Discuss about the International Business and Competitive Strategy for Vodafone Hutchison.
The review methodology refers to the overview of operation management plan of Vodafone Hutchison Australia. It would help in gathering the information related to strategies and operations which are using by the company within its business processes. The methodology also tells about the opportunities and challenges the company is facing in the market to operate its business. The SWOT analysis will help to determine the problems in operating management of the company. The process of data gathering also deals in comparing the operation management challenges and opportunities.
Vodafone group is the most famous and leading telecommunication company in the world. It has its presence many countries in the world such as Europe, Africa, India, United States and Asia specific by its joint ventures, associated undertakings and investments. There are around 5 million customers in Australia who are using Vodafone. Vodafone Hutchison Australia was originated in June 2009 by the merger between Vodafone Australia and Hutchison. The company provides wide range of communication services i.e. voice calls, SMS service, MMS pictures and video massaging, internet and other data services. There are around 221 million direct customers including private customers and corporate customers in the market across the world (Vodafone Hutchison, 2016).
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) is the famous telecommunication company that is operated by Vodafone brand in Australia. It is the joint venture company by merging of Vodafone Australia and 3G Hutchison Australia in 2009. It is the world’s second largest company in the sector of telecommunication in terms of subscribers and revenue. The company is providing higher customer experience through its unique quality of product and services. Vodafone Australia is the second largest mobile network in Australia which provides unique wireless services compared to its competitors such as both Telstra and Optus. According to Brand Finance’s A Global Brand Survey done in the year 2010 in which Vodafone has got 7th rank as the most Valuable Brand (IBISWorld, 2015).
Vodafone Group is a popular telecommunication company of UK and it’s headquartered in Newbury, England. The company had made first phone call just minutes after midnight on the 1st of January in 1985. Vodafone is popular as a largest network company in the world. Vodafone is the famous telecommunication network provider company in the world which has good turnover and also has a good market value among the consumers. The Primary aim of the company is to target youth between the ages of 18 to 39, who are mainly techno-savvy people. These people consume high data for streaming HD movies, online multiuser games on mobile and laptop and after that secondary target are business professionals who are mostly travel and they have need of internet for the real time video conferencing, Video phone calls/video chat sessions with their customers, Doctors who are required to perform operations in the rural areas which locate very far (Vodafone, 2011).
Competitive Strategy plan determines that what the company is doing day by day for the growth in competitive market. It refers to the overall strategy of the company including what should do and what should not do in competition era. Vodafone Hutchison Australia is the second main mobile network in Australia. The aim of the company is to provide innovative and connectivity services to the customers according to their livelihood and lifestyle. To achieve this aim, company is operating with ethically and responsibly. Vodafone is now planning to give new Smart phones to its customers every year to maintain its brand image in the competitive market (Adhikari2016).
The mission of the Vodafone Hutchison Australia is to become the first mobile subscriber network by the customers in Australia. To complete the mission, company has claimed of 4G network by covering 40% more network coverage area (HAGAN, 2014). Along with this, company is providing lower frequency network of 850 MHz in 4g network. The lower frequency network will provide high quality indoor mobile network (Rowland, 2016).
According to the CEO of Vodafone Hutchison Australia, Vodafone is trying to bring new offers and services for the customers of Vodafone so that it may prove itself best from its competitors. Company has launched new services such as 4G, Vodafone red service, M-Pesa, Vodafone firsts etc. Competitive strategy plan of Vodafone is based on high level of investment to build strong and best telecommunication network. The variation and innovation in product and services offer great benefit to the customers (Vodafone, 2014).
The aim of Vodafone Hutchison is to target more and more customers with effective partnership for the benefit of customers. In past years, Vodafone has faced problem related to network in Australia. Vodafone became Vodafail because of network drop. The problem was due to network crash and revenue of company was decreased by 9% in the year of 2012 (news.com, 2012).
SWOT analysis refers to strength, weakness, opportunities and threats which tell about helpful and harmful factors of a particular company.
