Vodafone Business Strategy: Environmental Analysis & Strategic Options

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Vodafone's business strategy, focusing on both its macro and micro environments. It begins by examining the impact of political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) factors on Vodafone's operations, emphasizing the need for strategic adjustments to maintain profitability. The report then assesses Vodafone's internal environment using the VRIO/VRIN model to identify strategic capabilities and core competencies. Porter's Five Forces model is applied to evaluate the competitive landscape of the UK telecommunications sector. Finally, the report explores strategic directions and options available to Vodafone, culminating in a strategic management plan aimed at improving competitive edge and market position. This analysis provides a thorough understanding of Vodafone's strategic challenges and opportunities, offering insights into how the company can navigate the dynamic market environment.

Business Strategy

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
P1: Impact and influence the macro-environment of Vodafone.............................................................3
M1: Analysing macro-environment and identifies strategies management decision..............................6
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................6
P2: Assessment of internal environment of enterprise...........................................................................6
M2: Strengths and weaknesses of firm's internal capabilities, structure and skill set...........................10
TASK 3........................................................................................................................................................10
P3: Porter's five forces model................................................................................................................10
M3: Devising appropriate strategies to improve competitive edge and market position......................11
TASK 4........................................................................................................................................................12
P4: Strategic directions and options available to enterprise.................................................................12
M4: Strategic management plan...........................................................................................................13
D1 Interpret information and data applying environmental and competitive analysis.........................13
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Business strategy is a corporate working strategy that is developed with the goal of
accomplishing a vision, developing people, obtaining a strategic advantage, and enhancing
economic results in order to keep up with the competition for a longer length of time. Such need
an efficient and effective organization with increased abilities and expertise to make sound
decisions and plan for the future. It will aid a company's progress and growth, as well as its
competiveness effectively and efficiently with its competitors. The current assignment report is
centered on Vodafone, a telecoms business whose major goal is to deliver effective broadband
services with the a faster wireless to let consumers communicate with one another. It has been
used in several parts of the world, including Africa, Oceania, Asia, and Europe. The study looks
at the macro - environmental factors and how it affects Vodafone's daily operations. The
VRIO/VRIN model has also been covered in this study, as well as the strategic competencies that
a firm must possess. This paper also summarizes the efficiency of the UK telecommunication
sector using Porter's five forces.
TASK 1
P1: Impact and influence the macro-environment of Vodafone
Vodafone operates on a big scale; therefore it is impacted by a variety of variables that
occur as a result of the widely varying nature of the market. Political, financial, cultural,
technical, and other macro-environmental variables require Vodafone's management can make
adjustments in its choices and strategies on a periodically in order to cope with such issues in an
effective manner that would aid in attaining sustainable profits. Like a result, Vodafone's
management team is responsible for analyzing such aspects using the PESTLE model, which is
detailed elsewhere here:
An organization's environment is analyzed is crucial because it allows organization to
determine variables and their effects, allowing them to take more appropriate actions and
measures to cope with them in a more efficient and effective manner. PESTLE Analysis is a
useful method for discovering numerous aspects that affect a firm's productivity in either a good
or negative way. Because Vodafone handles things on a worldwide scale, it is necessary for them

to assess the intricacy of the business climate using PESTLE Analysis, which is described as
follows:
Political factors: Political conditions are one example of such factors that have a
significant impact on Vodafone's success owing to the worldwide nature of their company. Each
nation has its own political system which every existing operation in that nation must
comprehend, and if management fails to do so, the firm may face significant punishments as a
result of non-compliance. As a result, Vodafone will be permitted to stay in the UK market for a
greater duration of time if it effectively operates its company must comply with UK regulatory
requirements. For addition, changes in political conditions may have an influence on the current
taxation rate, which has a direct influence on the price of Vodafone's services, making it harder
for the firm to keep its client base when political conditions are poor.
Economical factors: It is linked to variables like as currency rate changes, inflation,
prices, and others, all of which have a significant influence on Vodafone's actual performance.
Because Vodafone operates in a variety of nations, the economies of those countries have a
significant impact on their company operations, whether in a bad or satisfactory manner. For
instance, the living in the United Kingdom is currently declining steadily, which has a significant
influence on taxpayers resources, and as a result, they are exhibiting less intention to adopt
technologies. This isn't a promising indication for Vodafone. As a result, every company will
concentrate on growing its operations in advanced nations.
Social factors: It is linked to variables like as attitude, motivation, environment, and
others that compel management to modify their which was before choices in order to meet
conditions and expectations. To keep up with the times, most participants preferred to use high
tech in their mobile phones. As a result, Vodafone must respect their wants and tastes in order to
keep customers with the firm for a longer amount of time. For instance, most consumers want
network connectivity services at low rates, prompting telecommunications firms to lower their
pricing.
Technological factors: Introduction of innovative systems and machinery, for example,
improves a company's capacity to deliver better products and services to its consumers.
Vodafone has commercial activities including over 50 nations, which necessitated the firm's

