Publications
Publications
- February 2004
- HBS Case Collection
The Making of Verizon
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Douglas A Raymond and Ryan Raffaelli
Abstract
Through a series of mergers, Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon chairman and CEO, successfully shared the co-CEO title twice while building the largest telecom company in the United States. The strong and complementary cultures of the companies that Seidenberg and a key group of executives had merged was a major factor in their success. However, in the steps leading up to this, decreased revenues in their traditional wireline business intensified their dependence on the growth of wireless and broadband services. As Verizon moved into this less familiar territory, the culture that had sustained them through change would have to be evaluated as they embarked on a new wave of growth. As the future of Verizon become more dependent on business in areas that bore little resemblance to the Baby Bells, were the lessons from past successful mergers less applicable?
Keywords
Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Transition; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Risk Management; Telecommunications Industry; United States
Citation
Kanter, Rosabeth M., Douglas A Raymond, and Ryan Raffaelli. "The Making of Verizon." Harvard Business School Case 303-131, February 2004.