Management at Coca-Cola Company - Case Study Example

Management at Coca-Cola Company Number May 10, Faculty Management at Coca-Cola Company Introduction Coca-Cola has been the most valuable brand name globally, and equally has been one of the most visible companies in the world with a tremendous opportunity to excel in all the dimensions of in the business performance. In the previous years, the company has been faced with the struggle in an attempt to reach the financial objectives associated with a number of ethical crises. The company, however, has been the world’s largest company of the beverages marketing four among the world’s top five leading soft drinks; Coke, Sprite, Fanta and Diet Coke (Pendergrast, 2013). It has as well been selling the other brands that include Powerade; Dasani bottled water and the minute maid. The company generally operates the largest system of distribution in the world that has enabled it to serve many customers with businesses in over two hundred countries currently. The company has been estimated that closely more than one billion servings of the products are daily consumed. In much of the company’s history, the Coca-Cola has mainly focused on cultivating markets especially in the United States. The Coca-Cola Company Management The company is quite ‘tall in organizational complexity. Normally a vertical hierarchy controls the company with most of the decision-making authority residing from the companys upper management. However, the line managers in the middle level make routine as well as the daily decisions. The company has within it over 700,000 system employees that include the bottling partners. The company has six geographic operating segments. The companys head office is usually responsible for the provision of support and the adequate directions for the regional structure (Elmore, 2014). Additionally, the key executive committee of the company is known to make critical strategic decisions for the entire company who happens to be the CEO and a senior decision-maker of the company. The coca cola company has been able to make several changes within the organization from the high-ranking management to the employees level in terms of power within the company. Within the years past, the coca cola company had had more of a centralized organizational form of structure. In the event when Doug Ivester was forced into resigning as the chairperson who was the CEO of the company, the entire organization changed in the ways that the company operated. When Doug Daft became the chairperson and the CEO of the company, it happened that the organizational structure changed significantly from the centralized sort of structure into a decentralized type of structure in the coca cola company. Initially, Doug Ivester had been running the company all by himself and was quite unwilling to borrow pieces of advice from outside and that was apparent in the event when Doug Daft came into his place later as a CEO. Everyone in the main branch all over the Atlanta had known the centralized system of management that existed before. All the areas of the business in the foreign affairs within different countries with matters in the states were conclusively centralized outside the Atlanta building. When Draft took over the leadership, he concluded that the company would better be run if the existed more decentralized forms of management in place. Currently, there are several other top executives from different countries especially where Coke has been such that the Coca-Cola Company would as a whole benefit all corners of the globe (Lopez, 2012). The employees have subsequently been able to notice the difference and can see the purpose and the direction that the company is after. For the CEO or the top executives to be successful, they have to be able to wisely handle the crises within the company and consequently let the people that work within it that they are such significant at all the levels within the company allowing them to see the purpose and the general importance of their jobs and roles. Coca-Cola has been a major global presence and its environment has constantly been changing. Locally, internationally and globally the competition has been on the rising end. The most significant aspect for which this competition is based has been consumers and their retention. A competition in obtaining the most adequately competent employees has been too high, a problem that is much concerning the management and not with respect to labor. The company has within it the advantage of having the ability to come up with fund though at a low cost as it enjoys the credit rating that is usually too high. The stakeholders are a significant entity within the coca cola company; therefore, their interests need to be carefully protected. The coca cola company has been properly managed globally because in the management, it has been able to organize the businesses that intensify much focus on the key markets, the streamline reporting lines and as well, it has been able to provide flexibility in adjustment of the businesses within the geographies for the future benefits of the firm. Currently, the company stands a position to leverage the flexibility in return to the traditional company with the bottling operation model in the Northern part of America, which enhances their focus on the execution and the acceleration of the refranchising of the bottling system within the flagship market. In good management the company additionally able to replace the poorly performing individuals for the attainment of the company’s objectives and the success of the company (Bodden, 2009). The coca cola company has had a vast array of resources at the disposal although the worldwide leader of beverage lacks one thing: agility. As a manager in the company, I would try to change that in that, in recruiting proven entrepreneurs in an attempt to combine them with the resources within the company to be able to develop lean and new business solutions to particular problems. The major difference between the startups and the corporations usually boil down to agility versus scale. The coca cola company has the size and the adequate scope to be able to reach mass markets virtually in all the countries in the whole world while on the other hand the startups maneuver and are able to implement many new ideas quickly (Bodden, 2009). I would be so committed to combining the scale of the big corporation with the agility of the startups for the positive effects of the company since with such new ideas new solutions would come up as a result. In case the company has problems with efficient stocking stores with a lot of money draining during the lag period, as manager I would come up with a program that connects to an application company that is designed for the store owners to be able to alert coca cola in case they run out of the bottles. Several definitions have been aired for the term marketing. Every trend in emphasizing different issues has been proposed. Ultimately, it makes enough sense in thinking of the best ways to benefit from the creating the customer values in the best and effective ways which are subject to the ethical and many other constraints which a company might have (Pendergrast, 2013). One among the definitions includes an objective of marketing to create the customer value. The marketing usually involves an exchange between the distinct buyers and sellers or even between other parties. This way, the coca cola company has been able to adapt to the fluctuating needs of the customers within the market environment. In deliverance to the customer values, the central idea in the marketing has been that the firm and other entities are in a position to create something of value to customers who are very willing to pay enough or even contribute other different forms of value in making the venture worthwhile in considering the opportunity costs. On some forms of the customer values that the company engages in, the process of marketing takes care of the ways that value of the products of the company can be adequately created for the customers (Elmore, 2014). Conclusion It is imperative that the management carefully checks on the kind of change that is needed in the company. However, beyond the issue of the kind of change it is also important that they carefully consider the best time for the change to be introduced for it to be effective. This will undoubtedly involve the choices that are to be considered as the pace and the sequence of the change to be put forward and how to develop the people and the process to be driven in. The change process involves issues like, decisions, events skilled personnel and the actions that are connected in a particular sequence (Lopez, 2012). Technology, consumer behavior, new product innovation and the company’s ability to adapt to the changes has been a significant factor in the coca cola company over a period of years. It has however, posed a challenge for the company in embracing them as a breeding ground for the innovations rather than the nuisance that forces the company to reconsider the outdated plans (Pendergrast, 2013). This in return, has forced a broad range of practices to bring radically change in the way the company operates over a period. . References Bodden, V. (2009). The story of Coca-Cola. Mankato, MN: Creative Education. Elmore, B. (2014) Citizen Coke. Lopez, D. (2012). Brand Development of Coca-Cola Company (UK). Munchen: GRIN Verlag GmbH. Pendergrast, M. (2013) For God, Country and Coca-Cola. Read More