Evaluation of Internal and External Environment of Vodafone Group Plc

This report evaluates the internal and external environment of Vodafone Group Plc using various strategic tools such as SWOT, VIRO, value chain, PESTLE and Porter's five forces analysis. It also discusses the strategic directions available to the organization using Ansoff's Matrix. The report focuses on market development as a strategic direction for Vodafone Group Plc.

Strategic Management
Plan

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Project 1...........................................................................................................................................1
Evaluation of the internal environment of the Vodafone.......................................................1
Evaluation of the external environment of the Vodafone......................................................4
Project 2 ..........................................................................................................................................5
Evaluate the diverse kind of directions which are strategic which is available to the
organisation............................................................................................................................5
Evaluation of Strategic plan of Vodafone Group Plc. ..........................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is a process where strategies are made to gain the competitive
advantage by accomplishing the goals of the business. It provides directions to the enterprises to
analyse the competition prevailing in the industry and develop plan to overcome such
competition. Strategic management help an organisation to get the goals of the business by
formulating various strategies and implementation of plan. It requires to set up the objectives and
review the internal structure of the organisation for sustainable growth of the business. In this
report, the organisation that has been focused is Vodafone Group Plc. which is a multinational
telecommunication company. The report will elucidated the internal environment with the help
of various internal tools. Further, it will discuss about the influence of the external environment
factors that impact the strategies of the business. Moreover, the report will clarify the strategic
direction that are accessible to the organisation. In addition to this, the strategic management
plan will also be discussed in context to the company.
MAIN BODY
Project 1
Evaluation of the internal environment of the Vodafone
SWOT analysis
This is a strategic tool used by an organisation to evaluate its strength, weakness,
opportunities and threat that it faces during the operation of the business(Djellabi and et.al.,
2021). The analysis has been done in context to the Vodafone Group Plc. which are a under:
Strengths Weaknesses
Strong brand: Vodafone has good brand
image in the market as the customers are aware
about the cellular services that are provided all
over the world.
Global presence: The company has efficient
global presence as it is operated in more than
30 countries which h help the company in
gett8ing more revenue and good brand
High debt: The company have huge debt more
than its earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation because it lower the pricers of
their plan in order to gain the competitive
advantage. Due to this, the revenue and profits
of the company is getting reduced and the
company is facing huge debt problem.
Lack of presence in rural areas: The
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recognition. company have good presence in the urban
areas but not able to reach to the rural areas
customers(Bonfante and et.al., 2021). They are
unable to get the connection with the rural
customers.
Opportunities Threats
Growing markets: Vodafone has good
opportunity to expand to the other countries.
As the internet user are increased so the
company can provide its services to the
customers of the countries a well.
Competition: there are many competitors of
Vodafone such as Airtel, Jio and so on which
provide higher competition to the company.
They provide lower tariffs to the customers so
that they switch for their products.
VIRO analysis
This is an analysis of the resources of an organisation and their capabilities to gain the
competitive advantage of the business(Madsen, 2022). VIRO stands for the value, imitability,
rarity and organisation of the internal resources of the company. The analysis has been done in
respect of the Vodafone Group Plc. that are as below:
 Valuable: The company have useful financial and human resources that assists in
providing the best services to the customers which help the company to overcome its
competitors. The value of the resources are measured or created by keeping the demand
of the customers in mind so that the wants of the customers can be satisfied. The valuable
resources of the Vodafone Group Plc. includes the brand, network capacity, involvement
of good capital and so on.
 Rarity: This indicates the unique resources that are available to Vodafone Group Plc. are
not accessible to the competitors. When the value is evaluated so it is required to the
company to add the unique element to its resources to get more customers. Vodafone
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Group Plc has also rare resources which include the brand awareness, network and
community among the customers which help the company in providing strong
competition to its competitors.
 Imitable: It refers to the power of the competitors to imitate or copy the resources of a
business concern in order to grow their market(Natasha, Indrawan and Saptono, 2021).
Therefore, the company should attempt to make its resources inimitable so that the
competitors can not reproduce the products. With reference to Vodafone Group Plc, the
digital strategy can be imitated by the competitors by it has intellectual property of those
resources so this help the company in protecting their resources.
 Organisation: The company arranges it resources in an organised form so that it can
consider the factors that can impact the business of an organisation. Vodafone Group Plc
has the organiser resources which contains the execution of the digital strategy which
enable the company to be good performer in an industry. With the help of this, it can
attract the global market and create the positioning for its brand.
Value chain analysis
The value chain analysis was introduced by the Michael Porters which refers to the
evaluation of the activities of the value chain of the company in order to grab the opportunities to
gain the competitive advantage(Muflikh and et.al., 2021). The value chain analysis has been
done in context to the Vodafone Group Plc:
Primary activities
 Inbound logistic: It refers to the process of receiving and storing the material for the
products. In relation to Vodafone Group Plc, it manages all the activities through keeping
all the physical inputs to the godowns and manage the area to store the information of the
customers for the an organisation.
