Vodafone Group Plc
| Vodafone Group Plc | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Area Served | Worldwide |
| Chairman | Gerard Kleisterlee |
| Chairman Supervisory Board | Vittorio Colao |
| Products | Fixed line and mobile telephony, Internet services, digital television |
| Financial Services | Volkswagen Financial Services AG |
| Market Value | 97106.8m$ |
| Employees | 92,812 (2014) |
| Website | www.vodafone.com |
Contents
About Vodafone Group
The Vodafone Group is a leading telecommunications company. It has a large presence in Europe and partner markets all around the world, including the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. The company provides products and services for both consumers and businesses, and aims to impact people’s lives around the world through innovation, product development and technology. The Vodafone Group has been actively involved in cultural diplomacy by providing scholarships and cultural exchange programs, and by sponsoring music, art or sporting events as well as film festivals. In addition, they are involved in humanitarian programs and international projects designed to improve the quality of people’s life.
Engagement in Cultural Diplomacy
Vodafone has been directly involved in cultural diplomacy for many years. The Group has multiple international programmes and offers different scholarships to promote cultural exchange and transnationalism. In addition, the company has been involved in different cultural activities, such as music awards, film festivals, sport events and art, through sponsorship.
Employment policy
The Vodafone Group has a very strict company policy concerning issues such as employee diversity, transnationalism and human rights. As of 2014, Vodafone has 92,812 employees all over the globe. One of their main policies, which is embedded in their Code of Conduct, is to guarantee employee diversity and provide equal opportunities for its employees. In addition, this Code of Conduct, which is available on their website, demands, among other things, respect for individuals and their human rights. Vodafone is also against child labour, and will not accept any form of discrimination among its employees.
Education and Jobs
International Internship Programs
The Vodafone Group has been involved in cultural programs for many years now, since they offer career programs for recent graduates. The first one is the Discover Program, where graduates gain business experience from day one. The graduates that show great potential during this Programme then get the opportunity to take part in the Columbus Program, which offers them the chance to work on an international assignment in another country.
Grants and Scholarships
A different cultural programme by Vodafone is the “Scholarship Programme”. Since the winter of 2006/2007, The Vodafone Foundation Germany has offered new educational opportunities to young people from migrant backgrounds. With their “Scholarship Programme”, Vodafone created the only nationwide program for students with migrant backgrounds who want to live and work in Germany (Vodafone Foundation 2014).
Notable Activities
Over the past year the Vodafone Group has sponsored a lot of cultural activities in the field of music, movies, art and sport.
Supporting Music and Visual Arts
Vodafone New Zealand has been the main sponsor of the New Zealand Music Awards. These awards are held annually and on November 20, 2014 the 49th Edition took place in Auckland. Vodafone was also the main sponsor of the 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. This year Vodafone also teamed up with Spotify, allowing Vodafone customers to play unlimited music from this service on their mobile phone. Last year, Vodafone was the official sponsor of the Milano Film Festival, that took place in Milan, Italy, in September. However in 2014, there was no such sponsorship. The Vodafone Group is furthermore the National sponsor of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Supporting Sport
In addition, Vodafone is the Official Sponsor of the New Zealand Warriors and has signed a deal with the club to extend it until the end of the 2018 season. This new five-year deal means a major boost for the club and with 20 seasons, it will be New Zealand’s longest professional naming rights sponsorship. However in 2014 Vodafone ended its high profile spearhead McLaren F1 sponsorship.
Activities in the Field of Humanitarian Aid
Vodafone UK was furthermore the title sponsor of the Vodafone London Fashion Weekend on 18 - 21 September 2014, and the company was also the Principal Sponsor of London Fashion Week and the Official Sponsor of the British Fashion Awards. The Vodafone Foundation has furthermore an Instant Network programme, which provides “humanitarian relief through the deployment of a portable cell restoration solution to enable communications in disaster areas to support responders and populations affected by crisis” (Vodafone Foundation Germany).
