2011 MTA Convention

What is Your Road Map to Success?

Objectives of the next 50 minutes.

• Take a look at tools and strategies to identifying your competitive advantage and core competency of your company.

• Identify opportunities to maximize success through SWOT Analysis.– SWOT Analysis

• What it is.• How can you use it.• Real life examples.

SWOT Analysis

• A scan of internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process– Environmental Factors internal to the firm usually can

be classified as Strengths or Weaknesses– Environmental Factors external to the firm usually can

be classified as Opportunities or Threats• Analysis provides information that is helpful in matching

the firm’s resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates.

Strength

• A firm’s strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage

Weakness

• The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness.

• In some cases may be the flip side of a strength.

Opportunity

• Changes in the external environment may reveal certain new opportunities for profit or growth.– Competitive – Sociocultural– Political/Legal

Threat

• Changes in the external environment also may present threats to the firm.

SWOT Template

    Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat

Competition          

Communication          

Community Involvement          

Customer Loyalty          

Ownership Structure          

Employees          

Management          

Regulation          

Sales Opportunity          

Technology          

Vendors          

Partnerships          

Strengths• Core Competency

– Quality of Service– Technology– Local Presence

• Competitive Advantages– Own the customer– Employees

• Employer Paid Taxes– FICA, Unemployment Tax

• Insurance Benefits– Health, Life, Disability, Dental, and

Vision

• Retirement Benefits– Pensions, 401k Matching, Stock

Plans

• Vacation/Holiday• Fringe Benefits

– Discounted Services, Clothing Allowance, Tuition Reimbursement, Etc.

• $8.30 per hour Benefit

Wages $20 per hour  $        41,600 

Employer Paid Taxes 9.2%  $          4,317 

Insurance Benefits    $          7,500 

Retirement Contribution 3%  $          1,248 

Vacation and Holiday 136 Hours  $          2,720 

Fringe Benefits    $          1,500 

Total Benefits    $        17,285 

Total Wages and Benfits    $        58,885 

More than just a paycheck

Weakness• Culture

– Implementation of new technology– Change agents

• Organizational Structure– Products Offerings– Manual Processes

Flow Chart• Identify areas of organization where

process improvement can lead to a competitive advantage.

• Service Order Flow can identify bottlenecks or weaknesses in process.

• Individual Departments can breakdown tasks or internal department flows.

Components of a Flow Chart

Service Order Flow Chart

Customer Service

Assignment

Automated

Outside Plant

Billing

Switch

MANUAL

On-lineIn Person

Call

Pays BillService CallsDisconnect

Improvements we made

• Automated verification of services available• Improved customer experience• Increased installation time and availability• Reduction of billing errors• Elimination of Redundant process flows

Opportunities• Market Expansion

– CLEC, T.V., Internet Services

• Technology Improvements– FTTH, Wireless, Softswitch

• Broadband Stimulus Projects

• What is/isn’t the competition doing

Opportunity – Big Ten Network

• Competitor was unwilling to offer– Stress Local Presence (S)– Willing to listen to “vocal” customer’s

• Hockey and Basketball Season Starting (O)• High per subscriber cost (T)• Investment

– Capital Budget (T)– Ramp Up Installations (W)

• Internal Goal of Customer Growth (S)(O)

Threat• Regulatory

– Broadband Plan– Access Reform

• Technology– Google Voice, Facetime, Skype/Qik

• Sociocultural– Cell Phones, Hulu, Netflix

Transform Threats into Opportunities• How much Bandwidth is enough?

• My House with wireless connections.– 1 computer, 7 laptops, 4 apple touch, Roku

streaming video download box, Wii Game Station, 1 blue-ray, 2 televisions

• Future uses of wireless network

How do you stack up against the competition?

• Metrics– Revenue per access line– Service Outages– Customer Complaints

• Competition– Rates– Product Offerings

• Employees– Wages– Job Satisfaction

Tools for Comparing Yourself

• Telergee Alliance Benchmarking Study• OPASTCO Wage Study• NTCA Wage Study• Internet

– Competitors Web Site– Tariff Rates

• Newspaper Advertisements

Communication

• Everyone knows company core competencies?• Is the message to employee’s and customer’s

consistent?• Employee’s voice, do they communicate what

you want?• Do you know what your core competencies?• Do you know what your competitive advantages

are?

What is your road map to success?