Corporate & Business Strategies of Rogers Communications Inc Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Rogers Communications Inc.'s corporate and business-functional strategies. The corporate strategy analysis examines vertical integration, horizontal diversification across its four main sectors (Wireless, Cable, Media, and Business Solutions), and geographic diversification within Canada. It identifies challenges such as the decline in cable subscriptions due to the rise of streaming services and recommends strategic adjustments, including potentially selling off secondary brands like Fido and Chatr to reinvest in innovative technologies like 5G network development. The business-functional strategies are evaluated using Porter's four generic strategies (cost leadership, cost focus, differentiation focus, and differentiation leadership), highlighting areas for improvement in the value chain and emphasizing the importance of adapting to changing consumer preferences in the telecommunications market. The analysis uses SWOT to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report also recommends improving value chain activities through teamwork and identifying value-added services to enhance customer value.

Analysis of Corporate Strategy and Business-Functional Strategies of Rogers
Communications Inc
Company: Rogers Communications Inc. (Telecommunications industry)
By: Madawi Abunayyan #0510024 ([e-mail])
Majed Abunayyan #0478092 ([e-mail])
Gillian Snelling #0580580 ([e-mail])
Meghan Timewell #0587823 ([e-mail])

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Part IV - Corporate Strategy............................................................................................................5
Part V - Business-Functional Strategies........................................................................................12
Business Strategy using Porter’s 4 Generic Strategies..................................................................12
B. Problems within the Company’s Business Strategy.................................................................14
C. Strategy Recommendations and Rationale...............................................................................17
Summary........................................................................................................................................21
References......................................................................................................................................22

Executive Summary
Rogers Communication Inc. Corporate Strategy Analysis is presented in two categories
which is the corporate strategies and business functional strategies. The corporate strategies are
looked at in vertical locations which explains that Rodgers communication is both mid-stream
and downstream. Horizontal location looks at the 4 sectors that produce revenue and the multiple
synergies that can be found primarily between cable and wireless. The geographic diversification
shows the geographical areas Rogers Communications cover with in Canada. Rogers
Communications analysis looks at how Canadians are gearing toward entertainment that grants
them full control of what they are watching for example like Netflix and Hulu.
Recommendations of the business is leaning towards streaming services to allow their consumers
to be in full control of their entertainment due to the shrinking demands for cable services.
Business functional strategies analysis uses Porters 4 generic strategies. One, the cost of
leadership which is key to emphasizing on the prices of lowest cost producers and profit margins.
Two, the cost focus on aiming for low cost advantages in only small market segments. Three,
differentiation focus focus’s a small market segment to enable customers to obtain different
needs and wants that is not offered by existing competing firms. Last, differentiation leadership
involves changing product pricing, branding, and adding features to differentiate from other
competing firms.
This analyzed section goes over the goals, mapping out actions and areas that need improvement.
Including new ideas such as integrating effective technology. Aspects to the opportunities in the
external market is examined using SWOT analysis. Examining the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats including factors that favour the growth of the firm. Going over the
term “stuck in the middle” situations and its difficulties of overcoming new business models

fronted by rivals in the market. Correctly solving value chain weaknesses and clarifying the
weakening value chain which can create inefficiency in the firm. Examples of recommendations
are represented in the analysis are including approaches such as adopting teamwork approach’s
in the identification and analysis of activities in the value chain and identifying the value of
added services and differentiation activities for improvement customers' value. If value chains
are followed efficiently this may maximize the profits even in a slowly growing market.
Introduction
Rogers Communications Inc. is a diverse telecommunication company. Rogers divides its
business between 4 segments. The first is Rogers Wireless, reaches 96% of Canadians with their
LTE network (n.d., 2017). This segment offers postpaid and prepaid services, along with the new
devices that are on the current market (n.d., 2017). The second and third segment is Rogers
Cable and Rogers Business Solutions the combination of these two segments provide “high-
speed internet access, television, phone, and advanced Wi-Fi services” (n.d., 2017). The fourth
segment is Rogers Media this segment is responsible for “sports entertainment, television,
publishing, and radio broadcasting.” (n.d, 2017). Rogers Media is investing its money in content
that their customers want and making sure that the customer can view the content on any device
(n.d., 2017).
Within this report, we will be looking at Rogers Communications Inc. Corporate Strategy
and Business-Functional Strategies. From the analysis of these strategies as a group, we have
created a list of recommendation for each strategy. That we believe will help them continue on
their current track and to improve the company.

