Journal articles on the topic 'Vodafone (Firm)'

Subject area This telecommunications international business case study is the second in a series (A, B and C) of Vodafone cases. Study level/applicability This case is intended to be used in MBA graduate and undergraduate business courses in strategy, cross-cultural management and human resources. Case overview This case examined organizational structures and human resource operating strategies of Vodafone Egypt from 2002 until 2007. Vodafone’s business model, how Vodafone addressed the differences in national culture between Britain and Egypt and how Vodafone fostered adoption of the Vodafone corporate culture are the main themes of this case. Further, this case examined business issues, products, processes and people systems that challenged Vodafone to grow quickly from zero local operations in 1998 to 4,000 employees and national mobile coverage in 2007. Expected learning outcomes The students who have used this case in the author’s classes have gained a clearer understanding of how international managers often have to develop a change culture and structure as a catalyst for firm growth in emerging markets. Adaptation to the local culture may not be an option for fast growth technology firms and may be ill-suited to meet corporate objectives. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 5: International Business.

Subject area International strategy; finance; corporate innovation and technology management. Study level/applicability MBA/MA. Case overview This case's subject is global/international strategy and how investment decisions are made to enter new markets by global companies such as Vodafone Group Plc. The case follows the executive team that is assigned the task of recommending a course of action to invest in various mobile telephony businesses globally and how to set the criteria and strategy for investing. Expected learning outcomes The case targets graduate students in MBA and technology management programs and can be used in courses in Global Business, Strategy and Policy, Finance, Corporate Innovation and Technology Management. The learning outcomes are expected to be a clearer understanding of the broad political, technical, economic and socio-legal issues to be addressed as well as the firm level strategies employed by transnationals to expand into developing countries. Supplementary materials The case includes teaching materials as well as financial statements, explanations of technologies and demographic data for use in analysis.

Abstract This article explores the incremental privatization of what is today East Africa's largest corporation, communications and finance firm Safaricom. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, British multinational Vodafone became a partial shareholder of Safaricom, with the government of Kenya retaining the majority stake in the company. This was followed by the company going “public” in 2008 through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). In exploring these transformations, this article demonstrates that privatization was not a singular event but turned on the production of divisibility: a discursive, epistemological, and material process whereby seemingly “classificatory wholes”—a corporation, an infrastructure, a state asset—were first presented and then rendered as partible entities. As the lines between the public and the private were being redrawn, another conceptual series—“citizenship,” “development,” the “public”—were similarly transformed into partible objects subject to division. Unraveling the historical entanglement of the corporation and the state, this article clarifies why, today, Kenyans—some of whom have been reformatted as shareholder-client-citizens—call on Safaricom to act like the state from which it has been incrementally “unbundled.”

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the optimal leverage ratio, speed of adjustment, and which factors contribute to achieving the target of selected telecom companies in a partial adjustment framework from 2008 to 2017. Further is to analyze the likelihood of bankruptcy of sample companies by Altman Z-Score model and to suggest which theory of capitals structure is better in explaining leverage strategies and judicious mix of debt and equity structure of the selected telecom companies. Design/methodology/approach This paper chooses a partial adjustment model and uses the generalized method of moments technique to identify the variables that influence the target leverage ratio and the factors that influence the speed at which the target leverage is adjusted. Second, the Altman Z-score model is used in this paper to research the financial status of telecom companies using financial instruments and techniques. Findings For Indian telecom firms, firm-specific variables such as profitability, NDTS and Z-score lead to greater debt adjustment towards optimal level target leverage. The paper also highlights new paradigms in the Indian telecom sector, stating that top market leaders such as Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Idea, Vodafone and R.com, among others, should focus on debt reduction and interest payments, as well as implement new strategies to solve the crisis and change financial policies. Research limitations/implications It mainly focuses on firm-specific variables because the firm-specific variables affect the leverage framework. The country-specific variables are not taken into the study. These results may be unique to telecom companies due to some peculiarities existing in the telecom sector in India. Although other sectors, both national and international level, can be taken into consideration. Practical implications This paper has ramifications for corporate executives, investors and policymakers in India, for example, in terms of considering different transition costs while changing a telecom company’s financing decisions. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper of its kind to look at both financial and econometric tools to assess financial performance using the Altman Z-Score model, as well as decide leverage strategies and the pace with which they can be adjusted to target leverage in the context of Indian telecom companies.

