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Product cover image for Sprint: Turnaround in the U.S. Telecom Industry

Sprint: Turnaround in the U.S. Telecom Industry

Won-Yong Oh; Duane Myer

Product #:9B16M092
Supplier:Ivey/Haskayne
Discipline:Communications, General Management
Setting:United States, 2014
Details:Case (PDF) • 11 pages • 2016-05-30 (Rev: 2018-08-07)

Subjects:

TurnaroundsOrganizational transformationOrganizational cultureOrganizational behavior

Industries:

Information technology and telecom sector

Geography:

United StatesNorth America
Your Price:$9.71

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Sprint Corporation, a major U.S. wireless carrier, had been losing customers and suffering financially since its merger with Nextel in 2005. Sprint was also ranked the lowest among major U.S. carriers in terms of network speed and data performance. But a new opportunity emerged when the SoftBank Group acquired Sprint in 2013. The new chief executive officer (CEO), appointed in August 2014, publicly gave himself three to five years to turn around this major telecommunication company. The new CEO had a plan; however, he faced many challenges. Sprint had national brand recognition, but customers demanded improvements in network quality and service reliability, and the turnaround plan needed to be implemented in a capital-intensive industry with a saturated market. The optimistic CEO admitted that he faced the biggest challenge of his career. Would he be successful in turning around Sprint’s fortunes in this competitive industry?

Learning Objectives

This case is suitable for any business course that deals with strategic change or organizational turnarounds, at either the undergraduate or graduate (MBA) level. After completion of the case, students will be familiar with the following:
  • Industry dynamics in the U.S. telecommunications sector.
  • Causes and effects of organizational decline.
  • Strategic turnaround processes.
  • Roles of leaders in organizational strategic initiatives.
  • Organizational change management.
  • Motives and processes of mergers and acquisitions.
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Case Study: Sprint: Turnaround in the U.S. Telecom Industry (English version) | Ivey Publishing