Sprint La Conexion Familiar (A) Case Solution

1. What is the problem that Sprint faces?

The major problem that the company faces is the loss of the employees as a result of the expansion to San Francisco. The company’s idea of differentiation from the competitors was based on getting Spanish speakers with Spanish operators. This would include the relatability to the speakers and they would choose Sprint for communicating over long distances. The expansion to San Francisco was done to ensure that specialized Spanish-speaking workers can be hired. However, the management of the company could not be transferred to San Francisco because of issues in the transference of non-local people. This had caused an imbalance in the company that had relied on efficient management to conduct smooth operations in the company. The company hired temporary management to cover the loss that the company had had. LCF’s employees were the major competitive advantage for the company. Sprint assessed LCF as an established company that is why they began hiring new, permanent management for the company. However, the change in management led to problems that are usually faced by startup companies.

Sprint tried to increase the consumer base for the company. However, it was left with dealing with the maintenance of the already present market share. After some time passed, the market share was decreasing despite the efforts of the company to gain new consumers to replace those who had left. This problem was present because gaining new customers rather than maintaining the old ones had led to a shortage of people who had not tried LCF’s services.

2. What should Sprint management do? What implications will this decision have on the future of its long-distance service market?

With the declining business of the LCF, the management of the company began to pressurize the workers for increased sales. The working conditions were strict, and the employees were not given breaks. This showed that the company was in need of an increase in profitability. However, with the management of the company not being effective in developing strategies to gain sales, the pressure was on the employees. The management at Sprint was not concerned about the short-term losses of the company. So, the unrest among the employees shows that there was a need for revision in the company strategy. The company should revise the competitive advantage that it has in LCF. This will help in gaining more customers without pressure on the employees to increase sales in the company. The employees should be allowed to engage in union-based activities so that their rights are protected, and they are satisfied. This satisfaction of the employees will lead to their motivation that will help in increased sales without pressurizing them. Furthermore, the revision in the company strategy needs to be done to compete with the emerging competition in the industry and the decreasing customer base for the company. Even though this would mean some short-term losses, Sprint can bear these losses on the prediction that these decisions will help in the company being developed.

3. How important is the Communications Workers of America’s potential reaction to any decision Sprint makes?

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is a powerful union of the employees working in the telecommunication industry. With the agitation from the employees at the LCF because of strict measures, the employees have been involved in the CWA. The reason LCF did not want its workers to be involved in union-based activities was that it was threatened by their undermined power.