Vodafone creates three spin-offs; shuffles top management personnel

Vodafone creates three spin-offs; shuffles top management personnel

	Published : Fri, 07 Apr 2006 06:25 By : Paula Demarzio Print this Story

LONDON - Mobile phone giant Vodafone today announced a major reshuffle in its top management as it sought to meet the twin challenges of working in emerging markets as well as cutting costs. The company announced that it would be splitting its businesses into three zones each headed by a different chief executive.

The first unit will be of the European market including huge markets of Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. This unit will be headed by Bill Morrow, who is currently the president of Vodafone's business in Japan. Tim Miles has been appointed as the new Chief Technology Officer and his focus will be on cost cutting. Paul Donovan, who is currently chief executive of OVS, will head the second division that will be focused on Central Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and affiliated regions.

This division will look to make profitable ventures in emerging markets. The third spin-off from Vodafone is New Businesses and Innovations, which will be headed by Thomas Geitner, who is the company's chief technology officer at the moment. The main interest of this division will be converged and IP services so as to create new revenue streams for the company.

This move comes even as there are whispers that all is not well in the mobile giant's boardroom. Former Chief Executive Sir Christopher Gent resigned from the honorary post as life president of the group last month and since then there has been investor unrest. However, CEO Arun Sarin explained this new move by saying that it will help the company focus on specific areas.

"This is an important step forward for the group as it is aligned to our evolving strategy and addresses different priorities across the group. It will enable us to continue to outperform our competitors as the changes deliver a streamlined and simple structure with clear focus," he said.

"By creating three new business units, and with an increased focus on costs, we are reflecting the different approaches that will be required to continue to succeed both in our existing operations and by capturing new revenue streams for the future."