Sample Assignment on Business Strategy - Vodafone

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Application of appropriate frameworks with its impact and influence on the macro
environment.....................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Examine internal environment and capabilities of the organisation...........................................5
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................7
P3 Apply Porter’s Five Forces model to evaluate the competitiveness of the organisation............7
TASK 4.................................................................................................................................................9
P4 Application of a concepts and models, interpret and devise strategic management plan of the
organisation......................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business strategies are the plans and process made by an entrepreneur, by reading different
internal and external factors so that they can achieve the goals and objectives in effective manner.
These all help an organisation in increasing their market share and also help them in growing and
developing their business according to their plans and strategies in fixed time period. Along with
this, it help an organisation in getting some competitive advantages and also help them in increasing
their sustainability for long time period. For completing this report, the organisation which has been
chosen is Vodafone, which is one of the leading telecommunication organisation of the nation and
world. It is headquartered London and Newbury, Berkshire and was founded on 16th September,
1991. In this report, a discussion will take place on macro environment of nation that can affect the
performance of organisation along with this internal environment, so that Vodafone can appropriate
plans and strategies for their future performance (Brewster, 2017). Also Porter's five force will get
determined for organisation, so required changes can get implemented in operations of organisation.
In the last a model will get applied, so that organisation can make proper strategic management plan
for attaining their goals and objectives.
TASK 1
P1 Application of appropriate frameworks with its impact and influence on the macro environment.
For an organisation, it is very much important for them to make proper strategies so that
they can run their business in appropriate manner and also can achieve their goals and objectives.
For this, it is very much essential for them to make proper study of external factors that can affect
their performance and operations. As this will help them in making required changes in their
operations and also help them in performing their functions in ethical and smooth manner. Beneath
is PESTLE and Ansoff matrix in favour of Vodafone.
Political factor, In this factor, the external factor i.e. political which can affect the
performance of a business get concerned. This factor is considered as external because any
organisation is not able to control it and not have power to change it accordingly. Vodafone is one of
the biggest telecommunication organisation of UK, and it is a nation which have very stable
political conditions, which help an organisation in growing and developing their business (Chang,
2016). But at the time of Brexit, political conditions of UK become negative for every organisation,
and Vodafone is one of those organisations in UK which are still have some affect of it on their
performance.
Economical factor, Each and every organisation of the world use to perform their operations,
so that they can generate some revue from it and gain some profits. Therefore, economic condition
of the nation in which they are performing their operation is very much important for them. UK is

very good at their economic conditions, and help organisation in attaining some profits and also
help them in increasing their revenue so that they can achieve their goals and objectives. But at the
time of Brexit, it was not like this only, as it lead the nation and businesses performing their
operations in business environment of UK to face huge problem related to revenue and economic
conditions (Cavusgil and et. al, 2014). Vodafone is also one of them which have faced huge loss in
their profits and revenue due to Brexit.
Social factor, This is the major factor which decides that an organisation at business
environment is able to survive or not. As for each and every products and services the end users are
their customers and for sustaining at market place, it is very much important for them to fulfil their
needs and demands. In UK, each and every customer daily have some new requirements, which is
not possible for single organisation to complete all them. But Vodafone use to provide their products
and services in telecommunication sector which lead them to serve huge number of customers for
long time period. But at the time of Brexit, customer demands was completely changed and they
start moving towards the products which are cheap but good at performance. These all still have
affect on functions of Vodafone.
Technological factor, For a telecommunication organisation it is very much important for
them to make proper update in technologies they are using for producing and providing their
products and services. Vodafone use to make proper changes in their technologies, as this help them
in providing best quality products and services to their customers. Also, UK is a nation where
people love to enjoy some thing new related to technologies. At the time of Brexit, due to low
revenue and profitability organisation was not able to upgrade their technologies, which results to
decrease in number of satisfied customers for organisation.
Legal factor, UK is a nation which have their proper set of rules and regulation which each
and every organisation performing their operations in business environment have to follow. These
help organisation like Vodafone in making their strategies accordingly, so that they do not face any
type of issue at market place (Chen and Jermias, 2014). Also this help them in increasing their
sustainability for long time period. But at the time of Brexit, a huge change took place in legal
structure of nation, which leads to several changes in rules and regulation of them. This all has
caused huge problem for organisations and also lead them in facing huge problem. As after this it
was very much important for them to make new plans and strategies according to new rules and
regulations, so that they can perform their operations in effective manner.
Environmental factor : For an organisation it is very much important for them to study the
rules and regulations related to environment of nation. As this help them in making strategies so that
they can perform their operations in a manner that environment do not get harmed. Therefore,
Vodafone have to make their plans and strategies according to it only, so that they do not get fixed

