Analysis of Vodafone's Business Environment: A Comprehensive Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of Vodafone Group PLC's business environment. It begins by defining the business environment and its importance, followed by an examination of different types and purposes of organizations, including public, private, and voluntary sectors, with Vodafone as a case study. The report then explores the size and scope of various organizations, the relationship between organizational functions (marketing, operations, finance, and HR), and the impact of the macro environment. It includes internal and external analyses of Vodafone, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and their interrelation with external factors. The report concludes with a summary of findings and a list of references, offering a comprehensive overview of Vodafone's business operations and its interaction with the broader business landscape.

Business and Business
Environment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1) Explain different types and purposes of organisations.........................................................1
P2) Explain the size and scope of a range of different types of organisations............................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3) Explain the relationship between different organisational functions...................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4) Identify the positive and negative impacts of the macro environment.................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P5) Internal and external analysis of specific organisations ......................................................8
P6) Explain how strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external macro factors..................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Business Environment is the most necessary and important aspect for any business.
Business environment is the combination of all external and internal factors of the organisation
such as demand and supply,management,customers needs,owners,suppliers,innovation in using
technology,market and social trends,economic changes and government changes etc. All these
factors affects the function and environment of the organisation. The
financial,cultural,technological and governmental forces which are a part of business
environment. The business operations of any organisation can not survive without analysing
business environment. As Business environment helps the organisation to identify opportunities
and making good decision making,helps with dealing with dynamic changes,helping in making
planning and policy formulation, helps in improving performance etc. The report below is based
on Vodafone Group plc that is a British multinational telecommunication company. The
company 's is organised into two geographic regions that is Europe and Africa. Vodafone is the
largest mobile and fixed network in Europe and deals in providing connectivity. The be;ow
report includes different types and purposes of organisations,the size and scope of
organisations,relationship between different organisational functions,positive and negative
impact of macro environment,internal and external organisation of organisation,strengths and
weaknesses interrelation with external macro factors along with its conclusion.
TASK 1
P1) Explain different types and purposes of organisations
Organisation refers to an entity that comprising of more than one people who are
integrate to gain the objectives for earning profits and revenues. The major aim of the
organisation is to satisfy the demands of customers for gaining the profitable results and
sometimes for social welfare.(Brennan, Canning, aHamilton, and Webster, 2018). This terms
includes the several kinds of businesses that can be shown below:
 Public sector organisation- It refers to that type of business organisation which is
operated and funded by the government on behalf of the public. The main objective of
this type of firm is to provide the welfare of the society people so that their standard of
living is to be enhanced. The best example of this type of organisation is BBC that is one
of the leading company that broadcast the several news to the public. The major purpose
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of this is to offer the varieties of services to general public by using the resources
optimally.
Legal structure
 Central government- It refers to that who collects the funds to the general public in the
form of income tax. This type of legal structure can control all the other government
parties to provide the benefits to society. BBC is working under this category.
 Local government- In this company can arrange the funds by collecting the community
charges that is generally known as Council tax. It only controls the local area or region.
 State government- It refers to that who have power to control the whole region or state
and highly focus on benefits of society.
 Private sector organisation - It refers to that sector which is controlled and operated by
an individual person or group of individuals for the motive of gaining profits and
revenues by satisfying customers needs. In this Vodafone Plc is the company that is
public limited company who works for providing the telecommunication services to their
customers in all over the globe. The main purpose of this type of organisation is to gain
the higher profits and revenues by giving the major competition in the business industry
which will enhance the overall productivity and proficiency.
Legal structure
 Sole proprietorship- It refers to that type of business which is operated by a single
individual for offering the goods and services to satisfy the local people needs to gain
small amount of profits. There is necessity of taking a license from the local government
in several types of businesses that are Taxi driving, trading etc.
