Interview with a Manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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 scrutin ize 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 th e 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

Building of professional competence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Building of professional competence - Essay Example According to the research findings it can therefore be said that communication remains one of the vital elements to every professional in conducting his daily activities. Communication needs to be very effective in businesses in order to create a mutual exchange of understanding between the conveyer of the information and the readers. Business communication ensures that there is constant flow of information. More than often, communication plays an important role in giving information to the interested parties of an organisation including employees and shareholders notwithstanding the general public. In the presentation on Harrods holdings, effective communication was made to various parties. This comprised of the customers who were served in Harrod holdings and investors who were the key shareholders in the company. With regards to the customers the report gives information based on the location of Harrod holdings within its business actual position in the market. In addition, the co mpany’s managers give a convenient highlight on the presence of other boutiques that Harrod holdings have around other parts of the world. The report given based on Harrod holdings also shows the owners of the company thus, giving the public the image of the company. year that it was founded as well as the year and place of incorporation; this shows the depthness and clarity of giving information. Through the report we have learnt on the significance of improving our interpersonal communication skills. Working with others In coming up with a report on Harrods holdings the staff worked together in groups to manage the company’s sales portfolio. In this group every individual exhibited a high level of corporation as it is highlighted by the high volumes of sales. Working in a team combines the skills and the creativity of a diverse number of individuals in the group. Teamwork is the key to the success of every team. During our reporting on Harrod holdings we devised a te am process, roles and behaviours. In managing a team all members occupational obligations are supposed to be considered, thus, working out the time into each member busy schedules remains important in working as a group. In the meeting, determination of members strength and weaknesses assisted greatly in task allocation. We owe the success in our team to our abilities to compliment each other and distribute tasks accordingly. In the team we had cohesiveness and productivity given that our final common goal was set. Improving own learning performance More than often, individuals set out standards that are geared on improving the learning performance. As a result, the study on Harrod Holdings was able to set out standards based on key skill that we identified over time within the activities carried by employees. These skills have assisted the company in developing themselves as independent learners from within the group members especially, as the employees focused on achieving the goa l of giving an increased sales production to Harrod Holdings. This is relevant in the presence of process skills that focus on target-setting through effective planning. Later on, we focused on process skill advanced to learning of new techniques