VIRGIN MOBILE

The Virgin Group: Executive Summary

The Virgin Group is one of Britain’s largest business empires. The heterogeneous British corporation founded by Sir Richard Branson has infiltrated into vastly diverse industries whereby unconventional business tactics are utilized to cross borders into new industries. Though the Virgin Group has retained an undeniable mystique, little empirical research has been done to obtain a perceptive analysis on the empire. Since the approach in which an organization manages itself is imperative to its success, it is important to look outside the box to assess the effectiveness of Virgin’s management operations. This paper examines the organizational culture that is synchronous with the Virgin brand, as well as the structural characteristics that have allowed Virgin to successfully operate in many industries. The company’s fundamental values foster many of the dimensions of culture, which are highly internalized within the organization. The success and coordination attributed by Virgin’s culture is greatly influenced by Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group. Branson realizes the potential and importance of those who work for him. Consequently, he creates a structure, which is decentralized, through empowering his employees and providing them with autonomy. The Virgin Group is a company with little bureaucracy, as Branson often encourages employees to use their intuition to make decisions rather than a rational process. However, the lack of formalization within the company may deem to be a weak aspect of the organizational structure, since the lack of formal rules, regulations and procedures may create ambiguous situations for the company. Because of the company’s corporate culture and structure, Virgin has effectively forecasted possible occurrences and has dealt with them in a timely manner.




The Virgin Group: Company Information



The Virgin Group is one of Britain’s most noteworthy empires in the 21st century. The company has successfully incorporated a copious number of diverse industries under the Virgin brand. This includes travel, mobile, financial services, leisure, cosmetics, retail, and music businesses (Virgin, n.d.). Virgin has been able to dominate the British market and has therefore continued to rapidly expand into other regions such as the United States, Canada and Australia. The enterprise was founded by Sir Richard Branson in 1970 as a simple mail-order record retailer and has blossomed into one of the most prosperous business empires in the business world (Virgin, n.d.).

To date, the Virgin Group has globalized and established over 200 small to mid-sized firms, employing over 25,000 people. As a result, the company has exceeded over $7 billion in revenue in 2002 (Virgin, n.d.). Each one of Virgin’s 200 firms operates as a single entity. Branson either holds ownership of a firm as CEO, or has a minority or majority stake. The Virgin Group does not hold a hierarchal presence within the empire, which allowed its various subsidiaries to operate in an autonomous manner (Wikipedia, 2006).

A large component of Virgin’s success has been credited to the founder, Sir Richard Branson. Branson’s self persona is keenly aligned with Virgin’s brand identity and has set the tone for its organizational culture (Virgin, n.d.). His beliefs and vision for Virgin has shaped the structure and culture of which its success is based upon. Branson has followed this guideline in how he treats his customers, his employees and how Virgin’s products are produced (Virgin, n.d.). The Virgin Group has had a profound impact on business relations in Britain and now the globe. The mystique that surrounds this company is undeniable; this has allowed the empire to flourish in uncertain and ambiguous times whilst pursuing financial success.