Coca-Cola Company: Quality Performance Evaluation - Essay Example

? Quality Performance Evaluation BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE YOUR HERE HERE Quality Performance Evaluation Introduction The Coca-Cola Company maintains a multinational presence as a global leader in the food and beverage industry. The portfolio of products produced by Coca-Cola includes energy drinks, snack foods, and cola products. In order to maintain competitive edge in a dynamic and highly competitive marketplace, the business must develop new products or build new formulations in order to gain revenues and market share from major players such as Coca-Cola and Red Bull. Thus, there is a significant devotion to the quality assurance division and quality testing as part of their NPD system and to ensure that products meet with customer demands and expectations based on changing market demographics and eating trends. At the same time, Coca-Cola requires a unified organisational culture that is devoted to the marketing and advertising function in order to gain new market attention or ensure that existing customers remain loyal to the business and its many portfolios of brands. The quality of employee behaviour requires assessment for issues of intellectual property protection, appropriateness of communications with external partners and customers, and also to ensure that employee attitudes are built on satisfaction and loyalty towards the marketing function. Because of the many different dynamics at Coca-Cola, the need to develop quality auditing tools is vital, especially as it relates to the customer, production, and internal organisational culture development. Thus, Coca-Cola should be using three different quality assessment tools: the defect checklist, the quality assurance audit, and the survey methodology related to employee behaviour and attitude. This report identifies the rationale for this new system of auditing based on the organisational principles that drive Coca-Cola’s development needs. The evaluation criteria Coca-Cola, in order to avoid high costs of manufacturing and also improve processes as it relates to product, recently developed a change management system to ensure new technology implementation and compliance from employee populations. The company uses what is referred to as the PLC code in production and has installed new automation equipment to facilitate these labelling changes and improve productivity. A system called MDT Autosave was purchased as an “enterprise source management solution that provides a full suite of tools to protect, save, restore, discover and track changes for industrial programmable devices and documents” (automation.com, 2008, p.1). Though this new automation changed elements of manual activity in production, the need to ensure the system was viable and meets quality standards is necessary as part of the change management process. Coca-Cola should be using a checklist format that identifies defects as it relates to labelling and the production process in bottling. Checklists are simple measurement tools that have a set of criteria based on facts in production rather than using anecdotal evidence found in some qualitative measurement tools (System Reliability Center, 2009). Because the new automation equipment produced changes to label and coding, the need to ensure that the label process from printing to adhesion needs to be developed. Too much reliance on automated equipment removes the human element from production and thus intuition and experience are deleted from the practice. The checklist audit developed for Coca-Cola can be found in the Appendix section. The checklist acts as a quantitative tool that uses hard data related to identified defects in the labelling process. Each time a production mishap or defect is discovered, the production worker or line manager records the defect daily with a running total at the right of the audit checklist template. Weekly, defects are then logged into a practical data application system where bar or pie charts are created to show the highest volume of defects as they occur. The benefits of the checklist is the raw data it provides related to defects and can then be utilized in presentations for improving technology with the assistance of information technology specialists or also as a business case for new software development that is more feasible and viable for Coca-Cola’s production needs. Gaining compliance for the use of the checklist audit requires training on documentation and chart creation that is relatively simplistic. It is ensuring compliance that is the most difficult task in this scenario for use of this quantitative tool. According to Want (2009, p.10) change management is more than creating policy and procedure diagrams, it is about addressing “performance, leadership, commitments, behaviours, communications, decision-making and work team development”. Thus, there is a need for cultural change to ensure compliance. The goal is to reinforce the viability of this checklist audit system and establish a clear communications channel with all involved in the production system and the defect monitoring process to ensure that the change is understood clearly. Resistance to change is often not related to attitude as it pertains to organisational policy, it is an inherent psychologically-based type of resistance that is difficult to define and unique for each individual. Less productive workers, such as those who require high levels of control to ensure productivity, can be resistant to the use of such quantitative tools as a matter of work ethics and principles. In a change environment, a change agent is described as “an undeserving victim of the irrational and dysfunctional responses of change recipients” (Ford, Ford & D’Amelio, 2008, p.362). Compliance measures can be based on policy, however people in the organisation need to believe that they have some impact on their environment and a level of control in order to gain commitment (Gambrel & Cianci, 2003). Recognition from others and establishing a sense of communal affiliation is necessary to build satisfaction in employee work groups (Gambrel & Cianci). To ensure compliance, reinforcement of the integrity of autonomous work systems and also a business case about the importance of this audit system for job security is another method of ensuring that employees involved are active and participatory in this new checklist system. Job security is considered one of the most fundamental needs of employees and Coca-Cola can establish that the checklist provides this security as a means to boost compliance, along with appropriate