Global Business Environment: Vodafone's Challenges and Opportunities

This report delves into the benefits and drawbacks of a global business environment, using Vodafone PLC as a case study. It begins with an overview of research, background information, and research objectives, including an examination of globalization's concept. The literature review explores the impact of globalization on Vodafone's success and the barriers the company faces. The report then analyzes the research methodology, data collected, and thematic data analysis. It identifies key factors influencing Vodafone's global performance, such as technological advancements, ethical practices, and employee resistance to change. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for overcoming globalization barriers and ensuring Vodafone's continued success in the international market.

Unit 11 – Research
Project

Table of Contents
TOPIC: The benefits and drawbacks of a global business environment.........................................3
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................3
1.1 Overview of the Research.....................................................................................................3
1.2 Background of Research.......................................................................................................3
Rationale of Research.................................................................................................................3
Aim of the Research....................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives....................................................................................................................4
Research Questions.....................................................................................................................4
Gantt Chart..................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................4
Concept of Globalisation.............................................................................................................5
Impact of Globalisation on Business Success of Vodafone PLC...............................................6
Barriers of Globalisation which Affects Business Success of Vodafone PLC...........................6
Recommend Different Ways Through Barriers of Globalisation can Resolved.........................7
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................8
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS................................................................................................11
FREQUENCIES........................................................................................................................12
THEMATIC DATA ANALYSIS.............................................................................................15
CHAPTER 5 : CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21

TOPIC: The benefits and drawbacks of a global business environment
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Research refers to the process with the help of which it is possible to have proper
knowledge by doing investigation on the provided topic of the research. Research consists of
many important activities with the help of which successful completion of the research is made
sure.
1.1 Overview of the Research
In the following research, the discussion will be made about the benefits and drawbacks
of the global business environment in which an organisation is dealing on. In the current times,
the consideration is related to impacts of positive and negative impacts which an organisation has
to bear at the time of making their business operations at international level (Omland and Thapa,
2017) . The company chosen for the completion of this assignment is Vodafone which was
founded in the year 1991 and is headquartered in London. The following organisation provides
their customers with different types of telecommunication services such as mobile phone,
broadband, internet television and many more for satisfying the needs and demands of their
customers across the world.
1.2 Background of Research
In telecommunication industry, it is important for the organisations to take into
consideration about their network strengths and other technical things with the help of which
improved services could be provided to their customers and also to make improvements in their
satisfaction level also. In order to make proper expansion of business of the Vodafone in the new
country or market, it is important to tackle with different aspects of the business environment.
The consideration regarding these aspects will help the company in dealing good with the
changes and will help in proper establishment of business in the new environment. The factors
which are needed to be considered are legal environment, market conditions, tastes and
preferences of customers and many more which impacts directly upon the working of
organisation.
Rationale of Research
The reason behind conducting research on the following topic is related to increasing
issues of business failures in the world. As there are different factors which are not taken into

consideration by the companies working on expansion process (Anwer. and Zarro, 2016). As an
example, lack of planning, incapability of employees and many more impacting negatively on
the processes of expansion of an organisation. Due to this reason, the importance of conducting
research on this topic has increased so that the issues faced by companies in expanding their
business could be resolved.
Aim of the Research
“To identify the benefits and drawbacks of globalisation the working of an
organisation. A case study on Vodafone PLC.
Research Objectives
 To understand the Concept of Globalisation.
 To analyse the Impact of Globalisation on Business Success of Vodafone PLC.
 To know about the Barriers of Globalisation which Affects Business Success of
Vodafone PLC.
 Recommend some ways with the help of which Barriers to Globalisation could be
Resolved by Vodafone PLC.
Research Questions
 Do you know about the Concept of Globalisation?
 What is the Impact of Globalisation on Business Success of Vodafone PLC?
 Do you know about the Barriers of Globalisation which Affects Business Success of
Vodafone PLC?
 Recommend some ways with the help of which Barriers to Globalisation could be
Resolved by Vodafone PLC.
Gantt Chart
It refers to the graphical representation in the form of bar chart of diagram in order to
provide information about the different tasks are activities which are required in order to
complete the research. The description of different activities which are needed to be performed
are provided as under:
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Review can be defined as the scholarly paper, with the help of which current
knowledge in enhanced with the help of findings, theoretical and methodological contributions