Strength: Vodafone in Australia is the best mobile network in the country. The company is prepared with the advanced network across the world which helps it to distribute the best service of communication. It has an outstanding service for the customers who want to be connected everywhere. The service of the company is best for those customers who want to get the latest information from the internet (Euromonitor, 2016). Vodafone is the one of the best international mobile telecommunications company. It has partnership with more than 40 Countries and also has very well-known market share in most countries across the world. It has strong market position also in across the world (Leite, 2008).
Weakness: It is analyzed by some researchers that there is health risk by the radiation of telecom networks. There is the same case with the radiation of Vodafone’s networks. In some countries, there are laws regulating by different government. It will impact on the service of Vodafone (Guardian, 2011).
Opportunities: By entering in new markets such as India, China, Turkey and South Africa, Vodafone has improved its performance with increasing revenue. The company has maintained good market share despite of challenges. Second thing is that, Company is trying to improve the network of 4G high speed data. It will improve the internet connectivity and therefore give the better live streaming experience. There is also a higher opportunity in mobile advertisement. It will attract new customers (BBC News, 2012).
Threats: The obstacle of targeting new customers has been raised due to increased competition. The competition has come because of decreasing in tariffs for mobile services and it is also expected to decrease in future that is the reason of decreasing in revenue of the company. Licensing is also another issue that the telecom industries are facing in the market which may also increase the competition (Brand Finance, 2011).
SingTel Optus Pty Limited is the largest mobile communication network in Australia. The company provides wide range of communication services such as mobile network service, internet services, digital media services, national and long distance services, mobile services etc. The aim of the company is to expand its business through subscription TV services i.e. MeTV, IPTV etc. For targeting more customers, company has launched 4G network services and tried to cover rural areas so that everyone may get the best services of network. By these new services, company will be able to get new customers and more service areas (Optus, 2013).
Vision of the company is to provide best services to its customer and to become most trusted and loved network or brand among the people. The competitive strategy of the company consists of five values i.e. focus on customer, challenger spirit, personal excellence, honesty and teamwork. The business model and strategy of the company focuses on where it gets opportunities to differentiate its services from others. It seeks long term growth of the business. Company always does planning to reduce the risks. Along with the customers, company always takes care of shareholder also. Company always seeks to deliver values and expected higher returns to its shareholders. By the business strategy, 98.5% customers are covered by 3G network and 86% customers are covered by superfast 4G network. Company has launched an app named MyOptus App for the customers to manage their prepaid mobile and prepaid mobile account (Optus, 2015).
SingTel Optus Pty Limited has an effective management team which does their work with honesty and loyalty. The company is recognized as the talented and diverse employees. The managers in the company have unique talent, capabilities, experience and characteristics to their work. The company has a team of hard working people who care about the customers and try hard to provide the best services as much as possible (Optus, 2016).
Strength: SingTel Optus Pty Limited is one of the largest telecommunication companies in Australia. Company is most rusted and reliable brand among the customers. It is continuously growing mobile and Internet Company by targeting rural areas. The availability of its networks is across a vast region within the country (The conversation, 2015). Customers and employees are the major strengths of the company. In the company, there are about 8500 employees who are experienced and capable in their work Although the company is small player in the market, but it has strengthen its brand name by unique services and delivery of products. Company has strong market position in the mobile and broadband market. Strong market position has enable Optus to get competitive advantage and benefit (SingTel Optus, 2016).
Weakness: Although company has got good position in the market but still company has some weakness in its operations. The company has limited presence in the country as compared to its global competitors. Where there is no availability of the company, competitors will get benefit to attract the customers. Company might lose its position as first movers (Lacy & Askew, 2003).
Opportunity: Company may target new customers in different countries. It can target those visitors who come to Australia for visiting. The numbers of customers can be increased by focusing on the tourists. They may choose the attractive plans launched by the company such as Optus EPIC SIM plan. There is a huge opportunity with the mobile market and broadband services for the company (Heffernan, 2104). Company can give attractive plans to its customers to increase the use of Smartphone’s apps such as snap chat, Viber, Whatsapp etc. Company can earn more profits by capitalizing on 3G and 4G services. It can make good profits and can be the fastest growing segments.
