Coca Cola Company and Its Organisation's Goals - Essay Example

Organisational Studies Case Study: The Coca Cola Company Name Institution Professor Subject Date Introduction Organisations do have structures that help them operate efficiently. An organisational structure involves task allocation, coordination and supervision directed towards the achievement of organisational aims (Mills et al, 2006). It is the hierarchy of people and its functions. Through the studies on the organisational structure of a company, the character of an organisation can be told, together with the values it believes in (Mills et al, 2006). Anyone who does business with the organisation will have to know and understand the structure of that organization for him to proceed well. An organisation will adopt a structure depending on the organisation's values and the nature of the business (Mills et al, 2006). The structure at most ties involves the existence of departments and teams. Examples of structures can be functional, divisional or product structures. The company in focus in this paper is the Coca Cola Company. This paper aims to give a case study of this organisation's structure, values and culture by describing its structure; how the structure reinforces the company's goals; agents in the organisation; role of the agent in accomplishing the organisation's goals; and the challenge that the structure of the organisation poses on its sustainability. The essay will also look into the ethical issues in the organisation; any informal structure and whether it manifests positively or negatively; how symbols communicate the organisational mission; and my contribution as an external observer on the organisation’s structure and activities. Case Study: Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational company that deals in production and sales of beverages in the whole world. The company is geared by the need to refresh the world by inspiring moments of optimism and happiness it its customers and thus making a difference through their values (Elfar, 2010). The company's mission is to be the world's leading consumer product company by producing convenient food and beverages; this would extend to offering financial rewards to investors in the course of providing opportunities for growth and enrichment to its employees, business partners and community at large (Elfar, 2010). Fairness, honesty and integrity are the values that the company adopts in the course of its operations. The belief at Coca Cola Company is that providing customers with refreshing beverages including soft drinks, water, energy drinks, juices and tea to fit any occasion in their day-to-day lives is the company's responsibility (Elfar, 2010). The company's signature product in this sense is Coke. Coke has become very much acceptable in the whole world in addition to other products being sold in over 200 countries. To ensure that Coke products last in the market, the company ensures that it uses the most sophisticated equipment in the production process. The company's success is associated with the fair compensation it gives to its employees together with fair practice in trade in all markets they compete in (Elfar, 2010). Other than valuing their responsibility to customers, the company also supports a range of educational and leadership programmes. The company has as well set up long-term objectives that enable it to serve its customers well and sustain their position in the world market. The company has an objective of raising the company's revenue by 50% in the next two years (Elfar, 2010). The current revenue rates at approximately 24 billion in a year. The company also intends to increase book vale or it shares by 25 % in three years (Elfar, 2010). The company's current value is $8.52. The current cash flow in the company is 2.320 billion and the company is aimed at generating cash flow by 1 billion in two years time (Elfar, 2010). Lastly, the current net income for the company ranges at 6, 824 billion. The company has on objective of increasing the net income by 30% in the next three years (Elfar, 2010). In terms of its organisational structure, the Coca Cola Company has divided into six operating units to enable it handle the enormous capacity of its business. The company is thus organized into an international area structure considered as a global product divisional structure (Elfar, 2010). This structure was taken because the company supplies goods to different customers and as well offers a variety of different products. In a divisional structure, a company groups its divisions according to demands of products, markets and customers. The structure focuses on higher degree of specialization within a specific division such that each division will have its own resources and autonomy that will enable it to respond adequately to changes in the business environment (Elfar, 2010). Therefore, the company adopting such a structure should always ensure that the division has all the necessary resources and functions within it to satisfy the demands put on the division (Elfar, 2010). The Coca Cola Company has its international staffs operate separately and in isolation from head office. It has various divisions in all continents in the world with presidents that control each continental divisional. The five continental divisions are: Eurasia &Africa Group Europe Group Latin America Group North America Group Pacific Group (Elfar,2010) Each divisional headquarter has vice presidents that control sub-divisions based on regions or countries. The structure has worked well for Coca-Cola as a large company (Elfar, 2010). The operations of the company are similar in all divisions as there is also a tight control over its operations from the head offices. The company in its structure has managed to meet some of its objectives because currently, it one of the largest beverage offering companies in the world. The company has so far enjoyed the benefits of divisional structure. For example, the company has had a very successful workflow in each division especially with close monitoring from the head office (Gillikini & Media, 2012). The company has a low level of centralization. In terms of innovation, the company has been very flexible in the implementation of such ideas. The company has been very sensitive to the subtle differences across its products, area of operations and customers. Generally, divisional structure works well because it allows a team to focus on a single product or service with leadership structure that support its major objectives (Gillikini & Media, 2012). The company has also managed to build a common culture and spirits (Coke) that has contributed to higher morale and better knowledge of each division's portfolio (Richard et al, 2010). Some of the challenges that Coca Cola has met are office politics at a time when sound strategic thinking should take control especially when it comes to allocation of company resources (Gillikini & Media, 2012). Therefore, some divisions work to undermine others. Another problem is that divisional structure at times allows divisions to bring in compartmentalization that can lead to incompatibilities. As an observer and a client of the Coca Cola Company, I see the need for improvements in the operations of this company to enable its organizational structure to bear fruits. For example, the Coca Cola Company should realise that companies like Pepsi are coming up and thus there is need to grow and look into the company's competitive advantage to continue being a market leader (Elfar, 2010). This should be done by integrating its businesses in healthy and energy beverages to compete with the competitors not forgetting to diversify its business by introducing food industry to boost the competition created by beverages. This will help reduce risk probabilities (Elfar, 2010). The company through its structure should aim at leading the digital marketing philosophy in the beverage industry. Conclusion As stated earlier, the kind of a product an organization deals in will determine the kind of organisational structure it will have. It is worth to note that every structure has both advantages and disadvantages. The focus of this paper has been to look in to the company of Coca Cola and establishing its structure, values, beliefs and culture. Providing customers with refreshments in all sectors of life is the key responsibility of the Coca Cola Company. The company has managed to achieve some its goals through a divisional structure throughout all continents. The company has thus reaped a lot from this structure, as it is very flexible. . References Gillikini, Jason (2012). Advantages & Disadvantages of Divisional Organizational Structure. Demand Media. Elfar, Ahmed (2010). Coca Cola 2007 Strategic Management: Coca Cola Case Study Presentation. Web, 6th December, 2010 Accessed on 8th September, 2012. Mills et al. (2006). Organisational Behaviour in a Global Context. University of Toronto Press. Richard, et al. (2010). Organization: Theory and Design. Cengage Learning EMEA. Read More