 Partnership- In this two or more than two people are to be included who start their
business by sharing the profits and loss as per the proposition given in the partnership
deed. IN this a bond is to be signed by the partners due to which they are legally bound
to pay debts and sharing profits in defined proportion.
 Limited liability- It includes two type of company that are public limited company and
another one is private limited company. In case of public limited company funds are
collected from the general public whereas in private limited company funds are to be
collected by number of shareholders to gained the high amount of profits and revenues.
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In this Vodafone Plc is the public limited company that is mainly governed by the
company laws.
 Voluntary Organisation: This type of organisation is called a voluntary organisation or
having a common interest or a group of individual people come together into an
agreement as volunteers and they have no motive to earning profit. (Hamilton, and
Webster, 2018).There main purpose is that they having motive to development towards
the society and encourage to the other companies to participate into social causes
activities
The different purpose of a business organisation in context to Vodafone Group plc is as
follows:
 The purpose of Vodafone Group plc is to create digital society globally where to provide
data network with high speed to connect people and communities.
 To ensure that opportunities and promises that are made are being fulfilled by employees
and staffs of the organisation.
 To provide sustainable services without damaging the society 's environmental behaviour.
 The purpose of Vodafone Group plc is to deliver positive social outcomes with a
responsibility and integrity to operate business.
 To identify and grouping of activities in the organisation and to make different
departments with the identification of targets and goals.
 To determine and monitor the organisation 's structure for the hierarchy of functions.
 To clearly define the objectives and goals of the organisation and set strategies according
to them.
P2) Explain the size and scope of a range of different types of organisations
The different types of organisation can be mentioned as micro,small and medium sized
enterprises. Different business purposes have different scope and size of organisations. The
different size of organisation are:
 Small scale enterprise: Small scale business enterprise is a business enterprise of having
and supports small businesses. In small scale enterprise the paid up capital for the
business is small. The IT skills are modest in this kind of enterprise.
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 Medium scale enterprise: Medium scale enterprise is a business enterprise of having
medium scale business. In medium scale enterprise the paid up capital is between 50 lacs
to 1 cr. The IT skills should be of generalist skills.
 Large scale enterprise: Large scale enterprise is a business enterprise which supports
large and big business ideas. In large scale enterprise the paid up capital is high. In this
enterprise high skills are required.(Khajeheian, Friedrichsen, and Mödinger, 2018).
The scope of a business organisation is the importance of a business organisation and the
opportunities and strategies that can be used for the expansion of a business organisation. The
scope of a business organisation are as follows:
 All the activities in the business organisation are directed towards the production of
goods and services in the organisation.(Brotspies,and Weinstein, 2019).
 To ensures that the resources are utilised on its optimum bases.
 To ensure that it has optimum decision making in the organisation.
 To analyse that the problem are solved analysed properly.
In context to public,private and voluntary organisations the size, scope and range of
organisations are as follows:
Basis Public organisation Private organisation Voluntary
organisation
Meaning Public organisation is a
type of organisation are
generally carried and run
by government.
Private organisation is a
type of organisation
which has
partnership,sole
proprietorship or solely
owned business which is
not operated by
government.
Voluntary organisation
is a type of organisation
which have the
common interest that
associate tgo have
agreement to join
business with
regulatory individual
body.
Scope In public organisation the
workforce can be more
than 250.
In private organisation the
workforce can be more
than 500 in the
In voluntary
organisation the scope
is to be highlighted by
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organisation. the social work and to
increase the
development level of
business.
Size The size of public
organisation is limited in
nature as the government
apply funds to the
organisation limitedly.
The size of the private
organisation small
medium and large scale
enterprise that includes
goals and aims with the
business.
The size of the
voluntary organisation
is basically less than
other organisation. In
voluntary organisation
it is regulated by
trusties and other
institutions.
Objectives The objective of public
organisation is to control
the arising economic
problems and to
strengthen the economic
power.
The objective of private
organisation is to earn
profit and generate
revenue.
