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 StrengthWeaknessOpportunityThreat 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 Taxes9.2% $ 4,317 Insurance Benefits $ 7,500 Retirement Contribution3% $ 1,248 Vacation and Holiday136 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-line In Person Call Pays Bill Service Calls Disconnect

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?