Introductions
An organization strategic position is very important in determining how the organization is going to deal with changes in the local and global market. An organization that has well defined and specified strategies is likely to succeed in maximizing profits and in promoting innovation.
Competition among organizations in an industry can be quite detrimental to an organization’s success. In order to overcome the various challenges in the business sector, a business should have well defined strategies and objectives in order to fit in the dynamic business world (Sherif, 2006).
Business strategies are wide and encompass a wider scope. The main scope of a business strategy will encompass areas which include but not limited to the following: legal position of the business, social and economic environments, management structure, and the financial position of the organization (Sherif, 2006).
The following research paper is going to evaluate and find out the various strategies taken by Vodafone Company in the United Kingdom in order to realize its goals.
The various environments include the legal environment, management structure, operational and financial issues, social and economic environments and the impact of potential change factors.
Background information
Vodafone is a leading multinational telecommunication company in the United Kingdom. The company has its headquarters in London, UK. Vodafone is the world’s largest telecommunication company in terms of revenues.
The company is the world’s second largest company in terms of subscribers, coming second after China Mobiles (Books Llc, 2010).
The company has its operations in over 30 countries and has partners with over 38 networks in other countries worldwide. Vodafone has operations in various regions around the world. These regions include Africa and the Middle East, The American region, the Europe region and the Asia- Pacific region.
The company deals in a variety of products and services. The main product and services being offered by Vodafone include mobile money transfer services, mHealth solutions, voice calls, data calls, internet services and sell of mobile and related accessories (lbbot, 2007).
Discussion
The legal environmental
The legal environment will always dictate the limits of operations of a business. Various countries have various legal policies, restrictions and guidelines that dictate how an organization should conduct its activities. Any non compliance to these legal policies and guidelines is considered a breach of law which is punishable in courts (Ibbot 2007).
Also, various countries have various legal requirements for registering a business organization. These requirements ensure that a business conducts the legal business activities it was registered for. For any business to be legally recognized, it must meet the set requirements in the region of its operation.
In the United Kingdom where Vodafone has its headquarters, there are various legal requirements and policies a business must observe and adhere to. Some legal requirements of a business in the United Kingdom include compliance with paying taxes, conducting the legal business a business was registered to do, protecting the customers from product and services fraud (lbbot, 2007).
Like any other company in the United Kingdom, Vodafone UK adheres to the various legal requirements in the United Kingdom. The company has been able to fulfill all the needed legal requirements for registration. The company has also, on several occasions, been named the best tax payer and tax compliance company in the United Kingdom (Books Llc, 2010).
All the above scenarios indicate the company has a good legal structure and system. It also indicates that the company follows and adheres to various legal policies, requirements, regulations and guidelines. The company has various ways and measures that ensure customers are not exploited and that they get the best services and products.
Through advertisements and forums, the company is able to enlighten the consumers about their products and services. Also, the company has a well structured complaint system where customers are able to login air their complaints.
The complaint systems enable the company to have continuous improvement in their products and services. This eventually leads to the creation of products which adhere to the legal quality standards.
The company has also received some ISO: 9001 certificates and recognitions. These recognitions indicate that the company is adhering and is at the forefront in promoting quality products and services to consumers.
The company has a faster feedback response system when a customer reports a malfunctioning in a particular product. In some cases, the customer is refunded their money or the product replaced. This is done by the company in a bid to adhere to consumer protection legal policies (Books Llc, 2010).
Management structure
The management structure may be defined as the arrangement of hierarchy of power in an organization. This structure will largely determine how organizational activities are going to be managed.
Managers are the people who are mandated with the task of managing various functional areas within an organization. Managers perform various duties which include planning, controlling and directing among others (LexixNexis, 25).
The extent to which these activities are managed will depend on the competence of the managers. If these activities are well managed, then the company is going to perform well in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.
Vodafone UK success in terms of revenues and clientele base has been attributed to its well qualified management team. The managerial team is made up of highly qualified and specialized individuals.
The company management structure is in such a way that it fosters and promotes interaction between the various functional areas. This interaction increases mobility as well as dependence among various functional areas (Flood, 1997).
The organization structure is also structured in a way that information flow is two way. The structure fosters information flow upwards and downward the organization chart.
The bi-direction flow of information ensures that the managers are furnished with the operational information which they can use to make decisions. The bi-directional flow also ensures that the operations staff is furnished with information about the business policies and decisions (Slaa & Klaver, 1992).
The bi-directional flow also builds trust between managers and employees. This trust ensures that employees are well motivated and eventually leads to creativity and innovations. Also, the trust creates a sense of belonging where individuals feel part and parcel of the organization.
