Business Strategy and Its Interplay

This assignment provides an in-depth examination of business strategy, including its interplay with cost management and context. It covers various aspects of business strategy, such as innovation management, digital business strategy, agile business intelligence, and the impact of business strategy on leadership. The assignment also discusses the role of business strategy in environmental politics and the skills required for successful business strategy implementation. It is an essential resource for students looking to improve their understanding of business strategy and its execution.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
PESTLE Analysis of Vodafone...................................................................................................1
Ansoff growth vector matrix........................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
VRIO Model of Vodafone ..........................................................................................................4
Strengths and Weaknesses of Vodafone mobile..........................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Porter's five forces model on Vodafone.......................................................................................8
Balance score card for Vodafone.................................................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
Cost leadership strategy.............................................................................................................10
Differentiation strategy..............................................................................................................11
Focus strategy............................................................................................................................11
Application of Bowman's strategy Clock..................................................................................12
Better strategy out of all the strategies.......................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Business strategy is a working plan of a business in achievement of their vision,
objectives, market competition and stability in financial performance with their model of
business (McAlister, and et.al., 2016). It involves implementation as well as formulation of
major initiatives and goals that are taken by management of an organization on behalf of owner.
The report will cover business strategies of Telecommunication Company that is Vodafone is
chosen of this report. The Vodafone group is a multinational telecommunications conglomerate
in Britain. The company operates their services in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Europe. This report
will cover PESTLE Analysis of Vodafone and Ansoff matrix for the same. The report will also
discuss VRIO model in order to analyze capability of Vodafone. The Strength and Weakness of
Vodafone will also be determined in the report. The porter's five forces model and balance score
card will also be covered to determine appropriate business strategy of Vodafone in the report.
Different strategies such as cost leadership, differentiation strategy and focus strategy will be
also explained in the report.
TASK 1
PESTLE Analysis of Vodafone
 Political Analysis
Political factors is all about government interference in economy. It includes government policy,
foreign trade policy, labour policies, political stability, etc.
EU roaming regulations gives a positive impact as the government of Europe in order to
decrease charges for phone usage aims to regulate roaming regulations which helps the
customers level increases within Europe and charges for mobile phone usage declines by 70% as
well whereas the Negative impact on the company Vodafone that is political instability will
directly impact companies operations (Huarng, and Mas-Tur, 2015). This area becomes war
prone and this affects functionality of the company. The company affects a lot by recent conflicts
in Europe.
 Economic Analysis
An economic analysis are concerned about business operation and their profitability. It includes
interest rates, inflation, economic growth, disposable income of businesses as well as consumers,
etc.
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The positive impact of economic analysis is that the unemployment level of Europe will decline
by this the company supply jobs and also the companies hire workers at lower wage and this
saves Total cost of Vodafone. Also, there is a negative impact on International investors, as the
rate of exchange in which company operates impacts Vodafone's profitability and this make
currency unstable. The unstable currency is the reason which discourages international investors
to invest in Vodafone group plc.
 Socio cultural Analysis
These factors are focuses on attitude and belief of the population. This includes age distribution,
career attitude, population growth, health consciousness, etc.
The Vodafone faces difficulty while drawing attention from target market. As the marketers and
target market lacks by different educational background between them. This is a negative impact
which affects company by loosing connections in target market's priorities and interest. The
positive impact of socio cultural analysis is that they promote their products to different class of
society that is from lower to upper class.
 Technological Analysis
A technological analysis is all about technological adaptation in an organisation and their impact.
This factors includes technological advancement, new ways in producing and distributing goods,
new ways in communicating with market, etc.
In the field of mobile technology, The Vodafone enhances their technology by introducing
Android Smart phones of their range this improves their customer base. This is the positive
impact on the company as they are following the trend which affects their sales and customer
base as well. Also, technological analysis have some negative impact too, like technological
changes are very frequent in nature. So, the competitors rivalries of Vodafone in order to gain
competitive advantage update and innovate their research and development department. This
impacts overall cost of the company and enhance competition with the other companies. Also,
any new technology in other competitors' rivalry will lead to shift of customer base towards
them.
 Legal Analysis
This analysis is concerned about laws which is formulated by government and their impact on
business entities. It includes advertising standards, health and safety act, employment law,
product safety, consumer right and related laws, etc.
