relevant employees will be asked to fill out the resume form and the survey as to not create any discrimination.
c. The survey will remain strictly confidential so that the employees feel comfortable and therefore give honest answers when filling out the forms. This is another reason why an outside firm should conduct the survey. This will alleviate any possible pre-existing conflict among employees and management.
d. To verify that all employees have completed a survey and submitted a resume, we will create a list of employees who received the documents and check people’s names off as they give their resumes and surveys back. This cross-reference will allow us to confirm that all employees have been accounted for before starting the analysis.
Initiative
#3: Establish Team Leaders
Once the surveys have been conducted, team leaders will have to be established. This process will not only be based on the results of the surveys and the content of the resumes, but also by taking the existing inter-employees dynamics in to account. For instance, if two employees were known to dislike each other to a point where working together would be a problem, it would not be a good idea to assign them to the same team. Included in the survey will be behavior and personality tests so that we can see where employees are leaning towards in regards to team leaders. In order to form team leaders, the following factors need to be analyzed:
a. From the surveys and resumes, we shall determine the employees’ level of reliability and accountability, as these two qualities are necessary to being a good leader.
b. The potential leader shall show management skills, which include the ability to earn people’s respect, being a team player, possessing strong communication skills, and conflict resolution skills. A good leader will also encourage new ideas and support those who have them. He/ she will also be able to delegate others the accomplishment of specific tasks to others.
c. The team leader will also have a full understanding and respect of Adelphia’s mission, vision and values, in order to uphold the company’s brand, culture, and philosophy.
d. In order to maintain the effectiveness of team leaders, educational sessions will be provided monthly. In these sessions, we will evaluate and monitor how performance and overall employee satisfaction are being achieved.
Initiative #4: Entrusting employees with responsibilities
Once teams and leaders are defined, and before making any official announcement, responsibilities/tasks shall be assigned to each employee and leader. This will be accomplished by the following:
a. Preparing and distributing a detailed job description to each newly assigned employee.
b. Each team leader will meet with his/ her team and go through their strategy and role in the company, respecting Adelphia’s mission, vision and values.
c. Once the announcement of the new structure has been made within the organization, employees will be encouraged to contribute to more than what their tasks calls for, as long as it is under the supervision of their team leader. This will increases the employee’s responsibility level.
d. Clearly stating that middle management shall follow the rules of empowerment. Meaning that middle managers shall not address the teams directly, but rather go through the team leader. In the event middle managers and team leaders do not agree, either the team leader or middle manager shall go see his/her superior. It is very important that the employee’s perception of the relationship between their leader and the management be excellent. This will prevent confusion and maintain the team’s cohesion.
e. We will encourage feedback from team leaders to the employees and vice-versa to create a high-quality work environment.
f. In order to maintain the effectiveness of the teams, educational sessions for the employees and team leaders will be provided from a third party. This will allow us to make corrections to the implementation of empowerment through out its course. It will also keep an open communication between employees and team leaders promoting a healthy work environment. .
Initiative #5: Provide adequate training
The restructuring of the organization will take time to implement. Therefore, it will take some time before the empowered teams become really effective. We believe that providing the necessary education and training sessions to employees and team leaders will guarantee its success. It will also be necessary to cross train employees in order to stimulate interests in other areas and to eventually increase work efficiency. These steps will be taken to ensure adequate training is given:
a. We will support training at the work place and/or night classes for people to learn new skills or become better at their own, leading eventually to increased responsibilities.
b. We will provide adequate training for the initial transition from the current structure so that all employees know the values and goals of implementing empowered teams.
c. We will provide on going training through the long term of implementing empowered teams. This will guarantee and reinforce the new structure to both team leaders and employees as a successful tool for competitive advantage.
d. We will encourage cross training between teams in order to keep employees’ interest and motivation high, by giving them the opportunity to learn something new. In the long run, this will reinforce Adelphia’s efficiency in the work force.
We will monitor this by reviewing what new tasks and responsibilities employees have gained through the process. We will also look at the efficiency of the work performed by the empowered teams and compare it to other branches that do not have empowered teams. We will look at the education sessions to see if indeed they are providing the adequate training needed for empowerment.
STRATEGIC GOAL - INCREASE
OVERALL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Strategic Overview
At Adelphia, we appreciate and understand that success, now, and in the future, hinges on our ability to deliver products of the highest quality, and to build trust and satisfaction with each customer. Each contact with the customer base is an opportunity to solidify that trust and satisfaction. Although we have strong customer support in place, we need to be better.
