Sprint Business Solutions Case Study

Sprint Business Solutions (SBS) was created in early 2004 by merging teams from three Sprint divisions, part of a broader corporate reorganization. Appointed president of SBS, Howard Janzen recognized that the newly-formed business needed a clear direction forward—one that would align leadership, engage employees, and deliver differentiated value to the market.

In late 2003, before SBS officially launched, Howard recruited me to lead strategic planning for the new entity. The immediate goals were to:

  • Unite the new leadership team around a shared vision for the business.
  • Create a strategic framework for consistent planning and decision-making.
  • Craft a compelling narrative to rally employees.
  • Establish a distinct market position.
  • Deliver a convincing growth plan to the Sprint Board.
Sprint Business Solutions

The Situation:

Sprint had been founded in the late 1800s as the local telephone provider for Abilene, Kansas. That business had grown, largely through mergers and acquisitions, to serve 5% of the country and was known internally as the Local Telecom Division (LTD). As a regulated monopoly, LTD generated predictable cash that helped fund innovation in the rest of the company. This division operated very conservatively and could be described by the market discipline of "Operational Excellence."‍

In the 1980s, as regulators broke up "Ma Bell" (AT&T) and opened the long distance calling market to competition, Sprint built the country's first nationwide fiber optic network and introduced innovative competitive offers to become the third largest long distance provider. However, by the early 2000's the long distance market was in decline and Sprint's long distance business (internally called Global Markets Group or GMG) had shifted to focus more on the lucrative business market with a "Customer Intimacy" market discipline. Long distance had become the largest part of the company and the cash it generated was largely being invested in the wireless market.

In the mid-1990s, Sprint built the first nationwide all-digital wireless communications network using Personal Communications Services (PCS) spectrum and technology. The company used innovative offers such as the first cameraphone, picture mail, and early smartphones to establish a strong market presence. Sprint PCS's culture was aggressive and entrepreneurial and its market discipline was "Product Leadership." PCS had become the growth engine for Sprint.

The company had determined that the best option for growth and value creation was to reorganize around customer segments rather than products or technologies. As a regulated entity, LTD would continue to serve consumers in the company's traditional local markets, but the local business customers would be moved into a new Sprint Business Solutions (SBS) division. Business wireless customers would also be moved into SBS, while consumer wireless customers would be served by a smaller PCS division that was being renamed Sprint Consumer Solutions (SCS), which would also offer some consumer long distance services.

Of the three new divisions, SBS would face the most disruption. The workforce would be nearly evenly split between former LTD, GMG, and PCS employees. The management team was similarly built out of leaders drawn from each of the companies. The three different cultures and market disciplines would need to be rationalized. As a company with thousands of employees and billions of dollars in annual revenue, this was not a small challenge. It very much was like the merger of three very large and very different companies. The risk of chaos, political infighting, customer service issues, damaged customer relationships, and brand decay was very high.

How I helped:

The "transformation" to these new divisions was scheduled for early 2004. I came on-board in November 2003 and began meeting with Howard Janzen's leadership team. Howard was the president of GMG and would become the president of SBS. I reported to Steve Signoff, Howard's chief of staff and vice president of planning. Steve and I worked together to develop a vision, a strategic framework, and a story that would meet Howard's five goals (listed above). This involved:

  • Conducting one-on-one interviews with key leaders to assess the capabilities, resources, and opportunities at hand.
  • Analyzing market dynamics and competitive positioning.
  • Working with Howard and Steve to develop a vision for the new business.
  • Proposing a strategic framework to guide the new business.
  • Working closely with the leadership team to refine the vision and the strategic plan and ensure that it could be operationalized.
  • Developing a compelling story for the Sprint Board, the employees, and the broader market.

Howard successfully secured the Sprint Board's approval to move forward and rallied the team around the plan.

Sprint Business Solutions strategic framework
"The strategic framework
Russ helped us develop
was instrumental in
uniting the team around
a future we could own."
Howard Janzen
Former President
Sprint Business Solutions

Once SBS launched, Russ facilitated monthly strategy workshops with the leadership team to evolve the strategy, prioritize initiatives, and make key decisions. Within the first year, the strategic framework helped guide the team through several high stakes choices, and by year's end, Sprint's stock price had climbed from $32.80 to $49.70.

Let's Talk!

Copyright © 2014-2024 SDG Strategy, LLC To God be the glory.