Research Project: Globalisation Impact on Vodafone's UK Mobile Market

This research project examines the multifaceted impact of globalisation on Vodafone within the UK mobile phone market. The report begins with an introduction, outlining research objectives, rationale, and research questions to guide the investigation. A thorough literature review explores the benefits gained by Vodafone through globalisation, such as market expansion, access to new talent, and competitive advantages derived from technological advancements. It also delves into the intense risks associated with global expansion, including job mobility concerns, political and social risks, and the challenges posed by local competitors. The methodology section details the research approach, design, and data collection methods employed to analyze the impact of globalisation on Vodafone. The findings section presents the results of the analysis, including frequency tables and data interpretation. The discussion section provides an in-depth analysis of the results in relation to the literature review and research questions. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for Vodafone to gain a competitive advantage in the UK mobile market, along with a reflection on alternative methodologies and a comprehensive list of references.

Research Project

Table of Contents
TITLE:.............................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE..........................................................................................................1
RATIONALE..............................................................................................................................1
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................10
QUALITATIVE.............................................................................................................................11
Research philosophy ................................................................................................................11
Research Approach ..................................................................................................................11
Research Design........................................................................................................................11
DATA COLLECTION TOOLS....................................................................................................12
DATA ANALYSIS........................................................................................................................13
LIMITATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATION...................................................................13
TIME LINE OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ......................................................13
GANTT CHART OF PROPOSAL................................................................................................14
Gantt chart - Project proposal...................................................................................................14
TIME LINE FOR PROJECT.........................................................................................................16
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................18
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................21
METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................22
RESULTS/ FINDINGS.................................................................................................................26
Frequency Table........................................................................................................................26
Data analysis.............................................................................................................................29
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................................40
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................47
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................48
REFLECTION...............................................................................................................................49
Alternative method....................................................................................................................49
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................50

TITLE:
What will be the Impact of globalisation on UK mobile phone market? A study of Vodafone.
INTRODUCTION
Globalisation is basically the process of interaction among people, company and
government worldwide. Globalisation is considered as the complex process as it is spread of
product, technology, services across all over the world. Globalisation increases the standard of
living and also helps to give many job opportunities to the people. Globalisation made positive
impact on telecommunication sector in UK. Globalisation stimulates advance or new technology
development and also emergence of global brands. It is also beneficial in accessing larger
audience and provide affordable products in more innovative way. Furthermore, it also helps to
improve the economy of the country.
In the present research, researcher has taken Vodafone as it is British multinational
telecommunication and it is one of the leading companies. As it was founded in 16 September
1991 by Ernest Harrison and Gerry When. Vodafone is listed on the London stock exchange. In
this research it will cover different research methodology and it will be selected the best
technique which will be help to conduct the research in the right direction and also helps to
identify the positive impact of the globalisation on mobile phone market.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
 To identify benefits gained by Vodafone through globalisation.
 To determine intense risk associated with global expansion in the context of
telecommunication organisations.
 To examine the impact of globalisation on UK mobile market firms.
 To recommend the way through which Vodafone can gain competitive advantage
in UK mobile market.
RATIONALE
The reason for choosing the topic is because, most of the business are planing to expand
their business on global level and identify every elements that is associated with globalisation
from its negative and positive impact will assist me to understand essential strategies that has to
be developed. The foremost reason is that it will help in develop the understanding about the UK
mobile market global expansion. I found this topic very interesting. Another reason is that

researcher has academic interest on this topic and also with this study the researcher will have
proper knowledge on research methodology and techniques such as, data collection and data
analyses.

Research Questions
 How to determine the benefits gained by Vodafone through globalisation?
 How to identify the risk faced by the companies in mobile market due to globalisation?
 What is the impact of globalisation on the firms in UK mobile markets?
 What are the ways Vodafone can gain competitive advantage in UK mobile market?
Significance of topic
The main importance of this topic is that by the help of globalisation to gains from
sharing innovative ideas and skills and technologies across national borders. And also leads to
expansion of markets and also helps the organisation to proper use for resources and also the
impact of globalisation on mobile phone market helps the firm to use better and new technology
in more innovative manner. And by the help of globalisation it helps to create many job
opportunities to the people and help them to improve their standard of living. It also encourages
free and fair competition at world level and by this organisation supply quality of the product to
the consumer.
5

LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme1: Benefit gained by Vodafone through globalisation
According to (Lasserre, 2017)
There many benefits gained by Vodafone. First one benefit mentioned is that it provides new
market to the Vodafone through providing wider area for the expansion of its products. With the
help of globalisation it able to reach large audience. It also helps to increase the sales of the
company and increases revenue. Globalisation helps the brand name to become famous in
worldwide and have a leading position in the world. Globalisation enable industry to reach
international consumers and have opportunity to influence them to try the brand. Along with it, it
helps Vodafone to position their brand name worldwide that increase the productivity of the
company.
However, (Gyan-Poakwa,
2015) perception is that globalisation helps Vodafone in diversification as it helps to expand
internationally their asset. As by the help of globalisation the organisation can introduce unique
products and services which help to maintain the positive revenue. As Vodafone has increase
sales in many countries such as China, India which benefited Vodafone to the large extent. And
also companies with international operation can compensate the negative growth by one market
by operating successfully in another (Peng, 2016).
According to (Joseph, 2016)
the benefit gained by the globalisation is that it helps Vodafone to acquire new talent as it gives
opportunity to access to new talent pools. It gives the company to increase its productivity of the
company and also international labour can offer companies unique advantage in terms of
advance language skills. And also international talent helps Vodafone to the large extent as it
helps in innovation of its products and also fresh talent run the business in the right direction.
On the other hand, (Muriithi,
2017) Vodafone gained benefit through globalisation is that it helps to gained competitive
advantages by using advance technology and innovative methods it gives company to gain
advantage over other. And also international business can also increase the company brand
image as global operation can help to build the brand and it gives recognition to the organisation
worldwide to support future business such as expansion, new market etc. As globalisation is the
6

wide term and very complex in nature as it helps to interaction among the people, government
and the business. It helps to start the new business in new market so that it helps to achieve the
competitive advantage over the other and also helps to develop advance technology and many
innovative ways and techniques.
According to (Williams and
Vonortas, 2015) it also benefits in foreign investment opportunities and also many firms are able
to develop new resources by operating in global market. It also opens many doors for new
opportunity as it helps to operate at large scale of operation. And also, it helps to invest in other
countries. Also, its benefits Vodafone as it helps to improve their brand value and also by the
help globalisation it helps to increase the innovative skills and increases the sales and revenue to
the large extent. Also, Vodafone has adopted many global strategies that financially benefit the
company to the large extent. And by all Vodafone has become the global brands and also it gains
benefit through large extent and also it has seen a rapid growth in the company.
Theme 2: Intense risk associated with global expansion in the context of telecommunication
organisations.
There is various risk which are
faced by the company in mobile market due to the globalisation are as according to (Peng, 2016)
he first and foremost risk associated with the company in mobile market is that job mobility as
by this manufacturing job from less develop countries is that the worker has less knowledge of
the machine and also in under develop countries there will be availability of the cheap labour.
And also, job loss leads to lower tax revenues that are needed to fund the social welfare systems.
And also, the other risky factor which are associated with the globalisation is that the company
sometimes overestimate a particular market's potential based on domestic context. And also, by
globalisation as it is operating the business into completely new market so it is important for the
company to take complete research before entering into the market and also it required to have a
full knowledge about the circumstances and situation of the business. And also operating
business in new market can cause the company sudden loss to the company as it is operating in
the new market. And also, by operating new business in the new market sometime the local
people don’t accept the company and its products so it is very important for the company to
7

adopt different pricing strategies that is to lower the prices and selling high quality of the product
so that many customers attract towards the brands.
According to (Williams and
Baláž, 2015) the second risky factor associated with the globalisation is that the political risk that
government may pass many other procedures and policies that is different foreign trade policy,
tax policy etc. so that the company has to understand the different policies to the large extent so
that there will be no hinders in the success of the business of the phone market. The third risk
associated is social risk is that the risk consists of the need, preferences, taste, behaviour and
perception of the people as there are many cultural barriers such as; different countries have
different language, ethical and social norms are different of the people and it is very important
for Vodafone to understand the different culture of the people and also to understand the taste
and preference of the people where the company is operating.
According to (Agigi, Niemann
and Kotzé, 2016) the third risk face by the company in mobile market due to globalisation is that
the cost of doing business in any market is heavily dependent on local transportation, energy,
technology and financial services. These all component change their business model and also if
the mobile company manufacturing in the country where there is high fluctuation in the economy
and also the gross domestic product is very low then it will impact in the negative way as the
sales of the company became very low. And also, if the income level of the customer is very low
and they are not comfortable in spending on the new product so the mobile company will suffer
huge loss and the company will be in risk.
According to (Vecchiato,
2015) the forth risk face by the company in mobile market due to globalisation is that the risk of
resources. As the company is operating into the new market or new country so it the
responsibility of the company to use the resource in adequate manner and allocate the resources
at the right way. It is very important for the company to have proper knowledge of the
environment laws of the country so that to work in the successful manner.
According to (Tissot, 2016)
the last risk which is associated to the company due to globalisation is that the local competitor
in the country as the globalisation means to operate in the new market or country so the local
competitor will give tough competition to the mobile company and also it will decrease the profit
8

of the company. And also, it is very important for the company to gain competitive advantage
over the other local company so that it helps to work in the right direction.
9

