Impact of Tech Change on Telecommunication Industry

Running head: STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Africa Calling: Mobile Telephones Open Up Opportunities
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Executive summary
This study is divided into two sections and is aimed at understanding the African telecom sector
& also the change management process. The study explains the some of the fields of the
telecommunication industry in Africa. It also explains the anticipated challenges for the telecom
companies while operating in countries beyond the home countries. In addition to this, the paper
also covers a very interesting topic which is the organizational change management process. The
paper identifies the few suitable leadership styles which can effectively fulfill the different
principles highlighted in the case study article on the 10 principles of the change management
process.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Question 1:.......................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Discuss the industry driving forces which are impacting on the mobile telecommunications
market in Africa:..........................................................................................................................3
1.2 Discuss the extent to which the strategies of the African mobile telephone companies have
appropriately addressed the industry driving forces identified:..................................................6
1.3 Critically discuss the risks and benefits of African companies expanding beyond their
home countries:............................................................................................................................7
1.4 Industry leaders, such as MTN in Africa, are concerned with defending and extending their
leadership position within their industry. Critically discuss the strategies which would assist
industry leaders in defending and extending their leadership position:......................................9
Question 2:.....................................................................................................................................10
2.1 Discuss the reasons why “organizational change management and transformation have
become permanent features of the business landscape”:...........................................................10
2.2 Discuss the reasons why change initiatives in organizations “flounder”:...........................12
2.3 Evaluate the role of organizational culture in leading organizational change:....................13
2.4 Discuss the role of leadership in organizational change initiatives in terms of the guiding
principles in the article:.............................................................................................................15
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................18
References:....................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction:
Telecommunication has been a potential sector to many telecom companies across the
world. The industry has served the needs and desire of common people who had wanted a
medium to communicate with the others. The prospect is very good in countries that are still a
developing country in terms of the different cellular services. Africa is one of those countries that
are still not matured and has much to offer to the cellular or the telecom companies. Africa is the
second largest continents in the world; however, this is one particular region that has witnessed a
real decline in the personal wealth in the last 30 years (Olatokun and Ojo 2016). The region has
watched the telecom sector of other regions and also understood the opportunity that lies in the
telecom industry. The real growth of the telecom industry had started then only. The main
purpose of this assignment is to understand the telecom sector in Africa. The areas of concern
will be the prospects that the industry provides and its potential challenges as well. Moreover,
the assignment discusses the driving forces for the cellular industry and the associated risks also.
Question 1:
1.1 Discuss the industry driving forces which are impacting on the mobile
telecommunications market in Africa:
The forces that are driving the change in a positive direction can well be understood with
the help of various change management models. This is a very interesting fact that a business can
presumably survive if it has an evolving nature. Additionally, for a business to evolve it is
necessary that a change management process is at the place. The change management model
does the needful by bringing a much-needed change to help the business evolve. There are ample

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of change management model which can help to facilitate the required change. However, the
Lewin’s change management model is being only discussed here.
The Lewin’s change management model describes the change in three possible stages
that according to the model may be described as “unfreeze”, “make changes” and “refreeze”
(Asnan, Nordin and Othman 2015). The concept looks pretty easier and quite communicable
from its name only. The first stage in the model is unfrozen which means that the organization or
a business first need to dissolve into the few identified areas which will be required for the
change process (Asnan, Nordin and Othman 2015). The next stage is the phase where the change
exactly takes place. All the identified change happens to be in this stage only (Asnan, Nordin and
Othman 2015). Once the change has been brought to the identified areas, the third stage of the
model arrives which communicates the refreezing process. This means that the business will now
sustain the brought changes (Asnan, Nordin and Othman 2015).
There are certain driving forces for a changing picture of the African telecommunication
industry. Follow is the list of three most identified factors which have fueled the growth of the
telecommunication service in specific the mobile telecommunication business in Africa:
- Political support:
The new format of telecommunication which is the mobile telecommunication has picked
up the speed due to some reasons such as the poor personal wealth of people living in the
different parts of Africa. The cellular services offered through the landline phones are quite
expensive which makes it unaffordable to many. This was the reason also that the fixed line
services had not been able to reach a wider part, in particular, the rural areas. On the other hand,
the mobile telecommunication was much cheaper and is quite up to the demand. A rising

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requirement for integrating with the international values and a growing market prospect for the
mobile telecommunication had both played important roles in drawing the attention of state
government (Asongu and Nwachukwu 2016).
- Risk-taking companies:
Two biggest companies like the MTN and the MSI Cellular have not hesitated to invest
in the telecom infrastructure. The market has reached the saturation level in South Africa.
Nigeria, on the other hand, has emerged as a potential market for mobile cellular services. This is
probably the reason why MTN had invested in Nigeria (Asongu and Nwachukwu 2016). At that
time, the chairman of MSI cellular service, Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim had warned that opportunity is
there but the opportunities will require strategic capabilities such as the management team, the
ability to attract the finance and a successful record (Asongu and Nwachukwu 2016).
- Elevated demand for communication:
The existing system of communication had not served the needs of ever-changing
customers in the African region. People living in the rural areas were largely affected form the
dilemma. There was the need for mobile telecommunication in context to maknge the
communication simpler and cheaper as well (Asongu and Nwachukwu 2016). The mobile
telecommunication had offered the customers the two most important benefits. Customers
especially the farmers were able to check the mobile balance which was a challenging task in
context to the landline phone bills. It has also made few things simpler like money transaction;
however, it was challenging at times when customers had to rely on the use of landline phones
(Asongu and Nwachukwu 2016).