Influence of Macro Environment on Vodafone's Business Strategies

BUSINESS STRATEGY

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
Influence of Macro Environment on Vodafone and its business strategies.................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................7
Vodafone’s internal environment and capabilities......................................................................7
LO 3...............................................................................................................................................10
Competitive Analysis of telecom sector of Vodafone using Porter’s Five forces.....................10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................13
Devising strategic plan using various models and theories.......................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Business strategy refers to a long-term plan created for a company to meet the desired
mission and vision, and includes all objectives and goals of the company, the product/service,
processes, marketing and consumers. Strategic management is conducted to plan, monitor, assess
and analyse the application of business strategy in the organisation (Yuan and et.al, 2020). The
aim of this report is to understand different strategies that could be used in tactical, operational
and strategic role of the British telecommunication company Vodafone group plc. The company
was established in 1991 and is headquartered in London, England. The multinational corporation
operates across various regions, i.e. Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania, in 24 countries and
partner networks in 41 further countries. The market capitalisation of Vodafone is more than £53
billion and is the eighth largest company listed on London Stock Exchange. This report will
analyse the influence of macro environment on Vodafone and its business strategies along with
assessing its capabilities and internal environment. The report will also highlight the competitive
analysis of the company and devise strategic plan using a range of models and theories.
LO 1
Influence of Macro Environment on Vodafone and its business strategies
Business strategy is the course of action or a set of business decisions which assist
companies in achievement of particular goals and objectives with a strategic intent. There are
primarily three types of strategies, operational, tactical and corporate (Soltanizadeh and et.al.,
2016). The purpose of devising strategies is to achieve effectiveness, perceive and utilise
business opportunities, mobilisation of resources, getting competitive advantage, countering the
challenges and threats, direction of behaviour and efforts and most prominently, gaining
command over the situations in business. This is how strategies help in achieving objectives,
strategic intent and providing alternative to move in different strategic directions.
The mission of Vodafone is to enrich the lives of its customers by the unique power of
communication via mobile. The vision of the company is to become a leader in communication
and operate in an increasingly connected world. The objectives of the company leading in the
telecommunication industry for response to public concerns regarding mobile masts, devices and
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health through demonstration of leading-edge practices and motivating others to follow
(Vodafone,2020)
Strategic planning is the procedure of establishment and documentation of direction of
the company and aligning the long-term goals, mission and vision with action plans to reach the
targets and foster the growth of the business. Various strategic planning techniques, theories and
models like Pestle, SWOT, stakeholder Analysis, Balanced Scorecard, Porters' Five forces,
Ansoff growth vector Matrix, McKinsey’s 7S, VRIN framework, Value chain Analysis, Hybrid
strategy, Vertical/horizontal integration, Bowmans strategy clock, Porter’s generic strategies etc.
will be evaluated in brief for devising Vodafone’s business strategies (Yuliansyah, Gurd and
Mohamed, 2017).
Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholders are all the parties, individuals and organisations that are affected by the
operations of the company. An analysis helps in enlisting key stakeholders, addressing conflicts
and issues early on and to align all stakeholders on plans and goals. The following are the
stakeholders of Vodafone:
 Customers: They are central to Vodafone’s sustainability and building trust is important
for management of operational risks for privacy and performance of network.
 Employees: The involvement, competencies and skills of employees of Vodafone
determine the ability for provision of best network.
 Government and regulators: The relation impacts ability of contribution towards social,
economic and environmental objectives.
 Shareholders and investors: Providers of capital, who are necessary for supporting growth
are kept updated regarding sustainability and performance.
 Business partners are important ways for interaction with customers and help in
delivering service and customer service across multiple touch points.
 Suppliers: Contractors impact provision of services, operational efficiency, business
continuity.
 Community: Building local economies builds trust adding to long term viability of the
markets in socio-economic context.
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