The External Operating Environment of Business - Assignment Example

?Marketing Module Assignment Submitted by: June Table of Contents Marketing Module Assignment Table of Contents 2 Part 4 Introduction 4 Macro Environment – PEST Analysis 4 Political 4 Economic 5 Social 6 Technological 7 External Environment 8 Opportunities 8 Challenges 8 Micro Environment – Competitive Forces 9 Nature and Drivers of Competition 9 Mobile Internet 11 Mobile Application 11 Mobile Financial Services 12 Customer Value Concept 13 Segments and Markets 13 Part 2 17 Effectiveness of Marketing Response of Vodafone 17 Effectiveness of Positioning Strategy 19 Porter’s Five Force Analysis 22 Bargaining Power of Buyers 22 Competitive Rivalry 24 Threat of Substitutes 25 Threat of New Entrants 26 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 27 Conclusion 27 References 28 Part 1 Introduction This report describes the external operating environment of business and the effect it has on the performance of any organisation. To understand the dynamic business environment, the company must know the competitors, the customers and the markets where it intends to operate its business. The organisation selected for this report is Vodafone, a UK based Telecommunications Company that is one of the top players in the global telecommunications market. This report details the macro environment factors, analysis of competitors, customers, markets and type of segmentations Vodafone used in the international arena. Further, it critically evaluates the strategies by using Porter’s five forces competitive model over Vodafone. Macro Environment – PEST Analysis PEST analysis is an important tool for every company because it can provide an outline of the external environment where the company’s business is positioned. It can also help in developing the value of the company and form a business strategy. Political Political aspects can affect a company’s business in various ways. Every company must abide by the rules and regulations of the country where it operates. The regulations can be the country’s law and anti–trust law, which is applicable to all actions of a company. Vodafone’s major business operations are situated in EU countries. The EU countries passed the ‘EU Regulatory Framework’ for telecommunications companies in the year 2002. The main objective of this law is to support fair competition in the telecommunications market. Vodafone also has to abide by the ‘EU Regulatory Framework,’ which has had great impact on the business of Vodafone. For example, Vodafone was compelled to decrease the ‘mobile termination rate’ because of the law of EU nations (Saplitsa, 2008). Another key aspect of the political environment was the spectrum regulation. The modernisation of spectrum regulations of EU had affected Vodafone’s business. In 2005, the EU Commission passed a scheme that permits holders to buy and sell spectrum within the telecommunications market and develop coordination among different brands. Due to the new spectrum policy, Vodafone faced risks related to the price of spectrum, risk of restitution of existing spectrum and difficulties in licensing (Saplitsa, 2008). Economic Adverse economic changes – i.e. a slowdown or recession – in any country can result in less demand for existing and new business services. Difficult financial conditions often lead customers to delay any purchasing decisions including those related to telecommunications services. Decreasing their optional spending, people tend to make fewer calls and avoid extras such as data or broadband services. Such decisions in a tough economic environment can severely impact company sales. A country's economic condition as well as people’s purchasing power can be measured by the rate of GDP (Vodafone Limited, 2010). In the year 2009, the economic troubles of three major EU nations (Spain, Italy and Greece) resulted in poor performance of Vodafone and also led to reduction of the termination rates. On the other hand, the financial recovery of northern EU market helped to reduce the revenue loss of Vodafone from -3.8% in the year 2009 to -0.4% in the year 2011 (IHS Inc, 2011). Social Society's values, awareness, preference and activities play a key role in the telecommunications industry. Traditionally only a businessman used a mobile phone; but at present the mobile phone has become an important tool for society on a global scale. The perception of mobile phone use has also changed. Previously, its basic function was restricted to making phone calls and sending messages. Today, the mobile phone has become a multimedia device with numerous functions and service options. To remain competitive, Vodafone offers a range of services to customers, providing customized phones to meet the various markets and social reasons for making the purchase – i.e. status, convenience, safety. Source: (Vodafone Limited, 2009). Technological With advances in technology, the exchange of information between mobile phones has become easier. The introduction of various phone extras such as Bluetooth, mobile e-mail and other services has significantly increased the daily use of mobile phones, particularly among the younger generation. Since the arrival of 3G technology, Vodafone has increased