Large Telecommunication Company Research Articles

Impact of human operators on communication network dependability

There is a scarcity of scientific literature about the characteristics of the control work and its demands in the critical domain of telecommunication. The motivation of the paper is to shed light on the context and content of the human operators' work in maintaining the dependability of telecommunication networks. A case study was accomplished in a large telecommunication company. The research focused on clarifying the impact of human operators on the dependability of telecommunication network. Interviews confirmed earlier assumption among members of the communication network operations (CNO) community that the human operator has an important impact on the network dependability. Specific sources of errors in daily work were identified and strategies of avoiding erroneous action were described. By utilising core-task analysis and modelling approach, we defined generic control demands of the CNO work domain, and operators' ways of coping with these demands. Regarding human dependability of communication network operations, a combination of resilient and proactive ways of acting is needed. Due to daily changes in the network and the continuous increase of its complexity, specifically change management on both organisational and work practice levels was required. The study is restricted to one Finnish telecommunication company, which limits possible empirical generalisation of the findings.

Impact of Work Design on Employee Psychological Strain among Malaysian Technical Workers

This study represents an attempt to test the impact of work design on employee well-being in Malaysia, a country characterized as collectivistic and having high power distance. Specifically, my research sought to examine the direct effects of psychosocial work characteristics on psychological strain. Also, the present study assessed the moderating effects of social support on the relationships between job demands and psychological strain. Self-reports on the study variables were obtained from 429 technical workers in a large telecommunication company in Malaysia. I used multivariate analyses to examine the direct and moderating effects hypotheses. The findings confirmed the direct effects of job demands, job control, and social support on psychological strain. The results also provide evidence for a moderating effect of supervisor support, but not for co-worker support. This research makes several theoretical contributions, and provides information concerning the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and their application to a culture characterised by high collectivism and high power distance. The findings may help human resource practitioners understand how work design influences employees’ well-being. Implications are discussed to enhance better mapping of interventions at individual and group levels.

A holistic framework for the implementation of a next generation network

As the potential of a next generation network (NGN) is recognised, telecommunication companies consider switching to it. Although the implementation of an NGN seems to be merely a modification of the network infrastructure, it may trigger or require changes in the whole company, because it builds upon the separation between service and transport, a flexible bundling of services to products and the streamlining of the IT infrastructure. We propose a holistic framework, structured into the layers 'strategy', 'processes' and 'information systems' and incorporate into each layer all concepts necessary for the implementation of an NGN, as well as the alignment of these concepts. As a first proof-of-concept for our framework we have performed a case study on the introduction of NGN in a large telecommunication company; we show that our framework captures all topics that are affected by an NGN implementation.

Transformational Leadership, Innovative Behavior, and Task Performance: Test of Mediation and Moderation Processes

We use the self-concept based theory of leadership and social exchange theory to hypothesize processes linking transformational leadership to follower performance outcomes. Specifically, we hypothesize that (a) transformational leadership relates to followers' work engagement both directly and indirectly through their psychological states, (b) work engagement relates to innovative behavior, (c) innovative behavior relates to task performance, and (d) the work engagement–innovative behavior relationship is moderated by leader–member exchange. Results from a test of these relationships in a sample of employees of a large telecommunication company in China largely support our hypothesized model.

Relationship model: a network model for integrating human expertise with systematic distributed processes

AbstractIn this paper we offer an integrated flexible system in which two inter‐related models interact. One: the systems environment model that is inherent in all large enterprises and defines the logical enterprise organizations, units, division of work and responsibilities. Two: the Relationship model, which is a dynamic network derived from the data provided by the distributed expertise of the systems environment model representing several types of relationships among the units. This network model can be probed to produce related units with specific relationships to efficiently initiate a change, plan a change, adjudicate and implement a change. Each unit of the network can initiate a proposal for a new change by exploring its effect on the rest of the network; once a proposal for change is explored, its implications are evaluated and approved, a coordinated change is planned and implemented in a timely and organized manner while every constituency has been prepared for the planned change. While the proposed model can easily be adapted for organizations with well‐defined systems environment models, this paper focuses on the design, integration and implementation of the Relationship network and its processes for information technology (IT) within a large telecommunication company with an existing systems environment model. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

New Manager Socialization and Conflict Management in China: Effects of Relationship and Open Conflict Values1

How newcomers interact with experienced employees has been thought to affect their socialization and performance. This study complements previous newcomer research by examining the role of organizational values on this interaction. Middle managers newly recruited into a large telecom company in China were randomly assigned to discuss a conflict with an existing employee where the organization either valued relationships or not, and either valued open discussion of diverse ideas or not. As expected, valuing relationship and open discussion, compared to not valuing relationship and avoiding discussion, facilitated new managers' socialization and helped them develop cooperative goals and quality leader–member exchange. Results were interpreted that by embracing values of relationships and open discussion, organizations can more effectively socialize newcomers.