adoption of new advanced technologies in order to advance. Vodafone is capable of enhancing
its infrastructure as a result of this acceptance, allowing them to quickly acquire a huge group of
consumers.
Legal factors: Regulations and legal requirements alter when the administration of the
country gets, which has a significant influence on Vodafone's commercial operations. Every
company, regardless of its size or business (retail, manufacturing, or telecommunications),
should be compelled to follow the rules and regulations set by the government. As a result,
Vodafone will be obliged to conduct a thorough investigation of that law system. Different Laws,
like the Health and Safety Act, the Equality Act of 2010, and others, must be adopted inside a
company in order to keep experienced staff for a lengthier number of days.
Environmental factors: Whenever a company focuses on implementing strategies and
procedures to conserve the natural from any negative consequences, it may made major revenue
and success. Vodafone has been designated as a green product in around 75% of advanced
economies for this reason. It aids in improving the company's reputation and credibility in the
marketplace, which has a powerful effect on their income.
Ans-off's growth's vector matrix:
Strategic positioning is a type of strategy devised by a corporation to keep a stable position in the
marketplace by analysing the dynamic landscape and its implications for operational processes.
The firm's internal strengths and weaknesses, and the firm's shortcomings are targeted for
improvement in order to achieve long-term success. It is critical for management to evaluate
consumer conditions and expectations, and also competitor tactics, in order to make appropriate
adjustments to their which was before choices. The fundamental goal of a brand image is to
enable a firm to recognize its stronger areas, where they can engage more effectively with their
competition. Ans-off Pyramid is a strategic planning and management system that challenges
executives, entrepreneurs, and administrators to create plans for achieving survival and
prosperity in the coming years. Igor Ans-off created such a matrix with the goal of evaluating
senior executives so that they can associate with economic expansion.
The Ans-off Matrix are given as below:

Market penetration: In this approach, the organization focuses primarily on improving current
goods or services in the marketplace. It will aid firm in expanding their customer base via
offering more items to manufactured clients or consumers to the brand in present marketplaces.
As a result, Vodafone should be forced to employ strategies by releasing cell phone products in
nations where that currently does operations.
Market expansion: Vodafone should try to grow its company into new markets using current
items / products. Because everyone in the nation wants to acquire fast media websites, Vodafone
will be able to thrive in the growing product when they can meet the demands and wants of the
consumers. Implementation of this technique is more beneficial in terms of getting a huge market
share.
Product development: Vodafone's major goal in this approach is to introduce innovative
product and services into the present market in order to gain a big market share. Vodafone may
opt to offer new transportable hotspot equipment including such WI-FI as a result of this
approach, capturing the attention of a huge population of customers. This will aid in gaining a
huge market share.
Diversification: Vodafone has broadened their company by launching new goods for emerging
businesses as part of business plan. Vodafone, for instance, may team up with other well-
established small merchants to increase their reach globally. It will aid in improving the
company's reputation in the marketplace.
McKinney model: The model was created in the 1980s by Robert H Waterman and Tom Peters
to aid in the organization's internal organization development using the 7S:
 Strategy: It is linked to the company's business plan of action, which aids it in gaining a
competitive edge and coping with shifting market circumstances so that it can stay in the
market for the long haul. It is critical that Vodafone adapts its approach to respond and
adapt in order to stay competitive.
 Structure: It is the method in which a firm’s economic segments and components are
structured so that knowledge may flow strategically inside the organisation. Vodafone's
flat structure aids in the simple movement of information inside the organisation,
allowing for timely and efficient decision-making.