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The company faces negative impact as they lack in intellectual property related laws. This
affects customer base as well as sales of the company Vodafone because of the other rivalries
who stole their data. This lead the company towards failure and the Vodafone need to improve
and use their intellectual property rights in efficient manner. But the company Vodafone is also
gaining advantage by following health and safety act and employment law. This lead a positive
impact on them (Doppelt, 2017). Their employees are very satisfied working with the Vodafone
group as they take care of their health and safety in the workplace. Also, the company is offering
them benefits, perks and holiday benefits. This directly affects operations of Vodafone and saves
their cost in additional recruitment and hiring process because of decline in employee turnover
ratio.
 Environmental Analysis
An environmental analysis is concerned with issues which face by organisations related to
scarcity of raw material and resources, pollution, carbon footprints, etc.
The Vodafone group is producing their products with engagement of renewable energy but this
lead their products towards premium cost. The customers are willing to pay premium price for
their products which strengthen the company in contribution towards environment. This
contribution laid a positive impact on the company as it increases customers’ attraction towards
them. The company also faces certain climatic disorders which affects transportation of
Vodafone products as well as resources. This negatively affects the company Vodafone group as
this affects by delaying in delivery dates of their products.
Ansoff growth vector matrix
The Ansoff matrix will be explained by discussing four quadrants that is market penetration,
market development, product development and diversification. This will be discussed below as:
Market penetration – The market presentation strategy of Ansoff matrix mainly focuses on the
company who enters into new products in existing market. The products which are offered by
Vodafone are mobile phones, Data dongles, broadband, Vodafone home phones, etc. The
company can expand their new products in existing market. This will enhance their sales and
also create a larger consumer base by trading in market. This will also help the company in
attaining growth in industry and will create a strong strategic position of Vodafone.
Market development – In this strategy of Ansoff matrix expansion of existing product in new
market is done. The companies expand their existing product in new market in order to capture
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new customer base (Egels-Zandén, and Rosén, 2015). Vodafone can opt for this strategy that is
market development in order to gain position strategically. Yet this strategy is riskier than market
penetration because company need to deal in new market and face more competition from
existing rivalries trade in that new market.
Product development - This strategy of Ansoff matrix is focusing on introduction of new product
but in existing market. This can be found successful for Vodafone as the company is well
established. This strategy helps the company in gaining strong brand value and attracts more
number of consumers. This strategy is more risky than market penetration and market
development as this strategy of Ansoff matrix new product is launched by the company.
Diversification – This strategy is most risky among all. This strategy includes development of
new product in new market. Diversification is beneficial for Vodafone because the company with
their new products in new market may able to create a customer base while it also offer some
disadvantage to the company because by entering in new market Vodafone will face new
competition from existing rivalry companies in the new market. The company Vodafone can
adopt this strategy to gain a strong consumer base and to increase their sales (Chen, and et.al,
2015). Also, the company can increase their market segment by applying diversification strategy
in their market.
The company Vodafone group plc follows market penetration strategy to gain a strategic
position for their company. By following this method of Ansoff Matrix, the company Vodafone
will get new customer base as the company is exposing their products in all over UK by
developing a new range of products in existing market.
TASK 2
VRIO Model of Vodafone
VRIO Analysis is a tool which is used to analyse internal resources and capabilities of businesses
in order to gain competitive advantage. VRIO model consist of Valuable, Rare, Imitable and
Organisation (Hernaus, Bosilj Vuksic, and Indihar Štemberger, 2016). The VRIO model here
will be analysed for the company Vodafone group plc.
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Figure 1: VRIO Model
(Source : VRIO Model, 2016)
Valuable
Financial resources - The financial resources of Vodafone are valuable because these aid
company in investing in arising of external opportunities (Larson, and Chang, 2016). Also, the
company safeguard themselves from external threat by sufficient Finance available.
Employees – Employees of Vodafone are valuable resource for them. For this the company
organises training and development program. This helps the company in gaining productive
output. Also, the employees are loyal and level of retention is high in Vodafone group plc.
Patents – The patents of the company are considered as more valuable resource. As by applying
patent on their products, company sell their products without any rivalry interference. Therefore,
it is a valuable source of Vodafone as they increase their sales and safeguard them from other
companies’ interference.
Distribution network – The distribution network of the company is valuable resource. The
network is helpful for Vodafone in reaching towards more customers (Goffin, and Mitchell,
2016). By network of distribution, the company is creating a strong customer base and achieve
their sales target. Also, the company do promotions for increase their sales and therefore, they
termed as most valuable resource for the company Vodafone.
