Vodafone is one of the most successful global companies of the last 20 years, growing from a holder of one of the first two mobile communications licences in the UK to be a global brand. Whilst its leadership, mergers and acquisitions and marketing all are well documented, much less is known about how it really benefited from its mergers, and how it managed the transformational organizational journey from national to global. The author provides a unique longitudinal insight into the hidden globalization of Vodafone; with its mobile network infrastructure suppliers it created a social network of people that contributed to the deployment of a global network of technology that now serves over 170 million customers. Originally with Ericsson, and then with Nokia, Siemens and Nortel, Vodafone moved the industry to a global stage, sharing data and knowledge, but also negotiating commercial terms and operational excellence, for global advantage. This included an industry leading move to reverse electronic auctions. Managers within Vodafone and its suppliers cooperated as a virtual global network organization; an invisible structure that gave Vodafone a unique advantage. It is shown that this is a new requisite organizational type that has application to other global or multi-location companies undertaking similar transitions.