its revenue. A new platform for growth, this new technology opens the door for Vodafone to provide new services, applications and products to the telecommunications markets (Sarin, 2004). PEST analysis of Telecommunications Industry External Environment Opportunities The telecommunications sector has immense potential due to an increasing population and rising demand of mobile services. For Vodafone, it is a great opportunity to expand the market through proper segmentation and development of specific beneficial segments. Different strategies and service packages are necessary to meet the demands: for example, simple mobile phone models and pricing schemes for aged customers, and updated and stylish plans for younger customers. An expanding market provides Vodafone with the opportunity to attract more customers and provide more services for users who will benefit from 3G technologies. Challenges The high mobile penetration in the major markets leaves little opportunities for growth, which is a challenge for Vodafone. The strong competition in the established market that offers ‘triple-play’ and ‘quad-play’ services poses further threat to Vodafone because it does not have any direct substitute for those services. Equally challenging is the rise in Internet services providers – for example, MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) and other new online competitors – that are able to provide services with reasonable costs (Infocom, n.d.). In the European market, Vodafone faces high competition from other major players such as O2 and T–mobile. Whereas Vodafone focuses on high connectivity, these brands focus on high price sensitivity and strive to develop a strong brand image and presence in the market. Furthermore, the price cuts resulting from European governmental measures can harm the productivity of Vodafone (Saplitsa, 2008). Micro Environment – Competitive Forces Vodafone is one of the top telecommunications service based providers whose service offering includes data, wireless, and fixed line services. Almost two-thirds of Vodafone’s business is situated in Europe. In the international business environment, the key competitors of Vodafone are Orange, Telephonica O2, and T–mobile. O2: O2 is a Spanish mobile communication service provider that operates in 19 countries. It provides fixed and mobile services. It has a customer base of almost 140 million worldwide. T-Mobile: T-Mobile has strong presence in European market. It occupies 12 direct and indirect shares of mobile companies internationally and is one of the major players in Germany, the US, Austria, the UK, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Poland. In 2007, T-Mobile customer base reached 120 million and the company continued to expand its business globally. Orange: Orange is French mobile operator company. It is renowned as a leading telecommunications company. In other emerging markets such as India, Vodafone’s competitors are Airtel, Reliance, and BSNL. Nature and Drivers of Competition The telecommunications industry had changed rapidly since its inception. From 1983, the industry has developed extensively with regard to the number of subscribers, uses of services and development in technological configuration. Today, the wireless 3G telecommunications industry boasts almost 5.3 billion subscribers, 77% of the total world’s population. The main drivers of the growth of wireless telecommunications services are escalated use of mobile devices, mobile Internet, mobile marketing, and consumer behaviour towards mobile usage, various applications and financial services of mobile. The growth of wireless telecommunications sector was further fuelled by emerging market of China and India (dotMobi, 2011). Source: (Digital Trends, 2011). The 3G services of India and China are major contributors of the expansion of mobile users. In India, the mobile subscribers increased by 42% in 2010. The total wireless mobile users were almost 391.76 million, out of which Vodafone contributed more than 124.26 million subscribers (Digital Trends, 2011). Source: (Digital Trends, 2011). Mobile Internet Mobile Internet is another driver for competition. Many people today prefer to use mobile Internet services. Almost 90% of mobile subscribers in the US and Western Europe have Internet on their phone, and nearly one in five international subscribers use 3G services. Thus, the competitors are rapidly providing the unlimited data plan to capture the mobile Internet market (dotMobi, 2011). Mobile Application Mobile application further drives competition. From 2008-2010, nearly 300,000 applications came on the market; and the demand is expected to continually increase by 2013. Accordingly, the competition among mobile operators is also increasing, as they strive to provide the best applications to users. For example, Vodafone and its major competitors Orange and O2 introduced iPhone, which provides users with a wide range of applications (dotMobi, 2011). Vodafone: Vodafone provides two applications for users for first time it is activated. Users can synchronise the contracts of Mac and PC with address book to allow easy access. The other application is ‘Vodafone Navigation’ which allows users to download content free for one