in any type of legal issues related to environment of nation.
Ansoff growth Matrix is descried in breif under below.
Market development : This step is where, organisation use to launch their existing product in
new market place, so that they can increase their market share (Goffee and Scase, 2015). As this
will help Vodafone in increasing their sales and revenue and also help them in increasing number of
loyal customers, in different market place.
Market penetration : This is the step, which is used by organisations so that they can
increase their sales and revenue with the use to existing product in existing market. For this,
Vodafone can use different promotional activities, which will help them in increase the number of
customers. Along with this they can use different discount offers for their products, so that they can
increase their sales and revenue from existing products in existing market.
Product development : This is the step where, an organisation use to develop a new product
in existing market, as in this the risk is very minimum because organisation is very much aware
about the needs of their customers. Vodafone can use this, so that they can increase the number of
satisfied customers and also it help them in launching a new product at existing market.
Diversification : This is the most risky step which an organisation use to adopt. In this
organisation like Vodafone, use to launch a new product at new market place. As for an
organisation, it is very much important for them to make proper study of customer needs, so that
they can provide their products and services accordingly (Jeston, 2014). But in this, organisation do
not have any idea that what customers want and what can help them in succeeding their business,
therefore this is the most risky step an organisation can adopt.
For Vodafone, it has been recommended that they can use product development in UK, as
this will help them in providing some new products and services to their customers. Also this will
help them in reducing the affect of Brexit from their performance.
TASK 2
P2 Examine internal environment and capabilities of the organisation.
Along with this external environment, it is very much important for an organisation to
analyse their internal environment. As this will help them in understanding the strengths and
weaknesses of them, so that they can make appropriate changes to their plans and strategies for
future. Beneath is VRIO of Vodafone, as this will help them in gaining information about the
resources of them, so that organisation can get some competitive advantages :-
VRIO Analysis
Value, Vodafone is one of the biggest telecommunication organisation of the world in terms
of financial capabilities. It helps this brand to make more investment in making modification in

increasing value of business as per changes in external environment. Having a large work force,
where more than 98,996 workers are currently working, shows another valuable resource for them.
Similarly, making patents of innovative features of its products and services, help in reducing the
impact of intense competitive market on its profitability and preventing business from getting
redundant.
Rare, The financial resources which Vodafone have is very much rare, and only few
organisations have such good financial resources with them (Jocovic and et. al, 2014). Having a
large workforce where, all workers belong to different backgrounds yet work in collaboration,
shows the rare ability of a firm. In this regard, such factor of Vodafone shows the rare factors and
helps in making a strong presence in competitive market. Another factor that shows another rare
ability of Vodafone is its vast and distributed network, which help them in reaching huge number of
customers more easily.
Imitable, In technological field, to copy idea or develop same features in products or
services seems difficult for any organisation that deals in same sector. Vodafone has excessive
financial resource and man power that helps in making creativity and developing innovative
features in products, more effectively (Klettner, Clarke and Boersma, 2014). Therefore, to
incorporate same features and technology, other companies need to make a large investment in
production, development of skills of workers for the contribution and more. Along with this, to
build such a vast and distributed network as Vodafone to reach each and every customers for longer
period of time, also not possible for other technological companies (Laudon and Traver, 2016).
Therefore, all such aspects shows another main strength of Vodafone that helps in getting a high
competitive edge over others.
Organisation, Having a good financial resource aid Vodafone in upgrading its technologies
on regular manner. Here, high contribution of workers and their skills helps the respective brand in
making innovation in business more effectively. Human resource department of Vodafone also help
Vodafone in introducing and retaining talented workers at workplace for longer period of time.
Having huge number of patents for the products and services offered by them to their customers,
has helped Vodafone in reducing the risk and impact of competitiveness for the products and
services they use to serve their customers at market place. This has helped Vodafone in increasing
their sales and revenue, and also has helped them in increasing their customer base. This all lead the
organisation in achieving their goals and objectives and also help them in developing their business
at very god speed.
Internal environment and capabilities of Vodafone
SWOT Analysis

