| At present,a number of factors are having or likely to have significant impacts on telecom operators,e.g.,technology shock,business model restructuring,3G licensing, industry reorganization and deregulation.It is then critical for an operator to choose and implement the right strategy in order to be a front-runner in the competition.On July 13,2001,Beijing was awarded the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games.In the wake,business opportunities in relation to the Games were put under spotlight.A good number of companies put in time and money just to count on being included in the list of Games partners,in a bid to promote their brands and enhance their corporate competitiveness.The timeframe from 2002 to 2009 were divided into three stages around the Games: the preparation stage,the operating stage and the post-Games stage.A common challenge facing telecom companies and domestic businesses was how to seize the Games-related opportunities in such a short period of time to exploit the economic potentials of the Games,as well as how to combine corporate growth with Games-related opportunities to enhance core competitiveness by making good use of the status of Games partners.While preparing for the Games,offering quality-reassuring services to the Games and taking advantage of Games-related opportunities to gain growth momentum,a key subject for leading operators in making Games-related strategies was how to seek growth on the strength of the Games,realize transformation on the occasion of the Games,build a more cohesive team over the course of the Games,and last but not least,get sizable returns from the Games.In 2003,China Netcom proposed its Games-related strategy,which constitutes a strategic system for the company together with its "broadband strategy" and "internationalization strategy".In 2004,China Netcom became the fixed telecom service partner for the 2008 Games.In 2008,only one month after China Netcom successfully fulfilled its task of offering quality-reassured telecom services for the Games,the company was directed to go through reorganization with China Unicom.In that context,how to evaluate China Netcom's Games-related strategy? Did such a strategy bring gains or losses to the company? Was it because of the incorrect strategic direction of the company which led to stagnant corporate growth and then the ultimate reorganization? Or did the Games-related strategy play a basically positive role for the company? If so,we should venture to say that,even in the face of reorganization,a strategic foundation has been laid in the practical sense for the company to increase its core competitiveness.As a Chinese telecom operator which took the lead to implement Games-related strategy,China Netcom should give more thoughts to its contribution to the Games and learn more from the mature business operation of its international peers.Against this backdrop,it is a subject of much significance to look back on the spawning and implementation of China Netcom's Games-related strategy,and evaluate the company's performance in preparing for and offering services to the Games,so as to identify the common thread behind the facts to spark some enlightening thoughts.The paper intends to shed lights on the following three questions:(1) Making a preliminary study into the Games-related strategies of telecom operators as well as the practical application of such strategies;(2) Analyzing the performance and implications of the Games-related strategies of telecom operators;(3) Studying the innovative experiences which telecom operators derived from offering services to the Games and which may serve as future references.The paper touches upon a relatively new subject that is of practical significance by using both theoretical and empirical methods.It is hoped that the paper will not only provide inspirations for telecom operators which were granted with the Olympic partner statuses,but also offer some useful ideas for other businesses in their dealing with major growth opportunities and key projects. |
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