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| | | | | | MANAGING MARKETING Assessment 2009/10 Gavalas Christos Athens 2010 Vodafone Greece Vodafone Greece was established in Greece in 1992 ??? under the trade name Panafon ??? with the participation of Vodafone Group Plc. , France Telecom, Intracom and Data Bank, and was officially renamed to Vodafone in January 2002. In December 1998, the company listed its shares in the Athens and London stock exchange, while in July 2004 it de-listed from ATHEX. Vodafone Group Plc. is the company’s major shareholder with 99. 8% of Vodafone Greece shares. The technological network
Vodafone has the most extensive, technologically advanced and faults and malfunctions resistant mobile telephony network in Greece, able to provide broad coverage by ensuring high-quality communication. Products and Services Having adopted a purely client-centred mentality, the company offers tailor-made tarrif plans depending on the public’s requirements and specificities, for both post-pay and pre-pay customers (New Vodafone Prepaid and Vodafone CU). In November 2004, Vodafone Greece made an impressive upgrade of Vodafone live! with the power of 3G, enabling subscribers to live their communication to the maximum.
Providing services such as video-calling, mobile TV, listening to high-quality stereo music, combined with very fast and entertaining games with 3D graphics, Vodafone is now offering a live dimension in mobile communications. Vodafone Greece also occupies a very high place in the corporate market, by offering specialised services that cover their increased communication needs, such as Vodafone Mobile Connect card. An innovative service offering fast and reliable wireless access to the Internet, e-mail, or LAN, at any time and from practically any place.
Its competitive advantage is the fact that it provides Internet access without the need of a telephone connection, either fixed or mobile. Moreover, in September 2005, the company launched commercially BlackBerry?? in Greece. BlackBerry is a leading wireless communication solution for professionals, and is redefining the market of wireless e-mail management technology, by offering a new and reliable communication solution and enabling users to access their e-mail in real time. In 2007, Vodafone launched the new era for telecommunications in the Greek households, by launching the service “Vodafone at Home”.
The innovative technology, the competitive pricing and the credible customer service is the best choice for everyone seeking for home communication with a fixed line, and high speed ADSL Interent reaching 24Mbps. Vodafone shops Vodafone Greece has developed a dynamic retail network throughout Greece, comprising of 412 shops, which is developing and renewed constantly, offering: * the widest range of handsets and accessories, with 2 years guarantee * tarrif plans and services that cover all demands – handsets’ service * impecable customer service
Apart from the retail network, Vodafone distributes products and services through the 1. 000 business partners’ shops. Quality Vodafone Greece is one of the very few companies internationally, and the sole one in Greece, to have obtained the following certification for the Integrated Management System it applies: Quality Management according to ISO 9001:2000; Environmental Management according to ISO 14001; Health and Safety according to OHSAS 18001; Information Security Management Systems according to BS 7799, while in July 2002 the Quality Management System of the Vodafone Shops was certified according to ISO 9001.
Moreover, it is worth mentioning that Vodafone Greece is the first mobile telephony company in Greece and the second one globally, to have obtained the EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) certification, in September 2003 from ELOT, the Hellenic Organization for Standardization, by developing an action plan which enables target-setting in its environmental performance and provision the relevant information to the public. Corporate Responsibility
For Vodafone Greece, business development interrelates with care and respect for the society and the environment in which it operates. Within this framework, the company has undertaken the role of being an active participant in relevant activities, initiated both by the Greek Government and by independent bodies. The multi-faceted Vodafone Greece Corporate Responsibility program is defined through the Risk Assessment process and the Stakeholder Engagement Survey, both conducted every two years for all company’s operation.
Based on the above processes results, the areas where we focus our activities, with systematic actions and measurable results, are the Environment, Mobile Phones – Masts – Health – Network Deployment, and Access to Communications, Customers, Supply Chain, Employees, and Social Investment. For further information on Vodafone Greece’s initiatives, the relevant results and the future commitments in corporate social responsibility, please refer to the annual Corporate Responsibility Report available at www. vodafone. gr / Vodafone Greece / Corporate Responsibility / Corporate responsibility report.