Strengths, The main strength of Vodafone can be measured in terms of financial resources,
which helps in taking risk and making more investments offering innovative services to customers.
Along with this, the huge market coverage, large customers base and a wide distributed networking
system shows the another strong point of Vodafone. This helped them in making a strong grip over
market place (Lawton, 2017). The process of marketing and promotional activities of this company
is also considered as unique where, it creativities are seen by advertisement procedure like Pug.
Weaknesses, The main weaknesses where Vodafone have to make their focus is decrease in
number of subscriber, which would has been continuously decreasing because after Brexit. The next
weakness, is that this would also lead to reduce its brand value, that impact directly on its revenue
and profitability.
Opportunities:They have an opportunity of gaining better rural market penetrability to grab more
profits share as compared to its competitors. Vodafone Company has an opportunity in emerging
markets as they can target developing countries like Africa which helps to enhance brand and
increase profitability of business. Along with this they can improve their network coverage which
facilitate to attract customers towards the brand and increase goodwill in market.
Threat: They have a threat of facing high competition in market that impacts negatively on
growth of Vodafone. Mobile number portability is major threat for company because people can
easily change their network with same number then people do not think twice to switch the brand.
Along with this, it consist that saturation point is getting new clients would eventually differentiate
only on service.
Internal capabilities of Vodafone
They have a strategy to replicate the technology and infrastructure platform in all the nations
of operation which facilitate to reduce overall operational cost. As the the product of Vodafone are
technology based as the design of the same is connected to development of technology. Along with
this the buying of equipment, software and handsets are centralised and economies of scale has been
achieved via this due to the company strikes direct deals with manufacturers of several goods. They
has a pivotal position of supply chain linking the end customer with a complex pyramid of supply.
In addition to this Vodafone has marketing criterion through advertisement via billboards,
television, other media outlets, stores press release etc. at global level. They packages, prices,
brands, advertise, markets and sells their products to their clients.
TASK 3
P3 Apply Porter’s Five Forces model to evaluate the competitiveness of the organisation.
For an organisation like Vodafone, it is very much important for them to make proper

