Company Overview
The Coca-Cola Company is a well-known and valuable firm in the world and the world’s top manufacturer of carbonated beverages. Its headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Coca-Cola advertises throughout the world, emphasizing the Company’s commitment to the international market. Coca-Cola has been sold in bottles since 1894: along with the first exterior wall advertisement in Carterville, Georgia, and the first advertisement for the belly-wash in the Atlanta Journal on May 29, the same year. The Corporation, being the world’s largest soft drink company, offers over 500 different products (Britannica & T. Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2021).
Coca-Cola is known for its products such as Fanta, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, and Sprite. The Corporation has created carbonated beverage brands, such as diet-coke, minute maid juice, and influential sports drinks, in response to the growing consumer demand for healthier living.
Triggers for Change
Fashion Pressures
The stress of making stylish management changes is referred to as fashion pressures. These mimetic changes include modifying the organization’s culture, establishing training or learning unit within the enterprise, and giving CEOs significant control over their businesses. The focus of implementing the modifications is on innovation for additional markets and reorganizing corporate processes (The coca-cola company, 2018).
Remarkably, the global beverage industry’s trend has shifted recently. There are two major consumer trends: the first is the growing need for products that can meet their health and fitness goals. The second is the growing demand for environmentally friendly products to live less environmentally destructive lifestyles. However, Coca-image Cola’s is currently associated with action, enthusiasm, and youth rather than health or environmentalists. As a result, Coca-Cola must cultivate an innovative culture to grow and overcome this ‘Fashion Pressure.’
The Pressure of Credibility and Reputation
Coca-Cola has been the subject of several criticisms for over a decade. For example, the widespread application of pesticide in its beverages has polluted the environment, and many more. For group conformity and improvement of the quality of good health teaching, Coca-Cola gave grants and teamed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. These activities can be viewed as the Company’s attempt to boost its social standing and retain its business credibility and reputation with stakeholders (Bauer, Obwegeser, & Avdagic, 2016, p. 57).
Thus, this illustrates the pressure on credibility and reputation. Therefore, this change is about maintaining proper corporate governance structures to ensure a corporate reputation that is active. The reputation of a corporate is positively correlated with the organization’s performance hence enhancing and maintaining the reputation of the Corporation is a vital aspect of managing company survival.
The Pressure of Growth
According to the company 2005 Annual Report, the business served around 1.5 billion drinks per day, up from 1.6 billion in 2010. In more than 200 countries, it sells beverage servings (Coca-Cola Annual Report). Pepsi, on the other hand, is a powerful rival. Coca-Cola and Pepsi owned over 40% of the whole beverage market, according to the survey. They all diversified their beverage portfolios, with Pepsi having a competitive advantage in the sports drink industry. As a result, the rivalry between Pepsi and Coke is fierce. In this light, Coca-CEO Cola’s looks for new markets to expand into. It could be a joint venture or a merger with another company. Coca-Cola has ‘Growth Pressures,’ which may be defined as increasing a challenge and the need to preserve the organization’s entrepreneurial vision.
Key Change Management Models
Kotter’s Model
According to Kotter’s model, there are eight reasons why change procedures in an organization fail. It means that a successful change process is achievable if these eight known reasons for failure are removed, or their impact is decreased (Hackman, 2017, p. 20). Preparation, action, and grounding are the three categories that these eight steps fall into. As a result, Kotter’s approach may be used to evaluate the Coco-Cola Company’s change process:
Create A Sense Of Urgency
Coca- Cola’s leadership, discovered that it required updating its operations system to thrive as a corporation. Hence, the Coco-Cola Hong Kong company did not wait to solve the problem, seeing the necessity for new marketing tactics and know-how in the Company’s operations. They were internal factors that the Company was working out after studying the convenience store’s financial records. Overall, the atmosphere was established for a sense of urgency.
Create A Solid Governing Coalition
The second step is to form a powerful steering committee. Coca-Cola management put together a team of specialists to assist in steering the Company’s change process.
Developing a vision
The management-appointed expert team demonstrated a new vision for the Company’s success and advancement. They also recommended several ways for achieving the perspective in a short amount of time.
Changing the Point of View
The Company’s management produced a vision for the transition, which is critical for the Company to communicate to its personnel. Employee productivity was to be improved, according to the Company’s plans. As a result, there may be disagreements or misunderstandings between management and employees of the Company when communicating. Employees should be adequately guided in how to respond to change by the best management.
Empowering People To Take Action Based on the Viewpoint
The Coca-Cola management failed because they did not empower people to put their vision into action. Employees were not motivated to take risks without management’s permission, and they were not permitted to make their decisions. Additionally, management never used to encourage new ideas from the employees at branch meetings.
Creating and Planning For Wins That Are Short-Term
Leaders needed to encourage employees by setting goals that have a short period for the children with a low chance of failure. However, this was not the case. The management did not prepare a short-term gain strategy and was instead focused on meeting the yearly profit projections. As a result, employees were wholly ignored during the change process, and nothing was done to motivate them, such as wage increases and bonus items.