Network Coverage Population Coverage that reaches 100% At Vodafone, our goal is to provide state of the art telecommunication services throughout Greece. For this reason we constantly invest in the expansion and improvement of our network coverage as well as in the upgrade of our network capacity and equipment infrastructure. Our network provides coverage even to the most distant settlements of Greece – many thousands of cities, towns and villages-, national and provincial roads, and mountain areas as well as along the extended country border line.
Sea coverage is very extensive, serving almost the whole country maritime area and the vast majority of the Greek islands enjoy Vodafone’s high quality coverage including even the most distant ones such as Gavdos, Kastelorizo, Gyali, Agathonisi. The frequent upgrade of our network with the latest available technology in relation with the intensive maintenance processes provide unsurpassed communication quality and ensure network availability that reaches 100%.
Every day our network successfully serves more than 30,000,000 calls and 10,000,000 SMS Further, Vodafone’s network is constantly evolving, following international trends in terms of technology in order to provide the most advanced mobile broadband services to our customers. Vodafone has the fastest 3G network in Greece as it offers the fastest download, upload and browsing experience compared to the other mobile telephony operators in Greece. The coverage of our 3G network is quickly expanding across all country offering in even more distant areas high standard mobile broadband services.
Specifically, Vodafone was the first company in the Greek market to offer commercially HSPDA14. 4Mbps (May 2009) and HSPA+ (July 09). HSPA+ is the most advanced wireless broadband technology offering peak download speeds of 28. 8Mbps and upload speeds of 5. 8Mbps. Current Coverage Map | The Vodafone network coverage shown above has been derived from processing and simulation of real network details and country specific geographical data through elaborated calculation models. The exact percentage of population coverage is 99. %. Quality (1) Vodafone Greece Quality Policy Our main concern and priority is to satisfy our customers, by understanding and foreseeing their needs, as well as covering their demands and expectations, always trying to provide products and services of exceptional quality. We define quality as the possibility to exceed the demands and expectations of our customers and our people through the continuous improvement of the operation of our processes and systems. In Vodafone Greece we are committed to… 1.
Ensure compliance with all the requirements of the Quality Management System. 2. Realize our vision through every day work and performance. 3. Continuously improve our business in order to achieve our strategic goals. Quality of Services ?n the scope of developing services that correspond to customers’ needs, Vodafone-Panafon, has adopted a specific framework of systematically assessing quality of services end-to-end, from their concept and planning phase until their delivery to the market.
This framework includes the following methods: Service Evaluation Service evaluation is conducted aiming to ensure that new products and services are designed, developed and implemented according to quality requirements, company policies and processes aiming to meet customer needs. Quality standards of new services and products are verified through specific benchmarking trials, prior and post launch, against initial technical and quality specifications. Quality of Service (QoS) Monitoring
One of the most important methods for target setting and network development prioritisation is to simulate and understand customers’ perception on the use of mobile telecommunications network. The fundamental indicators demonstrating QoS achieved by Vodafone – Panafon’s network is the “Call Success Rate (CSR)” (the percentage of successfully set-up, maintained and released calls, as perceived by the customer), the “Poor Voice Quality”(assessing the quality of communication) and the “Weak Signal Percentage” (evaluating the weak signal level ). QoS monitoring is conducted for GSM, GPRS and UMTS services.
Suppliers ; Partners Performance Evaluation Vodafone-Panafon, in order to develop mutual trust and cooperation with its main Partners, systematically assesses the quality of this cooperation. The assessment aims to identify areas for improvement and to implement appropriate actions in order to achieve mutual beneficial synergies. Participation in Vodafone Group Network ; Service Quality Team Vodafone-Panafon, aiming to measure quality of all services and especially those conveyed on new technologies, participates in the Vodafone Group Network ; Service Quality Team.
The purpose is to: * Plan and introduce Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for services that are implemented within the framework of large corporate projects * Ensure the use of quality plans and measure their implementation * Identify required changes in the company, in order to incorporate new services and technologies Quality of customer experienceWe are committed to achieving the highest standards of services and high quality of products as a strategic choice of the company. Our company strives constantly to anticipate and understand customers’ needs and delight them with high level of customer services.