Research and Development – This is not valuable resource of the company Vodafone because R
& D costs more than their benefits they provide in innovation. This is a competitive disadvantage
for the company Vodafone.
Rare
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Financial resources – This is also a rare resource of the company according to analysis of
Vodafone Company. Strong financial resource is with few companies and Vodafone is one of
them. Therefore, the company need to use this resource with efficiency and effectively.
Employees – Also, the employees of Vodafone is a rare resource because they are highly skilled
and trained, this makes them better than other rivalry companies in industry of
telecommunication. The company offer better working condition and training programmes along
with benefit of compensation keeps the employees motivated and they tend to being work with
Vodafone group.
Patent – Patents are an element which is not easily gets available to other rivalry companies.
This enables the company Vodafone group to stand alone in the competitive environment. Also,
company uses patent rights on their product which helps them in getting position of Identical in
mind of customers.
Distribution network – As the competitors require huge amount of investment as well as time for
better distribution network. The Vodafone have the best distribution network among them all.
This makes them use of this rare resource effectively and efficiently. Also, distribution network
of Vodafone is found stronger than other companies.
Imitable
Employees – The Vodafone employee’s are not very costly to imitate because of rivalries can
also conducts training and developing programmes in order to improve skills of their employees
(Grant, and Jordan, 2015). Also, competitors apply tactics like higher compensation packages,
better work environment, opportunities of growth and benefits to attract employees of Vodafone.
Distribution network – This is also costly to imitate because this has developed by the company
Vodafone in part years. The rivalry company invests a lot of amount in distribution network in
order to imitate network of distribution.
Organisation
Financial resource – The financial resources are organised if they are put in right place, use
opportunities and prevent from threats. Therefore, financial resources are source of sustainable
competitive advantage for the company Vodafone.
Patents – The organisation of patents for the company Vodafone is not very organised because
company did not use this resource up to their full potential. This represents competitive
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advantage which is actually unused because the company can start selling their product of
patents before expiration of patented products.
Distribution network – The Vodafone group has a well organised distribution network. The
company ensures customers by reaching them through outlets and the company has a large
supply chain which helps Vodafone to attain sales target. Therefore, the resources gave
sustainable competitive advantage for Vodafone.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Vodafone mobile.
Strengths
 World’s 2nd largest mobile service provider.
 The company owns business which is geographically diversified.
 Vodafone is successfully accomplishing training and development programme which
helps them in gaining employees retention ratio (Maylor, Turner, and Murray-Webster,
2015).
 The company is innovating their products on continuous basis which maintains not only
interest of existing customers but also attract new customer base. Vodafone has a strong cash flow which provides aid to the company in expansion in new
projects.
Weaknesses
 Different work culture affects company’s functionality because it takes time by the
employees to set within designated work culture what Vodafone prefers.
 The company has high attrition rate which affects their operations.
 The Vodafone is also not good at forecasting which could not help them in taking
preventive measures by external threats and also they are not aware about available
opportunities in market.
 Vodafone is facing cut throat competition by this they are facing loss of customer base.
 The company is not providing wireless telecom service in US while other rivalries offer
wireless services. This declines sales of Vodafone products in United States.
Vodafone can use their efficient employees in developing new products and they also can
improve their services which they rendered to customers like quality in service, technological
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advancement, follow trends, etc. The Vodafone Plc can improve their sales and increase their
profitability by enhancing skills of employees by proper training and development program.
TASK 3
Porter's five forces model on Vodafone
The Porter five forces model is an analytical tool used by the businesses which consists
of the five important factors which drives a firm competitive position within the whole industry.
It involves analyzing the new entrants, power of competitive rivals, customers, suppliers and
substitute products which influences the company's profitability and the productivity (Holotiuk
and Beimborn, 2017). By the thorough analysis of all these factors helps the company in
devising business strategies.
Competitive rivalry - This is the force which examines that how intense is the competition
which is currently going on in the market. It is determined by the number of existing competitors
and what every competitor can do to go through the competition. With this the Vodafone is
affected very much because the competitors is a factor on which the performance of whole
company depends. For overcoming this the company can use the following strategy-
 By building a sustainable and maintainable differentiation.
 Collaborating with the competitors in order to increase the market share.
Bargaining power of suppliers - it is a factor of Porter's five force model which analyses how
much power and control do the suppliers have over the increase in the prices. Suppliers also
affects the working of the company because if the suppliers will have the power then they will
charge high prices. For eliminating this the Vodafone can use the following strategies-
 By experimenting with the product designs by using different materials from different
suppliers.
