Analysis of Vodafone and its competitive environment Essay

Analysis of Vodafone and its competitive environment - Essay Example Conclusion 10 5.1 Summary 10 5.2 Final analysis 10 5.3 Conclusion 11 5.4 SWOT 11 References 12 Appendix 13 1. Introduction The continuous increase of competition in all industries worldwide is one of the major challenges that modern organizations have to face. The ability of a particular firm, Vodafone, to secure its market position is reviewed in this paper. Particular emphasis is given on the competitive environment of the organization but also on the firm’s current strategies for competing its rivals. The report aims to show the potentials of the organization to increase its competitiveness; at the same time, effort is made to show whether there are any factors, in the firm’s internal or external environment, that could threaten the organization’s performance, either in the short or the long term. A series of theories and frameworks are employed in order to explore the issues described above: the Porter’s Five Forces and the Life Cycle Analysis are used for analysing the industry in which the firm operates; the analysis of the industry in which the firm operates is included in the first part of the paper. ... 2. Overview Competition in the UK telecommunications industry is strong. The findings of the industry analysis and of the internal analysis lead to the assumption that Vodafone has developed appropriate strategies for securing its market share in UK. Despite its significant performance, Vodafone needs to identify strategies that would help to the standardization of the firm’s performance in the future. The firm’s existing strategies seem to be quite satisfactory, in terms of their value in supporting the organization’s competitiveness. Still, there are certain issues related to the firm’s internal and external environment that need to be addressed appropriately, aiming to improve the firm’s position towards its competitors. 3. Industry analysis 3.1 Porter’s five forces Porter’s five forces model aims to help the identification of industries, which are highly offered for organizational growth, since the risks involved are limited (Barne y 1991); thus, the operations of a firm that would decide to enter such industry would not be threatened. Another important characteristic of the particular model (Figure 4, Appendix) is the following one: it helps to understand the effects of ‘a firm’s attributes on its environment’ (Barney 1991, p.100). After identifying the conditions in a firm’s environment, it would be easier to check whether the firm has achieved ‘to establish a value created strategy which is quite difficult for competitors to duplicate’ (Barney 1991, p.102), i.e. whether it has a ‘sustained competitive advantage’ (Barney 1991, p.102) or not. In order to understand the potentials and the

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globalization - Essay Example The regional trade agreement chosen for this report is Mercosur. This agreement was created on 26 March 1991, when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asuncià ³n to create the Southern Common Market. The agreement now encompasses the four Latin American countries along with a fifth member state – Venezuela. The purpose of this trade agreement is to promote free trade among the member countries and enable a fluid movement of goods, workers, and services.Mercosur has been very successful in increasing intrabloc trade among its member countries and in reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers. Following this trade agreement, intrabloc trade increased from 9% to 25% of the total exports within eight years. This trade agreement enabled the formation of a common market promoting free trade. The Mercosur member countries also gained in bargaining power to negotiate trade agreements with other countries. Interregional trade among the member countries tripled f rom the US $ 4.1 billion to the US $ 10.7 billion. All countries in the sub-region experienced increased growth of about 6.1% that was the highest to be recorded in a decade. From the figures released by the World Trade Organization, it can be inferred that the trade agreement not only boosted trade among its members but also was successful in increasing trade with the rest of the world. Since the inception of Mercosur, there has been a 207% rise in trade among member countries and 122% increase in trade with the rest of the world.... (2) Report on a Regional Trade Agreement The regional trade agreement chosen for this report is Mercosur (Mercado Comun del Sur/Mercado Comum do Sul/Southern Common Market). This agreement was created on 26 March 1991, when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asuncion to create the Southern Common Market. The agreement now encompasses the four Latin American countries along with a fifth member state – Venezuela. The purpose of this trade agreement is to promote free trade among the member countries and enable a fluid movement of goods, workers and services (â€Å"About MERCOSUR†). Mercosur has been very successful in increasing intrabloc trade among its member countries and in reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers. Following this trade agreement, intrabloc trade increased from 9% to 25% of the total exports within eight years (Paiva and Gazel 116). This trade agreement enabled the formation of a common market promoting free trade. The Mercosur member countries also gained in bargaining power to negotiate trade agreements with other countries. Interregional trade among the member countries tripled from US $ 4.1 billion to US $ 10.7 billion. All countries in the sub-region experienced increased growth of about 6.1% that was the highest to be recorded in a decade. From the figures released by the World Trade Organization, it can be inferred that the trade agreement not only boosted trade among its members, but also was successful in increasing trade with the rest of the world. Since the inception of Mercosur, there has been a 207% rise in trade among member countries and 122% increase in trade with the rest of the world