Strategy Implementation of Coca-Cola - Research Paper Example

? Strategy implementation Due: Strategic implementation Introduction Coca-Cola is the world’s largest retailer of non-alcoholic beverages. The company sells products in over 200 countries around the world and owns over 500 brands worldwide and employees more than 139000 employees (“Coca-Cola” which is deemed the world’s most valuable brand). The company has a diversified portfolio of products, such as syrups that marketed to wholesalers, retailers and distributors. It has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia and well developed systems, procedures and tools that align it to the structure in place to enable it cope with ever increasing competitive world. It creative and innovative culture has enabled it to keep in pace with stiff competition from their main competitor Pepsi. The company has developed a strand of valuable resources in its people and the resources that it contains that enable the multinational to serve its customers with quality and attractive products. The firm has employed a number of strategies so as to realise it objectives and visions, such as fair returns on shareholder value increase value to the community. During the 2010, annual report, it is noted that the company adopted a number of strategies. As noted in their press release( annual reports,2010), the company has continued to increase the volume of business through innovation and diversification of its products into potential markets especially North America by building several brands such as Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitamin water, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply and Georgia Coffee (Annual report,2010). Business analysts provide that the company has continued to deal with volatile economic challenges in their pursuit of global business. The firm has also continued to invest in order to build solid brands of coke fuelled by marketing and promotional innovations. For instance, the ‘open happiness campaign and FIFA world cup promotional programs drove growth and increased reputation of the coke brands. Furthermore, the firm has continued to pursue sustainable developments in the environments and education funding through corporate social responsibility imitative. Structure of the organisation The firm has a well organized organic structure that consist of shorter and learner span of control that ensure timely decisions are met effectively. It has a simple matrix structure that consists of divisions led and driven by projects (Mintzberg, 1979; Glueck,1980; Gilbraith and Nathason,1978). The firm has a both decentralised and centralised. The corporate leaders of the company have delegated authority to a number of line and tactical managers in all their divisions around the world so that faster and timely decisions can be arrived. This translates into better quality of service delivery to their customers. Mintzberg (1979) argues that it is pertinent for a firm to centralise some certain policies, as centralising certain essential matters that deal with strategy and strategic options of the overall firm ensures that control is limited and controlled appropriately. These include product and market development. It has also centralised forms of policies and values that every stakeholder should adhere to in discharging their duties and responsibilities. Chandler (1962), Mintzberg (1979) and Glueck (1980) note that some essential matters that arise out of agency necessitate the corporate leaders to retain some authority and control to avoid misappropriation of powers for their own interest and at the expense of the firm.. This ensures uniformity in their systems, procedures and techniques so that productions techniques and tools are similar to maintain a brand name and reputation of the company. For instance, last year it was in a process of improving the quality of brands by pursuing a healthier diet campaign in the United States of America. It also instituted a number of promotional tools that boosted its sales volume and drove its global competiveness higher than 5 %( annual reports 2010) Glueck (1980) provides that affirm ought to continue with strategic formulation and implementation as the customer profiles, demands and needs keep on changing. This also enables the firm to increase the sales volume and subsequent chances of survival in the cut-throat competition era. The firm has continued to pursue a product and market development strategies by exploring and exploring into potential, markets such as and Africa. Systems and procedures It also instituted superior efficiency systems have been incorporated into the firm. For instance, the technological aspects have been incorporated to constantly improve the quality of their products and lower costs. Through regular empowerment programs and seminars to its employees, it has leapfrogged its milestones from small capital structure into a vibrant well-established (Chandler, 1962). The coca cola company has a maintained several corporate culture of innovation and creativity through its products and services. The company has strong and well established mechanisms of control like budgets and operating policies. Through proper planning that is undertaken by well established committees and specialised teams, the company organised has continued to spearhead its business development agendas such as gaining a greater market share and profitability indices. This has enabled the company to leap forward. The board of directors and other executives foresee strategic plans and other operating procedures. Bottom-up and zero-based planning approaches are utilized at large in the company (Annual report, 2010). As Mintzberg (1979) indicate, the culture and structure of the firm fit well into each other. For instance, the innovative culture encourages making of mistakes as a way of attempting to do something new, this encourages creativity and innovativeness in the company. The company employs a number of strategies in measuring its performances. The firm has financial rations that are used to measure how well and viable their policies are performing in the market across the globe. For instance, liquidity ratios, profitability, solvency and market strength ratios all are used to test how well the company is doing in beverage industry.