Cadbury Schweppes Company - Essay Example

? and Introduction Cadbury Schweppes is one of the largest and leading companies in theUK food and beverage industry. The company was formed in 1969 as a result of a merger between Cadbury enterprises pte Limited and the Schweppes drinks company (Bradley, 2011). It is a limited company, which means that it is treated a sole, separate and legal entity from its owners. This company is a specialty in confectionary and beverage products (Smethurst, 2006). It is famously known for its confectionary products such as bassets and trebor products, Cadbury dairy milk chocolate bars, black jack chewing gum, Cadbury cocoa, Chiclets, among others (Senker, 2013). Some of the beverages include 7UP, highlights milk chocolate, drinking chocolate and others. Statistics reveal that in 2008, the company had an employee base of about 54,000 people, and the number is most likely to have increased to above or around 65,000 employees today (Zaman, 2013; Morrisey, 2006). This number of employees reflects the huge customer base that the company commands. Research shows that Cadbury and Schweppes products are found in almost every nation in the world. P1: Purpose of the Company The company’s core value and purpose, regarding its employees and its customers is to work together to create brands that people will love (Richardson, 2002). This is the driving statement and the inspiration for the company. The employees know that they are responsible for ensuring that customer satisfaction, and thus they stick to the value of hard work. When the merger was formed, the intent was not only to maximize profits, but also to increase the volume of customers and as well diversify their range of products. The merger helped to ensure that more products were produced and the market volume significantly grew (Senker, 2013). P2: Company objectives to customers and employees. In order to maintain or increase the customer volume, the company has three basic objectives. First, product reliability is enhanced. Secondly, the customer should and must derive total value for the products, and lastly, the price of the products must be realistic, and must give value for the product. To ensure that this is done, the company has vast call centers where the customers can call in with their inquiries. The call centers remain open all through. They also have a website, www.cadbury.co.uk where the customers can contact them (Senker, 2013). In addition, the company carries out frequent research and surveys among the customer to establish the consumer needs, know what the customers want or would like changed, or which of their products they love more. There are objectives that guide the Cadbury Company on the treatment of their employees. The employees are ensured of a proper, safe and healthy working condition. To this, there is a safety department that takes care of the employees’ safety in terms of hygienic, safe and clean working areas. Another objective is on fair and reasonable pay, compensation and remuneration. The company ensures that the employees are paid as their job demands. Employees in the same rank and task are paid equally regardless of their gender, race or economic backgrounds (Stitzer, 2007). Extra hours of work are also taken care of. The company also has an objective of truthful and frequent communication, which is well met by the frequent meetings between the managers and the employees, and also enhanced by the frequent employee survey. This gives the employees a chance to express their views about the company and to give any important and valuable ideas, which are later reviewed. Cadbury Company has an objective of ensuring growth and development in the careers of its employees, thus gives equal chances of employment and any education chances that arise. They are also keen to ensure balance in their employees’ lives, which is taken care of through a balance in working hours, holidays and breaks (Smith and Child, 1990). Freedom of the employees is also a major objective, and to this, the company allows them to join labor unions. In addition, the company allows its employees to go for leave, whether maternity leave or otherwise, and also gives consideration for its employees who are aged forty years and above (Zaman, 2013). Research shows that this company is one of the leading companies with a record of high employee and customer satisfaction (Senker, 2013). Its objectives towards the customers have enabled it to maintain the loyalty of customers and the volume grows daily. The rate of employees turn over has been low compared to other food and beverage companies, and these two factors show that the company, to a large extent, has achieved its objectives to the customers and the employees (Emmot, 2006; Senker, 2013). P3: Responsibilities to the Customers Cadbury Company, which operates from Cadbury House in Uxbridge Business Park, has great responsibilities toward their customers. First, they have to ensure that their customers access right information at the right time. Secondly, it is their responsibility to ensure that their customers exercise their choice when purchasing the Cadbury products, and lastly, the company must ensure that the customer can give feedback, even if it is a complain, whenever they want to (Senker, 2013). In order to meet the first responsibility, the company ensures that they produce advertisements, (especially when it’s about a new product in the market). They remind their customers about their existing products, at the same time making sure that the advertisements are not misleading or untrue, or may cause a violent reaction from people. For the second obligation, the company carries out expansive and extensive market research to know what the customers want, how they want or what they loved most. This way, they can exercise their choices and also have their opinions considered (Emmot, 2006). Lastly, the company accepts feedback from its customers, thus their website and call centers are always active to ensure that the customers are heard (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007). To reinforce success of the above obligations to customers, the company hires and trains its employees, and makes them know the value of performing beyond expectation. Also, their annual screening of confectionary products helps them know what their customers’ choices and preferences are (Smith and Child, 1990). Conclusion It is evident that for the reputation of the Cadbury Company to be as it is today, much has been done. Employees are treated as a very important asset of the company, which they are, and the customers and given the best treatment possible (Wood, 1997). Other companies should emulate what Cadbury has done in order to scale the height of excellence, and reap as many benefits and profit as this company has. Research shows that huge profits in a company are directly proportional to great customer and employee satisfaction (Simons, 2011; Maslow, 1954) References Beardwell, J. and Claydon, T., 2007. Human Resource Management, A Contemporary Approach. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Boselie, P., 2010. Strategic human resource management: a balanced approach. London: McGraw Hill. Bradley, J., 2011. Cadburys Purple Reign. The Story behind Chocolates. Florida: CRC Press. Emmott, M., 2006. Hear me now. People Management. 19(2), pp. 38-39. Guthrie, J.P., 2001. High involvement work practices, turnover and productivity: Evidence from New Zealand. Academy of Management Journal, 44(3), pp. 180-190. Maslow, A., 1954. Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row. Morrisey, J., 2008.Is Parting Sweet for Cadbury?Times Journal, 172(10), pp8-10. Richardson, T., 2002. Sweets: A History of Candy. Grin Verlag: Florida Senker, C., 2013. Cadbury, New York: Routledge Simons, R., 2011. Human Resource Management: Issues, Challenges and opportunities. Florida: CRC Press. Smethurst, S. 2006. Hard Candy. People Management, 12(2), 2-3. Smith, C., and Child, J., 1990. Reshaping Work: The Cadbury Experience. London: Mc Graw Hill. Stitzer, T., 2007. Cadbury Schweppes buying, selling, slashing. Candy Industry, 172(6), pp 12-13. Wood, L., 1997. Chocolate in China: the Cadbury Experience. Australian Geographer, 28(2), pp 173-174. Zaman, N., 2013. Cadburys Employee Relationship Management. New York: John Wiley and Sons Read More