Interview with a Manager - Essay Example

The operating expenses have been increasing at a rapid rate; the profitability margins have been reducing; the competition is intensifying; labour costs are rising and lastly demand is reducing; thereby making the overall situation extremely difficult for the business houses (Polese and Stren, 2000). Despite that the market still offers growth opportunities for the companies who are actively involved in the development of strategies that are flexible and has the ability to get adapted with the changing business environment.

However, it has been also observed that the challenges that are being faced by the organizations are not always caused due to external turbulences but often the internal factors also become responsible for the complicated situation (Hall and Vredenburg, 2004). This study aims to uncover the different issues being faced by a company as a result of the turbulence in its internal and external business environment. Once the issues are identified the study will scrutinize and screen the most vital issue faced by the company.

The study will then try to identify the major issue being faced by the company and will try to identify the most feasible solution. . The company chosen for this assignment is Vodafone UK and the manager chosen is Kevin Smith. Hence, before getting further deep into the study, a brief overview of the company as well as brief background information of the chosen manager is presented in the subsequent sections. Overview of the Company Vodafone Group plc also known as Vodafone is a UK based multinational company involved in the business of providing telecommunication services.

The company was incorporated in the year 1991 in Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom. However, the company shifted its headquarters to London, United Kingdom. The predecessor of Vodafone was Racal Telecom from 1983 to 1991. In terms of the total revenue generated as well as the total number of subscribers, the company is considered as the world’s second largest telecommunication company just behind China Mobile. The company has presence in almost 30 countries of the world and operates in 40 countries with the help of partners.

Currently the company is headed by Gerard Kleisterlee (Chairman) and Vittorio Colao (CEO). It employs around 87,000 people across the globe and also provides income opportunities to numerous people who are the business associates of the company. Some of the products of the company include mobile telephony, fixed line, digital television and internet services. As of 2012, the net revenue of the company was ?46.417 billion and had an operating income of ?11.187 billion. The profit for the same financial year was ?6.957 billion.

This figure clearly reflects the strong financial situation of the company (Agar, 2013). Although, the company has a strong position in the market, it still has to deal with several issues and these issues emerged from both internal and external environment of the