Forget watching the TV show “Survivor.” After all, how many times can you watch people eat bugs and rats without getting queasy? Instead, take care of your voyeuristic tendencies with the wireless industry’s own version of Survivor.
While there have always been instances of Company A buying Company B, the rapid merger and acquisition activity taking place in today’s world lends itself to an ether-world version of the show.
The premise for the TV show and various wireless happenings have many of the same components: Two warring tribes competing against each other for the ultimate prize-in this case, money. (Does it sound like Ericsson and Qualcomm to you, too?)
Eventually, the tribes join together under a new name. This supposedly makes it a new tribe, but the audience still wonders if the participants have any lingering loyalties to the old tribe. (While it still sounds like Ericsson-Qualcomm, are visions of Bell Atlantic-PrimeCo-GTE-AirTouch also dancing in your head?)
Of course, at the end of the TV show, there is only one survivor left. The ultimate loyalty is to yourself.
The parallel that picture brings to mind in the wireless world is how employees are handling merger mania.
Did Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio really endear himself to U S West employees when he commented that he knew how Bruce Springsteen felt during an energetic rally for employees of the combined Qwest-U S West? My gut reaction is no. As much as the event may have been designed to build the new team, U S West employees are loyal to U S West-a Bell company, for Pete’s sake. It must be difficult coming to terms with the reality their paychecks are now signed by some “barely wet behind the ears” upstart.
I’ve repeatedly heard it’s great to work for Craig McCaw because he gives his employees power. I recently heard the same thing about VoiceStream Wireless Corp. CEO John Stanton (who got his training from McCaw.)
Will a Deutsche Telekom CEO or someone else bring that same praise from VoiceStream employees if VoiceStream is the next company to sell out?
So employees must use survival strategies. Should they try to fit in the new company; wait out the changes in hopes another company will buy the newly merged company in the next six months; or jump to another tribe, hoping the team over there is better?
Strategy. Skill. Survivalist tactics.
This is the new wireless world in which people work. The only problem with the wireless version is it’s probably not much fun to play.