Consolidating Gains and Generating Even More Change
To put the new vision into action, the top management at Coca-Cola must overhaul the Company’s systems and strategies that aren’t conducive to change. However, this was not put in place. Employees who were in charge of executing change were not promoted, and the firm did not recruit any more people to carry out the goal. The Company attempted to make adjustments with the assistance of current employees.
Putting Innovative Methods Into Practice
Coco-cola recognized the need for new implementation methods and offered incentives to staff who effectively implemented the change. The Company also discovered that through conferences, e-mails, and meetings, they could effectively express what they wanted from their personnel.
PESTLE Framework
The PESTLE analysis method, which focuses on the external elements of the business and the environment in which it operates, is becoming increasingly popular. Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) are the six factors that makeup PESTLE (Ling, 2017). They are all looking at how the market is changing.
Political
The political analysis examines the effects of political pressures, which are current and later. The FDA regulates Non-alcoholic beverages, and the state is involved in the manufacturing process. The government can penalize companies that do not meet their criterion legislation requirements under the rules. Accounting standards, taxes constraints, environmental legislation, and foreign jurisdictions may impact a company’s books and admission into a foreign country.
Furthermore, as a result of competitors’ actions, changes like business as soft-drink might result in a competitive product and pricing dilemma and the capacity to enhance or maintain the share of the market in the business marketplace. Additionally, one country’s political and economic conditions are also based on the research, particularly in domestic markets and other governmental changes that affect their potential to access developing and emerging markets. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, keeps a close eye on the government’s laws and regulations.
Economic Analysis
The economic analysis evaluates the local, national, and global economies, focusing on economic recession and inflation. Outside of the country, the soft-drink beverage industry sells more. “For significant soft drink firms, there has been an economic difficulty needing to improve in several important foreign countries, such as Brazil, Japan, and Germany,” according to Standard and Poor’s Industry Surveys. These markets will continue to be critical to the success and consistent expansion of the soft-drink beverage sector as a whole. In Coca-major Cola’s market, carbonate drinks are growing slowly. In 2004, the market grew by 1% in Europe, but only 1% in North America.
Social Analysis
This type of analysis will impact societal transformation, such as lifestyle modifications and market organization intentions. Consumers between the ages of 37 and 55 are also becoming more interested in nutrition. Many people are getting increasingly concerned about their health as they become older. Overall demand for Coca-Cola and healthier soft drinks will continue to rise as a result of this. As a result, income is reduced as a result of the fizzy beverage Coca-Cola.
Technological Analysis
Technology is a crucial part of the analysis because new technological and technological developments are appraised. As a result, marketing opportunities for new items and product improvements have arisen. New products are brought into the worldwide market as technology advances. In the Coca-Cola case, in 1985, new technologies led to the development of cherry coke. However, consumers still prefer the traditional taste of the original coke due to their taste and preferences.
Legal Analysis
The impact of national and international legislation is taken into account by legal aspects. The enormous legal changes in China, for example, have an impact on the behavior of many businesses: increases in minimum salaries. The organization’s actions are influenced by recent laws (the new Chinese labor contract law). Furthermore, legal changes may have an impact on a company’s costs. It could be the creation of new procedures or systems. The Coca-Cola Company is given all of the rights that are appropriate for their industry. Furthermore, all product advancements and ideas are usually subjected to the patenting process.
Environmental Analysis
Environmental factors are concerned with environmental issues on a local, national, and global scale. Coca-Cola has been criticized since the early 2000s for polluting the environment through the use of pesticides, water, and packaging. This has a substantial negative impact on the Company’s reputation. As a result, Coca-Cola devises a strategy to improve its social image. The Company presents the public to the ‘PlantBottle,’ a breakthrough in packaging made up of more than 30% plant-based material and is 100% recyclable. According to the Company’s report, all of its facilities are adequately regulated following government-imposed environmental laws.
Change and Barriers Management
It was determined that The Coca-Cola Company needed to establish a structured talent pipeline for marketing personnel around the world. Furthermore, Coca-Cola decided to team up with a psychometrics and development specialist, and the two organizations collaborated to create a two-day development center that cost roughly £36,000 each. “Our new environmental management system, ecosystem, is being implemented across our business operations to address and mitigate local environmental impacts” (The Coca-Cola Company, n.d.). As a result, the Company has invested seventy million dollars in cleantech venture funds.
Additionally, Rockport Capital Partners and Element Partners are the ones who run the business. As a result, the Company has invested seventy million dollars in cleantech venture funds. Additionally, Rockport Capital Partners and Element Partners are the ones who run the business.