Throughout Vodafone there is a deep passion for what we do and how we do it. Our shared vision is to enrich the lives of our customers and helping individuals, businesses and communities to be more connected in a mobile world. Therefore, among other activities we are responsible to: 1. Monitor and assess all business processes regarding customer experience through: * assessment of customer’s complaints * conducting assessments * coordinating “mystery shopper’s” and “mystery caller’s” surveys 2.
Review customer service policies, redesign customer service systems and facilitate the change of organizational structures in order to promote to all customer interfacing departments best practices concerning customer relationships. 3. Participate in the planning and implementation of corporate projects by monitoring and assuring the quality of deliverables in order to ensure customers satisfaction (internal and external). 4. Inform, train and encourage Vodafone retail chain employees in quality issues as well as the account managers in self-assessing the retail stores in relevant issues. 5.
Develop quality plans of the provision of services and products taking into consideration: * Customer’s needs and expectations (questionnaires, surveys, complaints reports etc) * Legal obligations, national and other legislation and regulations * Studies, researchers and case studies focused on processes * Benchmarking 6. Assure continuous, even and effective compliance with policies, standards and procedures of Vodafone Group. 7. Coordinate the maintenance, the implementation and the continuous improvement of company’s quality management systems according to ISO 9001:2000.
Code of Conduct Within the self-regulatory framework of the mobile telecommunications sector and with the purpose to actively participate in the proper use of value added services by the customers that these services are addressed to (for example content services, videos, MMS), the mobile telecommunications companies Vodafone, Wind (former TIM), Cosmote and Q-Telecom, have jointly signed the “Code of Conduct for Value Added Services provided through mobile phones and for the protection of minor users”, which concerns mainly adult content services.
The mobile telecommunications’ companies continue to work on the further improvement of this Code of Conduct, taking into consideration the related industry developments in the European market. Within this framework, the Vodafone Group and 15 other European mobile telecommunications and content provider companies, with the intermediation of the European Commission, signed on February 2007, a European “Memorandum for safer mobile use by children and young teenagers”. Within the framework of this agreement, the Greek telecommunications companies have incorporated the European Memorandum to the existing local Code.
Business Process Management Approach We, all Vodafone employees, always challenge ourselves to improve our business and our processes. Therefore, among other activities we are responsible to: 1. Develop and introduce a process model in which all main business processes are defined and depicted. 2. Define the interrelations and interactions of business processes based on company’s process model. 3. Identify, understand and document all core processes and sub-processes. 4. Set qualitative and quantitative performance indicators in company’s processes and sub-processes 5.
Review and assess regularly the effective implementation of business activities by monitoring the performance indicators 6. Develop action plans in order to achieve process improvements. 7. Involve employees in process management| ??| | | | | Product mixIntegrated Services Hosting Services Private Data Networking Internet Access Voice Services Local Services XOptionsTM Telco Collocation Firewall DSL Integrated Access Web SItes VPN Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) Long Distance Conferencing Services |
MultiTransport Networking Services Dedicated Hosting Ethernet Private Line Security Services Dial Advanced Directory Hosted IVR | | | | | | | | | ??| Quick links| ??| | The company | Career opportunities | Quality in Vodafone | Corporate responsibility | Announcements| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Analysis of Vodafone and its business environmentAccording to Johnson (2005) the environment of company can be viewed in a series of layers:??? The most general layer of the environment is often referred to as the macro environment.
It consists of broad environmental factors that impact to agreater or lesser extent on almost all companies. ??? Within this broad general environment the next layer is called an industry ora sector. This is a group of organizations producing the same products orservices. ??? Within industries or sectors there will be many different companies withdifferent characteristics and competing on different bases. Similarlycustomers? expectations are not all the same, they have a range of differentrequirements. So the most immediate layer of the company’s environmentconsists of competitors and markets.
