Industrial Studies
Introduction
The activity of any organization, whether profit or non-profit one, is aimed at reaching its goals and objectives. For the former organizations, i. e. profit oriented ones, these goals and objectives consist in making profit and in developing its infrastructure, customer base, international image, etc. The non-profit organizations have their goals and objective in reaching some socially useful phenomena, like for example living standards improvement, etc. As far as the topic of industrial relations is concerned, the concept of mission statement of any organization comes into play with the special emphasis put on the development of the strategic Human Resources Management objectives. Any organizations depends on the people that comprise it, therefore the Human Resources Management is the basis for the organization’s success. This paper considers and critically analyzes the Human Resources Management objectives statement made by the Coca-Cola Company.
Organization Background
To begin with, the Coca-Cola Company is one of the world leaders in the area of beverage products. With its more than a hundred-year long history, the company under consideration is still one of the leaders in the aspect of innovations and new products launched annually to the international and domestic, i. e. US, markets (Coca-Cola Company, 2009). Currently, the Coca-Cola Company offers its customers over 3, 000 variations of different drinks and other beverage products, including juices, sport drinks, energy boosting drinks, etc (Coca-Cola Company, 2009). The organizational culture of the company analyzed is also the role model for the number of other market players as through the century of its development the Coca-Cola Company has never stopped its development (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
The reasons to such a success of the company are hidden in the skillful organization of the production and management process, as well as in the clear statement of the company’s goals and directions for the development (Coca-Cola Company, 2009). When a person knows where he or she is to go, they will definitely have more chances for arriving to the necessary place than those going spontaneously. The same is true about the organization as the clearly outlined goals combined with the basic means and policies it plans to use for their achievement allow it hope for the final success (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
Mission Statement
Accordingly, the mission statement of the Coca-Cola Company is the official document distributed among all the workers, managers, and directors of the company to achieve both – motivating these people and working out their feeling of team work and being able to cooperate for reaching the joint aim. In this mission statement, the Coca-Cola Company defines its major strategic aims and objectives and describes the policies in which, according to Coca-Cola, the Human Resources Management should be carried out:
The world is changing all around us. To continue to thrive as a business over the next ten years and beyond, we must look ahead, understand the trends and forces that will shape our business in the future and move swiftly to prepare for what’s to come. We must get ready for tomorrow today. That’s what our 2020 Vision is all about (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
Drawing from this, the Coca-Cola Company defines its major aims and objectives for the next decade alongside with stating its mission as making the world fresher, bringing some elements of happiness and joy to it, etc. However, the HRM objectives of the company can be called employee-oriented in the sense that the company tries to “be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be” (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
People are thus viewed as the basic values of the company, for which Coca-Cola develops its networks globally and tries to provide them with proper salaries, benefits after retirement, friendly teams, and lots of positive experiences. The recruitment policies in the Coca-Cola Company are also aimed at employing the most proficient personnel and, at the same time, giving the chances to start their careers to the young non-experienced people (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
Image Intended
Drawing from the brief look at the mission statement and HRM policies proclaimed by the Coca-Cola Company as its main values, it can be stated that the company under consideration tries to make the positive impression on its employees and customers (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7). In other words, the brand-makers and the policy-makers in the Coca-Cola Company do their best to create the friendly image of the latter among those who are directly or indirectly connected with it. Thus, the above stated HRM objectives and values allows us stating that the Coca-Cola Company currently possesses the positive and employee-friendly organization, for which every person would love to work (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7).
Moreover, cooperating with the company or being its customer is also presented as a positive action. For example, one of the global aims of the Coca-Cola Company is to “be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities” (Coca-Cola Company, 2009). In respect of recruitment and employment this and other initiatives of the company seem to provide it with never stopping flow of applicant for any position announced. Finally, the positive image created by the HRM objective statement allows the company to avoid various legislative troubles as the Coca-Cola Company has not, at least recently, been involve in any serious controversy over salaries, health care, etc.
Management Style
Accordingly, the management style proclaimed and thoroughly implemented by the Coca-Cola Company can be characterized as the democratic one. On the whole, there are four major management (or leadership) styles that include the autocratic, the paternalistic, the democratic, and the laissez-faire ones (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7). The first two types can be characterized by the great degree of executive power concentrated in the hands of the CEO or another leader. The difference between the two styles lies in the fact that the autocratic one is directed at fulfilling the will of the leader, while the paternalistic style of management is aimed at satisfying the needs of the employees (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7).
On the contrary, the laissez-faire management style is, to put it shortly, the lack of any discipline or control from the top-ranking company’s officials. As far as the Coca-Cola Company cannot be characterized by any of the three above mentioned management styles (as its successful development and high levels of employee satisfaction evidence), the only management style applicable to it is the democratic one (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7). The employees are welcome to the decision making process of the company and the overall friendly atmosphere within it evidence that the democratic management style brings its fruit to the Coca-Cola Company (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7).
Management Strategy
Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining
At the same time, the management strategies used by the Coca-Cola Company are respective to the objectives stated and the management styles implemented. In other words, valuing the people that work for the company and its strategic goals most of all, the Coca-Cola Company is all about its further development as the world leader of the beverage industry. As for the company’s development towards the structure of the trade union or the organization busy with the collective bargaining, it is not about Coca-Cola. This company is the recognized leader of the global market and it does need no unions to develop further (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7).
Nevertheless, the company favors the friendly and partnership relations with other market players, suppliers and customers of its production: “Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value” (Coca-Cola Company, 2009). Therefore, the Coca-Cola Company tries to find the golden middle between the close partnerships and no such at all so that to ensure its independent but nevertheless supported development.
Employees Involvement, Participation, and Labour Flexibility
Drawing from such an orientation of the Coca-Cola Company, its policies of employees’ involvement and participation in all the vital process of the company becomes possible. Based on the democratic management style of the company, such practices as the involvement of the ordinary employees and junior managers in the process of making decisions, setting goals and objectives, and finding the ways to achieve them are natural and rather beneficial for the company (Salamon, 2000, Ch. 7). On the one hand, they give the opportunity to increase employee satisfaction rates in the job. On the other hand, these practices allow finding new, original and, sometimes, innovative decisions that the senior management failed to find. That is why “a career at The Coca-Cola Company is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s more than working for the global beverage leader; it’s an opportunity to be a part of something that impacts the world” (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
As for the labor flexibility, it is also typical of the Coca-Cola Company according to its mission statement. The point Act Like Owners stipulates the diverse aims that the labor process and the workers themselves must pursue. These include being “accountable for our actions and inactions”, developing “system assets and focus on building value”, and presenting rewards to “our people for taking risks and finding better ways to solve problems” (Coca-Cola Company, 2009).
Conclusions
To make the respective conclusion to this paper, it is necessary to state that the activity of any organization, whether profit or non-profit one, is aimed at reaching its goals and objectives. The fulfillment of the latter depends much on the Human Resources Management of the organization, as any company depends on the people that comprise it; therefore the Human Resources Management is the basis for the organization’s success, and this is namely the case with the Coca-Cola Company. Its mission statement comprises the mission itself, the aims and objectives of the company, and stipulates the paramount importance of people for the company as such. Such a mission statement creates the positive image of the company and, with the help of the management strategies, facilitates the company’s expansion to the new world markets.
Works Cited
Coca-Cola Company. “Official Website.” 2020 Vision. Web.
Salamon, Michael. Industrial relations: theory and practice. Pearson Education, 2000.