Milestone Events Making Sprint History - Case Study Example

Your Full & 2 December, Company Analysis of Sprint This paper critically analyzes Sprint and its corporate structures. The study will include a critical evaluation of the business model of Sprint and its important products and services. It will evaluate the company’s corporate governance systems and structures by assessing the management and history of the company. Finally corporate social responsibility and performance measures will be critiqued. Business Process Model Sprint Corporation is a telecommunications company that is made up of a large number of subsidiaries which provide Internet and wireless services in the United States and round the world (Turner 138). The company is a major conglomerate that has acquired various smaller entities that provide mobile telecommunications, Internet and other wireless services. The company is a public entity that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and its functions can be traced back to 1899 when Brown Telephone Company was founded to provide telephone services to Kansas. The company therefore has a lot of services that are provided by different specialized entities in the group. The main focus is on growing and expanding in order to enter profitable niches and sectors of the global telecommunication industry Corporate History Sprint was founded by Cleyson Brown in 1899 and he sought to introduce telephone technology to his home state of Kansas and he did this by introducing Brown Telephone Company as a monopoly in Abilene, Kansas (Sprint Nextel para 2). The company expanded its services to different parts of the state of Kansas and by the end of the Second World War, Brown Telephone Company had a firm grip on the Southern USA markets. It expanded gradually to different parts of the United States and used aggressive growth strategies to penetrate into other parts of the American markets. By the mid-1970s the company had positioned itself as the largest independent local telephone company (Sprint Nextel para 3). Then the markets for long-distance communication grew in the 1980s through the introduction of digital and fiber-optic networks. Sprint moved to take the opportunity and invested in these new technologies. With time, the company became a pioneer in data collections and became the largest commercial packet data network in the United States in 1980. In the 1990s, Sprint grew to focus on consumer and business clients and this allowed them to specialize in the voice and data services. There was a merger in 1993 of Sprint and Centel which created the impetus for a local provider and wireless service that focused on long-distance communication. This strategy grew and as the firm expanded, Sprint set up new standards and began to gain competency in controlling local markets and local conditions. With this in place, it led the market in innovation and gained important control over IP and wireless applications. It expanded its investor base in 1995 and invested into more technological activities. Over the next decade, Sprint sought to internationalize and it did this by acquisition and mergers which allowed it to enter foreign markets and become a global leader in telecommunications. Alliances, Branches and Locations Sprint has strategic alliances around the world and this includes connection to the best researchers and innovators in the IT and communication industry including Cisco, IBM, Intel and Microsoft (Sprint para 4). This allows Sprint to commercialize the innovations of these entities and organizations. And from there, Sprint is also able to play a symbiotic role of marketing and promoting the new ideas and concepts of these entities in order to bring in the highest levels of profits for these entities and firms. Sprint Communication is an agglomeration of three main entities: 1. Sprint Communications Inc; 2. Boost Worldwide Inc; 3. Virgin Mobile USA (Markham 10) Sprint Communications is the main business brain that runs affairs of the company. It is at the center of affairs for the company and it provides the impetus for operations in the US and the promotion of innovation around the country. However, Boost Worldwide provides a wireless service that has independent operators in the United States and Australia. Its headquarters is in Irvine California and it aims at improving and enhancing communication services to these countries. Virgin Mobile is a mobile telecommunication entity that operates in South Carolina and the rest of the United States. This allows the Virgin Communications’ innovation to be marketed and promoted for the attainment of high quality Internet services. Virgin Mobile USA also has numerous subsidiaries around the world and these provide various communication services to entities around the world. Corporate Governance System and Organizational Structure Sprint has a two-tiered management system. And this includes the Board of directors who are in charge of steering and directing the company. This is complemented by the Executive team that has a role in running the management functions and the routine affairs of the firm. At the center of all this is the need to ensure that there is a separation of the role of the CEO and Chairman in order to promote some kind of balance in the running of the company. This enables the segregation of affairs and duties and also provides important checks and balances for the company to steer the company in the best way. Sprint is ran by an Executive Team made up of 12 top leaders which includes the following: 1. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), 2. Chief Financial Officer, 3. Chief Technology Officer, 4. President for Enterprise Solutions, 5. President for Prepaid Unit, 6. Chief Marketing Officer, 7. President for Retail and IT, 8. Technical Operating Officer, 9. HR Vice President, 10. Chief Network Officer, 11. Corporate and Business Development 12. Corporate Communications and CSR Vice President (Sprint Newsroom) The Board of Directors of Sprint is ran by a diversified team of directors elected form various constituents of the shareholder body that represents the interests of important groups of people. There are 9 members of the board of directors and this is headed by a chairman, Nikesh Arora, who represents the Japanese shareholder interest (Sprint). Overview of Financial Performance Sprint Corporation is a company with a total asset base of $51.57 Billion (2012) and $86.09 billion (2013) and this makes it one of the leading entities operational in the world (United States Securities and Exchange Commission). The company had a Gross Profit of 3.7 million in their last quarter report of December 2013 and this led to an operating loss for the year (Yahoo! Finance). This implies that the firm is still going through a lot of losses. Analysts identify that the loss is due to the fact that the company has made many investments and has aggressively moved into different markets to gain better opportunities. This is because the company seeks to focus on capitalization and this has led to the growth in the asset base. The trading position of Sprint Corporation has therefore been affected adversely due to the overcapitalization of the firm in the past 3 years. However, analysts predict that in the coming years, there will be a stronger focus on the profitability of the company and the company will make profits steadily for a number of years to come. This will satisfy the shareholders. However, the company does not focus only on shareholders. It has legitimate stakeholder needs that are met through responsible corporate social responsibility practices. Corporate Social Responsibility System The main corporate responsibility and corporate governance model used by Sprint is one that integrates stakeholders like employees and links their CSR plans to their operations and strategies and also strive for accountability to gain long-term objectives by satisfying stakeholders (Sprint Goodworks). The CSR system is based on a premise of trying to create a long-term growth and existence focus. This is to be done through the creation of a Corporate Governance Committee that is a branch of the board of directors. Their role is to work as an independent branch of affairs that proactively evaluates matters and provides recommendations on how to improve affairs. Also, the Corporate governance committee has a steering committee that evaluates matters and provides practical solutions for long term improvement. The Working Committees are set up to investigate specialized issues that bring out the best of results to all the operations of the company’s affairs by technological responsiveness and responsible production strategies and affairs. The company has an external stakeholder panel that has the duty of examining and evaluating matters relating to external stakeholder interests and matters of importance. This allows them to provide better solution. The effect of all these committees is that they advice the board of directors on how to run affairs in relation to stakeholders, including employees, the wider society, consumers and all persons affected by the existence of the company. This helps to provide an important and a vital set of operational guidance and strategies that improve the affairs of the company. There is also a corporate governance reporting system that ensures that a proactive system is put in place to evaluate and report on issues and matters. This helps to evaluate performance and improve existing techniques and systems. Conclusion The study identifies that Sprint is a major entity that has grown steadily since the late 1800s. It is one that expanded through technological growth and innovation. This was caused by the fact that the company focused on innovative methods and the global expansion of its operations and affairs. The company is ran by a two-tiered management system that includes an independent board and an executive/management team. Sprint is going through a difficult time in terms of profitability. However, the firm has grown steadily and it is now focusing on investment into assets. This is expected to bring higher long-term earnings and better results for the improvement of its profitability status. Bibliography Markham, Jerry. A Financial History of Modern US Corporate Scandals: From Enron to Reform. Durham, MA: M. E. Sharpe, 2014. Sprint. Board of Directors. 21 November 2013. 2 December 2014 . Sprint Goodworks. Corporate Responsibility Governance Model. 4 January 2014. 2 December 2014 . Sprint Newsroom. Executive Team. 13 July 2013. 2 December 2014 . Sprint Nextel. Milestone Events Making Sprint History: 1899-1989. 4 March 2013. 2 December 2014 . Sprint. Strategic Alliances. 4 March 2013. 2 December 2014 . Turner, Tyya. Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers. New York: Vault Inc, 2013. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31 2013. 24 May 2014. 2 December 2014. Yahoo! Finance. Sprint Nextel. 2 December 2014. 2 December 2014 . Read More