disciplinary systems in the event of non-compliance. If the new automation equipment is not living up to its standards expected for reliability and validity as it relates to production and labelling needs, then Coca-Cola maintains hard quantifiable data about defect ratios compared to previous systems and can address new technology implementation. Rather than relying on automated systems to provide production data, this provides reintroduction of the human element into the system. If correlations on certain production days are identified, as charted on the checklist, then the business has the tools and resources to explore specific production staff behaviours to determine whether activities on certain work shifts are contributing the defect labelling problem. The end result is cost control, labour control, and monitoring expertise in technological automation. Also related to technology is a standardization of software applications occurring at Coca-Cola related to cost-cutting and improving efficiency in the office environment with the responsibility of handling accounting and customer service. Kendall (2011) identifies that Coca-Cola has been integrating cloud computing systems into their current technologies as a means to cut costs. Cloud computing is the utilization of external software programs that are accessible on client servers, thus saving Coca-Cola from having to install their own communications systems. For instance, the company uses Facebook and Twitter which are managed by an external server provider to improve customer relations in marketing and customer service (Kendall). Collaborative work tools and improving relationship management principles is the intended outcome of cloud computing processes and systems. Further, Coca-Cola requires a need to protect its trade secrets and intellectual property as it relates to employees. In 2008, Coca-Cola caught some of its employees attempting to deliver trade secrets to its largest rival, Pepsi, through the use of company software communications systems. The business had installed monitoring technologies embedded in email and other communications programs to ensure that it was being utilized according to expectations, privacy and policy on customer service appropriateness (Turri, 2008). The quality of data being exchanged over both cloud computing systems such as social networking sites and corporate email is necessary for maintaining competitive advantage over large food and beverage rivals in the competitive marketplace. Moreover, quality assurance principles and QA testing are significantly important to Pepsi in an environment where new product development and new product formulations are necessary to sustain competitive growth and meet with changing consumer demands. The company boasts over 3,000 beverage products with multiple taste and formula varieties (thecoca-colacompany.com, 2008). Thus, quality testing is vital to ensuring flavour, content, and viability for market needs as identified through sales and marketing. Offers the CEO of Coca-Cola, “we are actively exploring new ingredients, new functionality, and new occasions” (Stroud, 2009, p.2). Thus, for reasons of quality, testing and development are vital to the strength of the company’s many branded products. For human resources monitoring purposes and also the integrity of quality assurance testing, the business requires utilization of two different auditing processes. Utilization of the scattergram quality tool is a charted analysis related to employee behaviour as a means to identify inappropriate communications or inefficient quality of communications when they occur. The agent responsible for human resources or line management receives regular data from the email and communications monitoring systems. When customer service-related information is provided that jeopardizes the potential intellectual property or trade secret needs of Coca-Cola, or other criteria laid out for integrity of ethical client relationships, it can be charted on a scattergram with pre-set criteria laid out for the x and y axis. In the case of employee monitoring, each time a situation occurs where viability or integrity of information is discovered, a new plot point is added in relation to the quality characteristic and the specific system of communications where the inappropriate behaviour was identified. The scattergram provides the ability to witness whether most protected information or inferior communication quality discussion is located and then streamline activities to improve monitoring, change training principles on customer service with identified software systems, or any other business improvement required as it relates to technology. The scattergram can also indicate whether it is particular shifts that are contributing most to inefficiency or failing to comply with protectionism policy that might lead to poor line management or other internal failures. It provides a correlation matrix that will clearly point toward specific failures related to human behaviour or certain software systems. The scattergram is also viable for quality assurance testing in relation to the inputs versus outputs in the testing process. The scattergram can be developed to include an x axis that maintains the volume of times a new product or reformulation re-enters the QA testing laboratory with the y axis representing a desired or improper quality characteristic, such as poor flavour, poor texture, or other desired quality scenarios. The scattergram allows for more quantitative data about failures that can be correlated to shift failures or testing procedures; or even the production floor itself in terms of ingredients being added to batch runs that might spotlight more training is needed for production staff members. It allows the assessor to scan the internal environment from production to quality testing and identify whether there are specific sessions, processes or shifts that are leading to the highest volume of re-entries to the testing laboratory. The QA division should also be utilizing a self-auditing testing template that records observations and concerns discovered in the testing process with a pre-set list of criteria necessary to identify successes and/or failures. See Appendix for a template of this proposed testing instrument. Coca-Cola requires a time in and time out criteria on this template that provides quantitative data about the processes involved in quality testing. If the time in and time out, over a period of time, shows deviations from expectations and policies related to staff function, it might indicate failures in laboratory equipment or human activity that will require