Theme 3: Impact of globalization on UK mobile market
Auer, Borio and Filardo,
(2017) stated that globalisation have significant impact on the mobile industry in United
Kingdom. There are many reasons mentioned by the author in terms of globalisation such as;
technological advancement. Technology is one of the leading factors in the evolution of
globalisation. The mobile industry is depending on the technologies and it is rapidly increasing
in various countries where the mobile market is likely in the globalisation. Even though the
mobile industries are technologically advanced but the enhancing integration of countries that are
of low-income into the global division of labour has put competitive pressure on traditional
mobile and telecommunication countries. Globalisation has brought benefits for the mobile
industries in UK as well as negative effects.
According to Cramer, (2017)
globalisation expand the productive opportunities of various type of activities by increasing
social networks and enable freelance service work. In addition to this Hanson and et. al., (2016)
distinguished that Globalisation brings competition that is considered as negative as well as
positive point for the industry because intense competition gives competitive advantage and
enable the industry to improve quality, standard and consumer satisfaction services.
Globalisation provide opportunity to the mobile industry for strong growth by lowering down the
inflation and interest rate. On the other hand, Hirst and Thompson, (2019) mentioned that, it can
lower the cost of consumer switching. Increased competition is caused by more foreign
investment flowing to the countries.
As per the view of Hopper,
Lassou and Soobaroyen, (2017) globalisation in UK market for Vodafone involves increased
interdependence and integration of the global economy. That will be a growth in trade in mobile
industry. On the other hand, Potrafke, (2015) shed light on the negative point and explained that
many important decisions made in UK such as; Brexit can affect the UK market. The labour cost
of EU is low than Britain that make the cost of labour higher. Higher labour cost affects the
operating cost of the industry. The separation of both countries lead the industries in UK towards
more complexity in globalising or other company to expand their business in UK that affects the
employment Auer, Borio and Filardo, (2017) specified that in the globalisation context, cultural

difference and preference made a major impact on the mobile market of UK. Many consumers,
in different countries have different preference and using habit of mobile phones that is required
by the company to consider effectively.
11

Theme 4: Various ways through which Vodafone can gain competitive advantage in UK
mobile market
Cramer, (2017) mentioned that
effective globalisation strategies enable Vodafone to gain competitive advantage. As above
discussed, globalisation enhance competition that enable company to develop intense strategies
for the development to stay ahead from the competition. This can help the company in attaining
competitive advantage. To gain the competitive advantages, company can understand their
competitive position in the marketplace. For that purpose, Williams and Baláž, 2015 suggests
that they can analyse the competitive position by using Porter's five forces analysis. This
analytical tool can help them to understand what are their competition, what are the power of
buyer and supplier.
On the other hand, Hanson and
et. al., (2016) stated some essential marketing strategies that can be adapt by the industry.
Marketing strategy is defined by Hirst and Thompson, (2019) the organisation's strategy that
combine all the marketing objective in one comprehensive plan. It is a forward-looking approach
and long-term plan with the fundamental marketing goals of achieving sustainable competitive
advantage. It is recommended by Hopper, Lassou and Soobaroyen, (2017) that Vodafone should
provide various discounts and offers to their consumers. This will help them in attracting
consumers in the competitive market and help in gain competitive advantage. In their discount
strategy, company is recommended to provide offers on the calling rates in cheaper rate in
compare to other service companies that give them an edge of competitive advantages.
Other than that, Agigi,
Niemann and Kotzé, (2016) give recommendation to the company that the consumers are
spending their most of the time on internet and demanding the internet offers more than call rate
offers. It is an opportunity to understand the need of consumers and take that in the marketing
strategy. As company provides various offers to their consumers can fix their loyalty and
commitment towards the organisation. These offers and discounts will help the industry to beat
the competition in the global market and most importantly in achieving the competitive
advantage.
12