The Origins of Vodafone

In 1982 Vodafone was a small start-up based behind an Indian restaurant. By the mid-1990s it had evolved into a rapidly expanding corporate religion. The era of mass ownership of mobile phones was just beginning.The organisational and social structures that were imposed at the beginning of Vodafone date from at least as far back as the Industrial Revolution. Despite the social advancements since that time the fundamental elements of social control remained intact at the end of the twentieth century in a small market town in southern England. In one representative department all the desks were lined up facing the front where the manager sat surveying them. They were not allowed to talk to each other unless it was concerned with the work in hand. Although the official lunch hour was between 12 o'clock and 2pm nobody went to lunch before 12.30 and nobody returned after 1.29pm for fear of management retribution. It must be fully enforced to ensure nobody could take more than one hour for lunch. Fear was layered each level of the caste system fearful of the one above it and controlling the next one down. Social control within the strictest of hierarchies sustained by the pillars of ever-increasing share price and subscriber numbers.Within this environment the following examples are illustrated:The head of the central business analysis department was a severely psychotic man who deliberately destroyed the careers of many professional men and women. In this he was fully and consistently supported by both human resources and senior management. He would have achieved even higher office were it not for the inconvenience of being sentenced to two years imprisonment at Winchester Crown Court. Shortly before his imprisonment he had stood in the middle of the office proclaiming that women were no trouble if you hit them.The extraordinary career of a devious and completely incompetent man who to the question does Vodafone care anything about people sat grinning and shaking his head and later became CIO of Vodafone UK in charge of over 2000 people.A woman whose given title was Global People Development Director who illegally forced the closure of a free discussion website threatened a whistle-blower with extreme legal action which would damage him and his family forbid any correspondence with those involved and then stated that she had done her utmost to resolve the issues to the whistle-blower's satisfaction.