Project Raindrops: Transforming Workplace Culture at AT&T

Case Code: CLHR098 Case Length: 5 Pages Period: 2021-2024 Pub Date: 2024 Teaching Note: Available

Price: Rs.300 Organization: AT&T Inc. Industry: Technology & Communications Countries: United States Themes: Change Management, Postmerger Integration, Organizational Culture, Leadership and Change Management

Abstract

The case "Project Raindrops: Transforming Workplace Culture at AT&T" explores AT&T's initiative to revamp its workplace culture following its merger with Time Warner, now WarnerMedia. To harmonize the two distinct corporate cultures and achieve strategic business goals, AT&T introduced new cultural pillars: Serve Customers First, Move Faster, Act Boldly, and Win as One. Through extensive employee focus groups, surveys, and interviews, these pillars were designed to engage and hold employees accountable.

Project Raindrops, a key component of the "Move Faster" pillar, aimed to expedite, simplify, and streamline business processes. The program solicited and implemented employee ideas to eliminate redundant policies, earning strong support from top management. Successful contributors were celebrated and honored on a company-wide Wall of Fame. By 2022, Project Raindrops had eliminated 20 inefficient processes and enhanced 64 others, saving 1.7 million employee hours. By March 2024, the initiative had saved 3.6 million hours and over USD 230 million in expenses. As AT&T planned to scale the cultural pillars and Project Raindrops globally, there was an urgent need to explore potential operational and cultural challenges in such large-scale implementation. What kind of operational or cultural challenges would the Project Raindrops team face after large sale implementation?

This case is ideal for MBA courses in Organizational Behavior, Change Management, and Strategic Leadership. It can teach topics such as cultural integration post-merger, employee engagement strategies, and process optimization. Students will learn how to drive cultural change, manage large-scale transformation projects, and measure the impact of strategic initiatives.

Issues

• Identify the need for cultural transformation in the context of a merger.
• Explain the purpose and process of a change management program and its impact on operations and culture.
• Apply concepts of change management and process optimization to evaluate the effectiveness of Project Raindrops
• Analyze the potential operational and cultural challenges in scaling the Project Raindrops initiative globally.

Introduction

In July 2020, AT&T Inc., a US based telecommunications company, came out with a set of four new cultural tenets to redefine and grow its culture – Serve Customers First, Move Faster, Act Boldly, and Win as One. This initiative for cultural transformation was launched after the official closure of the AT&T and Time Warner merger on June 15, 2018. The deal between AT&T and Time Warner was initially announced in October 2016 under the leadership of Randall Stephenson, then CEO of AT&T..

Keywords

Organizational Culture; Employee engagement; Employee attitude; Cultural transformation; Corporate culture; Leadership & Change management;

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