Layers of the business environmentAnalysis of macro? environment The PEST analysis is a framework that is used to scan the external macroenvironment in which a company operates. PEST is an acronym for the following factors: political, economic, social and technological (Appendix 2). These factors play an important role in the value creation opportunities of a company’s strategy. However they are usually outside the control of the company and must normally be considered as either threats or opportunities (Johnson, 2005).
The main PEST factors of external influence on Vodafone’s value are the following: * Political factorsVodafone is generally subject to regulations governing the operation of its businessactivities. Such regulations typically take the form of industry specific laws andregulations covering telecommunications services and general competition (antitrust) laws applicable to all activities. Most member states of the EU have now implemented the EU Regulatory Framework for the communications sector, which was adopted in 2002.
It aims to encourage competition in the electronic communications markets, to improve thefunctioning of the single market and to guarantee basic user interests that would notbe guaranteed by market forces. The impact of EU Framework on Vodafone was significant. After member states ofthe EU enacted national laws implementing the EU Framework, Vodafone had toreduce its mobile phone termination rates considerably. * Economic factorsThe most common indicator for measuring a nation’s economic activity is grossdomestic product (GDP).
This indicator covers the production activity of residentproducers, calculated as the sum of gross value added from all activities/industrieswithin an economy. * Social factors The EU and other regions are facing unprecedented demographic changes that willhave a major impact on many areas of society such as social systems, consumptionpatterns, education, and job markets in the coming decades. People are living muchlonger and in better health, while fertility rates have dropped. These factors haveresulted in the profile of the EU’s population becoming increasingly older.
Eurostat’s trend scenario for population projections suggests that by 2050 the EUwill have 15 million fewer children compared with 2005, while the numbers of olderpeople will rise. By 2045, the EU is likely to have a significantly higher proportion of older persons than its main global competitors. * Technological factorsResearch and development (R&D) is a driving force behind economic growth, jobcreation, innovation of new products, and increasing quality of products. R&D intensity for the EU showed a positive evolution in the six years up to 2003.
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) in the EU? 25 was equivalent to 1. 9% of GDP in 2005; this proportion rose to over 3% in just two of the MemberStates, namely, Finland and Sweden18. One structural weakness often cited in relation to Europe’s research effort is the lack of business financed research. Government budget appropriations or outlays for research and development(GBAORD) are the amount governments allocate towards R;D activities. Comparisons of GBAORD across countries give an impression of the relative importance attached to state? funded R;D. PEST factors, examples Political (incl.
Legal)| Economic| Social| Technological| Environmentalregulations andprotection| Economicgrowth| Income distribution| Governmentresearch spending| Tax policies| Interest rates ;monetarypolicies| Demographics,Population growthrates, Agedistribution| Industry focus ontechnological effort| International traderegulations andrestrictions| Governmentspending| Labor / socialmobility| New inventions anddevelopment| Contract enforcementlawConsumer protection| Unemploymentpolicy| Lifestyle changes| Rate of technologytransfer| Employment laws| Taxation| Work/career andleisure attitudes Entrepreneurial spirit| Life cycle and speedof technologicalobsolescence| Governmentorganization / attitude| Exchange rates| Education| Energy use andcosts| Competitionregulation| Inflation rates| Fashion, hypes| (Changes in)InformationTechnology| Political Stability| Stage of thebusiness cycle| Health consciousness; welfare, feelings onsafety| (Changes in)Internet| Safety regulations| Consumerconfidence| Living conditions| (Changes in) MobileTechnology| SWOT Analysis INTERNAL| Strengths| Weaknesses| | * Leadership position * Global brand strength * High geographical reach| * Centralised control ??? lowFlexibility * High customer churn rates| EXTERNAL| Opportunities| Threats| | * Expanding marketBoundaries * Growth through 3G * Strategic alliances| * Increased competition * Market saturation in Europe * Emergence of Low? Cost Brands/ MVNO| * StrengthsThe main strength of Vodafone within the telecommunications market lies in itsbrand image and recognition.
