Verizon is Creating a Culture That Focuses on Shareholder Value

1.Using the competing values framework as a point of reference, how would you describe Verizon’s current organizational Culture? Provide examples to support your conclusions.

I think Verizon’s current organizational culture is a mixture of clan and market sections of the competing values framework. They said their top three things to do in 2011 were to 1.) build a business and workforce as good as its networks, 2.) to lead in shareholder value creation, and 3.) to be recognized as an iconic technology company. By setting and achieving all their goals on having the best smart phones, will bring them to the top and get recognized as an iconic technology company. Also focusing on what the customer wants in their phones will make their company different from all of their competitors. Clan culture would help build their business and workforce. Clan culture encourages collaboration among employees, striving to encourage cohesion through consensus and job satisfaction and to increase commitment through employee involvement. It also puts a lot of resources into hiring and training for their employees.

2.What type of culture is desired by CEO Lowell McAdam to meet his goals? Discuss.

CEO Lowell McAdam thought creating a leadership culture that leads for shareholder value would meet one of his listed goals. The company then made a key lever for cultural change called the Leading for Shareholder Value (LSV). It is a 1.5 day mandatory executive education program that was designed to help senior leaders understand how to drive long-term value creation which were all lead by CEO McAdam and CFO Fran Shammo. Senior leaders were placed in cross-business units and cross functional teams and giving an assignment to identify obstacles preventing Verizon from creating more shareholder value. At the end, each team would report to a panel of top executives. Each leader also submits an Individual Accountability Plan. These plans were aligned with value drivers or metrics by which shareholders, analysts, and potential investors assess company performance and each senior leader selects 1-2 actions they would commit to as part of driving SHV. The Individual Accountability Plans are then digitized and provided to CEO McAdam.

3.Which of the 11 ways to change an organizational culture has Verizon used to create its current culture? Provide examples to support your conclusion.

I feel like Verizon has used number five, Role Modeling, Training, & Coaching. Yrizarry states in the article “We are focused on attracting and retaining the best talent from colleges and universities as we see this as critical to building our leadership funnel for the future.” They also in 2011 designed a new “Verizon Leadership Development Program” across the enterprise. They recruit the highest-performing college graduates at strategic partnership schools with 10-12 week Verizon internships and semester long co-ops as a primary feeder pool for the full time college hire. The program also currently sponsors Finance, Network Operations, Engineering, IT, Human Resources, and Marketing. Before they get hired they are expected to complete a minimum of two job rotations which could vary between two or three years in the program. They all experience a 24- month customized leadership curriculum road map focused on cultural immersion and self awareness, operational effectiveness, high performance, and leadership preparation.

4.Does Mr. Lowell want to create more of a mechanistic or organic organization? Explain. I feel like Mr. Lowell wants to create more of a mechanistic organization with the material I have read, although most technology businesses are organic organizations because their technology is constantly changing and improving to better things. He talks about how he wants to have employees closely supervised and trained by the best. Also has many rules and procedures for the employees to go through before they can work there. Verizon also is making videos through My NetWork on the go to have formalized communication.

5.What is the most important lesson from this case? Discuss.

Having the top talent and training for your representatives can help build your business. Having different technology to have information available for your customer can be a key driver.