1. Unit 10 Final Assignment: Strategic Plan Presentation
Name:
Institution

2. Introduction
A strategic plan assists an organization to clearly define its goals, as well as the specific actions that are needed to implement different strategies (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2015).
This PowerPoint Presentation documents a strategic plan for Verizon Communications Inc.
This strategic plan is designed to be in use for the next three to five years.

3. Company Background
Verizon Communications Inc. has its headquarters in New York City, New York (Verizon, 2015).
The company serves customers who need various communication services
Its products include calling cards, accessories, and handsets while its services include information publishing, and voice and data services
Verizon’s current strategic planning model involves operation of three business units namely Wireline, Verizon Wireless, and Verizon Business (Doherty & Company, Inc, 2003).
Verizon Communications Inc. has been ranked number 15 in the Fortune 1000 Companies List for 2015, an indication that it has achieved much success from its strategic planning model.

4. Company Vision Statement and Mission Statement
“Verizon’s mission is to enable people and businesses to communicate with each other. We are also committed to providing full and open communication with our customers, employees, and investors.”
Verizon’s vision statement reads, “For our core goals, we decided on just one: to create the most respected brand in communications.”
The company’s core values include integrity, respect, performance excellence, and accountability.
All these guide Verizon towards realization of goals and objectives (Verizon, 2015).

5. Leadership and Organizational Culture
Ivan Seidenberg is the current Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of Verizon Communications Inc.
Verizon’s culture is where the company allows employees to own their career, empowers workers through training, and gives them an opportunity to grow.
The new grand strategy will require Verizon to make appropriate changes in order to match the organizational structure and culture.
The company’s leaders must strive to align organizational culture with the new grand strategy
It is only through such alignment that the company will manage to move to a more agile and virtual organization (Verizon, 2015).

6. Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Ethics, and Policies Empowering Action
Verizon’s stakeholder approach to social responsibility focuses on five strategic priorities including; service and innovation, partnering with communities, environmental protection, and ethics and governance
The company struggles to solve social issues through innovation
Additionally, Verizon has well defined policies that it uses to empower employees to become socially responsible inside and outside of the organization.
Verizon’s code of conduct focuses on transparency.
The company’s executive and management team emphasize transparency and a willingness to engage with stakeholders (Verizon, 2015).

7. External Analysis (Opportunities and Threats) and Global Environment
Reduce the price of its broadband service in order to attract more customers
Expand its business across the United States and Europe
Place additional finances in research and development
Threats
Stiff competition from other technology companies such as Apple Inc.
Regulatory reforms tend to affect business operations
Economic recession reduces consumer spending

8. Internal Analysis (Strengths and Weaknesses), Strategic Control, and Continuous Improvement
Provides a reliable Wireless Network
Strong financial position promotes operational efficiency
Brand awareness among customers
Weaknesses
Largely concentrated in the United States
Offers limited television services
Declining access lines reduces the number of customer who can be reached at a time.

9. Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Incremental innovation refers to gradual improvements to a product.
It takes a short time but rarely moves a company to the next level.
Breakthrough innovation refers to creation of new products that create new markets for a company.
It propels an organization to the next level but requires a lot of capital and is time consuming.
The new strategy is a breakthrough innovation because it is intended to move Verizon to the next level, thereby it supports the idea of continuous improvement (Sherlin, 2003).
In addition, the new strategy is entrepreneurial in nature, and it is beneficial in the sense that it will help in shaping the company’s culture (Tilus, 2014).

10. Strategic Analysis and Choice
Generic strategies are the initial strategies that a company needs to implement in order to become established in the market
Grand strategies provide specific directions for a company on how it can develop and grow
A grand strategy is more beneficial to Verizon than a generic strategy because it will enable the company to grow by assisting it to address quality, price and increased value for its products (Hopkinson, 2013).

11. Generic and Grand Strategies
Examples of generic strategies include differentiation, low-cost leadership, and marketing focused
Examples of grand strategies include innovation, product development, and concentric diversification.
The best grand strategy for Verizon is innovation.
Through innovation, Verizon will be able to create new products that will open new markets. In the process, the company will be able to grow for many years to come and keep competitive in its market place (Hopkinson, 2013).

12. Long Term Objectives and Strategies
To provide the highest network quality through innovation
Maintain high efficiency and satisfaction rates among customers
Increase the market share to more than 90 percent over the next five years
The genetic strategies that Verizon has entertained in the past and in current are creation of an open network and expansion of coverage areas
The recommended grand strategy for long-term growth is to focus on bringing a new product, FiOS, into the market.
This is a new innovation that will increase opportunity for premier quad bundling, thereby increasing speed, quality and flexibility of networking (Verizon, 2015).

13. Short-term Objectives, Functional Tactics, and Implementation
To meet the communication needs of customers through advanced technology
To increase sales by 25 percent over the next six months
To be the technology company of choice in the market
Implementation of the new grand strategy requires full participation of all the company’s stakeholders (Doherty & Company, Inc, 2003).
Verizon’s leaders must communicate the new strategy to all the company’s stakeholders in order to allow everyone to take part in its implementation

14. Restructuring, Reengineering, and Refocusing
For successful implementation of the new strategy to occur, the company must employ experienced personnel to assist with innovation (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2015).
These personnel must be well trained. This should be followed by allocation of resource and setting deadline for completion.
Once the new strategy is implemented, the company should conduct comprehensive monitoring and evaluation to determine whether the desired objectives are being met (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2015).

15. Conclusion
This strategic plan offers a clear direction for Verizon on how it can grow for many years to come and achieve a competitive advantage
The plan identifies the specific type of strategy that the company needs to implement, as well as the actions that should be taken to ensure successful implementation
If effectively implemented, the new grand strategy will enable Verizon to acquire even a higher rank in the Fortune 1000 Companies List for 2016.

16. References
Balanced Scorecard Institute. (2015). Strategic Planning Basics. Retrieved, September 30, 2015, from Doherty & Company, Inc. (2003). Verizon: Organization and executive management. Retrieved, September 30, 2015, from Hopkinson, T. (2013). Generic and grand strategies. United States of America: Florida. Sherlin, W. (2003). Breakthrough innovation vs. incremental innovation. Retrieved, September 30, 2015, from Tilus, G. (2014). Entrepreneurship vs. Intrapreneurship: Which Career Path is Right for You? Retrieved, September 30, 2015, from Verizon. (2015). Our Culture. Retrieved, September 30, 2015, from