month. Orange: Orange offers ‘Your Orange,’ so users can verify the status of their accounts by clicking a specific button. Another application, ‘Orange Wednesday’ displays latest movie releases and provide an agreement that allows box office viewing. O2: O2 provides ‘My O2’ application, which is similar to ‘Your Orange’. Along with the ability to check accounts, customers have access more than 7,500 hotspots free of cost in the UK (Miles, 2010). Mobile Financial Services A mobile financial service is increasingly becoming a competitive tool in the telecommunications market. With a steady rise of global mobile use, reports are that by 2015 1 billion people will employ the benefits of mobile financial services. A mobile phone money transfer is also on the rise compared to mobile banking. It is estimated that 50% of users will use mobile payment by 2014. Vodafone: Vodafone offers its customers money transfer facilities. This service has proved successful for Vodafone with 18.5 million users transferring 350 million USD per month through its financial mobile serve. More than 14 million customers depended on the money transfer facilities of Vodafone from 2009-2010 in Kenya to save on travelling expenses to paying bills or fees. In 2009, users made 3.6 billion transactions using this service (Business Call to Action, 2011). O2: To enhance customer loyalty, O2 has launched unique financial services in the UK, offering Visa cards for its customers to help them get a ‘real time balance update’ on their mobile phones. This card allows users to withdraw from ATM and can be used as substitute of Visa (Middleton, 2009). Customer Value Concept Customer value is defined as the perceived preferences of customer and assessment of product or service attributes, quality of service, and consequences of using the services. It is the divergence between the value that a customer gains by acquiring any product or service. Total Customer Value is calculated by the total sum of the product, service, employees and brand image. The total cost of customer is the financial cost, time cost, physic cost and energy cost. Thus, the customer value can be calculated as Total Customer Value – Total Cost of Customer. Customer value is the view of the customer about the benefit from a product or service (Yamamoto, n.d.). Segments and Markets A telecommunications company can segment its market by using several approaches: for example, demographic, gender, income or geographic. Source: (Hass, n.d.). In the telecommunications market, there are four types of customers. The first customer (Segment A) typically wants suitable services. Almost 52% of customers fall under this category. The second (Segment B) prefer low cost services and free services. This segment accounts for 24% of total customers. The third (Segment C) views the mobile phone as an Internet device and primarily uses web facilities on the mobile phone. Approximately 14% customers fall under this category. And the fourth (Segment D) are those who prefer international access (phone call). Since every customer has specific service requirements, the company must consider strategic schemes for each segment (Hass, n.d.). Vodafone segmented its market according to geographic variables. With business operations in 31 countries and a partnership network in 40 countries worldwide, Vodafone uses different marketing strategies for each segment. Source: (Vodafone Limited, 2010). The above map highlights the countries where Vodafone operates its business. Since 2002, the company has maintained a strong presence in the EU nations, Middle East countries, Africa, Asia Pacific region, and United States. Since its inception, Vodafone has periodically changed its segmentation. From 1996-1997, the company segmented its market based on quantities and types of phone calls. Known as ‘Voice Centric Segmentation,’ this was the segmentation used during the start-up stage of telecommunications industry market. From 1998-2000, when the market reached a growth stage, Vodafone segmented its market on the basis of customer value, i.e. low level customer to high level customer. Since 2001, the telecommunications market has grown to a mature market. Today, Vodafone's segmentation is based on customer’s lifestyle, attitude and preferences – known as 360° segmentation (Scribd, 2011). Source: (Leproux, 2004). Part 2 Effectiveness of Marketing Response of Vodafone In the telecommunications market there are countless tariff schemes, mobile services, and offer combinations. Vodafone effectively responds to every kind of market and accordingly makes strategic moves to remain competitive. For example, in India, Vodafone fulfils the needs of every segment of the country, introducing several schemes for different customer segments, including a ‘Full Talktime Recharge’ card that provides full talk time for people who prefer inexpensive services and seek for ‘value of money’. The ‘Bonus card’ targets those customers who prefer to talk frequently. Finally, the ‘Chotta Recharge’ card targets low value customers. In the international market, Vodafone’s business performance has faced many challenges. With strong competition from many international companies in both the emerging and established markets, Vodafone