 System: These would be the systems and processes that Vodafone follows to ensure that
every day company activities operate properly and those decisions are being made on a
constant schedule.
 Skills: These characteristics are linked to the abilities of Vodafone workers in order for
them to perform efficiently and on schedule to achieve corporate goals. Such abilities
must be successfully utilized by the organisation in order for net income to be realized.
 Staff: This factor is connected to the makeup of Vodafne's staff in order to fill open
positions with individuals who have efficient and productive abilities, allowing the
organisation to meet its objectives on schedule.
 Style: It refers to the manner in which a company's current interacts with its employees in
order to maximize their abilities. Vodafone employs a democratic leadership model to
allow all workers to participate in judgment.
 Shared values: At Vodafone, they are the norms and standards that drive behavior in the
workplace so that everyone can come together to accomplish the strategic mission.
M1: Analysing macro-environment and identifies strategies management decision
The macro-environment has a detrimental or beneficial impact on business performance,
therefore it's important to recognize and analyses these aspects so that you can manage with them
effectively. Political, economic, social, technical, and other quantitative variables require
Vodafone's manager to make adjustments to its which was before strategies in order to obtain a
higher edge. PESTLE analysis will be necessary for all this, in minimize the impact of such
factors on company's business.
TASK 2
P2: Assessment of internal environment of enterprise
Inner environment is composed of variables such as administration, organizational values,
practices in the workplace, and etc, all of which have an impact on a firm's internal systems and
may be managed by administration via facilitates efficient and appropriate preparation. Core
competencies, on the other side, refer to a firm's capacity to allocate existing funds to lucrative
sectors in the most efficient way possible. A big organisation has a greater opportunity to
implement efficient devices to enhance company activities.

Strategic Capability:
It alludes to a company's capacity to improve productivity and create strategic plan in order to
compete effectively edge for a longer number of days. Strategic planning will increase the
capability of effectively utilizing resources as efficiently as possible. Employees are capable of
offering their all in order to achieve set goals and objectives thanks to corporate strategy. If an
organization's skills are robust, it will have a better capability to grow and succeeding in the
nearest term. Furthermore, capacities are both bridge and communal. As a result, the efficiency
of business operations is determined by an organization's skills, which must be improved.
VRIO/VRIN model:
VRIO is a robust analytical instrument that enables organizations to understand it and
assess their possibilities, allowing them to take the next steps necessary to stay ahead of the
competition. As a result, Vodafone should be forced to implement such a strategy in order to
instruct their staff to make the maximum use of available. It entails a number of elements, which
are listed below:
Valuable: The most important resource that an effective information system must employ in
order to achieve the best potential results is its resources. Architects and manufacturers become
even more important as a result of this, as they aid in the firm's growth and achievement. It may
be accomplished through maximizing distinctiveness and lowering manufacturing costs. Such
organizations that are unable to satisfy these demands face a smaller market share.
Rare: In this case, a company can only gain competitive advantages if it has ample funds.
Possessing scarce and restricted commodities gives a firm less benefits. Vodafone handles in
major commercial operations; therefore it has a lot of resources that it may put to good use in the
nation's progress. These sources may be done properly with the assistance of qualified and
intelligent individuals providing guidance.
Imitability: Vodafone's administration has sufficient resources that must be shielded from their
competitors in order to get a strategic advantage. Copyright laws, trademarks, and other useful
instruments and approaches can be used to preserve it.