Customers demand choices, both in their interaction with us and in their service levels and program offerings. Achievement of this goal requires changes in our reception quality, billing procedures, content, customer service, and equipment.
Specific Strategies:
Initiative #1: Enhance reception quality.
The predominant complaint from customers is directly related to poor reception quality. In order to overcome this deficiency, we need to do the following:
- We will review all recorded complaints of poor reception quality to determine where specific areas of concentration exist, and target these areas of concentration first, expanding outward to the residential area. Concentrated areas of bad reception indicate possible problems with feeder lines.
- We will initiate customer reminders to verify all their interior cabling is connected tightly and in good material condition, as this is the most common problem in poor reception quality. Customers that discover material discrepancies in the cabling will be directed to report this condition to their local office.
- We will verify the tuning adjustments and calibration on all our transmitting equipment to ensure transmissions are the strong and provide a clean and clear signal.
- Control Plan. We will establish a monitoring center in each region to track the progress of these initiatives and periodically institute customer satisfaction surveys specifically based on issues of reception quality.
Initiative #2: Initiate simplified billing practices.
Customers
have expressed frustration in receiving convoluted bills and separate billing
for services we offer. In order to overcome this obstacle, we need to do the
following:
a. We will research the feasibility of obtaining software solutions that facilitate simplified billing to replace our current billing software, or whether to contract with an outside source to handle billing issues. (micro-workflow.com)
b. We will provide the ability for our customers to view all their bills online in a standard format.
c. We will provide the ability for our customers to pay all their service bills online through recurring EFT payments (eftsource.com).
d. Control Plan. We will establish a monitoring center in each region to track the progress of these initiatives and periodically institute customer satisfaction surveys specifically based on issues of billing.
Initiative #3: Increase the number of channel/program offerings.
In order to maintain our solid customer base, we have to be able to provide the customer with a wider selection and variety of channels. In order to meet this challenge, we need to do the following:
a. We will initiate a customer survey to determine which channels are least frequently viewed and consider removing them from the channel lineup to make room for new channels.
b. We will actively monitor the inception of new networks and determine if their content is suited to the current viewing trends of the aggregate customer base.
c. We will offer each new contracted premium channel free for one weekend after addition to the channel lineups to allow customers the ability to preview them.
d. Control Plan. We will establish a monitoring center in each region to track the progress of these initiatives and periodically institute customer satisfaction surveys specifically based on channel lineups.
Initiative #4:
Initiate around-the-clock online real-time customer support.
To better meet overall customer needs regarding customer assistance, we need to maintain a real-time Internet presence in conjunction with our telephone support. In order to make this possible, we need to do the following:
a. We will provide our customer support personnel the necessary hardware and/or software required to sustain real-time online support.
b. We will provide our customer support personnel adequate training to handle the implementation of real-time online support.
c. We will heavily promote the implementation of around-the-clock real-time online support (onlinesupport.com).
d. Control Plan. We will establish a monitoring center in each region to track the progress of these initiatives and periodically institute customer satisfaction surveys specifically based on support satisfaction.
Initiative #5:
Replace/upgrade outdated equipment.
Regardless of how well equipment is taken care of technology eventually exceeds the capabilities of the equipment. In order to facilitate the replacement/upgrade of existing equipment, we need to do the following:
a. We will conduct a comprehensive audit of all equipment to accurately represent current assets and their locations.
b. We will review current and past preventative maintenance schedules to determine if different measures of maintenance need to be administered and review corrective maintenance frequencies (spear.navy.mil).
c. We will replace all defective equipment that cannot effectively be upgraded to meet current technological standards and system requirements.
d. Control Plan. We will establish a maintenance-monitoring center in each market to track routine maintenance schedules of local equipment, local schedules and progress of replacement/upgrades, and the frequency of corrective maintenance actions required.
STRATEGIC GOAL - INCREASE
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
Strategic Overview
Benefits such as health, daycare, tuition reimbursement are, to many employees a priority that their employer must offer. Unfortunately some of these benefits can be relatively expensive to the employee and must be paid by a set due date. This adds on too many other deductions that an employee is accountable for such as federal and state tax. These deductions can lead to a less than desirable pay for some employees.
Specific Strategies/Initiatives:
Initiative #1: Initiate Flexible Spending
Accounts.