responded swiftly and appointed a branding agency to improve its brand identity as a global branding strategy (Clark, 2010). As a result, in 2008, Vodafone was recognised as 11th valuable brand internationally and second valuable brand in the whole Europe (Vodafone Limited, 2008). In mature markets such as the UK, stiff competition made it challenging for Vodafone to keep its leading position. In the preliminary phase, Vodafone's strategy was to develop new schemes and services that can operate the latest technological devices. As customers became accustomed to modern technology, the demand for new and unique value added services increased. Thus, Vodafone had to provide unique services to achieve competitive advantage. To retain its market position, Vodafone continuously updated new products and services. Enhanced marketing and communications allowed the company to connect regularly with users to notify them of new and/or product benefits. Signing a sponsorship agreement with Manchester United, Vodafone looked for ways to improve its brand and became popular in other countries where it was previously unknown (The Times 100, n.d.). Vodafone’s assets differ from country to country. To bridge this gap, Vodafone formed a partnership with mobile communication access providers. In the UK, Vodafone has taken over ‘Central Telecom,’ which helped Vodafone enter into FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) market (Cisco, 2011). Currently, Vodafone is well positioned to maintain its leadership position in the telecommunications market, as it has the power to differentiate its services from competitors and expand its offering into any market. By increasing various offers in fixed voice or data services, Vodafone has the opportunity to greatly enlarge its market share. In the mobile data market, for example, there has been high demand for data services in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2010, the revenue from data services was 84 billion USD. It is expected that revenue will reach 133 billion USD by 2015. The rising level is concentrated on Asia–Pacific countries, where the volume of mobile text messages, e-mail services, social media and video is on the rise. In Asia Pacific, the revenue was calculated as 267 billion USD in 2010, and the total mobile connection increased to 3.8 billion (nationmultimedia, 2007). Vodafone has capitalized on the accelerated mobile data growth opportunity, introducing data plans for customers that can cut their costs 81% to 89%. Source: (Vodafone Essar Limited, 2011). In 2010, Vodafone's data revenue increased by 19.3% or ?4 billion. Its data revenue growth covers nearly 10% of total service revenue. The total users of Vodafone's data services are 50 million, which includes 31 million mobile Internet users. Source: (Vodafone Limited, 2010). Aligning its strategy with an increasing use of mobile Internet services, Vodafone's experienced revenue growth is ensured by providing these services to meet customer's needs. (Vodafone Limited, 2010). Effectiveness of Positioning Strategy Through effective positioning, a company is able to attract a target customer by distinguishing its products or services from the competition. Branding itself as a younger and more active network, Vodafone succeeded to create a position strategy on the basis of personality and attitude. The company developed an advertising campaign that gave the brand a new identity, targeting a customer segment of 18 - 39 years. In the Indian market, Vodafone’s positioning strategy was pursued by Hutch – a company that was already established in the Indian telecommunications market. Differentiating its product offering, Vodafone made use of advertisement and unique positioning to tap into the market. In 2010, it introduced ‘Power to You’ – a new offering for user-friendly Internet, e-mail, and social networking services. Customers can activate or disable any services such as roaming, caller tune, and Internet without the help of Vodafone operator (Scribd, 2011). Vodafone Marketing Grid In the India market, Vodafone positioned itself as high connectivity and high esteem for brand. Focusing on positioning its company as a service leader, Vodafone promised a range of services that deliver better experiences and opportunities to its customers. It is important for Vodafone to understand the segmentation clearly to ensure it can quickly respond to customer needs (Kuldeep & Et. Al., 2010). Porter’s Five Force Analysis Porter’s Five Force is a marketing method that helps to analyze the business environment. It reveals the aggressive intensity and competitiveness of the market. Competitiveness in this perspective refers to the overall success of the telecommunications sector. These five forces are referred to as micro environmental factors that can impact customers’ choices and company revenue. Any change to these factors may lead to a change in marketing strategy and re-evaluation of the business environment. Source: (The Marketers, 2010). Bargaining Power of Buyers The first factor of the mobile communication market is the buyer. As the market develops, the number of subscribers increases in emerging markets and developing economies. In 2005, the total number of mobile users surpassed 