“We aim to be the most admired company in Turkey”

Attila Vitai became CEO of Telsim after it had been bought by Vodafone. He notes that they have not chased after short-term targets. “We plan to be the leader in 20 years’ time,” he says. Vitai describes his most important strategy as follows. “We want to be known both by our personnel and our customers as a very good company. We want to earn the title of the Most Admired Company in Turkey.”

Attila Vitai is the new CEO of Telsim. He is one of the most successful executives at the global GSM giant, the Vodafone Group. He made a major contribution to Vodafone’s acquisition of Telsim. Indeed, Vodafone Vice President Julian Horn-Smith says that it was Attila Vitai’s idea to buy Telsim. Smith says: “Attila was running the company in Hungary. He had developed a small company there into a strong player. One day he telephoned me and said ‘Telsim is being sold in Turkey. We should definitely bid for it. If we win the tender I want to go there as a manager.’ And this is what happened.”

Once he had been appointed to head Telsim, Vitai came under intense scrutiny. Everybody was eagerly awaiting his first moves in the company and his plans for the future.

In the end, Vitai decided to make his expected announcements via Capital. Vitai says that being CEO in Turkey gave him a special feeling and thinks that there is no other market like Turkey in terms of its size and penetration rate.

Telsim CEO Attila Vitai answered Capital’s questions and spoke for the first time about Vodafone’s plans for the future of Telsim and its future targets.

What Will Be Done For Development?
We shall invest heavily in order to update and develop the infrastructure. It will be easier for the customers to call and the quality of the calls will also be improved still further. We shall expand our capacity and our coverage area. A larger capacity will enable us to provide services to a larger number of customers. We shall spend a lot of money on developing new products and services. As a result of all of these investments our customers will have a better experience with their mobile phones.

We shall develop our projects for our personnel. We are organizing training for them. We shall show them how to achieve their career goals. We shall send some of our employees to work in Vodafone in other countries. We shall provide the necessary motivation for people to achieve their desires.

In the third stage we are planning a number of projects that will contribute to society. We want to establish some charities in Turkey and play an active role in this field.

We Shall Create A Wonderful Company
What I am trying to do here is to create a company and ensure that in 5, 10 or 15 years it is one which people describe as a wonderful company. What I mean by wonderful is this: one which is continually successful, not just for 1-2 years. We want both our employees and our customers to regard as a very good company. We want to earn the title of the ‘Most Admired Company in Turkey’. We want to be the best employers in Turkey.

For us, these are the characteristics of a successful company. Customers should regard the products and services produced by a company as being of high quality. A company should understand the needs of its customers and provide solutions accordingly. It should have business ethics. It should provide assistance to those parts of society where it is needed. It should develop its workforce and provide them with the opportunities necessary for their development. These are the subjects on which we are working in order to make us into a truly wonderful company. If we can achieve these goals in the next 5-10 years then I shall be happy.

Nilufer Gözütok
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