Economics

Market Structure and Performance of a Company
The purpose of this assignment is to gain understanding of the practical application of market structure and performance.
You are required to write a report about a company of your choice. This must be a real company. Include the following in your report.
Identify the company and its location.
Identify the industry in which the company operates.
Describe the company’s corporate culture.
Describe the product or service the company provides.
Discuss non-price competition within the industry.
Describe the bargaining power of the company’s suppliers and buyers.
Evaluate the company’s performance during the past three years.
Describe the long-run goals of the company.
Make recommendations for improving overall performance.

Market Structure and Performance of a Company

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Market Structure and Performance of a Company

Verizon Wireless

Introduction

Verizon Wireless is one of the most popular and successful telecommunications companies in the world. The company is based in the United States and provides its clients and customers with a wide range of wireless networks and services. Verizon is the largest wireless telecommunications network provider in the United States, running a national wide fourth-generation LTE network standard that covers approximately 98 percent of the United States’ population (Lehr & McKnight, 2003). The company currently has more than 140 million network subscribers and is a preferred provider of branded smartphones in the country. Verizon is at the forefront of the development of the latest fifth-generation network standards, making it one of the most successful and popular telecommunications companies across the world (Our Company, 2020).

Industry and Corporate Culture

The company operates in the dynamic and highly-competitive telecommunications industry. This industry has various telecommunication giants that compete with Verizon for the market, including companies such as T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Nokia Corporation. Each of these competitors has a large share of the market, making the industry highly competitive (Faulhaber et al, 2011). Verizon Wireless has a corporate culture that is based on the empowerment and connection of people. The company has a culture that focuses on connecting people through the encouragement of workplace diversity and inclusion – “we are in the business of connecting people and cultures all around the world. That’s why we’ve created a workplace that celebrates diversity and commits to the inclusion of all” (Verizon, 2020).

Products and Services

Verizon’s products and services of the company include mobile phones, internet services, home telephone, and wireless network services. Verizon provides customers with smartphones that are powered by Google’s Android OS, Apple’s iOS, Microsoft’s Windows Phone, and Blackberry OS. These smartphones use the company’s 4G LTE network. The company also provides customers with data and voice plans. The Verizon Wireless Home Phone Connect is a service that enables customers of Verizon to use cellular networks instead of the traditional landline wires for home phone service. It is one of the company’s best-performing services in the United States. Verizon also provides WIFI hotspot devices branded as Jetpack and offers wireless home internet through 4G LTE routers that can connect up to 10 devices wirelessly – Verizon Fios.

Non-price Competition

As a result of the nature of the telecommunications industry, companies in the industry have to develop strategies for increasing demand for their products and services. Besides price-based competition, the industry faces different forms of non-price competition. Verizon focuses on providing its customers with reliable home internet services through Fios and cellular home telephone services. Other companies have not been able to provide home internet services that are as reliable as those provided by Verizon. Also, companies such as Sprint and Nokia are focusing on specializing their products and services to meet specific consumer needs such as providing devices that have unique features to attract tech-savvy customers. Design and convenience are the common elements used in non-price competition in the industry.

Bargaining Power of Buyers and Suppliers

The bargaining power of the company’s buyers is high as a result of the low-switching costs between services and products provided by different telecommunication companies. On the other hand, the bargaining power of the suppliers in the industry is low since companies buy supplies in bulk and the competition is high as a result of cheaper supplies from China and other Asian upcoming economies.

Company Performance and Goals

Over the past three years, Verizon has been performing well in the market, with increasing annual revenue and increasing home internet subscribers (Macrotrends, 2020). The company projects an increase in subscribers with the introduction of 5G. The company’s long-term goals are to connect people across the world using the latest technology and to facilitate the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially “SDG 4: providing young people with relevant skills for good jobs and entrepreneurship and SDG 8: promoting an environmentally sustainable economy” (Verizon, 2020).

Recommendations for Improved Performance

To continue improving its performance, Verizon Wireless should conduct a strategic analysis of its operations to identify areas that require improvement and those that are operating at maximum efficiency. The challenges that the company faces, such as competition and a decrease in smartphone customers should be focused on to ensure that strategies to improve their performance are developed. The company will also identify opportunities for growth through strategic analysis.

References

Faulhaber, G. R., Hahn, R. W., & Singer, H. J. (2011). Assessing competition in US wireless markets: Review of the FCC’s competition reports. Fed. Comm. LJ, 64, 319.

Lehr, W., & McKnight, L. W. (2003). Wireless internet access: 3G vs. WiFi? Telecommunications Policy, 27(5-6), 351-370.

Macrotrends. (2020). Verizon Revenue 2006-2020: VZ. Macrotrends. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/VZ/verizon/revenue.

Our Company. (2020). https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company

Verizon. (2020). Strengthening our commitments. Our Purpose & Goals | Verizon 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report. https://www.verizon.com/about/sites/default/files/corporate-responsibility-report/2018/priorities/goals.html.