that have been made by single or some authors in relation to a particular topic. These are the
secondary sources of data with the help of which knowledge in relation to some topic is
increased and presented in front of the readers as well. So the explanation of objectives of the
following research in context of Vodafone Plc has been provided as under:
Concept of Globalisation
According to John Williamson, 2019, globalisation refers to the process with the help of
which improvements are made in trade relations in between different countries, economies,
government, companies with each other for the betterment and growth of trade in between them.
Every country is not enriched with every type of products and services and raw materials. It is
important for them to purchase some or the other things to purchase from other countries as well.
This makes important for different countries to make satisfaction of their own needs and
demands. The fulfilment of needs and demands could be made possible only in the case then
there exist a good relation in between different countries that could help in improvements in their
trade relations. Additionally, globalization is substantially less of a reality in different fields than
it is in the financial one. Culture still shows solid national, and even local and nearby, varieties.
While English is obviously during the time spent rising to be a typical world language, at any
rate as a subsequent language, minority dialects are making a big deal about a rebound, at any
rate in created nations. So this makes important for different countries to make their relation
good with other countries as well. The concept of globalisation is also related to this context with
the help of which trade restrictions are reduced to much extent so that trade could become easier
in between different countries. This has made companies to make their business operations to be
established in more than one country. By operating in more than one country, the sales and
profits of the company will increase and will positively impact upon the growth and development
of the organisation such as Vodafone. Game is still altogether different around the globe: the
Americans have still not figured out how to play cricket, and the greater part of all of us have
still not figured out how to comprehend what they find in baseball. In spite of the fact that the
country state is far less overwhelming than it used to be, with critical forces being decayed both
downwards to provincial and neighbourhood specialists and upwards to worldwide and in
Europe to supranational establishments legislative issues is as yet composed basically based on
country states.

Impact of Globalisation on Business Success of Vodafone PLC
According to Mike Myatt, 2016, there has been severe impacts which has been created on
the working of an organisation with the help of globalisation and its factors. As it has been made
clear that globalisation enables business expansion to the single boundary to multiple boundaries
of the world. The doors to taking business out of country is made sure with the processes of
organisation. So in case, the an organisation properly analysed the environment than it will be
possible to take positive benefit out of the processes of globalisation. The reason behind the
success of organisation such as Vodafone is also related with understanding and making
evaluation of the business environment of different places where it is established so that the
organisation could make formulation of proper policies and frameworks for the betterment and
growth of the organisation. Along with analysing the business environment, the consideration
about the strategies and policies of government is also considered as it helps in the proper growth
and development of the organisation. In addition to this, it also helps in proper formulation of
strategies and policies that could help in making the business environment to be in the favour of
company. It also focuses on eradicating the issues and threats identified in way of growth and
development of the company. The consideration related to legal factors is also taken so that the
intervention of government related to a specific business could be known with the help of which
decision related to business setup could be taken or not (Amaratunga, Haigh and Ingirige, 2015).
The possibilities related to reduction in the impact of governmental intervention will also be
found so as to make the establishment of business to be success in a country. The main factors of
globalisation are the technological advancements and financial liberalisation which influences
upon the growth and development of a business. Ethical working of Vodafone and good quality
services provided to their customers helped the company a lot in the making a good place in the
international market and get success in their goals and objectives.
Barriers of Globalisation which Affects Business Success of Vodafone PLC
According to GERALD P.DINNEEN, 2019, technology has impacted upon the business
success of an organisation in the business environment. Mere expansion of business is not
important but along with this, it is also important to maintain and improve the market share and
technical advancements in the business. As in the today's world, the most important aspect in an
organisation is related to advancements in technology and easiness provided to customers with
the help of products and services. In case, business is expanded but the research and