new equipment purchases or re-training in key testing procedures to ensure compliance. This auditing system asks for results as they occur that can be measured qualitatively and is based on direct first-hand observations of new testing systems or new product development characteristics. This relies on the expertise of the quality assurance team to record accurate judgments about what has been observed that can be correlated to determine whether expert staff in this division are finding the same problems in the entire testing flowchart of activities. This can lead to better training, new process development, or better management of these activities. These quality tools for quality assurance are vital because of the dynamic competitive environment that Coca-Cola operates in as a multi-national company with intense external competition. “Great companies rely heavily on their cultures to support their change management efforts” (Want, 2009, p.10). Because employee behaviour and attitude play such a crucial role in Coca-Cola’s total business success, and since the employee population is so diverse consisting of various ethnic and cultural employee groups, attitude surveys for change management is necessary. Attitude surveys consist of a pre-set list of criteria about employee behaviour and productivity and their relationship to the organisational environment and policy. Coca-Cola should develop an employee satisfaction survey that “focuses on specific aspects of a person’s job, an employee opinion survey” (organizedchange.com, 2008, p.1). The employee satisfaction survey or opinion survey develops questions about job role function, demands for autonomy, or whatever the business requires to ensure proper quality as it relates to the human resources function. It is proposed that a quality audit should consist of a multi-rater feedback survey about employee attitude referred to as the multisource feedback audit. This survey takes data from a survey about peers, subordinates, and can even client client-based data. It is distributed and collected by human resources and contains language appropriate for the specific system or attitude being measured. It should be developed with a 1-10 multi-tick assessment template about employee contribution to the business as part of this multisource feedback system. Every two months, this survey should be distributed to key management and peer personnel to conduct ratings on employees that they work with regularly or manage as part of daily leader function. It is a 360 degree feedback system that provides quantitative data. When conducting correlation analysis, the multisource survey and its multi-tick format can be charted accordingly on bar charts for each individual employee or, preferably, a line graph to indicate whether their performance is increasing or decreasing over time in key areas. By assigning new individuals in their working environment to conduct ratings periodically over the year, it removes bias from the auditing equation and provides more rounded and accurate data instead of reliance on just a single individual. This line chart produced through analysis can show key failures as it relates to service ability, job function competency, and whether a new training package is needed to ensure quality as it relates to employee attitude or behaviour. For Coca-Cola, communications, customer service integrity, job role proficiency, team and group working, and management relationships should be listed as the criteria in order to provide an accurate, time-based chart kept on each employee. For managers, quality of the subordinate relationship, competency as a leader, visibility in the organisation, and policy adherence should be the survey criteria for measurement. The benefits of this survey is that it can be updated with new criterion at low cost and kept in an appropriate human resource information system database for ease of access and linked with simple charting tools to maintain an accurate electronic record. Plan for implementation The checklist for production will be developed by the line manager at each shift during Coca-Cola’s 24-hour operating system where their initial taskforce expertise will be required to identify proper workflow as it pertains to the bottling and labelling technology and process. Technical support should be provided by information systems responsible for monitoring and upgrading these new automation systems. An initial taskforce team that will ultimately act as the checklist project team will be secured. Known failures in production, concerns over the bottling and labelling process, and human resource compliance issues can be identified before developing an appropriate defect checklist. If quality assurance is involved in defect recognition, they will assist in developing an appropriate checklist method and structure. Training on the checklist involves simple compliance measures so that each batch run is recorded and there are no gaps between shifts. In order to understand whether the new technology is meeting its expectations and was worth the costs, or whether there are key human behavioural failures, an accurate time-based recording is required. Change leadership principles related to presenting a business case and establishing a sense of autonomy are required to ensure compliance. The checklist will be completed weekly and then all data recorded into an HRIS system where analysis occurs electronically in the form of a pie chart or bar chart to indicate where failures are occurring. This electronic record of defects is easily correlated to key shifts or aspects of the production environment and can be linked directly to process or technology. If long-run errors and defects continue to occur, new processes, systems, training or technology can be implemented in these key errors, thus improving the efficiency of the quality measurement process. The scattergram requires similar compliance measures related to the business case and establishing a sense of belonging about the process. Job security should be promoted as a high priority to gain compliance from quality assurance and also from human resource personnel for their role in charting each inefficient or inappropriate use of the technological systems as it is discovered. Handling this format involves a daily report of monitored systems and documentation on the scattergram in the electronic database associated with the division and type of quality infraction discovered. The quantitative data can then be distributed to key management groups to highlight where and why these failures are occurring for new training or disciplinary action as required. The