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Tough Calls: AT&T and the Hard Lessons Learned from the Telecom Wars (Hardcover)

by Dick Martin (Author) "Mike Armstrong boarded an AT&T corporate jet for the first time on Sunday, October 19, 1997..." (more)
Key Phrases: ambidextrous leadership, downsizing announcement, other cable companies, Tough Calls, Time Warner, Wall Street Journal (more...)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Former AT&T PR head Martin records his take on Ma Bell's descent from blue chip royalty, offering an insider's view of the corporation's struggle to reorient itself to a world in which its longtime cash cow—long-distance service—was becoming a profitless commodity. CEO Michael Armstrong's late '90s attempt to counter this trend by expanding into cable, wireless and business services forms the centerpiece of the book. Ultimately, AT&T ran out of time as the overly exuberant market collapsed and the company had to break itself up once more, this time in order to stay afloat. The journey was highlighted by mega-deals, leadership missteps, PR blunders and outright fraud. Martin also offers an eye-opening analysis of the impact of MCI WorldCom's fraudulent financial statements, which, he says, lowered AT&T's sales by $5 billion per year. Martin lightens the endless carnage with portraits of the telecom industry's top players, describing, for instance, how a new AT&T president was unable to tell the reporters at his first press conference the name of the long-distance company he uses at home. The result: "Run AT&T? He apparently couldn't even spell it. And so forth." There are lots of good PR and leadership lessons here. (Nov.)Forecast:Anyone sussing out AT&T's remaining potential—or hurt by the telecom bubble's demise—is a potential customer here.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Martin, head of AT&T's public relations during the tenure of CEO C. Michael Armstrong, describes Armstrong's leadership and that of his predecessor from 1996 to recently, when the company was acquired by Comcast. (Armstrong did not participate in the writing of this book.) The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a death sentence for stand-alone, long-distance service, from which AT&T derived 80 percent of its revenues and 100 percent of its profits. Armstrong arrived in 1997, assuming one of the greatest challenges in American business, and designed the right plan for the company. He would have survived some mistakes but lacked the time to overcome years of fraud perpetrated by his main competitor, MCI Worldcom. While Martin focuses upon missteps, we also learn of Armstrong's successes, including wireless and data business acquisitions and developing a $4 billion outsourcing program in less than four years. Martin, a public relations veteran with 20/20 hindsight who conducted numerous interviews for this book, presents an important corporate story with lessons for those fighting today's battles. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (November 26, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0814472435
  • ISBN-13: 978-0814472439
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #773,138 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great insights on AT&T and the practice of PR, November 9, 2004
Dick Martin pulls no punches in his review of AT&T and the PR efforts he led while head of the company's communications team. His insights come from his PR leadership during some of AT&T's most tumultuous times. The inner thinkings of CEOs, CFOs and more are on display as the company tackles increasing challenges in the marketplace. Martin appears most insightful when he shines the spotlight equally bright on the company's PR efforts he led -- what went right, what could have gone better, and what went wrong. A good read for those interested in corporate leadership and the communications that often accompany it.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Honest Words about Ma Bell's Makeover, November 9, 2004
By James T. Mahoney (Chatham, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have known Dick Martin for many years, but personally and not professionally. The topic of this book was of immediate interest for two reasons: I know many persons in the telecom industry who no longer have jobs; and I know many persons whose retirement funds and savings have been hurt as a result of their declining telecom shares.

I found this book to be honest, insightful, and of tremendous value to any organization seeking to accept to the whitewater environment of our society today. Dick minced no words about failures, erroneous judgment calls, or the strengths and weaknesses of the various leaders. He also gave perspective that filled in the blanks of the public perception of AT&T's moves and developments over the years. He connected the dots brilliantly to show the powerful impact that the criminal behavior of WorldCom had on AT&T. Due to WorldCom's crimes (publicly acknowledged) AT&T was forced to make decisions believing that the numbers reported by WorldCom were accurate when they were, in fact, fabrications. How sad for everyone.

The style is sparking and clear, which is not surprising since it is written by Dick. Read this book if you are interested in what has happened to the telecom industry or how to have your organization avoid some of the pitfalls that waylaid many of the dreams of AT&T. It is so refreshing to read a "no spin" book where honesty is transparent to all on every page.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Close to Worthless, December 30, 2005
The back cover says that this book is "an up-front seat for the roller coaster ride" and a "look at how a great company tumbled" that will give us a "tour of AT&T's wild ride" and "chart the dissolution of an American icon." Not one of those comments is even remotely warranted.