The burgeoning digital economy is characterized by bundled offers of goods and services, many with near-zero marginal cost, in highly concentrated markets often exhibiting competition ‘for the market’ and ‘winner-takes-all’ outcomes. Acceptable competitive behaviour in these markets likely differs substantially from that in markets for goods with standard economic characteristics. The suitability of current tools used to specify and enforce competition laws for governing commercial activity in a digital economy dominated by bundled offers is questionable. Classical market analysis focuses narrowly on individual product markets. In bundle product markets, quantitative econometric analysis becomes computationally intractable as the own- and cross-elasticities increase exponentially with the number of products in the bundle and providers in the market. Furthermore, classic econometric analysis cannot inform decisions in markets where bundles are yet to be offered. Simulation and numerical analysis of hypothetical scenarios under different consumer preferences and firm strategic choices offers another means of evaluating effects of intervention in specific circumstances. We illustrate using a model based on the (declined) proposed New Zealand merger between Sky Television and Vodafone and make recommendations for both theory and practice as to how simulation analysis can be used to complement more conventional competition analyses.

Purpose Drawing attention to the significant number of unsuccessful (abandoned) cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in recent years, the purpose of this paper is to analyze three litigated cross-border inbound acquisitions that associated with an emerging economy – India, such as Vodafone-Hutchison and Bharti Airtel-MTN deals in the telecommunications industry, and Vedanta-Cairn India deal in the oil and gas exploration industry. The study intends to explore how do institutional and political environments in the host country affect the completion likelihood of cross-border acquisition negotiations. Design/methodology/approach Nested within the interdisciplinary framework, the study adopts a legitimate method in qualitative research, that is, case study method, and performs a unit of analysis and cross-case analysis of sample cases. Findings The critical analysis suggests that government officials’ erratic nature and ruling political party intervention have detrimental effects on the success of Indian-hosted cross-border deals with higher bid value, listed target firm, cash payment, and stronger government control in the target industry. The findings emerge from the cross-case analysis of sample cases contribute to the Lucas paradox – why does not capital flow from rich to poor countries and interdisciplinary M&A literature on the completion likelihood of international takeovers. Practical implications The findings have several implications for multinational managers who typically involve in cross-border negotiations. The causes and consequences of sample cases would help develop economy firms who intend to invest in emerging economies. The study also offers some implications of M&A for telecommunications and extractive industries. Originality/value Although a huge amount of extant research investigates why M&A fail to create value to the shareholders during the public announcement and post-merger stages, there is a significant dearth of research on the causes and consequences of delayed or abandoned national and international deals. The paper fills this knowledge gap by discussing an in-depth cross-case analysis of Indian-hosted cross-border acquisitions.

This teaching case brings the true story of a destructive fire at mobile phone company Vodafone in The Netherlands to life. The fire has had a huge impact on the company, its customers, and society at large. The story illustrates the impact of mobile phone communication disturbances, and crisis communication within organizations. The case is suitable for classes of bachelor students in business economics or information technology, and for executive education. The case is written as a play, which enables course participants to engage in experiential learning. Materials provided include actual communication material developed by Vodafone during the crisis.

The rapid growth of digital technologies and the extraordinary amount of data that devices and applications collect each day are increasingly driving companies to radically transform the business architecture through which they create and appropriate value. However, companies may fail to extract value from digital transformation due to the disconnection between strategy formulation and strategy implementation. Through the analysis of three case studies of firms that digitally transformed their business—namely ABB, CNH Industrial, and Vodafone—this article presents a framework than can help companies implement their digital transformation strategy and thereby renovate their business model.