multisource feedback system should be managed by the human resources division at Coca-Cola and have a single change agent and champion responsible for distribution and collection of these records. Employees should have it communicated that they will be participating in a quality assurance program audit that will require their dedication and compliance. The need to describe the potential biases that can occur should be properly explained with all key staff and management in a formalized kick-off meeting. How to utilize a multi-tick survey format should be part of the visual presentation so that employees understand a ranking system and the outcomes of these surveys on their merit-based pay increases and even their job security. This quality evaluation should also include external clients for key personnel related to their customer service proficiency and accuracy as it is perceived by those external customers that work with Coca-Cola staff each week. Their bi-monthly feedback can be gathered through brief telephone surveys against the pre-set template established. See Appendix for a sample template of the multi-tick survey format for quality. Prior to establishing the workflow chart or processes involved in the multi-source survey audit, a volume tally of employees should be kept to understand how many employees and managers are in the specific divisions being assessed. This way, each time the surveys are distributed, if any are missing, key personnel that are not complying or meeting deadlines can be managed or have a disciplinary system put in place to ensure compliance. There must be a monitoring process that ensures all personnel are involved. For the scattergram and internal auditing template, similar training is necessary with a headcount of participants to ensure that the proper volume of notations and observations are being returned. If volume counts on specific shifts do not lead to participation or meeting of deadlines, these non-complying employees can be managed or disciplined accordingly. Conclusion The goal of these testing instruments is to improve efficiency and quality as it relates to production, technology, and human resources. These are vital areas for Coca-Cola and most of the tools represent simple-to-follow and simple-to-analyze assessment formats. This is why these testing procedures and processes were chosen since the volume of work responsibilities in this highly competitive and dynamic work environment do not allow for extended job role burdens. Coca-Cola is not like smaller organisations or larger organisations that have limited product lines that allow for more flexible management systems and job role consolidation. A quality system needs to be implemented that will be complied with and not receive much change resistance due to overwhelming already strained worker populations in a multi-national environment. More complex tools were not considered because of this reason. The tools chosen represent the key interests of Coca-Cola and are manageable through management assistance and basic compliance measures related to process and policy and also human behavioural psychology. The multi-source survey, scattergram and checklist for defects should be considered the most appropriate tools for quality testing and can be trained without considerable budget problems or extended labour investment. References Automation.com. (2008) [internet] Change management software at Coca-Cola minimizes production downtime. [accessed June 26, 2011 at http://www.automation.com/content/change-management-software-at-coca-cola-minimizes-production-downtime] Ford, J., Ford, L. & D’Amelio, A. (2008) Resistance to change: the rest of the story, Academy of Management Review, vol.33 no.2, p.362. Gambrel, P. & Cianci, R. (2003) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, does it apply in a collectivist culture?, Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, vo.8 no.2, pp.143-159. Kendall, N. (2011), Up in the air, our experts say cloud computing will change the direction of business IT, Wall Street Journal, June 29. Organizedchange.com. (2008) [internet] Employee Surveys, 360 feedback, assessments and balanced scorecard, Organized Change Consultancy. [accessed June 25, 2011 at http://www.organizedchange.com/surveyshome.htm] Stroud, D. (2009) [internet] 50-plus marketing: Coca-Cola is targeting just about everybody. [accessed June 26, 2011 at http://20plus30.blogspot.com/2009/11/coca-cola-is-targeting-just-about.html] Thecoca-colacompany.com. (2008) [internet] The Coca-Cola Company 2008 Annual Review, Buy Drink Smile, p.24. [accessed June 26, 2011 at http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/investors/pdfs/2008_annual_review/2008_annual_review.pdf] Turri, A. (2008), Are they watching? Corporate surveillance of employees’ technology use, The Business Review, vol.11 no.2, pp.126-130. Want, J. (2009) Saving the company, Leadership Excellence, vol.26 no.6, pp.10-11. Appendix A: Scattergram Chart for Quality Measurement – Visual Correlations Conducted The Scattergram provides a visual representation based on the Quality Assurance Team documentation of each testing procedure and how it relates to other product development tasks. By correlating time into quality to meet standards, new processes in development and quality testing can be assessed. The process input represents the volume of times into QA to meet standards while the y axis represents the desired quality characteristic. The scattergram is also viable for employee monitoring systems and quality of communications documentation. Appendix B: Quality Assurance Self-Audit of Product Testing Activities The Quality Assurance team records their processes and observations along with the result of the sequences, controls, and analysis. The time into quality testing and the time out are also recorded for plotting on the scattergram to identify failures, defects, or correlations with specific products. Recurring failures are noted and the scattergram represents a visual representation. Comments and observations are plotted on a pie chart to show percentages of correlated issues when they occur. It is a quantitative self-auditing system with hard data. Appendix C: Checklist Format for New Product Development Defects This simple checklist charts the information related to the labelling process in Coca-Cola production. It defines glue adhesion errors, bottle movement, failure to print, and timing of final labelling exit from the production equipment. This data is then entered into a bar or pie chart to illustrate volume of failures in the labelling process to determine whether standards are being met. Read More