(Annual report,2010) The firm has a well established information technology that helps keep data of its customer demographics all the time. It has also improved the quality of decision making process through decision support systems software, automation of routine jobs. This has improved the customer services and subsequent reputation of the firm (Annual report, 2010). The people The company’s profits and growth are driven two great assets: assets and people. The coca cola company has well knowledgeable and experienced personnel who serve key to implementing their strategic plans that it has set. Its employees are over a 139000 thousand in over 70 countries of the world. As intertwined in their core values and their vision, tom meet their productivity level and be highly competitive, the firm employees the best talented workforce, that is highly effective, lean and fast-moving, who are committed and with ready-to-learn attitudes that will inspire the brand s and spur the knowledge towards greater heights of the world. The firm has been organized in teams that meet regularly and discuss quality and other pertinent business aspects in order to remain competitive and improve the efficiency of the multinational across the world. The teams are customer-driven and other stakeholders and how each of the need can be catered for with minimal resources. Teams remain responsive to solving queries those customers the assets of the business, creative and innovative culture that is ready to change and advance (Glueck, 1980; Chandler, 1962) The company has differentiated itself from its main competitor by its superior quality, which allows it charge better prices, its superior productivity which has been incorporated into its people who are talented and knowledgeable. This has allowed enabled it lower it cost that later translated into higher profits. The remarkable performance of the firm has been as a result of competitive competencies and capabilities that have resulted into greater real and perceived differentiation over Pepsi. The differentiation in their income statement is a result of the best reputation and brand name sit has spent time and resources to build since its inception (Brown and Moberg, 1980) Culture of ‘coke’ The company has stream of established customs and shared behaviour such as integrity, hard work, open communication, diversity and respect for other employees’ opinions. Through myths and stories about coke, the brand and feeling of a family of coke is nurtured and developed.. As noted in their financial statements has a friendly place for any of their stakeholders and can conduct business The management structure is both centralised and decentralised. It centralised as main policies are formulated in the headquarters at Atlanta. Pertinent and risky corporate policies such as investment (diversification, product and market development, divestiture, concentration and their subsequent mega financing) are undertaken at the headquarters. However, decisions such as business level are formulated at the region level to enable decisions to be faster (Mintzberg, 1979). This has improved the speed of decision making in the company. There is a democratic open-ended management style that strategically supports the culture that the company pursue in order to remain globally competitive and realize a fair return on the shareholder’s value. The company has values such as integrity, creativity, handwork, quality service and customer-focussed. It also values the best and talented workforce with a ready-to-learn attitude. This is one of their greatest assets. This has been confirmed by one of their chief executives (Annual report, 2010) In cases of conflicts, special teams are appointed to arbitrate and resolve those conflicts with a win-win type of negotiation in mind. Through established open face-to-face communications that occur every day, conflicts between different stakeholders are resolved efficiently and amicably, thus attracting and consolidating of different stakeholders into the company value chains. For instance, during the health and obesity problems about their product occurred in US recently, a well public relation team focussed on tiring top resolve the conflict faster and tactfully. This has enabled the firm to be creative and innovative in their production system and techniques. For instance, in some certain countries such as the United States of America, more legislation has put the coca cola company towards closely watching the ingredients of their products. This has had much approval of different stakes, notably their customers. References I. The coca cola annual Report, 2010 II. Brown, W. B and Moberg, J. D.(1980).Organization theory and management. Wiley: New York III. Chandler, D. A (1962).Strategy and structure.MIT press: Cambridge. IV. Gilbraith, J.R and Nathason, A.D.(1978).Strategy implementation: The structure and process. West: St Paul Minn. V. Glueck, W.F.,(1980).Business policy and strategic management. McGraw Hill: New York VI. Mintzberg, H.,(1979). Structuring of Organisations. Prentice Hall: Eaglewoods Cliff. In addition to the above sources, the following sources have also been helpful in coming up with above report. List of sources 1) www.thecoca-colacompany.com The site contains information about the firm’s images, visions, values and corporate organisations 2) The coca cola news release : The Coca cola company updates 2010, First quarter financial results 3) The coca-cola annual report project by Bradford Amidon, annual report 2008. Read More