Abstract

Four key forces-technological change, changes in market demand, deregulation, and globalization-are affecting and changing the structure of the service industries. The forces can be illustrated by using the telecommunications services industry. This article examines and analyzes four major firms: British Telecom in the United Kingdom, DBP TELEKOM in Germany, NTT in Japan, and BellSouth in the United States. These companies are changing their strategies and their structures to deal with current changes in the industry and to prepare for how the industry may evolve over the next ten years. Such changes will have a major impact on the future development of global services industries.