AT&T Introduction and Corporate Ethics - Assignment Example

?Module AT&T Introduction: History and Services “AT&T has long been a global leader in the large-business market, serving multinational companies, including nearly all of the Fortune 1000 companies, in more than 200 countries and territories, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim” (AT&T, 2006, p. 3). The history of AT&T can be traced back to 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone. Over the years, AT&T has optimized on the technological skills of its human resources in order to bring a complete revolution in the field of communication and networking. AT&T has consistently been providing its consumers with reliable, durable and most importantly creative products for more than a century. AT&T is popular as a principal provider of IP-based communications all over the world. Among all US wireless carriers, AT&T happens to offer the maximum international coverage and is the fastest network of mobile broadband in US. AT&T phones function internationally. Number of the total broadband connections of AT&T also exceeds those of all other companies in US. Presently, AT&T is making its way into the entertainment industry by expanding its video packages. AT&T is trying to include many prestigious TV services including AT&T DIRECTV. “It's part of our "three-screen" integration strategy to deliver services across the three screens people rely on most — the mobile device, the PC and the TV” (AT&T, 2011). The customer services provided by AT&T are remarkable. One of the most fundamental and essential traditions of AT&T is innovation. Making use of its technology, in the year 1927, AT&T located its way to the first ever transatlantic phone call. The UNIX operating system developed by AT&T played a fundamental role in the development of Internet. Many other operating systems like Linux that are presently in use worldwide were originally derived from the UNIX operating system. AT&T also happens to be the inventor of the C++ programming, the solar cell as well as the first transistor. AT&T’s Mission AT&T’s mission is to provide its consumers with the best service by exploiting technical creations and incorporating latest technologies as well as the potential advancements of network in all of its operations and services. “Today, our mission is to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else. We're fulfilling this vision by creating new solutions for consumers and businesses and by driving innovation in the communications and entertainment industry” (AT&T, 2011). AT&T’s Vision AT&T developed its network globally with a view to provide the networking specialists in the AT&T Labs with plenty of resources in order to make them better equipped for making the disparate systems function together. AT&T has become a standard for others to compare themselves with in the capacity of the world’s most efficient, reliable and the fastest global network. In order to gain competitive advantage in the contemporary age when the dynamic market has exposed the enterprises to increased challenges, AT&T places emphasis on the foresight and pursues innovations. AT&T aspires to design and develop such platforms of service, processes and innovative global network in this decade, which are based on computerization so that the human resources may be reallocated to increasingly multifaceted and challenging work. AT&T’s Values AT&T’s values are as follows: AT&T is committed to function in the most responsible manner in all aspects and improve the quality of services given to the consumers AT&T tries its best to conform the quality of its service with its promise of doing always the right thing by means of the rich values and heritage based on integrity, respect, openness, and honesty The philosophy AT&T maintains with respect to the corporate social responsibility requires it to provide its consumers with best value, care and quality. One of the most cardinal elements of this philosophy is the display of good citizenship by AT&T both nationally and internationally. The commitment of AT&T towards the global citizenship is based on engagement with the community, community’s health and safety, environment, philanthropy, excellent corporate governance and volunteerism. Analysis of AT&T’s mission statement The biggest secret of AT&T’s success is the fact that it has always used innovation as a tool for the achievement of its objectives. Modern age is characterized by variety and diversity, Consumers today, have a lot of options to choose from. What they look for is innovation and creativity, which fundamentally reflects in AT&T’s products. Module 2 Corporate Ethics Corporate ethics, as the name indicates, is a term used for ethics in business. Corporate ethics is directed at educating the workforce of a company regarding the ways and means that they can employ to work in an increasingly responsible manner. “Because the term “ethics” can pose problems in an international context, i.e., the term does not translate well and it can be difficult to find a common understanding of the term…” (Hurst, 2004, p. 6). Therefore, a vast majority of companies tend to recast this concept by means of such common terms as business practices, integrity and responsible behavior in business. Corporate ethics is essentially a type of applied ethics. In corporate ethics, organizational personnel make informed decisions with the intentions of not only achieving their objectives, but also planning such routes of their achievement in which they do not have to cause any harm to the society as a whole. Although it is not possible to safeguard the interests of all communities simultaneously, yet corporate ethics requires the businesses to be responsible towards a vast majority of the society. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a norm which compels the business entrepreneurs to align their goals and interests not only with the expectations of the investors and the consumers, but also, to much an extent, with the interests of the stakeholders. “Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large” (Holme and Watts cited in Arshad, 2006). An in-depth analysis of the definitions of corporate ethics and corporate social responsibility suggests that the two terms can be used interchangeably. The concept of CSR is based upon the fact that the practices adopted by a company not only depict its profits and losses, but also affect the communities, employees, regulators, vendors and the whole society in numerous ways. CSR was increasingly incorporated in business practices when the debate of such issues as global warming and unsustainable living flared up. Oil producing companies that spilled oil into the seas have conventionally received a lot of criticism for their irresponsible disposal of waste. Likewise, factories and industries that previously used to dump the waste into rivers or landfills have earned a bad name as a consequence of their inconsiderate acts of spoiling the environment. As people began to realize the importance of altering the business practices for the better, CSR became a business requirement all over the world (ASOCIO, 2004, p. 2). business entrepreneurs had to incorporate CSR into their daily activities in order to maintain the confidence and trust of critical analysts in addition to making the profits. Attaining the satisfaction of stakeholders is extremely important for companies in the present age because the consumers are provided with a wide array of options to avail if one company does not come up to their expectations. Workforce Diversity “Generally speaking, the term “Workforce Diversity” refers to policies and practices that seek to include people within a workforce who are considered to be, in some way, different from those in the prevailing constituency” (McInnes, 1999). Workforce in the present age has become extremely diverse. This is largely an outcome of globalization. In search of better education and employment opportunities and a better lifestyle, people have moved from the developing countries to technologically advanced countries in large numbers. This movement has played a fundamental role in the making the advanced societies increasingly multicultural. The term “workforce diversity” not only means the racial or ethnic variation of employees, but it also includes but is not limited to the workers’ diversity of religions, cultures, languages, genders, beliefs, norms and values. In contemporary organizations, people that belong to different places and are brought up in different cultures work together. Where there is workforce diversity, there has to be an unusually strong conflict resolution system. People raised up in cultures with contradicting values and beliefs are prone to indulge in dysfunctional conflicts with one another. In order to make them work together in peace and harmony and to draw the benefits of multicultural thinking, managers need to take proactive measures to assess and mitigate the risks of conflicts among the workers. An organization that has a diverse workforce increases its market value because it caters for the interests of a larger population. People feel drawn towards such an organization when they find their cultural, ethnic, religious, linguistic and other criteria of representation in its workforce. References: Arshad, H. (2006, Sep. 14). Corporate Social Responsibility: The Rising Trend? Retrieved from http://www.chowk.com/Views/Environment/Corporate-Social-Responsibility-The-Rising-Trend. Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization. (2004, June). ASOCIO Policy Paper: Corporate Social Responsibility, Retrieved from http://www.asocio.org/policy/Corporate%20Social%20Responsibility.pdf. AT&T. (2006). AT&T 2006 Social Responsibility Report. Retrieved from http://www.att.com/Common/files/pdf/330938_ATTcsr_0623.pdf. AT&T. (2011). AT&T Company Information. Retrieved from http://www.att.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5711. Hurst, N. E. (2004). Corporate Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility: Comparing European Business Practices to those in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/hurst/comparitive_study.pdf. McInnes, R. (1999). Workforce Diversity: Changing the Way You Do Business. Retrieved from http://www.diversityworld.com/Diversity/workforce_diversity.htm. Read More