Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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Critical Thinking Case
Telekom Austria Group: Sustainability to Increase Value
Telekom Austria Group is the largest telecommunications provider in Austria, where it has over
two million fixed net lines. The company has close to 20 million mobile subscribers in its 8
geographic markets, and each market is served by a separately identified subsidiary within the
Telekom Austria Group.
A1 Telekom Austria
Mobiltel in Bulgaria
The overarching goal of the company is to be the most innovative and efficient
telecommunications provider in the Central and Eastern European marketplace. Driving the
attainment of this goal are four corporate values: innovation, diversity, responsibility, and quality.
Sustainability both Internally and Externally
As an information and communications technologies (ICT) company, Telekom Austria Group
seeks to expand and further develop environmentally friendly technologies. One area that the
company has a keen interest in is the virtualization of products and services. In the words of the
company, think “data traffic instead of road traffic.” Examples of such virtualization due to ICT
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Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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ICT Integration into Customers’ Lives
ICT is an indispensable aspect of everyday life in the twenty-first century. At the
business-to-consumer (B2C) level, its use appears in everything from social media
communications (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) to shopping, online banking, and online
education. From a business-to-business (B2B) perspective, ICT enables everything from product
routing via radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to data security. RFID tags emit radio
waves that are decoded by a reading device for the purposes of identification of inventory and
Respondents in a 2009 customer satisfaction survey gave employees in the Technical Customer
Service department at Telekom Austria scores of “excellent” for their expertise, friendliness, and
solutions-oriented attitudes. Additionally, respondents were also highly satisfied with issues
Sustainability Audit
The Telekom Austria Group documents its sustainability performance and provides an annual
sustainability report to its stakeholders and the general public. The performance measures follow
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Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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Sources: “Our Understanding of Sustainability,” Telekom/Austria Group,
Open-ended questions
1. How will Telekom Austria’s commitment to the triple bottom line (planet, people,
profit) provide value to the company’s bottom line?
When it comes to sustainability, the bottom line is comprised of two components:
corporate social performance and corporate financial performance. However, the financial
Examples of companies that have tied social performance metrics to financial performance
are General Electric, CUTCO Cutlery, and Home Depot. General Electric had clearly
stated objectives/strategies and metrics in the launch of Ecomagination. It said it was going
to more than double its research investment in cleaner technologies, from $700 million in
2004 to $1.5 billion in 2010. It also stated that it would introduce more clean-tech products
As consumers transition to more sustainable behaviors, these three companies are
positioned easily as candidates for consumer loyalty and acceptance. Thus, sustainability
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Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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2. Much is discussed about customer service within the context of sustainability at
Telekom Austria. Why is customer satisfaction included in the topic of sustainability?
In the twenty-first century, corporate social responsibility in innovative companies
improves customer satisfaction in companies, which then leads to improved financial
performance. Thus, many companies include topics of customer satisfaction in their
Close-ended questions
True/False
1. ICT stands for information and customer technologies, which states Telekom’s market
orientation.
True
False
OBJ: LO-1.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Product
MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
2. As part of its customer service, Telekom is a full-service green company so that customers can
effortlessly participate without changing their own personal behaviors.
True
False
OBJ: LO-3.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Customer
MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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3. A sustainable behavior that Telekom encourages in its customers might mean paying more for
an environmentally friendly phone that has its recycle fee built into its cost.
True
False
OBJ: LO-3.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Customer
MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
4. Telekom’s commitment to sustainability can be translated into bottom line performance.
True
False
OBJ: LO-3.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Strategy
MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
Mulple Choice
1. Which of the following would you expect to read in Telekom’s mission statement?
a. Telekom is above all a green company.
b. Telekom means sustainability.
c. Telekom seeks to integrate all its resources into the welfare of its customers.
d. Telekom desires to be the most innovative and efficient telecommunications provider in its
market.
e. Telekom is an environmentally friendly company that serves its investors.
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Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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OBJ: LO-2.4
TOP: AACSB Ethics
KEY: CB&E Model Strategy
MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
2. Telekom, in finding ways to benefit its stakeholders, exercises __________ as a guiding
principle.
a. resource conservation
b. ethical decision making
c. corporate social responsibility
d. ethical culture
e. all of the above
OBJ: LO-3.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Strategy
MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
3. Telekom’s Kundiologie (literally, “customerology”) program is intended to improve
__________ as well as customer service.
a. its cellular phones
b. its employees’ ability to interact with clients
c. its automated answering system
d. 611 online support
e. none of the above
OBJ: LO-1.2
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Customer
MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
4. What does Telekom mean by achieving “data traffic instead of road traffic”?
a. Using wireless technologies to help customers leave less of a “carbon footprint”
b. Using fuel-efficient service vehicles
c. Facilitating smartphone purchases
d. Achieving a complete reliance on m-commerce for all its transactions
e. None of the above
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Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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OBJ: LO-3.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Strategy
MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
5. In setting a corporate goal for itself in order to satisfy its broad constituency of stakeholders,
which of the following is not explicitly stated?
a. Sustainability
b. Innovation
c. Quality
d. Responsibility
e. Diversity
OBJ: LO-1.2
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Strategy
MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
6. Why does Telekom follow guidelines issued by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an NGO
based in Amsterdam, when it audits its sustainability performance?
a. The GRI is a European Union agency, and it is the law.
b. Telekom desires to cooperate with a nonprofit organization for their mutual benefit.
c. Such audits also reveal Telekom’s financial performance, which is really its primary goal.
d. Telekom seeks to compare its initiatives to generally accepted indicators of sustainability.
e. Telekom has international subsidiaries that must legally have uniform sustainability goals.
OBJ: LO-3.3
TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model International Perspective
MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 5: Developing a Global Vision
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© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.