The following diagram illustrates the organization structure of Vodafone
Operational and financial position
Vodafone UK is one of the best companies in the United Kingdom with the best operational and financial status. The company’s operations are well managed and are of a high standard. The high quality of operations is geared towards the provision of high quality services and products to consumers.
The operations at Vodafone are almost real time in the sense that most of the operations are automated. This has increased the response time in the company which guarantees customer satisfaction (Borman & Williams, 1994).
Also, the company has a feedback mechanism which ensures customers are able to express their complaints and compliments. The company has a well structured quality department that ensures that the feedback collected is acted upon immediately. This has increased the response time in the company.
The company embraces the emergence of new technologies in their operations which ensures that the consumers get the best from the company’s network. The company has been able to embrace new technologies like fibre optics which has high speed in data and voice transfers (Borman & Williams, 1994).
Vodafone is the world largest telecommunication company in terms of revenues. The company is the world second largest company in terms of subscribers, coming second behind China mobiles. The company has, on several occasions, emerged the best taxpaying company in the United Kingdom.
This indicates that the company is performing well in terms of financial capabilities. The company has a strong financial base which has seen the company invest in other regions as well as create partnerships with other networks (Borman & Williams, 1994).
Social and economic position of the company
Every business is created with the aim of making profit. Profit making should not be the only major and key focus of businesses. The business should also concentrate on promotion of social corporate responsibility, and business ethics within their area of operations.
Vodafone Company is not an exemption. The company has been at the forefront of promoting various social corporate responsibilities like sports. For example, the company has been able to sponsor Manchester United football club as part of the company’s social responsibility (Sherif, 206).
As stated earlier, Vodafone Company is one of the best performing companies in the United Kingdom. This has placed the company in a better economic position since the company is able to re-invest the extra profits made in other revenue generation activities.
This trend of reinvesting in other countries has made Vodafone the fastest growing telecommunications company in the world. The company has been able to obtain major shares in various telecommunications companies around the world.
Impact of potential change factors
For any organization to survive in the current dynamic world, then change is inevitable. A company’s ability to adapt to change is highly determined by the financial as well as the strategic position of the company (LexisNExis, 2005).
If the company is strategically placed and has a good financial base, then the company is better placed to adapt to change. On the other hand, if the company is not well strategically placed, and has a weak financial base then the company can be on the brink of collapse (Sherif, 2006).
Business changes are not only changes in the technology field but also changes in the physical environment, political changes and economic changes. For example, the company remained stable in the recent global financial crisis period.
Despite the economic changes in the global market, the company remained at the forefront in providing its services and products to consumers.
The company is also well placed in adapting to changes in information technology. The company has developed mechanism and ways of accommodating the changes in information technology (Flood, 1997).
The only threat the company is faced with is the climatic and environmental changes. Climatic and environmental changes affect the company in the sense that they inhibit and reduce the strength of the communication signals.
During the winter season, the effect is even diverse since the frozen frost weakens and inhibits the transmission of the communication signals (Flood, 1997).
Conclusion and recommendation
In conclusion, Vodafone Company has been able to withstand the dynamics in the global market and become one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. The company has always been embracing continuous improvement which has seen the company be at the forefront in promotion creativity and specialization.
The company is also better placed in adapting to the various economic, political and technologies changes due to the large revenue base of the company.
As a recommendation, in order to withstand and overcome the stiff competition in the telecommunications sector, the company needs to invest more in the provision of internet services. The company should develop its product and services in order to be the leading internet service provider in the United Kingdom.
Also, in order to overcome the climatic and environment changes, the company should invest more in the transmission of high quality signals which are less affected by climatic changes. The company should also invest in fiber optic data transfer.
Fiber optic data transfer will offer high data connectivity speeds. This high data connectivity speeds will increase the data transmission rates, hence increasing efficiency.
Reference List
Books Llc. (2010). Vodafone: Mclaren, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone Market Share, Roshan, Digicel, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Crazy John’s, M-Pesa. Mephis: General Books LLC.
Borman, M & Williams, H. (1994). Telecommunication: exploring competition. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Flood, J. (1997). Telecommunication networks. New York: IET.
Ibbot, C. (2007). Global networks: the Vodafone-Ericsson journey to globalization and the inception of a requisite organization. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
LexisNExis. (2005). The mobile internet. New York: Information Gatekeepers
Sherif, M. (2006). Managing projects in telecommunication services. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Slaa, P & Klaver, F. (1992). Telecommunication: new signposts to old roads. Amsterdam: IOS Press.