2 billion, a figure that increased further to 3 billion in 2007. This growth was mainly due to increased global mobile users in developing countries – up 70% compared to 50% in 2003. Source: (Saplitsa, 2008). In 2006-2007, the above depicted countries had contributed almost 90% of net increase in the global customer base. In today's fiercely competitive telecommunications market, people generally want more facilities for less cost. These same consumers are increasingly utilising the other services such as broadband, data service, MMS and 3G. Source: (Vodafone Limited, 2009). Based on the above data, these developing countries have achieved superior mobile coverage. With so many telecommunications companies in the market with very little differentiation among the services, the switching cost for the buyer is low. The buyer possesses high power over choosing any services according to their demand. Vodafone endeavours to stay highly competitive by providing high quality, superior service, more benefits, and lower costs. Competitive Rivalry There are several evenly balanced telecommunications providers who tend to have high rivalry. Vodafone focuses on attracting customers from other competitors. The spectrum issue is another factor for rivalry among companies. Mobile operator businesses have to incur high prices for spectrum licensing and setting up wireless networks. Consequently, the fixed cost becomes quite high. The fact that companies must capitalise on their productive capacity also leads to strong rivalry. With regard the emerging market of India, the Indian telecommunications market is highly saturated and synchronised. Though the level of competition is high, the Indian market is relatively favourable for Vodafone. The major rivals of Vodafone in Indian markets are Airtel, Reliance and BSNL. Through proper marketing strategy, Vodafone establishes itself successfully in the Indian market. Source: (Vodafone Limited, 2009). Threat of Substitutes The substitute of mobile service is the fixed line service. The threat of substituting mobile products is low because the cost of a fixed line service is not lower than that of mobile service. Moreover, the service quality or performance is also poor compared to mobile services. Accordingly, there is high probability more people will switch from fixed line to mobile services. Source: (dotMobi, 2011). More than 76% of people used mobile services in the year 2010 compared to 17% who used the fixed line services globally. In the European telecommunications market, the users of fixed line had reduced by 1.8% in 2005. The main reason for this fall in demand was the increasing use of substitute of fixed line service. In the year 2005, almost 15% of households used mobiles for their communications. Source: (Saplitsa, 2008). On the other hand, the usage of Internet calling also increased during this time. The inexpensive cost of Internet calling is trying to take over the long range call of mobile services. VoIP services provide users with the benefit of IP telephony, Internet calling, and broadband calling. The threat of the services of VoIP companies is reasonably high in telecommunications industry. In the European market, Skype offers customers international calling at a low price. The market share of Skype was almost 1% of total global call traffic. In the future, the services of Skype can impose price pressure for Vodafone and other mobile service providers (Saplitsa, 2008). Threat of New Entrants The ‘economy of scale’ determines the new entrant in the telecommunications sector. In this sector, the established companies have a strong advantage because they have already established their brand name and have good knowledge about the market. For this reason, it is quite costly for new entrants to enter in the telecommunications market. The existing companies can put pressure on the new entrants. Thus, the risk for new entrants is comparatively low for large companies such as Vodafone. Bargaining Power of Suppliers In telecommunications market, the suppliers provide mobile equipment, network communications, software and other technical services. In the telecommunications industry, the supplier’s power is high, as it has great influence on the cost of service. Vodafone’s strong presence indicates that it has significant buying power, which permits it to secure exclusive agreements with suppliers. In 2007, Vodafone selected Sony Ericsson to supply the spare parts for network communication in the European market. This agreement helped Vodafone to reduce the cost of management procedure of supply parts of 2G, 3G and other transmission requirements. Vodafone is interested in introducing its own branded mobile products in an attempt to break the leading position of Nokia in the mobile phone industry. On the other hand, too much dependency on the suppliers can make it quite hard to compete with other rivals in terms of price fixing (Vodafone Limited, 2007). Conclusion There is quite intense competition in the telecommunications industry with the current market in the maturity stage, thus experiencing huge growth due to changing technology and increasing demand of mobile services in developing countries. 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