The objective of
voluntary organisation
is to develop the society
and have profit
maximization.
The vision statement of Vodafone Group plc is to be a communication leader in the
global world. There vision is provide the a high customer 's life through a unique power and
capability to connect people through their data network and mobile services. The mission
statement of Vodafone Group plc is to be a high quality financial services company and to be a
company that customers support and enriches the customer 's lives through unique mobile
communication services.
TASK 2
P3) Explain the relationship between different organisational functions
The relationship with organisation function is derived which has roles and several
functions in the organisation. The marketing function is a strategic discipline which underpins
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the most of the activities of the business. Marketing is a larger concept and it is interlinked with
other organisational functions.
 Marketing as operation management: Marketing function is interlinked with operation
management as the marketing department will have to work with the production
department. Operation management in marketing ensures the competitive advantage and
the production helps to test and develop the products.
 Marketing as financial management: Marketing function is interlinked with financial
management as there is a need of adequate budgets to meet the needs for
research,promotion and distribution. As the whole marketing process is depended on the
budgets and funds of the business organisation.
 Marketing as human resource management: Marketing function is interlinked with the
human resource management as to ensure the working of marketing work it is necessary
to ensure that the organisation has the appropriate skilled workforce and trained staff
level in the organisation level.
Organisation structure: The organisation structure refers to the structure and designed
level which shows the activities delegated in the organisation to achieve the desired goals and
objectives of the organisation. Franklin, and Marshall, 2019). Organisational structure provides
a framework of employee 's role and duties that is to be done in the organisation by the the
employees. There are basically four types of organisational structure that are as follows:
 Functional structure: Functional structure refers to the organisation structure in which
the organisations are divided into specialised groups with specific roles and duties.
Functional structure is also known as bureaucratic organisation structure. In functional
organisation structure the workforce is experienced in working.(Blachetta and
Kleinaltenkamp, 2019).
 Divisional structure: Divisional structure refers to the organisation structure in which
the organisation activities are divided and work into teams. Each of the divisions in the
organisation is supervised by the head of the teams having experience and trained skilled.
In this organisation structure the main focus is on single product and service.
 Flat structure: Flat structure refers to the organisation structure which has no level of
management. Every employee in this organisation structure has the equal rights and
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responsibilities. There is no middle level management. This organisation structure is
beneficial for reducing costs.
 Matrix structure: Matrix refers to the organisation structure in which employees in the
organisation is divided into teams that has to report to their team managers that is project
and product managers along with their functional managers. Matrix organisation
structure is combination of various organisation structure.
TASK 3
P4) Identify the positive and negative impacts of the macro environment
Macro environment involve all the external and outside factors that creates a huge
impact on the performance and working of the organisation. To analyse the outside factors of the
organisation, the company can perform PESTLE analysis to analyse and determine the external
factors of the organisation. The factors which creates impact on the working performance of
Vodafone Group plc by performing PESTLE analysis are as follows:
 Political factors: The political factors in context to Vodafone Group plc are that it it has
a relevance in related to international business. That creates a positive impact on the
organisation. While with the increase in the government intervention in the different it
has created a growth barrier for the organisation which throws the negative impression on
the organisation.(Blachetta and Kleinaltenkamp, 2019).
 Economical factors: The economical factors for Vodafone Group plc is that, the
demand for data and mobile services are increasing regularly which results in developing
the economy of the organisation that leaded to a positive impact on the organisation.
However with change in customer 's demand and choices the economic performance of
the organisations hampers that have a negative impact on the organisation.
 Social factors: Social factors like changing the social trends with the customer 's choices
and wants with their buying habits hampers the growth of the business and affect the
economy which gives negative impact on the organisation while by having the fast
mobile data technology in different some countries the company is growing faster that is
a positive sign.
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 Technological factors: Technological factors like as Vodafone is a telecom company
technology plays an important role in the company. The company is facing the growing
role of user experience that has forced the company to focus on its technology as that can
proved to be positive impact of technological factors.