I was expecting to find interesting insider discussions of important questions like:
* Did AT&T make any mistakes during the "trivestiture" in January 1996 (akin to giving away the wireless licenses to the RBOCs in the 1984 breakup)? Martin doesn't say, beyond talking about the PR fallout of the layoffs, which right off the bat were themselves only a side issue of the broader business strategy.
* Was pursuing cable the right strategy for Armstrong to implement? Probably, but Martin doesn't weigh in on this.
* Did AT&T overpay for MediaOne? Of course, but again Martin is silent.
* Did AT&T further compound its cable problem by putting poor executives (first Hindery and then Somers) in charge of broadband? Not a peep.
* How should AT&T have handled the $2 billion @Home acquisition? Silence.
* Were all these problems unavoidable due to AT&T's pre-1996 succession planning problems? The only aspect of this question that Martin bothers to discuss is the PR fiasco surrounding Walter's departure. As if that were the most important aspect. He strikes me as having an exaggerated sense of his importance to the organization.

AT&T was a corporate icon for 130 years and had 4 million stockholders. Surely there were "hard lessons learned" as the subtitle claims, lessons that are valuable in the broader context of the modern corporation. However, from reading this book you would get the impression that AT&T's only mistakes were in communications. Martin gives us an incredibly myopic view of just the PR efforts related to AT&T's various missteps. Outside the PR business, who cares? Nobody! This could (indeed should) have been the business book with the broadest appeal in a decade. Instead we got a book that only PR people could stomach. It was so monumentally boring it literally put me to sleep. I bought this book to read about AT&T; if I cared about Martin's actions I would have bought his biography instead.

Despite naming the first chapter "Don't dance to the music of your own buzz" it seems that Martin has done exactly that. His book is the ultimate example of form over substance, confusing the important business questions facing AT&T with the buzz surrounding him and the communication of the answers to those questions. Whether the answers were the right ones or not, Martin is unwilling (or unable) to say. If this book is an example of the caliber of executive thinking at the level of Executive Vice President at AT&T no wonder the company sank so far so fast.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars I was there
Tough Calls: AT&T and the Hard Lessons Learned from the Telecom Wars Having been at AT&T during much of the time covered in this book I was fascinated by the struggles these... Read more
Published 11 months ago by F. Grizmala

5.0 out of 5 stars Think Again
Quite frankly, I was surprised that Dick Martin shared as much as he did in this book, given his continuing legal obligations to AT&T. Read more
Published 18 months ago by William J. Feuss

3.0 out of 5 stars Tough Calls: AT&T and the Hard Lessons Learned from the Telecom Wars
An OK effort, but I would recommend Cauley's book: The End of the Line as less sychophantic effort at explaining the incompetence and greed that brought down an American... Read more
Published on January 14, 2007 by John Adams

4.0 out of 5 stars Not what it is advertised but a good addition to the AT&T story
Dick Martin was a VP of communication/marketing sat AT&T and offers a unique perspective on why they collapsed. Read more
Published on December 22, 2006 by Lehigh History Student

1.0 out of 5 stars Tedious, at Best
Dick Martin had an excellent position inside AT&T with which to report on the "perfect storm" of technological change, intensifying competition, and government intervention (both... Read more
Published on February 6, 2006 by Loyd E. Eskildson

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Myopic Actually
I ordered this book in order to read it during my vacation. I was hopeful that it would convey some general history and broad lessons associated with the collapse of the most... Read more
Published on August 17, 2005 by Bruce D. Miller

5.0 out of 5 stars Most compelling reading I've had in years
I do not know Mr. Martin nor have I ever worked for AT&T. I am not a PR professional and my involvement in the telecom industry does not extend beyond "consumer. Read more
Published on March 24, 2005 by Matthew J. Valle

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Case Study!
I read with great interest "Tough Calls" from back to cover; and cover to back, as I was very familiar with AT&T; having spent many years in senior sales positions for "ma bell"... Read more
Published on February 8, 2005 by Ian G. Cunningham

5.0 out of 5 stars Insider's Candid Look at AT&T in Crisis
TOUGH CALLS lets the reader peek behind the curtain of corporate "publicspeak" protecting the senior managers of every large corporation. Read more
Published on January 3, 2005 by J. Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars How to do PR during a series of disasters.
A sub-title for this book could be - 'How to grind an old and proud company down to nothing.' I was a supplier to AT&T during much of the time covered by this book. Read more
Published on December 6, 2004 by John Matlock

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