The slogan ‘Live Positively’ is not a marketing slogan (Karnani, 2014, p. 20), instead of one of the essential management of the firm’s pledge to all of their consumers, which has changed the environment for the better since 2007. September 2010 Product Management for New Products. Additionally, the Company came up with ‘Diet Coke’ and ‘Coca-Cola Zero’ in 2005 in response to customer demand for new health products (The Coca-Cola Company n,d.). Given this, in 2009, they sold over six hundred million products worldwide, making it one of their best profitable product launches ever.
Impact of Change and Response
Green Environment, such as energy conservation, environmental protection, and the development of new green technology, is one of the most significant world movements today (Schneider, 2016). The Coca-Cola Corporation’s form of change management is regarded as the second bar since the business decided to invest seventeen million dollars in cleantech venture funds. The Company’s most recent sustainability report perspective utilizes water in 2.47 liters for every liter of beverage it makes.
As a result, the comp has improved its water efficiency by 2% since 2006 and is working with the World Wildlife Fund to return the very same level of water it utilizes to nature or communities. Furthermore, the Corporation has attempted to minimize and avoid any negative impact on the environment through distribution, product sales, production, and new product development.
Regarding Walmart, it is an excellent example of the Company’s strategic management. In this case, when consumers bring a bottle that is empty to Wal-Mart, they are given a T-shirt made from a plastic bottle made in the United States. Additionally, in Japan, they give a shopping basket. This shows the strategic tactics incorporated by the Company. The Company also launched the “Plant Bottle,” produced from a plant and has a good reputation in Asia. As a result of the revolutionary technology, the Corporation can cut the use of plastic bottles. Energy efficiency is also a priority for the organization. Despite a 6% increase in production volume during the 2006- 2007 period, the Company only raised its consumption of energy by 2%. Thus, the efficiency of the Company’s operational energy has increased by 4% during the same period.
Another major trend today is that people are increasingly investing in their health and fitness. Individuals used to think about what they could eat for dinner solely, but as the global economy expanded, people began to think about their health status (Blanco-Portela et al., 2017, p. 566). Available products and services that encourage personal health have become all the rage throughout the globe. McDonald’s has been forced to adjust because of trends that have a detrimental impact on its business.
Given this, McDonald’s has already developed a new salad menu. Coca-stock Cola’s is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and its price has dropped by approximately half in the last eight years, from $90 in 1998 to $45 now. In 2005, The Coca-Cola Company introduced low-sugar beverages such as “Diet Coke” and “Coca-Cola Zero,” as previously stated. Since then, sales volumes of those goods have continuously increased, and more customers demand non-calorie or low-sugar products, as evidenced by the fact that Coca-Cola Zero was the best-selling beverage in the Netherlands in 2008.
Critique
Considering the role played by leaders, Muhtar Kent, the Coca-Cola Company’s CEO, has held the role from 2008 to 2016. He presented a new perspective, stating that the important word till 2020 is “sustainable.”. In the past, the Corporation placed a greater emphasis on production and sales volume, but in the environmental arena, they chose water. He was convinced that this was a fantastic opportunity for them to lower their production costs and spend more money on their brand.
He considered path-goal theory for the success of the business. Making a good-tasting product is no longer enough: Kent always had a favorable impact. By ensuring that the communities were strong and thriving, he considered a growing and prosperous business. Kent talked about several steps that Coca-Cola has taken to increase its beneficial effect in society, activities that may be summed up as “women, water, and well-being” (Hendrick, 2017). In addition, the organization has made an effort to assist more female-owned businesses.
Additionally, long-term survival necessitates the ability to adjust to changes in the environment quickly. As a result, The Coca-Cola Company is one of the world’s leading innovators in altering management styles and developing new products. As previously said, the Corporation has developed competitive merchandise to meet changing consumer wants, and businesses must respond to consumer demand. In this regard, The Coca-Cola Company is exceptional in that it invented low-sugar beverages, established new marketing centers, and quickly adapted to a new global trend. As a result of these factors, the company can compete with and outperform its competitors.
Conclusion
In this report, The Coca-Cola Company has depicted its shifting management method, and its success aspects have been critically assessed. Change management can have a variety of effects on business development depending on the avenues employed. As a result, it is critical to comprehend and pay attention to the change management strategy employed. External changes, such as changing customer wants and society, and internal changes, such as the introduction of a new product, will impact the product’s sales volume and change management style.
References
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Hackman, T., 2017. Leading change in action: Reorganizing an academic library department using Kotter’s eight stage change model. Web.
Hendrick D. 2017. Coca-Cola’s Muhtar Kent Shares 4 Keys to Successful Leadership. Web.
Karnani, A., 2014. Corporate social responsibility does not avert the tragedy of the commons. Case study: Coca-Cola India. Economics, Management, and Financial Markets, 9(3), pp.11-23. Web.
Ling, X., 2017. Customer relationship management: Case study Coca-Cola Company. Web.
Schneider, S., 2016. How to design a measurable shared value strategy: The case of Coca-Cola Brazil. Web.
The Coca Cola company report. 2018. 2018 business & sustainability report. Web.
The Coca Cola company (n.d) Sustainable business. Web.