Threats: There are lots of competitive pressures on the company because of its competitors. Competitors are trying to provide many attractive services to attract the customers. This is the major threat for the company. There are new technologies introducing day by day. Company also needs to introduce new technologies in its business to maintain its brand image among the customers. Plans are very costly for the customers to talk on mobile phones . Apart from this, merger and acquisition may effect on its reputation in the market. It may decrease the value of its market shares (Optus, 2012).
Other observations and Conclusions
Although Vodafone Hutchison Australia has faced many challenges in Australian market, but it has proved itself the best network of the country. Vodafone is a strong and international brand among the Australian population. It has announced some effective and attractive plans which make it unique from the others (Agius, 2013). There are some plans announced by the company:
Vodafone Hutchison has announced the plan named “Red Plan” for users. In this plan ‘Red’ plan user will not give any charge for the first two months of data access. By this innovative plan, company gives assurance to the users that they don‘t need to give extra bills for their internet access.
Vodafone Hutchison is proving itself as guaranteed network. For this, company has offered a money back scheme to the users. If user does not get network in their area then company will give back money to the users.
Vodafone Hutchison is providing a huge staff for the call centers to listen the queries and complaints of the customers. Company is also providing the international roaming facility in reasonable prices. If customers are travelling in another country but still company will provide services and plans on the rate of Australian market (Whatphone, 2016).
In past, Vodafone has faced many issues reacted to customer service and network. Company has handled the situations and complaints in very effective manners. The result is that the company is now most trusted and reliable brand among the customers (Hanlon, 2014).
In conclusion, it has been analyzed that Vodafone Hutchison is a brand name in telecommunication market. It is the second largest mobile network in the world. Vodafone has adopted unique competitive strategy plan to compete with the other companies. Company has provided wide range of services and plans to its customers and the result is that it is the most trusted brand among the competitors. Company has well trained employees, suitable prices of plans and services and a brand new network. The main aim of the company is to be best network for communication and improve the reputation of the company for the long term growth.
Recommendations: Although Vodafone Hutchison has maintained good image in the market, but the company still needs to improve in some areas. Here are some recommendations for improvements:
Vodafone should create a new team to handle Vodafone’s facebook page because time is digital now and most of the customers are using social media. By handling queries on facebook, company may achieve higher satisfaction level of customers.
Company should focus on improvement in vertical communication between in-store employees and management. By this improvement, company will be able to what customers are complaining about and how to deal with those complaints and problems in future.
Company should improve the communication with its stakeholders regarding issues of network coverage. It can be done by explaining the actual problem. Company should be more clear, open and honest with network coverage issues. By telling the customers, they will know that something is really being done to fix the problem.
In the report, the description of the Vodafone Hutchison Australia and its business strategy is clearly described. It is the famous and leading telecommunication company in the world. It is the second largest mobile network company in the world. The aim of the company is to provide the best and innovative services to its consumers. It is geographically diversified business with developed and advanced network. By the SWOT analysis, it would be easy to get the information about the working and operating environment of the Vodafone Hutchison in the competitive market. It is clearly observed that Vodafone Hutchison is a vast experienced company in telecommunication market, but it is still facing lots of challenges in the competitive market. To overcome from the challenges, the recommendations are given in the report. The company is seeking the diversification as the key driver of the inventions, technology and creativity. The difference in workforce and innovation in business operations will help the company in differentiating with the other competing companies. By adopting innovative competitive strategy and some changes, company will be able to compete more effectively.
International Business and Competitive Strategy Plan of the SingTel Optus Pty Limited is also helping to achieve the company’s goals. The effective plan and well experienced employees are the key functions of the company to fulfill its goals. The diverse workforce and innovative strategic plan helps in differentiating the company with the other competing companies. The team of the company is working together to set the new image of the company among the consumers and stakeholders.
References
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