Vodafone puts mobility at the heart of business strategy : Transformation improves performance of employees and organization as a whole

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to chart Vodafone's journey from a conventional office‐based business to a new, uncharted, largely mobile and dynamic strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper highlights some of the operational and cultural challenges that the company had to overcome along the way, the advantages the changes have brought and the lessons the company has learned. Findings – The paper explains that, since unified communications were adopted throughout the organization, employees are able to pick up messages and no longer need to miss any call. This seamless service has improved the speed and quality of customer service, slashing decision times and enabling smarter, more informed working. Pricing changes that could take up to 90 days to execute now take only four days. Customer complaints have also dropped by 57 percent in two years. Practical implications – The paper reveals that productivity has increased by 15 percent, employees' work‐life balance has improved, and flexibility and openness to change have become embedded in the organizational culture. Social implications – The paper describes how employees can use their time more effectively, partly because flexible working enables them to spend less time commuting. Originality/value – The paper details the lessons that a major multinational company learned from a program of significant organizational change.