The academic literature indicates that “glamour” influences the investor’s behaviour. This article analyses the performance and value creation of the glamorous operations of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the telecommunications sector, trying to understand if these operations are conducive to stockholder wealth maximization. To conduct this analysis, the telecommunications M&A that occurred in the convulsed period of the internet bubble were counted as samples (1995–2010). The research concludes that glamour tends to be opposite to value creation in the long run: the glamour firms show significant value destruction and worse performance than non-glamour firms. Certain acquirers’ characteristics, such as size, are determinant in the glamour behaviour. This paper combats the shortage of research of a quantitative sectoral nature on telecommunications M&As, when leading international companies like Vodafone, Cable and Wireless, France Telecom or Telecom Italia are very active in this kind of operations.

It is believed that many of the problems confronting leaders can be traced to their inability to analyze and evaluate organizational cultures. Thus, many leaders, when trying to implement new strategies or a strategic plan leading to a new vision, will discover that their strategies will fail if they are inconsistent with the organization's culture. Organizational culture does not only affect the manner in which managers manage and consequently shape employee behavior, but also the total output and the way it provides services to its customers. Corporate culture or organizational culture is the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors. Culture includes the organization's vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits. In addition, different individuals bring to the workplace their own uniqueness, knowledge, and ethnic culture. Corporate culture covers moral, social, and behavioral norms of one’s organization based on the values, beliefs, attitudes, and priorities of its members. The researcher can say that corporate culture does have a positive impact on the productivity of any organisation, and with Vodafone, it does increase its productivity. Key words: corporate culture, impact, firms, telecommunication and productivity.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have always remained influential players in India's investment market. However, India's tax regime in respect of FIIs has constantly undergone turbulent phases. To start with, the controversy pertained to classification of FII income under the income heads of business income versus capital gains, which classification was critical considering its tax chargeability and tax rate implications under India's direct tax laws. While this debate appears to have been put at rest by the 2008 ruling in LG Asian Plus Ltd. v. ACIT, uncertainties for FIIs in the context of non-resident taxation in India followed. The first limb of this uncertainty is found in the proposed General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) which seeks to implement the 'commercial substance' test if the Indian tax authorities believe that the transaction was undertaken only to avoid taxes or lacked commercial substance. This is proposed to apply notwithstanding that the transaction was routed through a tax friendly jurisdiction, and as per India's tax treaty with such jurisdiction, no tax liability arises in India. While effectuating of GAAR has been pushed back to 2016, the retrospective amendments of 2012 undertaken in India's Income Tax Act, 1961, pursuant to the Vodafone ruling by India's apex court, has brought FII taxation under radar. The amendment, which adopted the 'look through' approach against the 'look at' approach, may expose investors/P-Note Holders behind the FIIs to taxation in India, notwithstanding that the FII may be located in jurisdiction like Mauritius, with whom India has a favourable tax treaty. Also, as no time limit is prescribed for retrospective application of the amendment, the whip will keep hanging on FII investments time immemorial. Expert committees have been set up to scrutinize and settle these tax controversies and to create conducive tax environment for foreign investors in India, which is of utmost significance both, from an investment and economic standpoint. However, with the foregoing retrospective amendment in effect, it is to be seen how Indian authorities pacify FIIs from drawing out their investments from India amidst the tax qualms and mitigate the uncertainties and associated risks. This article discusses India's FII tax regime in light of the foregoing controversies, the prevailing uncertainties and challenges, their impact on FII investments in India, and India's consequent exposure to potential actions under bilateral investment treaties.