analysis of competitiveness of them at market place (Peng, 2017). As this will help them in making
analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, so that they can make appropriate changes in their
strategies and plans. Beneath is Porter's Five Force model for Vodafone.
Bargaining power of customers, performance of an organisation like, Vodafone is very much
dependent on bargaining power of their customers. As the products and services offered by them is
also offered by many other organisation which are their competitors, this help their customers in
increasing their power of bargaining. This all lead the organisation in making changes to their plans
and strategies of providing products and services to their customers. Also lead organisation in
providing huge discount and other offers to their customers, so that they can attracted towards the
products and services offered to them.
If it is talked about the Bargaining power of suppliers, there is a long list of suppliers which
Vodafone have, from which they can buy products which are required by them for producing their
products and services. Also, Vodafone is a huge telecommunication organisation, this help them in
completing deal with suppliers on their conditions. These all factors come together and reduce the
bargaining power of suppliers in Vodafone at minimum. Along with this, Rivalry among existing
competitors is also explained as, vodafone is British telecommunication multinational organisation,
but their main business is in UK. In market place of Britain, there are several other organisations,
which use to perform their operations in telecommunication sector. This all leads to increase level
of competition among existing organisations, and also increase rivalry among all of them.
In addition to this, Threat of new entrance is also consider, and analysis that the
telecommunication is a huge sector, and for any organisation who is planning to start their business
in this industry is not easy. As for producing products and services in this sector, there is a large
number of formalities which are required to get fulfilled by them and also have to take permission
from ample number of governmental departments of nation (Scholes, 2015). UK is very strict in
this, and for an individual it is very much important to have proper documentation work, and then
have to take permission from government. Along with this, after taking permissions it is very much
important for that organisation to invest proper funds, so that they can make their setup and also
provide their products and services to their customers. But investment in this sector is not so small,
it need a huge amount to invest on, so an organisation is able to make their setup. Therefore, firstly
completing documentation and taking permission is a tough task and then investing huge amount
with high risk is another obstacle in this sector (Spender, 2014). This all reduce the threat of new
entrance for Vodafone to negotiable.
At last, threat of substitute is descried, as the Vodafone use to provide their products and
service in telecommunication sector, and still now there is no such technology is available in market
which have ability to replace the products and services offered by telecommunication. Therefore,

the threat of substitute for Vodafone is minimum and also, their competitors are only able to provide
some new product from existing one with some attractive offers.
TASK 4
P4 Application of a concepts and models, interpret and devise strategic management plan of the
organisation.
Porters Generic Model : Porters Generic Model is use for analyse how a company will
pursues competitive advantages in selected market place. This model was developed by Michael
Porter in the year 1980. In the present context of Vodafone, management team of the company
apply this model in order to make strategies which will aid the company in gaining competitive
advantages. Under this model, company as well as managers can adopt any three strategies for their
products. These three strategies are as described.
The Cost Leadership, It is the model where company has to produce low cost products
which good quality which will aid them in order to grab attention of more and more customers. It is
a strategy which can be used by Vodafone, for gaining competitive advantages at the market place
(Veit and et. al., 2014). According to this model, company have to manufacture those products
which are cheaper and lower in cost as well as able to attract ample number of customers towards
their company.
As a result, this will aid the company in generating more profit as well as gaining
competitive advantages at the market place. Along with this, the Differentiation is also described, as
It is one of the most common type of strategy used by various companies. This type of strategy
help Vodafone in order to make their products as well as organisation different from other
competitor companies. This strategy can help Vodafone in looking their company different from
other organisation within the same industry. For this, management team as well as company have to
make unique and different products, which will attract customers and satisfy their needs and
requirements. As a result, company will be able to generate more revenue, along with this gain
some competitive advantages also.
In addition to this, Focus is also consider, as this is the last and foremost strategy of Porter's
generic model. Under this model, focus is divided in two main parts, where first is cost focus and
the second one is differentiation focus. Under the cost focus, management team of the company use
this model to generate strategies, which mainly focuses on the cost of goods, product and services in
selected market place. This factor will aid the management team of Vodafone in order to formulate
effective strategies, which will increase the profitability as well as productivity of the company
(Wheelen and et. al., 2017). On the other hand, differentiation focus helps Vodafone in generating
those strategies which largely focuses on developing those products and services which make their

company different from other companies at the marketplace. As per the above mention, it has been
analysed that management team of the company uses cost leadership strategy in their organisation,
which leads to attract ample number of customers towards their company. Along with this, company
will be able to generate more revenue at the competitive marketplace.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that, for an organisation it is very much
important for them to make study and analyse the external environment of business place, as this
help them in making strategies which will help them in future. Also, it is very much important for
them to make study of their resources, so that they can get knowledge about the strengths and
weaknesses of them. Along with this, Porter's Five Force model is very much important for an
organisation it help them in making analysis over their competitive conditions at market place.