Organizing Data Governance: Findings from the Telecommunications Industry and Consequences for Large Service Providers

Many companies see Data Governance as a promising approach to ensuring data quality and maintaining its value as a company asset. While the practitioners' community has been vigorously discussing the topic for quite some time, Data Governance as a field of scientific study is still in its infancy. This article reports on the findings of a case study on the organization of Data Governance in two large telecommunications companies, namely BT and Deutsche Telekom. The article proposes that large, service-providing companies in general have a number of options when designing Data Governance and that the individual organizational design is context-contingent.Despite their many similarities, BT and Deutsche Telekom differ with regard to their Data Governance organization. BT has followed a more project-driven, bottom-up philosophy; Deutsche Telekom, on the other hand, favors a rather constitutive, top-down approach. The article also proposes a research agenda for further studies in the field of Data Governance organization.

The joint effect of leader–member exchange and emotional intelligence on burnout and work performance in call centers in China

We examined the joint effect of LMX and emotional intelligence (EI) on burnout and work performance. Results based on data collected from 493 leader-member dyads in the call center of a large Chinese telecommunication company indicated that LMX was negatively related to burnout, yet was not significantly related to objective work performance. Moreover, we examined the effects of the four dimensions of EI (self-emotion appraisal, other-emotion appraisal, use of emotion, and regulation of emotion) on burnout and performance, and found that burnout mediated the link between use of emotion and work performance. Results also showed that LMX was associated with burnout and work performance more strongly for service workers with lower levels of self-emotion appraisal. More surprisingly, the link between LMX and work performance was stronger for service workers with higher levels of use of emotion.

Executive Stock-Based Compensation: A Case Study in Valuing Employee Stock Options and Restricted Stock Issues in a Breach of Contract Case

In this case study, the former CEO of a large telecommunication company filed a lawsuit against her former employer that alleged that the company’s contract breach resulted in the loss ESO grants and diminished the value of the vested ESOs that she held at the time of the alleged contract breach. The former company executive also alleges that the breach prevented her from receiving restricted company stock shares that she believes she was entitled to under her contract with the employer. In this paper, I present an application of the Shapiro and O’Connor (2001) modified Black-Scholes (B-S) and the Hull-White (2002) binomial lattice tree employee stock option (ESO) valuation models to the valuation of breach of employment contract damages. In addition to ESO valuation, this paper also illustrates the valuation of restricted company stock issues and provides a discussion of the approaches used to account for the unique valuation related issues that arise in litigation. The case study illustrates the importance of incorporating case specific factors, such as the plaintiff's historical ESO exercise rates and firm specific ESO forfeiture probabilities, into the valuation models.

IMPLEMENTING BEST PRACTICES TO SUPPORT CREATIVITY IN NPD CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS

The use of cross-functional teams increases creativity in new product development leading to shorter development time and higher product innovativeness. Research in new product development has identified a number of organisational practices associated with supporting organisational creativity in cross-functional teams including frequent and open communication, building organisational slack, attitude to risk and top management commitment. Using a single case study approach, this paper explores the challenges associated with the implementation of such organisational practices in the R&D department of a large telecommunication company. Challenges include sequential involvement of functions in the team, broken communication between different teams, management attitude to resource constraints, and short-term management focus on incremental innovation.

The establishment of an enterprise information service: The case of the ECI telecom company

The steps and methods used in establishing and developing scientific information activity under market economy conditions are presented based on the experience of the information service at a large Israeli telecommunication company.

Risk of future sickness absence in frequent and long-term absentees

Prior absence is an important predictor for sickness absence, but little is known about the recurrence among frequent and/or long-term absentees, over a longer period of time. To monitor sickness absence among frequent and long-term absentees in order to investigate their risk of recurrent absence. Longitudinal cohort study in employees working in three large Dutch postal and telecommunications companies. In the first year of study, we distinguished employees who were absent four times or more (frequent absence), employees who were absent for >or=6 weeks (long-term absence), combined frequent and long-term absence and a reference population. The absence rates in these groups were followed-up for 4 years. The study population (n = 53,990) comprised 4126 frequent absentees, 3585 long-term absentees, 979 combined frequent and long-term absentees and a reference population (n = 45,300). Frequent absentees had a higher risk of recurrent frequent absence when compared to the reference population, with rate ratios (RR) amounting to 4.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.7-5.1] in men and 3.2 (95% CI 3.0-3.4) in women. They also had a higher risk of developing long-term absence: RR = 1.9 (95% CI 1.8-2.0) in men and 1.5 (95% CI 1.4-1.6) in women. Long-term absentees had high risk of recurrence: RR = 1.9 (95% CI 1.8-2.0) in men and RR = 1.4 (95% CI 1.3-1.5) in women. Employees with prior frequent and/or long-term absence were at risk of recurrent absence. Frequent absence was a prognostic factor predicting future long-term absence.

