AT&T AND NCR

Issues in organisational culture between NCR and AT & T



Issues in organisational culture between NCR and AT & T

Introduction

This paper is discussing the cultural differences between NCR and AT&T. the paper focuses on the case study by Deborah Shepherd titled 'Common bond values at the New Zealand office of AT&T'. Hofstede's five dimension's model creates patterns of values and thoughts. He described the five dimensions as follow Power/Distance (PD), Individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Uncertainty/Avoidance Index (UAI) and Long Term Orientation (LTO). Geert Hofstede defined culture as “is always a collective phenomenon, because it is at least partly shared with people who live or lived within the same social environment, which is where it was learned. It is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another” (Hofstede 2005, 121).

Issue 1: Difference in approach to business

Their vision statement is self-explanatory, “Our Vision at AT&T - connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else (Donaldson 1996, 48). Constant focus on innovation and mobility has positioned AT&T as a global leader in wire line, wireless and data services. This company focuses on quality. It has already researched on how different cultures and countries perceive quality and what exactly motivates them. It was found that the perception and view of quality is different in America, Japan, Germany and New Zealand and Australia (Kraus 2008, 1).

NCR APTRA electronic marketing enables businesses to run cross-channel marketing programs though a wide range of consumer points of service, including e-mail, Internet, mobile, kiosk, ATM, call centre and print. NCR also provides social media consulting services that help businesses create connections with their customers through CRM and social media. The NCR's awareness strategy is based on a multidimensional media usage of print, radio and TV and the study assessed the impact of these media tools in reaching consumers (Marchand 2008, 1).

Issue 2: AT & T more focused on customers than NCR

The company provides audio, video, data and Internet for businesses, customers and government agencies. Open standards are essential in a world where every company wants enable its customers, employees and suppliers to quickly and easily apply contrasting applications over the network and interconnect. According to some research conducted in the field of wireless technology AT&T has the highest rate of effective turnover customers. Since 1985, the companies have dedicated itself towards a satisfying their customers need and enriching stockholders and meeting the society needs (Ghauri 2001, 303). The strategy creates benchmarks of performance, the notion of competitive advantage, an action plan to meet customers and achieve high performance. The balance of products provides customers with a wide range of prices, options and services to satisfy any technological desires of the consumer without sacrificing price (Marchand 2008, 1).

AT&T has different marketing strategies which penetrate vertically in the retail market. Customer references towards strong and recent industry, which recognize AT&T, as an aimed towards increasing market share and its penetration ...