 Operations: This is the process where the raw material are converted to the finished
goods. With reference to Vodafone Group Plc, it manages the operations of branch such
using the data of the customers for advertisement on the basis of their prior experience.
 Outbound logistic: It refers to the process of receiving orders, preparation of the reports,
warehousing for the distribution through efficient network(AKINSETE, 2021). In
context to Vodafone Group Plc, it distributes its products with the help of channel
partners to the customers.
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 Marketing and sales: Vodafone sale its product through sales team so that its product
can be accessible to the customers. After sales services: Vodafone provides telecommunication services to the customers
and also provide resolution to the complaints made by the customers.
Support activities
 Procurement: Vodafone Group Plc has made procurement of building, machinery, raw
material equipments for the laboratory and so on.
 Development of technology: Vodafone Group Plc has adopted good technology and the
engineers that assist in gaining the competitive advantage over the competitors.
 Human resources management: Vodafone make recruitment, selection of the skilled
employees and also provide training to enhance their knowledge.
 Infrastructure: Vodafone is a diversified company which had big value chain at the
corporate and business level.
Evaluation of the external environment of the Vodafone
PESTLE analysis
This is a tool which is used by the marketer to analysis the macro environmental which
have a great impact over the business. The following factors are depicted as under in respect of
the Vodafone Group Plc:
 Political: In relation to Vodafone Group Plc, the company have to follow various policies
of government in order to run their business with any interruption(Eierle and et.al.,
2021). But it can be impacted when the government changes so the new rules and
regulations are imposed to the company.
 Economical: Vodafone can be affected by the inflation rate as it has to increase the
prices of their tarries which can impact the purchasing power of the customers. The
demand get fall down which can impact the sales and profit of the company.
 Social: Vodafone Group Plc needs to understand the needs and preferences of the
customers and provide their services according to their needs.
 Technological: In context to Vodafone, it uses the digital technology to provide the
customers their high services so that their experience can be enhanced. Therefore, it has
developed the my Vodafone app for the customers for their convenience.
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 Legal: Vodafone have to follow the various laws, rules and regulation in order to protect
the interest of the customers and the employees as well.
 Environmental: As regard with Vodafone, it recycle the wastage of the electronic that
is generated from the process of business(Agyekum and et.al., 2021). Therefore, it follow
the environmental laws in order to provide sustainable services to the business.
Porter's five forces framework
This analysis help the business in identifying the competition that is prevailing in the
market in order to gain the competitive advantage(Wen and et.al., , 2021). The description has
been done as under in relation to Vodafone:
 Competition in the industry: Vodafone Group Plc has many competitors in the market
such as Airtel, Jio etc. which provide higher competition to the company and encourage
customers top switch for their products.
 Threat of new entrant: In relation to Vodafone, the threat of new entrant is low as it
need a lot of investment to set up the rival market for the company. Vodafone has known
brand among its customers so new entrant has to strive to beat it.
 Power of buyers: With reference to Vodafone, the buyer has high power to negotiate
for the products and can also switch for the other company's services when they are not
satisfies with Vodafone's services(Tanrıverdi and Lezki, 2021).
 Power of suppliers: In context to Vodafone, there is moderate power of the supplier as
the technologies that are po provided by the supplier on the prices can be raised by it
which can impact the business of company.
 Threat of substitute products: As there are many competitors of Vodafone Group Plc
so the customers can switch for the other company's services when not satisfied with the
services of the company.
Project 2
Evaluate the diverse kind of directions which are strategic which is available to the organisation
Strategic direction refers to the plan which needs to be implemented for an organisation
in order to progress towards the vision and fulfil the goals as well into positive manner. It
basically ensures about the management and owners which can communicate the significance of
employees work and their contribution in order to achieve the objectives of business. These are
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the directions which are important from the ground level employees who work in the more
efficient manner with proper goals and all the way up to shareholders who remain confident in
terms of potential of the company for continuous success and prosperity at financial
aspect(Prasetyawan and et.al., 2017). In context to Vodafone Group Plc company, it is very
important to follow strategic directions into appropriate manner so that they can achieve the
vision and goals of an organisation within a set period of time.
It is a company which uses the current business strategy in order to grow through the
expansion at geographic level, acquisition of new customers, increasing usage by innovations in
technology and retention of existing customers. For evaluating strategic directions into
appropriate manner, Ansoff's Matrix can be used into appropriate manner which is explained into
the following manner:
It is a matrix which act as strategic planning tool which provides a framework in order to help
executives, marketers and senior managers for future growth. There are basically four strategies
under Ansoff Matrix which includes market penetration, market development, diversification and
product development as well.
