Faced with intense competition and widespread consolidation, telecommunications companies are increasingly leaning on top-level strategy officers to help keep them in the game.
Denver-based Qwest recently created the role of senior vice president of strategy, joining the other Baby Bells with a top strategy official reporting directly to the chief executive.
Embarq, a phone company based in Overland Park, Kan., created a chief strategy position after spinning off from Sprint Nextel in May 2006.
“It’s good to have one person whose entire responsibility is to oversee corporate strategy,” said Jay Barta, a spokesman for Nortel Networks, which named its first chief strategy
officer three years ago. “For us, the big focus there is on business development and mergers and acquisitions, as well as watching emerging technologies.”
Strategic officers work on initiatives that can shape a company’s future.
Verizon Communications said its top strategy officer, John Dierck sen, was “instrumental” in key moves such as the spinoff of the directories business and the company’s multibillion-dollar merger with MCI.
“Current strategy questions facing all communications carriers include how much to invest in broadband capacity, which services to bundle and integrate, and how to evolve to a more competitive culture,” said Bill Blessing, Embarq’s senior vice president of corporate strategy and development.
Other sectors, such as health care and technology, have also placed emphasis on strategy officials. Software giant Microsoft created the position of chief research and strategy officer in June 2006.
Blessing said strategy officers have two primary roles.
“The first is to ensure that everyone is following the same game plan, and the second is to add valuable insights to the creation of that plan,” he said.
While strategy officers can help develop new initiatives for a company, their importance lies in the ability to serve as a conduit to ensure ideas reach fruition, said Bob Mc Gowan, a University of Denver professor of management who focuses on business strategy and innovation.
“The key is, ‘How do you bring it all together?’ That’s where a strategy officer would be good as a catalyst,” McGowan said. “You really have to have the key stakeholders on board relative to developing those key strategic initiatives.”
Strategy officers should “bring discipline to the strategic planning process,” said David Silverstein, chief executive of Breakthrough Management Group, a training and consulting firm based in Longmont.
“It’s somebody who owns the strategic plan and needs to ensure the follow-up and hold people accountable,” Silverstein said.
BMG is holding a two-day seminar in Denver next week to cover the emerging role of the chief innovation officer, which Silverstein says is often viewed as the same as the chief-strategy-officer position.
Qwest left hanging solo
Former Qwest chief executive Dick Notebaert was credited with leading the Denver company’s turnaround from near bankruptcy to financial stability. But he was criticized for not putting Qwest in a better position to compete in the ever-changing industry.
During Notebaert’s five-year tenure, Verizon merged with MCI to boost its enterprise business and launched a multibillion-dollar video initiative to help its residential business.
SBC acquired AT&T, took the AT&T name and then acquired BellSouth to become the largest wire-line and wireless carrier. AT&T is also reportedly in negotiations to acquire Douglas County-based EchoStar Communications, the nation’s No. 2 satellite-TV operator.
Qwest, meanwhile, is still hanging solo at the consolidation dance. The company was unsuccessful in bids for MCI and Allegiance Telecom, though it did snatch up a small fiber-optic network operator.
Qwest hasn’t chosen a long- term video strategy and continues to resell DirecTV satellite service to compete against cable’s triple-play bundle of TV, Internet and phone services.
A month after taking the reins in mid-August, new Qwest chief executive Ed Mueller named Stephanie Comfort his top strategy officer. Comfort’s task is to develop a comprehensive corporate strategy and vision that will help Qwest better compete in its various markets.
“It’s a move in the right direction, but it’s going to take some time,” McGowan said. “They’re playing catch-up.”
Comfort was not available for comment.
Qwest spokeswoman Diane Reberger said the move to create a top strategy officer isn’t a response to criticism.
She said Qwest made the move because “it’s how Ed wants to structure the organization.”
“There’s always been a group that is focused on the company’s strategy,” Reberger said.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
Four key strategists
Bill Blessing: Embarq’s senior vice president of corporate strategy and development is responsible for developing intelligence on the communications industry, technology and competitors.
Stephanie Comfort: Qwest’s senior vice president of corporate strategy is charged with enhancing the company’s competitive position by developing a comprehensive strategy and vision.
John Diercksen: Verizon’s executive vice president of strategy, development and planning is responsible for corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, business development, joint ventures and alliances.
Forrest Miller: The group president of corporate strategy and development for AT&T is responsible for corporate strategy, business development and mergers and acquisitions.
