Tough Calls
ATand T and the Hard Lessons Learned from the Telecom Wars
-
- S/ 9.90
-
- S/ 9.90
Descripción editorial
For better and for worse, few companies have been so prominently and constantly in the public eye as AT&T. Through decades of growth and dominance, followed by its 1984 breakup and a litany of well-documented troubles, the company has soldiered on, by turns thriving and hanging on for dear life.Perhaps no individual experienced as much of the roller-coaster ride as Dick Martin, an executive vice president and 30-year AT&T veteran with both a bird’s-eye view of and a crucial role in the company’s bumpy history.Tough Calls is the ultimate inside look at how AT&T tried to cope with a “perfect storm” of fierce competition, economic turmoil, and punishing media scrutiny. Mixing unflinching candor with love for the company he helped steer -- and clear respect for many of his long-time colleagues -- Martin takes you through boardroom and back room to shed unprecedented light on:* How the 1996 bungled announcement of 40,000 layoffs nearly destroyed the company* How flawed succession planning precipitated sharp declines in AT&T’s stock price* The never-ending, ugly turf battles with the “Baby Bells” brought on by the AT&T breakup* How even small interest groups can have a tremendous influence on business decisions, and how the media are largely responsible for determining what is business news on any given dayTough Calls is also a cautionary tale to be heeded by all businesses, using AT&T’s experience in the brutal telecom wars as a backdrop for new strategies in weathering unforgiving business conditions. Just a few of the lessons to be learned include:* How to avoid the most common mistakes that executives make, such as being held hostage by unrealistic expectations, waiting too long to make critical changes, and building their celebrity rather than their credibility* How to balance internal and external communications, and how and when to deal with the business media* How to improve relationships between PR executives and the “C” suite -- CEO, CFO, Chief Counsel, etc.--and how to make public relations more strategic* How to build and sustain favorable brand recognition and investor allure even in the face of bitter competition and unpredictable market conditionsAs candid and fascinating as it is constructive, Tough Calls is itself a call to attention and to arms, in preparation for the many battles that every business must eventually face, against fierce adversaries, and even within its own camp.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former AT&T PR head Martin records his take on Ma Bell's descent from blue chip royalty, offering an insider's view of the corporation's struggle to reorient itself to a world in which its longtime cash cow long-distance service was becoming a profitless commodity. CEO Michael Armstrong's late '90s attempt to counter this trend by expanding into cable, wireless and business services forms the centerpiece of the book. Ultimately, AT&T ran out of time as the overly exuberant market collapsed and the company had to break itself up once more, this time in order to stay afloat. The journey was highlighted by mega-deals, leadership missteps, PR blunders and outright fraud. Martin also offers an eye-opening analysis of the impact of MCI WorldCom's fraudulent financial statements, which, he says, lowered AT&T's sales by $5 billion per year. Martin lightens the endless carnage with portraits of the telecom industry's top players, describing, for instance, how a new AT&T president was unable to tell the reporters at his first press conference the name of the long-distance company he uses at home. The result: "Run AT&T? He apparently couldn't even spell it. And so forth." There are lots of good PR and leadership lessons here.