 By building efficient supply chain with multiple suppliers and maintaining cordial
relations with those suppliers.
Bargaining power of buyers - this factor gives importance to the consumers and the effect of
their behaviour on the quality and the pricing of the product. The consumers have power in their
hands when the number of consumers are less and the sellers are in large numbers (Bentley-
Goode, Newton and Thompson, 2017). For increasing the customers base the company can use
following strategies-
 By rapidly bringing more innovation and creativity in the products.
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 By building a large customer base as it will reduce the bargaining power of the buyers
and it will provide an opportunity to firm to increase the sales.
Threats of new entrants - it is a factor which involves considering the level of new entrants into
the existing market. By keeping in mind the new entrant there will be a threat to vodafone. So
this threat can be minimized by adopting some policies. These policies are
 By bringing more innovation in the products because it will not only attract the new
customers but will also give the old customers a reason to buy and get stick to only
Vodafone.
Threat of substitute product - this factor studies how the consumers switches from one
business product to that of the competitors products and the services. Because of cut throat
competition and entry of new entrants in the market the Vodafone can minimize the risk of
failure or loss by following the below points-
 It can develop measures to understand the core needs and requirements of the customer
so that the customer do not switch to another product.
 It can also make a strategy of increasing the switching cost for the customer which will
discourage the customers from switching to competitors product.
Balance score card for Vodafone
This method was first developed by David Norton and Robert Kaplan in 1992. A balance
score card is a part of strategic management and planning. It is a system of using and
communicating what the company intends to accomplish and align the day to day work which
every employee does in order to prioritize the products and the product and services and at last
monitoring and measuring the progress of the strategy (Oldman and Tomkins, 2018). In simple
words it refers to as a performance matrix which is used in strategic management in order to
identify and improve various different types of the internal functions of the business as well as
their resulting external outcomes.
This strategy involves measuring of the four aspects which are business processes,
finance, learning and growth and the finance. The balanced scorecard tries to provide some
information about the company on the whole at time when they are waiting viewing the company
objectives. An organization may use this balanced scorecard technique to implement the strategy
mapping to see where value is added within an organization. A company also utilizes a balanced
scorecard to develop strategic initiatives and strategic objectives. This strategy focuses on the
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strategic agenda of the organization and the selection of the small number of data to monitor a
mix of financial and the non- financial data items.
TASK 4
Cost leadership strategy
Cost leadership strategy is a type of strategy wherein the companies use this strategy the
inefficiencies and effectiveness and to reduce the production costs below to the average cost of
the industry or the cost of the closest competitors. It is a technique used to reduce the cost and to
produce the least expensive goods in a market with the intention of gaining the market share. In
the modern business world the customers are well informed and aware of the different types of
choices being available to them so the firms have only one option to survive in this competitive
world that is competitive pricing method (Lehmann, 2016). With the development in the
standard of living of the people the customers are looking and interested in increasing their
purchasing power and if that cannot be achieved through an income increment then start buying
more at a lower price is the best alternative.
Advantages- the major advantages are as follows
 This style focuses more on creating a low cost operation within the market. This style
focuses on reducing the production and the developmental cost it is possible to increase
the profit margin.
 Another benefit is that when the costs are lower for a business then the financial threats
are very less for the company.
 It also promotes the availability of the more capital resources this is because even though
the retail cost of the goods is low but the profit margins are higher which makes it
possible to retain the capital in the company itself.
Disadvantages- the major disadvantages of the cost leadership strategy are as follows
 The major disadvantage is that the manager under this style may some time reduce the
cost in some critical areas where the cost reduction is not even needed.
 Another disadvantage is that the leaders only focuses on the prices of the goods and
services offered and ignores the market and the latest trends going on in the market.
Differentiation strategy
This is a type of competitive strategy which aims at distinguishing its products and the
services from other types of the similar products and the services offered by a variety of the
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competitors present in the market (Habib and Hasan, 2017). It involves differentiating the
products on the basis of the features, consumers services, brand image, design etc. By using this
strategy the company becomes unique in the industry as they offer those products and services
which have some or the other value attached to the customers (Sung and Ashton, 2014). The
differentiation can be based on three parameters which are product, organization and the pricing
of the products and services. For a successful implementation of this strategy the company needs
to do a close and careful analysis of the requirements and the preferences of the customers and
also identifying the feasibility of integrating various integrating features into a unique product.
