Rogers Communications Inc.

Rogers Communications’ new president and chief executive officer (CEO) contemplated the future growth opportunities of the company. The CEO was taking control of Rogers at a high point — it was a powerful player in all areas of the telecommunications sector including wireless, television, Internet telephone, and landline telephone. However, competition in the industry was also at an all-time high and innovations were abounding. The CEO knew that to successfully develop Rogers’ strategic direction for the future, he would have to make tradeoffs that would require a strong understanding of the competitive landscape and the future of the industry. Could Rogers afford to be a leader in all four product areas: wireless, television, Internet, and landline telephone? Where should it be willing to lead and where should it be willing to lag behind competitors? Should it think about its future as four (or less) distinct businesses or as one company? Should it think about entering markets in which it did not currently have a strong presence? How much financial flexibility did Rogers have for enacting any future strategies? In making tradeoffs, Rogers would have to explore its resource strengths and weaknesses: this would allow it to gain an in-depth understanding of its competitive advantage. Understanding its competitive advantage would help it make decisions concerning future resource investments that would allow it to lead the industry. No matter which tradeoffs Rogers considered making, the results needed to help it continue to outperform its competitors by maintaining net margins of at least 20 per cent.