Turkell: The Only Turk On Wall Street
...3g, the third Generation of mobile phone systems?
Although expensive, Turkell needs to take a leadership position on the new 3-G technology. Otherwise, they will be giving away the market to the first company that does introduce 3-G in Turkey. While it is a different system, NTT DoCoMo has already introduced 3-G in Japan and the technology is very impressive. Over the phone, digital and video pictures can be sent and received. This has become extremely popular in Japan and is starting to catch on in the United States. Unfortunately, due to the investment required, Turkell does not believe the expected revenues warrant such an investment. At the time of the case writing, there was no indication that they were moving to adopt the 3-G technology. Thus, students should be encouraged to research and investigate the pros and cons of moving into 3-G technology.
2. How can Turkell reduce its economic risk if the Turkish lira remains unstable?
This is a question that many Turkish business leaders asked about their own companies during the four and one months that the case writer spent in Istanbul while on sabbatical. The economic crisis of Turkey was undermining all businesses. Unfortunately, the case does not go into much detail, but a weak political system coupled with political corruption is at the heart of Turkey's problems. For years, there had been political stalemate with very little being accomplished. One Prime Minister had legislation enacted in the 1970s that allowed almost anyone to set up a bank. Thus many banks became the personal "piggy bank" of numerous individuals. When these banks crashed in 2000, the Turkish government had to take over 22 banks. The Turkish government also runs a huge deficit each year. There are numerous social welfare programs, but insufficient funds to cover them.
...
View Full Essay