Subject area Marketing Management, Marketing Strategy and Marketing Communication. Study level/applicability The case is targeted at students of post-graduation and under-graduation programs in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing Management or Marketing Strategy. Case overview Mukesh Ambani’s announcement about the launching of Reliance Jio at the 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in June 2015 sent shock waves in the telecom industry. Everyone, including the customers, competitors and the entire telecom industry, was excited to know whether Reliance Jio would be able to make a dent or fizzle out like a weak firecracker. Was it time for the top players to be worried and pull their socks up or will it be an inconsequential ripple in the ocean? Mukesh Ambani saw the telecom sector from a new viewpoint and proposed a complete set of solution in the form of Reliance Jio SIM card that addressed the different needs of customers through various applications. This has spread rumors of a merger between Idea and Vodafone in India, which can have a huge impact on Reliance Jio and the telecom sector in general. The profitability indicator that was earlier determined as the average revenue per user (ARPU) will continue to dominate. The companies will be scrambling to find different ways to increase the ARPU to maximize the returns. This would also lead to a downsize in the cost in such a way that their operations do not suffer and profitability is also not negatively affected. Expected learning outcomes To better understand the entry strategy of firms in highly volatile business situations. To know about the competitors and their contribution to the operational and strategic changes of a new entrant. To understand the proceedings associated with marketing communication for establishing a product in a highly competitive market. To know about the impact of joining hands with the competitors on a new entrant. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

In the month of May 2019, Ms Priya Vaidehi who works as a chartered accountant in a small firm in the city of Pune was pondering about her personal investment. While surfing on social media on the sunny hot afternoon of 2 May 2019, she came across the news of the biggest merger deal in the Indian telecom sector. The news was about how Britain’s Vodafone Group merged its Indian subsidiary with Idea Cellular, to create the country’s largest telecom firm. They mentioned how the combined entity will accelerate the pan-India expansion of wireless broadband services and also expand financial inclusion through mobile money services. Since the merger, the network has an outreach of 92 per cent of population of India. Ms Vaidehi planning for her future investments narrowed down her investment search to do a deeper analysis of the merger of two telecom giants Vodafone and Idea. The Indian telecommunication market has a subscriber base of 1.20 billion and is rapidly growing. The country’s wireless subscriptions has witnessed compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.62 per cent to reach 1,183.41 million in the year 2018. Over the past few years, from the announcement of merger to the declaration of completion of merger, she has noticed that there has been volatility in the share price of Idea Cellular. Though the subscriber base of Vodafone, Idea’s is around 400 million, and sales had gone up 53.5 per cent in the third quarter of FY 2018–2019, but the share price had been plunging to an average fall of 14 per cent. She was in deep thought whether she should invest in buying the shares of Vodafone Idea? Will her instinct help her or the knowledge of financial markets aid in taking the right decision?