Vodafone, having established a global presence andhaving invested highly in marketing a differentiated image by promoting aVodafone life style, currently enjoys a differentiating advantage that, if exploitedproperly, can offer a lead in competition. * WeaknessesThe presence of Vodafone in numerous countries within Europe as well as in allpart of the world enhances this image. It allows customers to travel and enjoy easilythe services of their home country operator. In the few countries that Vodafone isnot physically present (e. g. Greece) it has well? established strategic alliances whichallow for a better service of mobile clients. The expansion of Vodafone has been completed at the expense of direct control ofits operations. The company grew through a process of acquisitions of nationaltelecommunications companies (e. g. he acquisition of the third biggest Czechmobile phone operator, Cesky mobile) rather than organic growth. This increasedits subscribers’ base quickly, offering direct market knowledge and immediateadditions of customer bases at the expense of direct effective control of thesubsidiaries. At the same time though, it implicitly imposed a centralisedoperational structure for the group, nominating the UK headquarters as the leadingbusiness unit running a much centralised marketing and handset procurement atgroup level. This has resulted in the neglect of local markets and local differences,allowing market share to be gained by smaller local competitors. OpportunitiesThe telecommunications market, even though highly saturated in some regionsoffers great potential due to the ageing population and the sophistication of theconsumers. It offers great opportunities through a careful market segmentation andexploitation of particular profitable segments. Different strategies should bepursued ??? simple phones and simplified pricing plans to the ageing population andmore updated, sophisticated solutions for younger generations. The expandingboundaries of the market could provide further opportunities by allowing Vodafoneto enter more aggressively into fixed? line service and to better enjoy the benefits ofits high investment in 3G technology. * ThreatsThe European part of Vodafone’s market is characterized by existing high levels ofCompetition.
Major brands are exploiting the pricesensitivity of customers and in this way they are building a stronger image and presence in the market. Indirect competition is also increasing further, through the presence of Skype and other related (not only voice) Internet? based services. This, combined with the upcoming European legislative measures is expected to limit further the tariffs for the network providers imposing further need for price cuts which could harm the bottom line profitability of the company. | ??| The multi-faceted Vodafone Greece Corporate Responsibility program is defined through the Risk Assessment process and the Stakeholder Engagement Survey, both conducted every two years for all company’s operation.
Based on the above processes results, the areas where we focus our activities, with systematic actions and measurable results, are: 1. Environment 2. Mobile Phones – Masts – Health – Network Deployment 3. Access to Communications 4. Customers 5. Supply Chain 6. Employees 7. Social InvestmentRecommendations on Future StrategyThe main goal of the optimal strategy is to create sustainable value for shareholders, considering both opportunities for benefit (upside risk) and threats to success (downside risk). The value of a firm can generally be considered as a function of four key inputs. The first is the cash flow from assets in place or investments already made.
The second is the expected growth rate in the cash flows during a period of both high growth and excess returns. The third is the time before the firm becomes a stable? growth firm earning no excess returns. The final input is the discount rate reflecting both the risk of the investment and the financing mix used by the firm. Cash flow to the firmMost firms have assets or investments that they have already made, generating cashflows. To the extent that these assets are managed more efficiently, they can generate more earnings and cash flows for the firm. Isolating the cash flows fromthese assets is often difficult in practice because of the mixture of expenses designed to generate income from current assets and to build up future growth.
Expected growth from new investmentsFirms can generate growth in the short term by managing existing assets moreefficiently. To generate growth in the long term, though, firms have to invest in new assets that add to the earnings stream of the company. The expected growth inoperating income is a product of a firms reinvestment rate???that is, the proportionof the after? tax operating income that is invested in net capital expenditures andchanges in noncash working capital, and the quality of these reinvestments,measured as the return on the capital invested. A firm can grow its earnings faster by increasing its reinvestment rate or its returnon capital or by doing both.
Higher growth, though, by itself does not guarantee ahigher value because these cash flows are in the future and will be discounted backat the cost of capital. For growth to create value, a firm has to earn a return oncapital that exceeds its cost of capital. As long as these excess returns last, growthwill continue to create value. Length of the excess return/high growth periodIt is clearly desirable for firms to earn more than their cost of capital, but it remainsa reality in competitive product markets that excess returns fade over time for tworeasons. The first is that these excess returns attract competitors, and the resultingprice pressure pushes returns down.