Part IV - Corporate Strategy
Current Corporate Strategies
Vertical Location
Rogers Communications core business is their wireless segment. As seen in Figure 1.1
we can see that the wireless section is responsible for 58% of Rogers Total Revenue. From
looking at Figure 1.2-1.3, we can see that the wireless sector has increased by a percent every
year since 2015 and the cable sector has decreased by a percent every year, while the media and
Business Solutions percentage of revenue have remained the same for the past three years. The
increase in Wireless and decreased in Cable is most likely due to the rise of people removing
cable from their homes and going for the more popular streaming options. That has been gaining
in popularity for the past few years. Within the vertical location, their Rogers is both a mid-
stream and downstream business. It is a mid-stream business because it a leading distributor of
its services that they bundle together with other products from their different sectors to optimize
profit. Though it is also downstream because it sells products from other companies (e.g., Apple,
Samsung, etc.).
Figure 1.1: Rogers Communications Inc. 2017 Operating Revenue broken down into its four segments of operation. Retrieved
from Rogers Communications Inc. 2017 Annual Report.

Figure 1.2: Rogers Communications Inc. 2016 Operating Revenue broken down into its four segments of operation. Retrieved
from Rogers Communications Inc. 2016 Annual Report.
Figure 1.3: Rogers Communications Inc. 2015 Operating Revenue broken down into its four segments of operation. Retrieved
from Rogers Communications Inc. 2015 Annual Report.
Horizontal Location
Rogers Communications Inc. has four main sectors that produce its revenue. The biggest
is Rogers Wireless, followed by Rogers Cable, Rogers Media, and then Rogers Business
Solutions. Within the NAICS classification, Rogers is primarily under the 51 Information and
Cultural Industries (Statistics Canada, 2017). The company also falls within the 44-45 Retail

Trade (Statistics Canada, 2017). Rogers Communications also has multiple synergies within their
company. These synergies can primarily be found between the Cable and Wireless sectors. The
most visible examples are the numerous bundle packages offers between the cable and wireless
segments of the business.
Geographic Diversification
Rogers Communications primarily does its business in Canada. Figure 1.4 is a summary
of where Rogers Communication does its business within Canada:
Rogers Communications Area of Operations
Segment Provinces
Rogers Wireless All of Canada
Rogers Cable Ontario
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Businesses and Governments (Canada & Other)
Rogers Media TV brand channels:
All of Canada
Radio Stations:
British Columbia
Alberta
Manitoba
Ontario

Nova Scotia
Roger Business Solutions Businesses and Governments (Canada & Other)
Figure 1.4: Rogers Communications Area of Operations.
Rogers Communications does participate in some business activities outside of Canada
but the information on exactly where could not be found. Rogers Communications Strategy uses
the multi-domestic strategy within its firm. This strategy is due to Rogers doing most of its
business within Canada, but it tailor’s what is the company owns within each province. Rogers
Communications mode of entry is Greenfield.
Current Challenges Related to Corporate Strategies
As stated in the previous section, the main source of revenue for Rogers is their section
that is responsible for providing wireless communications via cell phones and internet. That
section is increasing as the cable television section is shrinking at the same rate. The demand for
cable is shrinking because Canadians are opting for a service that grants them total control of
their entertainment. They are gravitating towards streaming services that offer monthly
subscriptions such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Video, and now even YouTube. These streaming
services are void of the time constraints and limited selection of cable television. Additionally,
most Canadians already require internet services in their home and are likely to prefer paying for
the one service that offers the entertainment potential as getting both internet and cable.
Rogers is not at all being limiting by staying in Canada. They are not performing below
competitors in terms of market share or market capitalization. In fact, they lead the industry in
Canada. It is clear in Figure 1.5 below that Rogers shares the top 90% of the Canadian wireless
market with only two other service providers. Challenges for Rogers do not lie in the Canadian

market or further expanding. Entering a foreign market will certainly create instability and
challenges for the company.
Figure 1.5: Wireless subscriber market share for 2015 and 2016. Retrieved from a Government of Canada Communications
Monitoring Report 2017: Telecommunications sector overview.
Recommendations
As previously stated, the number of cable subscriptions is declining as demand for
wireless services is increasing. It is vital for Rogers to realize that landline telephones are
borderline obsolete and cable television services could be the next to go. Being an industry
leader means always being a step ahead of the competition and making business decisions based
on predictions supported by patterns. According to a recent Communications Monitoring Report,
between 2014 and 2015, revenue for television providers went down 3.4%, while revenue for
internet grew 10.3% and wireless grew 7.6% (Government of Canada, 2016). Additionally,
internet and wireless have had a combined increase of 25.9% since 2012 (Government of
Canada, 2017). This is evidence of a pattern that must be considered when deciding the future of
Rogers and their services.