This study explores the factors influencing the quality of telecommunication services in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. By conducting an online survey of 413 office workers, the results indicate that among the five components of the perceived quality of telecommunications services, reliability, assurance, and empathy are Key factors affecting consumer satisfaction in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The findings of this research help mobile service providers to understand how consumers perceive the quality of mobile services. Thus, mobile service providers would effectively design marketing strategy to improve customer loyalty as well as enter new markets. Keywords: Mobile service, service quality, online survey, empirical study, Vietnam. References [1] Boohene, R., & Agyapong, G., “Analysis of the antecedents of customer loyalty of telecommunication industry in Ghana: The case of Vodafone (Ghana)”, International Business Research, 4 (2011) 1, 229-240.[2] Leelakulthanit, O., & Hongcharu, B., “Factors that impact customers satisfaction: Evidence from the Thailand mobile cellular network industry”, International Journal of Management and Marketing Research, 4 (2011) 2, 67-76.[3] Eugenia Y. Huang, Sheng-Wei Lin, Ya-Chu Fan, “M-S-Qual: Mobile service quality measurement”, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 14 (2015), 126-142, http://dx.doi.org/10.2016/j.elerap.2015.01.003[4] Omotayo, O., & Abiodun, A., “Service quality, value offer, satisfaction, and loyalty: An empirical relationship in the Nigerian telecom industry”, Contemporary Management Research, 5 (2011) 2, 14-23.[5] Lee, Roy Chun, “Telecommunications in Vietnam”, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). Chinese Taipei WTO Center, C.20 (2011), p.1.[6] Agarwal, S., M. Erramilli, et al., “Market orientation and performance in service firms: role of innovation”, Journal of Services Marketing 17 (2003) 1, 68-82.[7] Agyapong, G., “The effect of service quality on customer satisfaction in the utility industry: A case of Vodafone (Ghana)”, International Journal of Business and Management, 6 (2011) 5, 203-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v6n5p203[8] Yee, R. W. Y., Yeung, A. C. L. & Cheng, T. C. E., “An empirical study of employee loyalty, service quality and firm performance in the service industry”, International Journal of Production Economics, 124 (2010) 1, 109-120. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2009.10.015[9] Le The Gioi and Nguyen Minh Duan, “Improving the competitiveness of VMS-MOBIFONE on mobile communication market”, Journal of Science and Technology, University of Da Nang, 2 (2007) 19, 68-72.[10] Dinh Thi Hong Thuy, “Research the factors affecting on the decision for mobile telecommunications of students in Ho Chi Minh City”, Master Thesis, (2008).[11] Le Thi Tuyet Trinh, “Research the customer satisfaction in using Vinaphone mobile service in Binh Dinh province”, Master Thesis, 2012.[12] Bui Van Trinh and Luu Ngoc Mai Anh, “Research the customer satisfaction in using Viettel mobile service in Hai Giang province”, Master Thesis, 2013.[13] Pizam, A., Ellis, T., “Customer satisfaction and its measurement in hospitality enterprises”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 11 (1999) 7, p. 326-339, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596119910293231[14] A. Parasuraman, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Leonard L. Berry, “A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research”, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, No. 4 (1985), pp. 41-50[15] Cronin Jr, J. J., & Taylor, S. A. “SERVPERF versus SERVQUAL: reconciling performance-based and perceptions-minus-expectations measurement of service quality”. The Journal of Marketing, 58 (1994). 125-131.[16] Aydin, S. and G. Ozer, “National Customer Satisfaction Indices: An Implementation in the Turkish Mobile Telephone Market”, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 23 (2005) 5, 486-504.[17] Mishra, R.C and Sandilya, A., Reliability and Quality Management, New Age International Publishers, 2009.[18] Torsten J. Gerpott, Ilknur Bicak, “Telecommunication service choice and use among migrants: The case of German-Turkish consumers”, Computers in Human Behavior, 6 (2016), 584-596, http://dx.doi.org/10.2016/j.chb.2016.03.018[19] Uddin, M. B., Akhter, B., “Customer satisfaction in mobile phone services in Bangladesh: A survey research”, Management & Marketing X (1) (2012), 20-36.

In the previous few years, Asian country had witnessed a considerable lag within the mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) activity. within the year 2014, Indian firms were concerned in transactions value $ thirty three billion whereas within the year 2015, the worth of M&A activity saw a dip to $ twenty billion. it's forecasted that 2016 can see heightened world M&A activity and it's anticipated that the worth of transactions would cross $ thirty billion simply. One will expect the rise within the M&A deals and activities within the future time as each native and international investors and business homes area unit eyeing Asian country with a hope of tremendous growth. the start of 2017 proceeded with the executive amendment motivation of the administration particularly, product and Services Tax (GST), property regulatory agency (RERA), combined with the legal translations on a number of elements of the not terribly very previous economic condition and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) that has reimagined the obligation and liquidation scene in Asian country. The year 2017 was loaded up with nice live of discusses company reconstruction and mergers and acquisitions – thanks to the relative facilitating of the executive setting and primarily thanks to the event of the IBC, that at one hand offers recovery/liquidation of the organizations in doldrums and at different hand offers the monetary fund sound organizations to develop/grow by gaining the opposition/focuses at seductive valuations. The arrangements examined loosely were within the medium half Vodafone-Idea merger, Bharti Airtel procuring Telenor Asian country, and Bharti Airtel merger with Tata Teleservices. Among the most important M&A arrangements to be culminated were – Russia's Rosneft PJSC willing to get Essar Oil Ltd, Flip kart procuring the Indian arm of Ebay, Axis Bank forward management over the versatile installment application – FreeCharge, olla gaining Foodpanda, the partners of depository financial institution of Asian country (SBI) connexion into SBI, during this means upgrading the muscle intensity of individuals normally division behemoth.