Under Section 125 of the IRS code, an employee is allowed to pay for his/her group health premiums, other qualified insurance premiums, non-reimbursed medical costs, child and dependent care costs and more with tax-free dollars. This will be possible for our employees by doing the following:
a. We will incorporate Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), also known as Cafeteria Plans, or Choice Spending Accounts. It will provide employees with a convenient way to pay for certain expenses with before-tax income: saving them FICA, federal, and sometimes state tax. The employer also saves on FICA and workers compensation taxes.
b. We will answer any questions regarding this program and provide all the necessary sign up information.
Initiative #2: Develop non-reward system of recognition.
In the process of internally restructuring the Adelphia Corporation, we will develop a Non-Reward System of Recognition for the employees. This will be accomplished by looking more closely at the needs of the employees, not just their financial compensation.
In order to accomplish this, we will need to integrate five strategies into the corporation’s culture. These strategies motivate, reward and retain valuable employees, who take care of customers. They focus on intrinsic rewards (those behaviors that arise from within because they are basic human needs). They come from doing the work and seeing the accomplishment, and are not tied directly to compensation. Intrinsic rewards make us come to work, do our job and leave feeling satisfied, only to look forward to repeating it the next day. These strategies may be supported by extrinsic rewards such as pay raise, benefits, bonuses and perks but these rewards should be secondary (Buckman). Concentrating on the following five important motivation and retention strategies will bring the employee satisfaction:
a. Commitment: We will commit to our employees and they to us, and by both being committed customers are given excellent service and products. This makes a company able to be competitive through a constantly changing market. The company’s commitment to employees’ needs engenders the same genuine commitment from the employee to the company, its product and its customer. Committed executives and employees work better, smarter, more efficiently, and happily. In such companies, turnover and absenteeism are lower than the norm and creative products are created (Buckman).
b. Recognition and Respect: We will recognize employees with a simple compliment of a job well done and/or by making an employee’s idea, that makes a product better, known to others. We will give all employees respect by making them feel trusted, believed and listened to.
c. Growth: Employees, like top management that run the company, want to grow professionally and personally in their work. We will train and educated employees with special skills needed to be competent in different job positions or to be able to attain higher employment positions. An employee who is developing internally will remain with a company longer, especially in a weak economy or a rapidly changing work environment. Employees who are growing in their work are learning new skills, feeling important and working better and smarter. They feel the commitment, recognition and respect of the company, and will gladly reciprocate with hard work and loyalty (Buckman).
d. Participation and Decision Making: Employees who believe they are involved and responsible contributors in company policy and decision-making, creation and delivery of products and customer service, are the ones that keep the company going. It has been proven that employees that are stakeholders work harder and better for the company. We will give employees responsibilities with decision-making authorities; they will feel a sense of company ownership, committing to their work and company.
e. Teamwork: We will place employees in teams that handle specific areas of the business, which will create spirit, enthusiasm, enjoyment, brain trust, and an environment of competition that will drive people to produce and excel.
Initiative
#3: Offer subsidized educational allowances.
As employees continue to grow with the company they can become interested in furthering their education. Although many people desire to commit themselves to higher learning they are discouraged by the high tuition costs. In order to provide employees with the opportunity to further educate themselves we will provide the following:
a. We will offer Subsidized Educational Allowances, employees will then be able to take advantage of this benefit and pursue their educational goals. In return, the employer will have higher educated employees who can benefit the company depending on the skills or degree that the employee attains through their education.
Initiative #4: Implement initial base pay
rate slightly above the regional median.
Along with
other mentioned internal restructuring initiatives, we will also implement an
initial base pay rate above the regional median. Two reasons for this are: First, to retain those employees who
have been loyal to the company but, due to competitors offering a higher pay
rate and the recent bankruptcy filing by Adelphia, could incline many employees
to resign. Secondly, a higher pay rate
can attract employees from competitor companies who can be valuable assets to
the company. In order for the pay rate
to be higher the following will need to be implemented:
a. We will have to restructure the pay scale starting from top-level executives to low level management; taking into consideration time and performance throughout their employment history.