Rogers owns three communications companies: Rogers Wireless, Fido Solutions, and
more recently Chatr Mobile. For Rogers, these second-tier providers could potentially be
considered dead weight as they are not nearly as successful as perhaps Telus’ Koodo Mobile.
Companies are creating these “discount carriers” in order to offer more options to customers at a
lower price. Sometimes these carriers will compromise on coverage or speed, and they are void
of bundles and family sharing plans, but they are a better option for Canadians on a budget. The
results for a survey by J.D Power display that Fido Solutions came in third place for purchase
experience satisfaction, behind Koodo Mobile (Telus) in first and Videotron (Quebecor) in
second (J.D. Power Canada, 2018). As for Rogers’ new flanker company Chatr, there does not
appear to be a large notable difference in the price of plans from that of their parent company,
but their contracts and payment plans for phones are considerable.
It is recommended that Rogers should either invest more in growing and somehow
popularizing their flanker companies that are Fido and Chatr, or sell them off entirely. Fido and
Chatr simply are not successfully competing with other second-tier carriers the way Rogers
competes with their main competitors. The reason for this is likely because Rogers is not
allotting the necessary resources for marketing, customer service, technical support, and
advertising.
If Rogers was to discontinue service from Fido and Chatr, they would need to strategize
in order to retain customers under the Rogers umbrella and keep them from gravitating towards
other second-tier companies. For example, incentives like offering the first year with Rogers at
the same price as their previous agreement with Fido or Chatr. Alternatively, they could offer
special contract discounts to anyone bringing their number or phone over to Rogers from one of
their closed flanker companies.

Earlier this year, it was reported by the Globe and Mail that Shaw Communications Inc.
closed a deal to buy Wind Mobile for $1.6 billion (Bradshaw, 2018). If that is any indication for
what Rogers could potentially gain for selling Fido and Chatr, it could mean investing in services
that Canadians really want from them. After selling off Fido and Chatr, Rogers can take the sale
profits, as well as other funding originally associated with their flankers, and re-allocate them to
research and development of innovative technology. Right now, communication companies in
Canada are focused on developing a 5G network nationwide. Rogers has already stated that they
are working towards implementing a 4.5G network as a stepping stone and extra funds would
undeniably help in achieving that. After all, wireless communications is the main source of
revenue for Rogers and in such a competitive industry, Rogers needs to do what they can to stand
apart from the rest.
In addition to fueling innovation, it is another recommendation that Rogers expands into
new regions. Figure 1.6 below shows the Rogers coverage map of Canada where all the orange is
Rogers network and yellow is extended coverage. For a company that claims to be accessible,
the coverage map proves that only applies to those who reside in Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Southern Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Even if expanding into new provinces and territories fails to
boost their revenue, it would contribute to a positive reputation for Rogers. Making
communication technology accessible for all Canadians would be part of funding innovation.
Perhaps expanding coverage will be part of the 5G plan, but should be considered if it is not
already.

Figure 1.6: Canadian coverage map for Rogers wireless. Retrieved from Rogers Communications.
Summary
Part V - Business-Functional Strategies
Business Strategy using Porter’s 4 Generic Strategies
Porter’s 4 Generic business strategy has evaluated on how different aspects of cost
leadership, cost focus, differentiation leadership is effective enough for Rogers Communication
in forming new policy and plans. The primary business plan that Rogers Communication has
implemented within organization is reducing product cost in order to survive their
sustainability in market. The extent exploits the idea of business activities being narrow versus
broad and the range of product differentiation of the firm (Omsa, 2017).
Competitive advantage arises where a firm has the edge over its competitors by availing
greater value goods and services to the market. This may be in the form of offering consumers
low priced and higher value goods and after-sales services. The business expert of Rogers