Sound first steps

The first big announcements from a new boss are studied with particular attention. So what should be made of Vittorio Colao’s first significant moves at Vodafone? The mobile operator’s new chief executive has appointed an outsider – Michel Combes, formerly a senior executive at France Telecom – to fill his shoes running the European business. That may gently raise a few eyebrows, since Combes left FT shortly before a profit warning. But he’s a serious executive with both operating and financial ...