 Market Penetration: It is the strategy which seeks to sell more of its existing products
into markets through which they are similar with and where they have existing
relationships(Pati and Bandyopadhyay., 2017).There are certain execution strategies
which basically include increasing marketing efforts, decreasing prices to attract new
customers within the market segment and acquiring the competitor in the same market.
 Market development: This is the strategy which is least risky because they do not need
significant investment into research and development.
It basically allows the team of management in order to leverage the existing products and
also takes them to the different market. There are certain approaches which includes catering to
the different market segment, entering into a new domestic market and and entering into a
foreign market.
 Product Development: A business which firmly has the target audience may look to
expand its share its wallet from the base of customer. There are different ways through
brand loyalty can be achieved into positive manner (Wonges and et.al., 2017). It basically
include investing into research and development in order to develop a new product,
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acquiring the rights to sell and produce another firms products and create the new offer
through branding.
 Diversification: It is the strategy which has the highest risk where both product and
market development are required. It can basically reap the huge rewards through either
achieving new revenue opportunities or through reducing the firms reliance on the single
product or market. There are two different types of diversification strategies which
basically include related and unrelated diversification. Related diversification basically
refers to the potential synergies which can be realised between existing business and new
product or market. Under unrelated diversification, any real synergies will be realised
between the new product and existing business as well.
In context to Vodafone Group Plc, they have to focus on market development so that they
can grab large market share as well in order to attract large number of customers into positive
manner. They have to also focus on the efforts of marketing, pricing strategies so that they can
positively penetrate the market into positive manner (Chang., 2016). They have to also focus on
their services so that customers can receive better services into result oriented manner. They have
to diversify their services in such a manner that it can exist between the existing and upcoming
future opportunities as well. They have maintain balance in between the new services and
existing business as well.
For purpose of the most appropriate growth strategies and platforms it is very important
to utilise the porter's generic strategies so that they can focus on the market into appropriate
manner. With the application of Porter's generic strategies, it has been observed that the cost
leadership, focus and differentiation are the main parameters of it.
In context to Vodafone Group Plc, the cost leadership is designed in such a manner that
where profits has been increased through reducing the costs into effective manner while charging
the average prices into result oriented manner. The market share of Vodafone can also be
increased through charging the lower prices while making the reasonable profit into result
oriented manner. Vodafone can also grow themselves through adopting the differentiation
strategy into positive manner. This is the strategy where services are very different and attractive
from their other competitors. It basically include functionality, features, support and durability as
well(Bigelow and Barney., 2021). For this purpose, Vodafone has to to do deeper analysis and
good research as well so that they can perform into result oriented manner as well. Vodafone can
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also aim for the focus strategy where they can focus on the niche markets through understanding
the dynamics of market and the unique requirements of customers as well. They also develop
into the unique manner on the lower cost basis or well specified services for the market.
In the overall manner, it has been recommended that Vodafone Group Plc, they can focus
on the cost leadership into market so that they can attract large number of customers and grab the
large market share as well. In this manner, company has grow themselves into positive manner
with proper planning and strategies as well. So these are the recommendations which can be used
in order to work into effective manner for purpose of growth of Vodafone Group Plc into result
oriented manner.
Evaluation of Strategic plan of Vodafone Group Plc.
Porters generic strategies
It helps in understanding that how company adjust with the competitive advantage and
include the three strategies that company can compete in the market(Memon, Afshan and
Memon,2021). The generic strategies are described in relation to Vodafone Group Plc. Which
bare as under:
 Cost leadership strategy: This is an strategy which help the company in reducing the
cost of their products or services which want to sale to the customers in order to get more
customers. They sale the products or services at the lower prices to r the customers to
capture the market. With reference to Vodafone Group Plc, its strategy target the broad
market which include the technology, economies of scale and access of raw material.
This strategy enable the company to share their serviced at the lower prices to attract the
more customers.
 Differentiation strategy: This is an strategy where company provide unique feature to
its products that is different from its competitors which help in overcome the competition.
Therefore, Vodafone Group Plc. has adopted the differentiation strategy such as
unlimited call plans that no other company offerings. This assists the company in getting
the goals of the business operations and increase their profit as well.
 Focus strategy: This strategy help the company in gaining the competitive advantage by
focusing on the market where the substitution products are not available in order to gain
profits(Greckhamer and Gur, 2021). This will help the company in targetting the
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particular market and provide their services to them which help in increasing the revenue
for the company.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it has been concluded that strategic management has
significant role in the business as it assist in analysing the internal and external environment and
provide direction accordingly. It enables the company to gain the competitive advantage through
various strategies that help the company in growing their business. It also provide framework for
the effective decision making and make the company enable to measure their progress. Strategic
management help the company to be proactive rather than reactive and increase their operational
efficiency. The report has discussed about the internal and external environment of the business
through the SWOT analysis, VRIO analysis, value chain analysis and external environment with
the pestle and porters analysis. All this help the company to increase its market share,
profitability and make the business more durable.
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REFERENCES
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