Local Operating Company Engagement
Many important stakeholders have a local focus. For example, government officials, community representatives and customers are most interested in our activities in their own country. Our local operating companies play an important role in forming relationships with local stakeholders and learning from their views. This frequently highlights differences in issues and levels of concern between one country and another.
Local operating companies undertake a wide range of stakeholder engagement and are increasingly applying a systematic approach. This work is essential to tailor Vodafone’s services and practices to the needs of local markets. Cultural norms differ greatly and our local engagement is one of the main ways we ensure Vodafone is a multi-local multi-national. Local operating company engagement is reported in the individual market CR reports.
Here are some examples of local operating company engagement:
- Vodafone Greece surveyed 265 stakeholders in 2007/08 to understand their expectations and obtain feedback on Vodafone Greece's approach. It carried out a similar survey of 150 people in 2005/06. Those interviewed included academics, corporate clients, journalists, local authorities, NGOs, and suppliers. Vodafone Greece also held two focus groups in 2007/08 for five representatives of environmental NGOs and four journalists. The research found that 85% of these stakeholders were satisfied with Vodafone Greece’s overall CR strategy. Stakeholders in Greece are primarily interested in Vodafone’s performance on the environment and mobile phones, masts and health in relation to network deployment.
- Vodafone New Zealand held two stakeholder engagement sessions in July 2007. The first session on social issues included representatives from the police, driving and consumer associations, youth development and health organisations. Representatives from industry associations, local government authorities and the Ministry for the Environment attended the second session on environmental issues. Vodafone New Zealand also conducted an online employee CR survey alongside this external research.
- Vodafone UK has held focus groups for CR opinion leaders to get in-depth feedback on its CR performance and reporting for the past four years. In February 2008, 16 opinion leaders participated in two focus groups. One of these concentrated specifically on Vodafone UK’s approach to environmental issues in response to feedback from opinion leaders the previous year wanting to see the company adopt a strong climate strategy.