 Legal factors: Legal factors like laws and regulations on the telecom companies creates
a negative impact on Vodafone Group plc. As the tax to labour and changes laws and
regulation affect the working of the organisation. While government has created a level
of control on the fraud issues that has a positive impact on the organisation.
 Environmental factors: Environmental factors like environment and sustainability has
now become the main focus of the business processes sustainable. It is important to have
sustainable environment. Which can be a positive impact on organisation. While the
company regularly focuses on building efficiency in the organisation but due to changes
in the policies it is affected that gives negative impact.
TASK 4
P5) Internal and external analysis of specific organisations
To analyse the internal environment that relates to identify the strength and weaknesses
of the organisation which the employees,management, resources and different factors affect the
organisation. In context of Vodafone Group plc SWOT analysis can be performed as :
Strengths
 diverse service offerings
 Globally present
 The organisation has large subscriber
base for the customers
 Strong advertising background of the
organisation.
Weaknesses
 Limited presence in the rural sector
markets
 The organisation has limited success in
core business.
 The organisation is facing large huge
debts.
Opportunities
 Better rural market availability in the
rural markets to pitch customers.
 There is increase in the mobile and
telecom industry.
Threats
 There is a high compensation
 There is a constant increase in the
competition in the telecom industry
markets.
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 There can be a better network coverage.
P6) Explain how strengths and weaknesses interrelate with external macro factors.
To analyse the external macro factors of the business environment. It is necessary to
analyse the strength and weaknesses of Vodafone Group plc which are as follows:
 Political factors: As the political of UK is stable in terms of government policies,
economy and value of currency of the country.
As the availability of stable political environment in UK, it refers can be the strength for the
company to grow and expand in the different countries. Whereas the changing government
policies like taxes and custom duties can be categorised in the company 's weakness.
 Economical factors: Economic factors can be relate to the market opportunities that can
be helpful for the organisation to build their economy more strong.
As there is a increase in the demand of mobile network and data and providing biggest telecom
services it can be taken as strength of Vodafone. Whereas constantly changing in the desire and
needs of the customers it can be proved to be a weakness for the organisation.
 Social factors: Social factors can relate to have sustainability in socio cultural
environment for the organisation.
As the organisation is providing the facility with sustainability with socio cultural without
hampering the sentiments of customers is taken as strength for the company. Whereas regularly
changing in the needs of the customer 's choices and preference can affect the growth of the
company which is a weakness for the company.
 Technological factors: Technological factors relates to have a information regarding the
technology used in the organisation.
As being a telecom organisation it is necessary for the organisation to use the latest technology
which Vodafone is using for making their customers satisfied which is considered as a strength
of the organisation. Whereas there is a certain increase in demand of more latest technology
which sometimes cannot be filled by the company which leads to the weakness of the company.
 Legal factors: Legal factors comprises of all the legal regulations that has set by the
government.
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As government is has made certain laws, rules and regulations to provide safeguards from fraud
services which is treated as a strengths. Whereas constantly changing the laws and regulations
can be treated as the company 's weakness.
 Environmental factor: Environmental factors can relate to climatic,nature and country
culture values.
As the organisation is providing the sustainable work for the country that is treated as a
strengths. Whereas regular changes in the business e3nvironment and its need it can be treated as
a weakness for the organisation.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that there are different business environment
in context to public,private and voluntary organisation and creates comparison among them.
(Franklin, and Marshall, 2019). (RAO,2020).The public,private and voluntary organisations
varies according to their size,scope and objectives. And by interlinking the organisational
functions with other organisational function macro environment analysis can be done to identify
the different macro factors which creates both the positive and negative impact on the
organisation. And to highlight the SWOT analysis of the company it highlights the strengths and
weaknesses in relation with the external factors by considering PESTLE analysis to SWOT
analysis.
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