PRIVATIZATION THROUGH GOING PUBLIC CASE STUDY OF T-HT

Principle objective of this paper is to analyze specific phase of privatization process of the largest telecommunication company in Croatia T-HT, in which they went public when Croatian government sold 32.5 percent of total stocks. More than 358, 406 Croatian citizens bought shares packages in tota amount of 16, 695.00 HRK, or 63 stocks, each valued 265.00 HRK, which is 25 percent of previously mentioned 32.5 percent of total T-HT stocks. Remaining part of 7.5 percent was sold to international and local institutional investors. It is very interesting how many citizens have bought their stocks for the first time, regardless the fact that they did not collect information from the capital market up to that moment and in most cases the were not familiar with Stock Exchange regulations and Laws.

A Selection Hierarchy for Possible Strategic Alliances of Taiwanese Telecom Operators

With the trend towards globalization, the competitive challenges that enterprises have to encounter in the market are much larger than before. In this climate strategic alliances were considered as a pragmatic and effective way by which enterprises could grow and maintain a competitive position in the new millennium. However up to 70% of alliances typically fail (Gonzalez, 2001). Research indicates that managers attribute preparations for the alliance as a key attribute to failure (Cyrus, 2000). In this paper we identified and evaluated the criteria used by those in the Taiwanese telecoms industry for selecting strategic alliances partners. Fuzzy Delphi was initially used to sieve the selection criteria drawn from related literature. Managers from a large telecom company were then asked to evaluate the importance of those criteria. Finally Fuzzy AHP was used to calculate the weight of the criteria. The results of this research show that the most important criterion for selection is the prior experience of cooperation.

Behind Closed Doors at WorldCom: 2001

WorldCom was a large telecom company that enjoyed an almost meteoric rise during the 1990s but ran into trouble in the early 2000s. 2001 was particularly difficult. This case gives future generations of accountants the opportunity to study the largest accounting scandal in history from an internal financial accounting perspective. To the extent possible, this case uses the actual “voices” of participants to gain an understanding of their viewpoints and motives. We get a chance to see some participants at their best and others at their worst. While our primary focus throughout this case is on the financial accounting issues, we also briefly touch on some of the safeguards available in preventing accounting fraud: internal controls, internal audit, external audit, and the Audit Committee. Throughout this case, you should ask yourself, “How would I respond if I were the corporate decision maker?”

Data mining for decision support on customer insolvency in telecommunications business

This paper reports on the findings of a research project that had the objective to build a decision support system to handle customer insolvency for a large telecommunication company. Prediction of customer insolvency, well in advance, and with an accuracy that could make this prediction useful in business terms, was one of the core objectives of the study. In the paper the process of building such a predictive model through knowledge discovery and data mining techniques in vast amounts of heterogeneous as well as noisy data is described. The reported findings are very promising, making the proposed model a useful tool in the decision making process, while some of the discussed problems and limitations are of interest to researchers who intend to use data mining approaches in other similar real-life problems.

History, structure, and function of the internet

The Internet stands at the forefront of telecommunications in medicine. This worldwide system of computers had its beginnings in networking projects in the United States and western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. The precursor of the Internet was ARPANET, a long-distance telecommunication network funded by the Department of Defense that linked together computers throughout the United States. In the 1980s, ARPANET was superseded by NSFNET, a series of networks created by the National Science Foundation, which established the present-day structure of the Internet. The physical structure of the Internet resembles and is integrated with the telephone system. Long-distance data transport services are provided by large telecommunication companies, called network service providers (NSPs), through high-capacity, high-speed national and international fiber optic cables. These transport services are accessed through Internet service providers, ISPs. ISPs, the equivalent of regional Bell operating companies, provide the physical link to the NSPs for individuals and organizations. Telecommunications on the Internet are standardized by a set of communications protocols, the TCP/IP protocol suite, that describe routing of messages over the Internet, computer naming conventions, and commonly used Internet services such as e-mail. At present, the Internet consists of over 20 million computer worldwide and is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Along with the growth of the Internet, higher speed access methods are offering a range of new services such as real-time video and voice communications. Medical education, teaching, and research, as well as clinical practice, will be affected in numerous different ways by these advances.

The injury profile of a large telecommunication company: a statistical summary.

Overexertion injuries have been a major concern to occupational safety and health professionals for quite some time. Over the years, these injuries have continued to increase despite ergonomic interventions to control their frequency of occurrence. It has been speculated that this increase may be due primarily to enhanced awareness and better record-keeping. Many occupational safety and health professionals also presume that overexertion injuries and occupational illnesses are confined to heavy manufacturing industries. This paper reports occupational injury and illness data from a large telecommunication industry, collected over a 7-year period. Three observations were made from the statistical summary: (1) better record keeping may be a reason behind the reported increase in injuries; workday losses decline as a result of improved ergonomic and occupational health interventions; (2) serious injuries are not just limited to heavy manufacturing industries; and (3) reduction in workday losses may not translate in injury cost savings.

R&D/marketing interfaces in the telecommunications industry

This article presents the results of a study of the R&D/marketing interface in five large telecommunications companies. The findings from 176 R&D and marketing managers and 60 experts in the field suggest that in most cases, the integration between R&D and marketing is far below its desired level. The paper explores the roles that R&D, marketing, and the top management can play in achieving a harmonious and productive interface.