Initiative #5: Implement Flex-time
scheduling
Due to the high demands of employee's life styles, there are situations when they physically need to be elsewhere but are unable to attend due to their working schedule. This can cause employees to become dissatisfied with their employment. In order to allow employees to meet their demanding life styles we will do the following to accommodate them with time to better schedule their lives:
a. We will implement Flex-Time Schedule; employees will now be allowed to work hours that are not the standard 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM range, while maintaining a high level of service during the companies peak operating hours (typically 10:00 AM to 3:00PM). Because services within each division vary, not every employee in each department will be able to work similar flex-time schedule.
b. Team Leaders will have to carefully examine the flex-time schedule which their employee request, so that they can coordinate work schedules which ensure sufficient employee coverage during peak hours.
c. We will assure that the Flex –Time Schedule will be placed in a central location of the offices or in an accessible intranet network so that all employees stay aware of who is covering each department services. Trust will be a big factor; supervisors must feel confident that employees will not abuse the benefits that come along with a Flex-Time Schedule.
The human
resources office will be in charge of filling all information on employees who
will be participating in the Flex-Account Program and will also keep employees
informed on their personal accounts. Flex-Time and teamwork initiatives will
have to be controlled by team leaders in order for the new initiatives to be
followed appropriately.
STRATEGIC GOAL - INCREASE MARKET SHARE
Strategic Overview
The key to increasing market share is to increase advertisement and to offer the consumer something that the competitors do not. At “Adelphia”, a close relationship between new subscriber and the company will exist, allowing “Adelphia” to modify and change existing package plans and marketing strategies to increase market share. A survey and questionnaire to new and existing subscribers will allow “Adelphia” to accomplish this goal. In order to increase market share, “Adelphia” realizes the importance of increasing its spending on marketing strategies. The introduction of new, more affordable, and customized package plans will undoubtedly increase “Adelphia’s” market share regionally and nationally.
Specific Strategies/Initiatives:
Initiative
#1: Initiate an aggressive marketing strategy.
One of the biggest reasons for a successful business is the proper use of marketing strategies. As seen with Microsoft Corporation, the use of an aggressive and efficient marketing campaign can and will increase market share. Adelphia realizes the importance of marketing and will increase its spending on a new marketing campaign. Research of a new name will eliminate any stigma connecting the Rigas family to Adelphia. We will research the cost and legalities involved in changing the company name and once that has been resolved the marketing campaign will include the following: Please be aware that the name Adelphia, will be viewed in quotations, “Adelphia”, pending the research of a new name.
a. We will film a series of 15 and 30 second commercials and air them in already subscribed areas focusing on the New Adelphia name and services provided.
b. We will initiate radio broadcasts that will also be aired with the intention of marketing the new name and services provided.
c. We will distribute pamphlets/brochures/flyers to every city that Adelphia provides cable and broadband services too. The relatively cheap cost and effectiveness of pamphlets/brochures will undoubtedly increase market share.
d. We realize the growth of the Internet and will have advertisement banners set up on highly hit web pages.
e. We will offer referral incentives to already existing subscribers if and when new subscribers sign up.
f. A survey will be conducted to every new subscriber on how they heard of “Adelphia”, whether it was through radio, television or any of our other advertisement mediums. A continuous relationship will exist between the new subscriber and the company in order to increase customer response. At the end of every month a record of what advertising medium consumers are attracted to the most will be evaluated and changes to the other mediums can be made.
Initiative #2: Package broadband services
Being able to provide affordable Internet service to every household is one way to increase market share. The plan is to offer a lower bandwidth Internet connection at a price that is very competitive to dial-up plans but at higher bandwidth speeds than regular a dial-up modem.
a. We will conduct a benchmark of one of our competitors, COX Cable Company, who is currently implementing a similar plan on the west coast of the United States.
(http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,102203,00.asp)
b. We will conduct a survey in a selected city finding out how many consumers would be interested in the new broadband package.
c. We will implement an aggressive marketing campaign to launch the new package. The campaign will consist of flyers, television, referral incentives, radio broadcasts and other forms of advertisement.
d. A record of how many new customers subscribe to the new plan will be maintained in order to view consumer response. This will enable us to maintain an effective marketing strategy by keeping a record of those advertisements that are effective, and those that are not. With every new subscriber a questionnaire will be filled out, or called in, indicating how they heard of “Adelphia”, what was it that they were attracted to at “Adelphia”
Initiative
#3: Investigate early implementation of new technologies.
As a leader in the telecommunications industry it is important to offer the latest technology available to our customers. This is why “Adelphia” finds it even more important to continue investing in technology that will one day become the standard. We will continue to invest in new technologies that will one day become the standard.
a. We will continue to research new technologies and ideas that will one day become the standard.
b. We will initiate a program within certain universities to promote new research and new technologies to further the development of the telecommunications industry.
