Comcast Corporation
Toya Jones
Devry Univesity

Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation, with its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest provider of both cable and home internet services in the US, and remains the world largest communication and mass media organization in terms of revenue. In addition, the company boasts of being the third in the country as far as provision of telephone services is concerned (Hovav & Popoviciu, 2009). The company provides its services to both commercial and residential customers within 40 states in the US as well as the District of Columbia. Comcast equally trades in television and film content production, together with the cable channels and national channels, the main film studio Universal and Universal Pictures. The company commands a significant share in digital distribution, especially after merging with Time Warner Cable.
Strengths
On the other hand, the company enjoys relatively low competition in most of its service areas due to the low competitive power of the other cable providers in the industry. Such dominance is also enhanced by the negotiating power of Comcast vested in its large ISP. Many have suggested that Comcast could possibly leverage peering agreements that are paid to influence an unfair end-user speed of connection (Kenney, 2011). Every business venture would wish to exert dominance in the industry and Comcast is no difference. Its incumbency in the business, together with the high capital of operation has served in putting off any potential competition posed by other industry players. Another strength observed in the Comcast Company is the high employee relations. The company has received several awards in recognition of its top class employee treatment. In 2009 for example, the company was among the top ten companies in the cable industry in terms of employee satisfaction and preferences (Kenney, 2011). Additionally, the company received the acknowledgement from Philadelphia Business Journal, where it was awarded a silver medal of being among the best performing extra-large companies within Philadelphia. According to the 2009 survey by the Boston Globe, Comcast was the best place for working within the city. Such employee relation advantage has been particularly enhanced by the extensive diversity in the company in terms of gender, culture and age, which gives the company a strong mark in the industry.
Weakness
Despite the big success achieved by the company, constant criticisms have been labeled against what could be considered the company’s weakness areas. In essence, Comcast has been criticized occasionally for its violation of the practice of net neutrality in the past (Hovav & Popoviciu, 2009). Even as it attempts to give a narrow definition to net neutrality, the opponents have always moved to defend the definition that precludes differences between the private network services at Comcast and other internets. Failure to satisfy its customers has led to loss of brand loyalty by most of its customers, and this ultimately gives its competitors in the industry an upper advantage in competition (Kenney, 2011). The company has been has taken advantage of its incumbency and lack of significant competition by delivering relatively low quality services compared to when it first set in its operations. For instance, the company is among those with the lowest customer satisfaction policy within the cable industry. Lack of frequent consumer surveys has led to low quality products and services provided therein.
Opportunities
Among the notable opportunities for the company have been its operations that are majorly based on philanthropic programs. In essence, the company has been able to execute this program through the Comcast Foundation, which is its charitable arm (Kenney, 2011). Through this, the company focuses on the minority population, amongst which are the Hispanics. In addition to the Comcast Foundation program, the company also provides internet services at low costs to the householders with low income. Among other customers to whom the company provides low cost internet are schools, where the sudsy is effected by the general broadband consumers, via the governmental program of E-Rate. Such operations are important in marketing the reputation of the company, especially in the industry where least attention is given to the marginalized groups in the society. The diversity of customer coverage is thus an important approach that gives a competitive advantage to the company over its competitors. Human resource is among the most fundamental resources in an organization. Productivity of any firm is largely dependent on the effectiveness and efficiency of its human resources, and the most important factor that guarantees success is employee motivation and satisfaction. The company’s reputation in terms of employee relations makes it have great opportunity in attracting and retaining the best talents and skills within the organization, and this gives it a competitive advantage over other players in the industry.
Threats
Despite the company’s good reputation as the best employer in terms of employee relation and satisfaction, the company has also been labeled as an anti-union. According to Comcast’s training manual, the company does not perceive union representation for its employees as being of the best interest of any of the stakeholders in the company, who include customers, Employees and the shareholders (Hovav & Popoviciu, 2009). Such policy is a threat to the stability of the employees and may give room for disputes between the management and the employees. The denial of power for the employee, which is traditionally vested in the trade unions, may destabilize the employees who question whether the organization serves their interest. The company has on many occasions been described as more of a family business, considering that its chairman, Brian L. Roberts, who also happens to be the company’s CEO and president is a son of the company’s co-founder Ralph Roberts (Hovav & Popoviciu, 2009). In this company, for instance, Brian’s ownership of all the super voting shares in class B grants him an undisputed voting power of 33 percent over the company. This means he has an effective control over the operations in Comcast (Kenney, 2011). Such control powers may be potential threats for the company, especially when they are not exercised with care.
Summary
On the basis of the numerous identifiable strengths of the company, it is possible for Comcast to mount significant dominance in the industry by promoting and marketing its brand to ensure brand loyalty among all classes of customers. The company’s popularity among the minority population as well as the low social class customers is key in ensuring constant expansion and dominance in the industry. On the other hand, the company must maintain constant research studies to its customers to establish the exact demands of its customers considering the dynamic consumer needs today. In addition, the company should consider embracing labor union idea for its employees to enhance their satisfaction and loyalty to the organization.

References
Hovav, A., & Popoviciu, C. (2009). Adoption Leadership and Early Planners: Comcast's IP Upgrade Strategy. Communications of the ACM, 52(7), p143-146.
Kenney, M. (2011). How venture capital became a component of the US National System of Innovation. Industrial & Corporate Change, 20(6), p1677-1723.