The second is that as firms grow, their largersize becomes an impediment to continued growth with excess returns. In otherwords, it gets more and more difficult for firms to find investments that earn highreturns. As a general rule, the stronger the barriers to entry, the longer a firm canstretch its excess return period. Discount rateDiscount rate reflects the riskiness of the investments made by a firm and the mix of funding used. By holding constant the other three determinants ??? cash flows from existing assets, growth during the excess return phase, and the length of the excess return phase ??? one can reduce the discount rate to raise the firm value.
In summary, to value any firm, one begin by estimating cash flows from existinginvestments and then consider how long the firm will be able to earn excess returnsand when returns fade, then estimate a terminal value and discount all of the cashflows, including the terminal value, to the present to estimate the value of the firm. Reduce CostIn order to maintain competitiveness in Greece Vodafone should reduce their coststructure through further outsourcing and exploiting the economies of scale to theirfullest extent. Integration across the Vodafone Group’s operating companies,particularly in Europe, might help to maximize the benefits of Vodafone’s scale andscope. At the same time, as the size of the Group evolves, the appropriate balancebetween regional and global levels must be ensured for the effect of flexibility,particularly in respect of central functions.
Increase RevenueVodafone faces intensifying competition, but the focus of competition in many ofthe Group’s markets continues to shift from customer acquisition to customerretention as the market for mobile telecommunications has become increasinglypenetrated. So Vodafone’s aim should be to stimulate additional voice usage andsubstitute fixed line usage for mobile in a way that enhances both customer valueand revenue. Such stimulation initiatives are expected to increase ARPU in themedium and longer term as higher usage more than offsets the reduced averagerevenue per minute or per message. This could be done through more customer friendly pricing: minute bundles that allow customers to talk more for longer, targeted promotions, family plans; as well as improving network service quality to ensure that customers can use their mobile phone whenever and wherever they want.
Develop and Offer New ProductsIn increasingly competitive local markets where value for money is an importantconsideration, improving use of existing products and developing a range of newofferings for customers could help Vodafone to continue to grow total revenue anddeliver value to shareholders. Customers have access to new technologies, devices and services. As a complementto mobility, they would like Vodafone to provide a number of new services withinthe home and the office: integrated fixed and mobile services, such as higher speedinternet access, as well as integrated mobile and PC offerings, such as VoIP andinstant messaging. Increase in non? voice services could become a part of Vodafonestrategy to stimulate usage of its networks resulting in revenue growth. However,there are high risks associated with offering these services.
For example, Vodafonemay experience significant delays due to problems such as the availability of newmobile handsets or higher than anticipated prices of new handsets. In addition,even if these services are introduced in accordance with expected time schedules,there is no assurance that revenue from such services will increase ARPU ormaintain profit margins. Holding the real option could significantly reduce suchkind of risk. Extend to New MarketsA source of growth could be in emerging markets. They are less penetrated, so thecustomer growth is the principal source of revenue growth. Gaining new customersdepends on many factors, including network coverage and quality, customersatisfaction, product offerings and andset range but a key factor is often the pricingof handsets and tariffs. However, the high level of revenues in such markets is notsustainable. As penetration rates rise in a market, competition intensifies along witha downward pressure on ARPU and result in increased acquisition and retentioncosts. Sell Unprofitable BusinessesAs the main goal of the company to generate superior returns for shareholders,Vodafone should invest in transactions that yield a return above the cost of capitaland overall create substantial value for shareholders. Equally, it should sellbusinesses which do not meet performance requirements. However, no matter how good the strategy is, it still has to be implemented inpractise.
A successful implementation will require some of the following:??? A handful of skilled managers who have clear vision of the strategy and areable to inspire the rest of the company;??? Fast, reliable and easy way of communications within the organisation thatallows to inform every individual about the strategy and its changes;??? An organisational culture that produces innovative thinking and a staff thatis willing to change. It should be remembered that the company is a dynamic unit and operate indynamic environments. Changes in the organization and the environment in whichit operates (especially competitors’ moves) must be identified and appropriate modifications made to the strategy on a continuous basis. | ??|