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Case Study

Leadership at TDC Sunrise: ''Always a smile'' or ''communication is life''?

By Preston C. Bottger and George Rädler

35 pages

December 2004

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Reference: IMD-4-0278

This is a leadership case based on the real-life example of a turnaround in the Swiss telecom industry. Within three years, TDC sunrise (sunrise) went from massive losses (equivalent to around 27% of sales) to respectable profit levels, a year earlier than initially anticipated. TDC, the Danish telephone incumbent, was pursuing a growth strategy. This was the largest foreign investment by any Danish company. The case describes the developments after Kim Frimer, sunrise’s CEO & president, was asked to “fix” sunrise. Frimer was a rising star within TDC “who was thrown into this job and then had to deliver.” Although Frimer had an entrepreneurial background, as well as a good understanding of the industry, his capacity to move people to action is impressive. He and his team brought accountability, discipline and focus to the organization, greatly enhanced processes and thereby improved productivity. They also seem to have been successful in pleasing customers and employees, as well as superiors in Copenhagen.

Keywords

Managerial Effectiveness, Impact, Motivation, Deregulation, Transparency, Turnaround

Settings

Europe, Switzerland
1998 - 2003

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

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