Initiative
#4: Package services to increase customer affordability
One of the biggest factors affecting a customer to subscribe to a provider is that of the cost of service. A customized package will be developed that will include fewer but more viewed channels. In order to increase market share, “Adelphia” will restructure its current channel packages by:
a. Conducting a survey within certain subscribed areas to first see if current subscribers would be interested in a more customized package.
b. We will then conduct a survey to find what the most common viewed channels are.
c. Customized packages will then be developed based on the survey.
d. An advertising campaign will be initiated to launch the new customized package.
e. The plan will then be implemented to the selected subscribers.
f. An increase in subscribers will offer us a clear indication of how successful or unsuccessful the plan is performing. Regular phone calls to the subscriber will be maintained in order to keep up with customer requests and concerns. Once again questionnaires will be called in or written in containing information on, how they heard of “Adelphia”, what was it that they were attracted to at “Adelphia”, and other questions of the same nature.
Initiative #5:
Investigate potential new location(s) for introduction of services.
Entering new market is always a sure way to increase market share but how to enter that market is the key to success. With the new marketing campaign in place “Adelphia” will increase service to un-subscribed areas by:
a. Researching current competitive companies that offer cable and broadband service in the area, what the cost is to the consumer, what types of packages that are offered, and if the customer is satisfied with their current provider.
b. Based on the findings a central office will be put into place in order to be prepared for the new business.
c. “Adelphia” will then implement its aggressive marketing campaign to attract consumers by offering incentives such as referral benefits and free installation among others.
d. Once again a close relationship will exist between the new subscriber and the company in order to increase customer response. A survey will be conducted in order to view what type of medium attracted the new subscriber to “Adelphia”. Questions of why they chose “Adelphia” will be asked, what is it at Adelphia that attracted them and so forth. Based on consumer feedback, more emphasis will be placed on those advertisements that are not getting as much response.
APPENDICES
A. SWOT
B. 2000 Annual Report
C. References
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
With over 6 million subscribers, Adelphia Communications Corporation (ACC) is the 6th largest cable television operation in the nation. Two million of their subscribers are digital cable customers, with over 377,000 Internet service users. ACC is steadily growing in market share for cable-related services. The subscriber base is growing at a rate of 0.5%. Digital cable and Internet customers totaled over 2 million and 375,000, respectively, more than doubling the previous years totals.
ACC continues to build upon their products and services. ACC was one of the first to develop and implement fiber optic technology in the broadband cable market and Internet-through-cable. ACC’s customer satisfaction is among the nations best in the telecommunications industry. J.D. Power and associates rated ACC higher than average in 5 out of 6 key drivers of customer satisfaction (adelphia.com).
Weaknesses
ACC inflated its earnings and realized unreported losses due to misappropriation of funds, securities fraud, and wire fraud, by senior management and owners. These losses helped ACC file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure the organization. ACC experience rapid growth through multiple acquisitions in a relatively short period of time, creating a debt that can no longer be covered.
ACC’s greatest perceived weakness by the consumer in the
cable systems area is the under performing aspect of reception quality of both
the cable TV and broadband services.
Opportunities
A marked decrease in the subscriber base among our competitors has given ACC the opportunity to increase market share within the current service areas. The restructuring brought about with the Chapter 11 filing allows ACC to transition our command and control structure to empowered teams.
Due to a prior misappropriation of funds within ACC, the newly appointed senior management team will apologize to the customer through an intensive marketing campaign. This will increase customer confidence in light of recent negative headline events. In line with transitioning to empowered teams, formally renaming the company will relieve the stigma associated with recent events and provide a “clean slate” to build upon.
Threats
Recent mergers of broadband service providers are presenting increased competition in obtaining a larger market share. The latest of which, DirecTV/Dish Network, intends to offer 80-100% broadband coverage in all 210 U.S. television markets, with uniform pricing throughout.
In an effort to increase the relationship between the customer and senior management, the leaders of other telecommunications companies are interacting more with the customer. This is accomplished through live venues such as televised “town hall” meetings and appearing in online chat rooms on a regular basis.
The ultimate threat is being bought out by another entity. Even though the $1 billion of debtor in possession (DIP) funding is approved authorization, there is still the possibility of a takeover or acquisition.
References
Deeprosa, Donna, How to Recognize and Reward Employees (New York: AMACOM, 1994) 72.
Schermerhorn, John, Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2002
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