development department is not working properly and is not making innovations for the efficient
working of Vodafone than in the following case, the business will face failure in the business
environment and will led to shut down of business. So as to ensure proper and smooth working
of the organisation, it is important to make the business to have sufficient capability and
resources to make innovations, developments, strategies and policies that could help them in
making their business operations to run effectively in the market. The barriers to globalisation is
also related to resistance of employees in relation to acceptance of change processes. As business
implements changes in Vodafone in order to make themselves to deal with situations such as
incompetency, low market share, low advancements, decreased market share and many more, it
becomes important to have the contribution of employees working in Vodafone to get effective
results. Globalisation is also a part of change as business will be setup at new places and for this,
the contribution of employees is also essential (Mzi, 2017). In case employees are no giving
proper support and guidance in related to the change than it will not be possible for the company
to deal good and work according to the rapid changes occurring in the business environment.
Another than employees, lack of availability of finance with organisation could also become the
reason of low business expansion processes and making the business operations at globalised
level. Due to this reason also, companies are not able to make their expansion processes in an
appropriate manner. So the following are the most important barriers that are impacting
negatively on the growth and development of an organisation such as Vodafone in the
international market.
Recommend Different Ways Through Barriers of Globalisation can Resolved
According to Pankaj Ghemawat and Steven A. Altman, 2019, it has been said that there
are different ways with the help of which barriers to globalisation could be removed by
Vodafone. As the first is related to implementation of technology in the working of
organisations. So for making advancements in technology, it is important for the company to
make its focus on the recruitment of new talents and motivate their employees in order to bring
new ideas so that they could also provide their contribution in the growth and success of the
organisation. In addition to this, the issues related to resistance of employees could also be
solved by providing them with proper guidance and support. As the newly implemented changes
in the working of an organisation are not acceptable easily as the employees lacks in having
proper information about the changes and they think changes are complex. So it will be better for

Vodafone to provide their employees first with theoretical knowledge and then with practical
knowledge. After that continuous focus is to be made on performances of employees with calm
behaviour and patience so that they could put on their doubts and accept changes easily (Ibsen
and Engel-Hills, 2017). There are various sources of finance which available to Vodafone such
as preferences share, equity shares, debentures, bank loans and many more which are available
with the company to make proper and timely performance of different activities in a
organisation.
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is the systematic as well as theoretical analysis of the method
which is applied in the field of study. It covers various elements such as analyses of different
method and principles associated with the particular branch of knowledge. Further it provide
complete information regarding the research techniques which help in providing authentic report,
where researcher have idea about the method which is used in clarification and justification
behind the research. Along with this research Onion is known as the framework which overall
covers different strategies and elements which is essential to make study relevant. Here are some
techniques which are explained down below:
Research philosophy: Research philosophy is consider as the set of belief in
which the data is collected analysed and used. Further it deals with the source, nature and
development of knowledge[1]. In simple terms, a research philosophy is belief about the ways in
which data about a phenomenon should be collected, analysed and used. The philosophy help in
understanding the importance as well relevancy about the research topic (Monga, 2016). There
are basically three type of research philosophies such as pragmatist, positivist, interpretivist. In
this present report, researcher have used positivist philosophy for the better outcomes. This is a
method which is used for identifying the various strategies to solve the problems.
Research Approach: This approach help in developing the framework through which
further research and investigation in done in a well defined manner. There are two types of
research approach: deductive and inductive approaches which are useful in understanding the
research effectively. In the investigation the inductive approach is used . This technique
emphasis on small aspects which are related to the main objective of the research. It has been
figure out that this is the relevant method for conducting the research in a well defined manner.