Advantages
 The major advantage of using this strategy is that this strategy builds the product by
assimilating the different and unique qualities into one product.
 Using this strategy helps the company in increasing the goodwill and the reputation of the
company.
Disadvantages
 The major disadvantage is that focusing on uniqueness of the product may leads to
creation of something which is not unique rather which is not understandable or even
disastrous.
 The use of this strategy is very expensive because it requires larger financial investment
in the research to bring in different characteristics in the product.
Focus strategy
It is a type of strategy whereby using this strategy a company decides to concentrate or
focus on all the resources of its marketing strategy which focuses on either expanding into a
narrow market or by entering in it in the first place. It is a strategy first developed by Michael
Porter in mid 1980's.
Advantages
 The benefit of using this strategy is that it requires a business to get in touch with the
targeted demographic there is an opportunity to identify the consumer base.
Disadvantages
 When one specific demographic is focused then there is always a risk of other
demographic to be left behind for the competitors (Marx, 2015).
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Application of Bowman's strategy Clock
It is a strategy which explores the different options for the strategic positioning which
means how a product should be positioned in the market in such a way that it gives the most
competitive position in the market. The purpose of using this model by Vodafone is to illustrate
that a business will have a variety of the options on how to position a product.
Position Name Description
Position 1 Low price & low value
added
This is not much competitive for the business because the
product is not much differentiated and also the customers
does not perceive value.
Position 2 Low price Here the business positions itself as a low cost leader in
the whole market (Whittle and Myrick, 2016).
Position 3 Hybrid In this position the company positions itself as the
combination of the low cost but at the same time going for
product differentiation. The aim at this stage is to
influence the consumers that the products are of good
value added through the combination of the reasonable
price and acceptable product differentiation.
Position 4 Differentiation It refers to a strategy which offers the customers with high
level of value providing products. Here branding plays an
important role in the differentiation strategy. A high
quality product with good brand awareness is placed at
top to achieve the high prices.
Position 5 Focused differentiation This dimension or strategy focuses on positioning the
product at the highest price levels because the customers
buy the product because of the high perceived value
which they derive from the consumption of that product.
Position 6 Risky high margins This is a strategy which is used at times of high risk
positioning. By using this strategy the business sets high
prices without offering anything extra in comparison of
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the perceived value (Meckling, 2015). If customers
continue to buy at these high prices, the profits can be
high. But, eventually customers will find a better-
positioned product which offers them more perceived
value for the same or lower price.
Position 7 Monopoly pricing It is a system wherein there is monopoly of one firm in the
market. As there is monopoly of the firm in the market so
they do not need to position themselves high.
Position 8 Loss of market share This is the most harmful and disastrous situation for the
company. For not losing the market share the company
can set a middle range of prices with low perceived value
to win over the competitors.
In the above model the company is focusing on the hybrid strategy because in this position the
company focuses on the combination of the low cost but at the same time going for product
differentiation. The aim at this stage is to influence the consumers that the products are of good
value added through the combination of the reasonable price and acceptable product
differentiation. On the other hand the customer wants low priced products.
Recommendations
The recommendation to the company is to produce such products or strategies which are not
much expensive or costly because if the cost will be high then the customers will switch over to
the substitutes.
Better strategy out of all the strategies
Out of the above all the eight positions of the Bowman's Strategy Clock the better
strategy is the strategy of the differentiation. Differentiation means offering new, innovative and
creative in order to satisfy the needs of the consumers. It may also be referred to as an integrated
action course which is designed and used in order to produce or delivers the products and the
services to the customer so that the needs and the requirements of the customers is satisfied. By
using this strategy it helps the company in increasing the goodwill and the reputation of the
company (Woerner and Wixom, 2015). And also another major benefit of using this strategy is
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that this strategy builds the product by assimilating the different and unique qualities into one
product.
CONCLUSION
The report concluded about business strategies executed by Vodafone. The report was
begun with PESTLE Analysis of Vodafone where both negative and positive impacts of the
company were explained for every factor of Macro environmental analysis. Then comes Ansoff
matrix were explained which covers market development, market penetration, product
development and diversification. In this, Market penetration was chosen for gaining strategic
position. After that VRIO Analysis was discussed in the report for better understanding of
internal resources of Vodafone group plc. Also, Strength and Weaknesses of the company were
described in this report. Porter’s five forces model and balance score card were also discuss in
the report. At last report covers different strategies for expansion of competitive advantage.
Strategies of cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies were also discussed in the
report.
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