Verizon Wireless: US Communications Company

Introduction Verizon Wireless is a communications company operating across the United States. Verizon Wireless sells cellular phones, tablets and data devices that are connected on its widespread cellular network. It uses a focused differentiation strategy to bring its customers the best cellular service as compared to its competitors operating in US market. The MIS manager we will be interviewing is named Gregory Watson. He currently an indirect account manager for the north eastern region of New Jersey. Gregory started his career as a sales representative in an indirect Verizon wireless retailer.

He then became a Sales manager in an corporate owned Verizon retailer. Mr, Watson became an indirect manager when he was 24 years old. His job as an indirect manager is make sure all his indirect retailers are operating properly under the Verizon Wireless guidelines. He is also in charge of offering a higher level of customer service to Verizon customers. This entails offering compensation and promos to retain customers.ForcesDescriptionRateResponseBargaining Power of CustomersCustomers can switch carriers easy and with promotions from competitors it's done oftenHighOffers special promotions to loyal customers such as a lowered cost unlimited plan only available to long standing loyal customers.

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Bargaining Power of Suppliersmultiple options for suppliers, if the supplier they are working with increases the cost, then Verizon can easily switch suppliers and do business somewhere else.HighVerizon has to sell Apple products at only apple pricing, otherwise apple will not supplyOnly promos by manufacturers allowedThreats of Substitutionwould be to use a home/work connection that offers a home phone line and a home wifi connectionLowVerizon has opened a subsidiary named Fios that offers home phone lines and home wifi connections.

Threats of New EntrantsVerizon prides itself on establishing its brand name, and creating a wireless company from scratch is very difficult to do.LowCheaper alternatives such as cricket and metropcs have to rent cell towers from Verizon. Without renting from Verizon costs of building and erecting new cell towers are to high.RivalrySprint, T-mobile, AT&THighAT&T offers price match on certain promotionsVerizon uses industry-wide differentiation as its competitive strategy. Differentiation builds competitive advantage on the basis of product uniqueness rather than focusing on a lower cost. They also use intensive growth strategies, such as market penetration and market development.Structured ProcessA structured process is something that's done on a day-to-day basis and follows the same routine to complete it There cannot be any one department doing all the work for the sales process, because this process involves multiple departments. Our structured process is the sales process Operations-based divisions include media and telematics, network and technology and customer and product operations Media and telematics: business operations in digital media and telematics (AOL, Yahoo) Network and Tech: developing the company's networks and their related technologies Customer and Product operations: established businesses (Verizon wireless, Verizon partner solutions)Hardware and SoftwareVerizon used i-Pads, desktop computers, processors, and RAM hard drives to better assisttheir customers. For software, they use eROES, which helps them upgrade phones and service, and basically anything else you can think of.Social MediaVerizon Wireless uses social media to promote new and exciting products they offer.Verizon Wireless will post about its efforts to help its community. They provided helpto people affected by Hurricane Michael and provided aid to Puerto Rico. They alwaysend posts with Join Us creating a customer relationship by involving them in these selfless acts.Connectivity Issues We analyzed some other issues consumers had with Verizon wireless products and recently on October 31st 2018, customers reported problems with Mobile Internet (33%), landline internet (30%), and mobile cellphone service (30%).According to "downdetector" a web page owned and operated by Ookla, LLC which shows status reports from various digital companies, the areas most affected were in the North Eastern region of the country. In order for Verizon Wireless to tackle this issue:the areas with larger populations may need more service towers to ensure costumers will have secure and reliable phone service no matter where they are in the countryIssues with EROES- Eroes is complicated when making sale purchases (Ex: you change your mind and want an unlimited plan, you have to restart the sale process from the very beginning.- Not being able to access EROES on multiple devices at the same time- Cannot accept signatures within the IS.Being able to run the system on multiple devices like the store's computer and Ipad to make things easier and faster for client and employee.What have we gained?Through the duration of our study of Verizon Wireless, the business process, and the material covered in class the team has come to learn why an information system is an essential part of any business if it wants to stay in business and grow. This is highlighted by the following: Have a more effective way of keeping records and information easily accessible for all. This keeps information current and accurate to avoid any mistakes for customers. Connections are made between different departments using the same information so nothing gets confused. Ex. Sales and Customer service use the same thing to get into the system and see similar customer informationTechnology is constantly changing, thus the IS that is being used must change as well. Companies are constantly changing and updating their systems to increase efficiency.