Organize to derive value: An organization's capabilities must be valued in order to be used
effectively. If the corporation does not do so, it would be unable to gain a competitive advantage.
Every procedure techniques and policies which must appropriately constructed in a methodical
manner in this situation. This will aid in exploring the benefits of current funds and provide a
strategic advantage to the company.
Value chain analysis: Vodafone must recognise that not all processes or processes
demand the same level of inspection in order to do a successful Value Chain Analysis. As a
result, identifying the relevance of programs based on their position in the product/service
distribution process will be the first step in modifying the Porter ’s Value chain concept.
Inbound logistics: It's crucial to build excellent ties with vendors since you'll need their help to
collect, package, and distribute goods and services. Vodafone might face a slew of problems
throughout the development process if it doesn't look at inbound logistics. Along logistic
evaluation necessitates a company's attention to every stage of transformations, from raw
materials to the finished item. Trying to retrieve crude ingredients, storing outputs, and
domestically transferring raw material to begin manufacturing are all instances of inbound
logistics.
Operations: Whenever raw material comes, the necessity of business process optimization
actions increases, and Vodafone is prepared to turn the raw resources into the finished product
and release it on the marketplace. Manufacturing, packaging, building, and checking are
instances of operating operations. This group also includes equipment inspection and
replacement.
Outbound logistics: Outbound logistics refers to the actions that convey a product to a client via
several intermediates. Materials management, storage, planning, order fulfillment, transportation,
and delivering to the destination are all examples of outbound logistics operations. Vodafone
may examine and improve outbound logistics in order to find new sources of value and meet its
business expansion goals.
Marketing and sales: To encourage clients that its product is superior than rivals, Vodafone will
stress the advantages and differentiating factors of supplied goods at this level. Only by investing

in marketing and sales efforts can Vodafone build value by offering superior product at a low
with unique characteristics. Here, salespeople and advertisers play a critical part.
Services: Vodafone's which was before and post-sale offerings will contribute significantly in
fostering brand loyalty. Post-sale services are as crucial to clients as advertising and sales efforts.
Strengths and flaws of the organisation
A SWOT analysis is a method for evaluating a brand's reputation in its market. This may be
utilized by Vodafone, and it will entail identifying its internal Strengths (S) and Weakness (W),
as well as the Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) it confronts in its vast business climate.
Vodafone is one of the most successful companies in its field, and it try to remain there.
Vodafone is doing a thorough assessment of its SWOT matrix and utilizing the results to develop
a strategic plan. The firm's skills are its strengths, while its disadvantages are its weaknesses. An
organization's flaws must be addressed while its strengths must be enhanced.
Strength
• Vodafone becomes a household name in the telecom sector, with over 1 lakh workers devoting
their all to the firm's growth and achievement.
• The company offers a wide array of goods and services, including landline telephones, digital
Television, and cellular phones.
• It has brought in a significant quantity of income and profit. The firm has around 87.3 billion
dollars in revenue and has over 350 million customers from all over the world.
• In 2016, the brand reputation of Vodafone was estimated to be over 28 billion dollars, and the
firm's brand awareness and ownership also increased.
Vodafone is one of the top 2000 franchises in the market, with operations in over 25 countries
and a significant market presence.
Limitations
• The presence of Vodafone in the market has been impacted by increases in service costs and
inadequate infrastructure declines in the number of consumers.

• As the quantity of rivals grows, the firm's strong brand is progressively dwindling.
• The scenario has arisen as a result of Brexit, and variations in economic circumstances in the
United Kingdom have a major impact on the global firm performance, resulting in a decrease in
sales.
• Avoiding rural regions when offering telecommunications services reduces the business
earnings, reducing its market presence.
Opportunity
Internet: The quantity of people using the internet is increasing all around the globe. This implies
that Vodafone has the potential to grow their presence online by interacting with their consumer
e - commerce.
E-commerce: The e-commerce business has seen a recent craze and increased revenues. As both
a result, a large number of consumers are making considerable purchases over the internet.
Vodafone may generate income by establishing retail retailers and selling through them.
Social Media: The associated with using social media has risen throughout the globe. The 3
social media sites that have had the most growth in monthly active users are Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram. Vodafone may utilize facebook to advertise its goods, communicate with
consumers, and get feedback.
Technological advancements: system has various advantages in a variety of fields. To save
money, activities can be computerized. Technology makes it easier to obtain significant customer
data and boosts product offerings.
Deep recession, there's been a rise in average annual salary as well as household consumption. It
will mean an increase in Vodafone's customer base, since more consumers will be drawn to the
company.
Threats