Time Horizon: Time horizon is the known as the time frame which help in the
completion of investigation effectively. There are two types of time horizon i.e. cross sectional
and longitudinal which describe the time zone in any part of the country. In this, research , cross
sectional technique is taken under consideration because it help in determining the actual time
which required to finish various investigation activities in pre determine period.
Research design: There are different design method under which research is
conducted in systematic manner. There are three types of research design i.e. exploratory,
experimental, descriptive manner (Rahman, 2015). In this research the exploratory research
design is used in it help in focusing on new opportunities for the organisation through use of
social media platform as they have become more popular in recent years.
Research methods: In this methods there are two kind of research are taken into account
are i.e. qualitative and quantitative research method. For the completion of this research
qualitative research method is used because in the project the information is provided with the
help of bar graphs and charts. This method is easy as well as less structured as compared to
quantitative investigation but it provide crucial information with the proper justification.
Sources of data: In today's world the sources of data can be collected with the
help of proper recommendations and conclusions. There are mainly two sources of information
which are primary and secondary information. In the case of primary data the investigator can
collect information with introducing face to face. There are other method collecting data such as
personal interview, questionnaire, etc. however this kind of method are more time consuming but
able to provide actual information to the researcher (Ihsan and Raflis, 2019). On other hand
secondary source of information are gather with the help of internet. The example of secondary
data collected are online sources, newspaper, magazines, journals, etc. In this present report both
he methods are used in literature review and data analysis.
Sampling: It is a method through which some respondents are chosen for the providing
information and views. This report is based on social media techniques so the information is
collected from the employees of Vodafone Plc. As this investigation is done on the smaller basis
which so data has been collected with in the selected audience. There are two types of sampling
i.e. probability and non probability sampling. Random probability sampling techniques is used in
this investigation. Under this method, employees are selected on random basis so bias free data
can be collected for effective outcomes.

Research ethics- For conducting the research there must be proper ethics which include
anonymity as well as confidentiality while preparing the report. There must be proper consent
with each and every respondents so that it can be conducted smoothly. Along with this, there
must be consent of confidentiality among the researcher and respondents about the information
which is shared while preparing report. Anonymity is maintained by not providing identity of
individuals or respondents which is consider as the research ethics.
Research limitation- In every research there are some limitation which are faced
by the investigator while conducting the research. The limitation can be occur due to money or
time indulge in preparing report. So it is essential to have proper funds while doing research. As
per the limited resources for the investigator there has been issue whirl collecting data.
Researcher was not able to avail extra funds which leads towards research limitation (Lubis,
2016).
Research reliability and validity- The research is authentic as well as valid. Sources
through which information is collected is primary method with the help of questionnaire. There
are 50 respondents are taken into account further activities are done in a well defined manner.
Hence conclusion and recommendations in this investigation is valid and can be used for use
purpose. The respondents are selected from the random sampling techniques with proper
authentication.
Research budget- For conducting the proper research there must be funds available for
smooth functioning. The research requires internet, newspaper, magazines and other sources in
order to complete the research effectively and efficiently. The budget estimation cost is around
100$ which is sufficient in fulling the requirement of the research.

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. Do you know the term “Globalisation” ?
a) Yes
b) No
Q2. As per your point of view, how globalisation affects business success ?
a) In positive manner
b) In negative manner
c) In both the ways
Q3. What could be considered as barriers of globalisation, that may impact upon Vodafone ?
a) Technology
b) Legal obstacles
c) Breaking through cultural barriers
Q4. As per your opinion, what are the ways that can be utilised by Vodafone to overcome
barriers to globalisation ?
a) Multi culture staff
b) Following the legal laws and regulations
c) Specific organisational culture
Q5. Do you agree, if it is necessary for Vodafone to globalise itself for gaining competitive
advancements ?
a) Agree
b) Disagree
Q6. How business success could affect Vodafone PLC ?
a) Improvisation among productivity
b) Increase in productivity
c) Enhancement within customer base
Q7. Based on your thoughts, what resources are required by Vodafone while expanding it's
business at international level ?
a) Proper budget capital
b) Foreign Employees

c) Partnership with local brands
Q8. Considering your thoughts, which is the best way for Vodafone to globalise itself ?
a) Franchising
b) Merger and Acquisition
c) Licensing
Q9. Do you think if, customers of Vodafone do expect new and updated services ?
a) Yes
b) No
Q10. Any recommendations ?
FREQUENCIES
Q1. Do you know the term “Globalisation” ? FREQUENCY
a) Yes 35
b) No 15
Q2. As per your point of view, how globalisation affects business success ? FREQUENCY
a) In positive manner 30
b) In negative manner 10
c) In both the ways 10
Q3. What could be considered as barriers of globalisation, that may impact
upon Vodafone ?
FREQUENCY
a) Technology 25
b) Legal obstacles 15
c) Breaking through cultural barriers 10
Q4. As per your opinion, what are the ways that can be utilised by Vodafone
to overcome barriers to globalisation ?
FREQUENCY
a) Multi cultural staff 15
b) Following the legal laws and regulations 15