AOL Company History

Currently, per an article on IDG New Service, Verizon has weathered the storms of a few years ago and is acquiring MCI in a deal that is valued at $6.7 billion. They feel this investment will allow them to grow into a position that will make them have a strong portion of the market share for communications and should give them a wider market base globally. They should acquire advanced broadband technology and services which should put them into a better position to serve a larger base of business and government customers, which was their goal several years ago. However, they face their nemesis of governmental involvement, this time through getting regulatory approval, which could take until 2006 to be achieved. Another reason Verizon has made this aggressive buy out is that their direct competitor, SBC is trying to acquire AT&T to grow in much the same way. They must feel that it is worth the expense to hold their market share globally.

If they are able to maintain the loyalty of most of their current customers, the companies will then have a shared amount of about 100 million customers. This potential customer volume for the merging companies would greatly outnumber the customer volume of the industry leaders, AT&T and Verizon. This kind of turnout would create greater competition between the two merging companies and the two leading companies (Sprint Wireless News, 2014). Although the outcomes seem promising for Sprint and T-Mobile, there are also potential negative effects of a merger that the companies should take into consideration. Current Sprint and T-Mobile customers have expressed their fear of the possible merger for multiple reasons. The two biggest worries for telecommunication services consumers is the potential for rising costs and a reduction in provider options (John, 2016). In making a final decision, the companies, as well as the Federal Communications Commission, should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a

In order to identify Verizon's core competencies, a SWOT and Five Forces analysis was performed. The SWOT analysis showed internal strengths in technology diversification, a large and talented employee resource pool, and an expansive network footprint. Internal weaknesses were revealed that centered on post merger issues such as corporate culture issues, impending workforce retirements, and a lack of systems or process consolidation. External opportunities include the potential to further capitalize on incumbent status, diverse markets, long distance, and brand identity. Finally, external threats include government regulation, substitution, and a weak economy.

The time is now 1995; the internet is slowly evolving, and just as the company survived the arrival of television and other technology so it must with the internet. Convinced the internet will have

The companies are generating cash in what most individuals would say is a substantial manner however, when looking at each organizations debt load, operating expenses and ratios analysts and investors can learn that the cash being generated is far less then what both Verizon and AT& T need to earn in order to consider this a substantial manner for both companies. Both companies in particular Verizon are picking up large amounts of debt however, as they pick up debt both companies are maintaining a profit.

In the second quarter of 2000, AOL settled with the SEC with regard to its’ previously discussed controversial accounting policies. AOL agreed to pay a $3.5 million fine and to reissue earnings statements for years 1995 and 1996. By so doing, it wiped out all the profits the company had made. In the 4th quarter of 2002, AOL registered its’ first decrease in subscriptions with a loss of 200,000 members. Every quarter after that showed additional losses, until at the spin off in December

To summarize, AT&T has a very organized management team that is always planning new things for the company’s well being. The AT&T managers believe in happy employees and happy customers. The company offers great employee benefits and salaries and by doing this they keep the employees working for the company a longer length of time. AT&T realizes that the longer the employees are with the company the more educated they are about the products and services and about company regulations. In turn AT&T spends less money training new employees because the employees that are with the company stay with the company as long as possible. AT&T also manages to keep long lasting relationships with the customers with different things like bundles and by introducing

1. What accounting approach has AOL used in the past that it is now changing (related to the $385 million)?

In its 2012 annual report the company states “innovation in networks is the foundation for growth across the whole industry.” Therefore, Verizon has not only developed strong partnerships aimed at enhancing services; the company has also expanded into the digital healthcare industry, reduced reliance on energy usage, and will continue to expand vertically to other industries where their technologies can influence social change.

Verizon Communications formed by the merger of two big and successful companies, Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp., is the largest telecommunication company. The company serves large part of the market in United States. However the company faces certain strengths and weaknesses which affect the way company formulate its strategies.

     The telecommunications industry is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. The key success factors in this industry are hard to pin point, because they vary from having the right amount of money to having the right amount of customers. This industry is a very expensive industry to do research and development in. Besides the money required for R&D the companies in this business have to spend tremendous amount of capital on advertising and consumer awareness. The services provided by the different competitors in this industry are essentially the same but with very different reputations. AOL spends millions of dollars every year to send free trial C.D., in order to gain customer awareness. Which in turn shows the results as being very successful, making AOL the largest internet-service provider in the United States.

As a mass media corporation, AOL is always focused on providing the customers with network services which are convenient and easy to use, and this is exactly what Stephen Case looking for, who was the founder of AOL. In 1990s, AOL has already took steps in online market and gained huge profits, they put lots of advertisement online while not so many companies noticed the great potency of internet, they cooperated with Amazon and Barnes

Share holders suffered even more, as stock prices plummeted from the time the merger was first announced. A major part of the failure of this merger was the fact that developing a “learning culture” was never considered, and no strategic vision was created for the newly merged organizations. For example Time Warner Cable’s high speed Internet services, Road Runner, as part of its profitable cable operations was never integrated with AOL as Case explained in his 2005 article in the Washington Post (6/ 11/05: B01). The first AOL Time Warner Annual Report (2000) claimed that it was fostering “… a nimble, entrepreneurial culture that recognizes that it can only succeed if everyone supports the new organization based on a shared set of values and common goals.” Unfortunately, the team-work necessary to integrate the two companies never happened, because there was no shared strategic vision of what the merger should be, and where it would be going. Merger Failure and the Need for a Culture of Learning According to some estimates, 85% of merger failures are related to the mismanagement of cultural issues. Awareness of cultural differences is then seen as an issue of primary concern when organizations merge. According to Miller (2000:8): “Once you develop an understanding of the current culture, and have compared that with the goals of the merged

BMG was the first major company to settle the online website and attract many Internet users. However, it missed the golden opportunity to sell music to customers earlier. It focused on promotion at first. Still, through the collaboration with America On Line (AOL) was a unique strategy that

Apple Inc. was founded in 1977. To date, this company has continually offered a wide range of products to meet the growing demands of customers all over the world. Apple not only produces and sells computer software and cellphones; they also distribute consumer electronic products around the globe. Increasing the value of shareholder and coming up with new inventive products is a constant process for Apple, and Apple continues to do so with their popularity around the world with about 301 store locations in 10 different countries. Aside from all of