With TCCQ Coca Cola has developed an excellent quality system, which it uses worldwide and integrates methods for improvement of quality, safety and health.
Coca Cola should continue developing and using the TCCQ methods in the future. The company also has to continue the workers’ training in order to empower all employees to maintain the highest quality standards. However, it is important to create employee training according to the current quality needs. All training should provide useful information.
The case at Coca-Cola in the USA shows that training programs at Cola sometimes fail.In Atlanta, for example, 1,300 workers learned about the tools of continuous quality improvement. Covered were such techniques as problem solving, statistical-process control and process management. Three years later, the majority of employees had forgotten the tools they had learned because they had never had an opportunity to use those tools (Caudron 1993, p.
48). Therefore Coca Cola should provide trainings appropriate to individual needs and encourage employees to continuous quality improvement in their workplace.In order to guarantee high quality and safety standards throughout the whole supply chain, Coca Cola should carefully choose its suppliers and bottlers, especially in developing countries. Coca Cola should also regularly audit all the organisational units’ compliance with the quality standards. According to Fust (2007) corporate sustainability is the next TQM and companies should begin to embrace sustainability as an opportunity to gain competitive advantage (Fust 2007.
p. 6).Coca Cola as a ‘responsible citizen of the world’ should also create sustainability programmes in order to generate management benefits and long-term success. Since Coca Cola uses 4% of the world's sugar, one of the sustainability programmes could be a partnership with farmers and the sugar industry in developing countries. The goal would be to help farmers to run their operations, to improve production methods and reduce water use. Coca Cola should also implement non-profit environmental partnerships with organisations which work on improvement of water quality in developing countries.
Strategic management Strategy is an action plan for developing core competences to reach long-term goals and gain competitive advantages. “Strategic management is a process of identifying, evaluating and implementing strategies in order to meet the organisational objectives” (Jeffs 2008, p 13). 5. 2.
1 Corporate Strategy Structure The Coca-Cola Company is currently creating a new company structure in order to support its productivity. The new structure will integrate three core functions: Global Business Services, Global Information Technology and Transformational Productivity.The new structure will enable the Company to deliver global business services that are highly dependent on technology and standardized processes - to its business units in a more effective and efficient way (Coca-Cola, 2011). Current ; Future Opportunities/Threats In each country, management is tasked with achieving the corporate goals of the organisation. As outlined in the value chain initiatives, these cover the three core goals of brand building, securing long term market share of those brands and integrating supply chain mechanisms to reduce cost.
As a current example: Coca-Cola Amilti has launched a personalised marketing campaign linked to e-commerce to have a friend or family members name printed on the side of specific coke brand bottles. Customers are encouraged to sign up online for this offering and prizes are included Coca Cola 2011). As a global organisation, Coca Cola is faced with enormous social and economic change like GFC. In addition, the company needs to aware of possible economic, political and other problems in developing countries where it is expanding at the moment.However, a stabilisation strategy to maintain market share may be preferred given the constraints facing the firm at this time.
As the table below depicts, economic, political, environmental factors (Samson ; Daft, 2003, p. 279), Porter’s forces are affecting the shape of the firm’s competitive position in world markets. Coca Cola has a few opportunities in its business. It has many successful brands to exploit and pursue. In addition, Coca Cola also has the opportunity to advertise its less popular products (The Coca-Cola Company, 2011).With a large profit margin it has the available resources to drive some of these less established beverages on the market (IBIS, 2011).
This approach could be very beneficial for the company, if the products reach the same extent as the major products. Another opportunity that we have pointed out previously is the ability for Coca Cola to acquire out their competition. This opportunity rarely presents itself in the world of business. However, with Coca Cola’s power and success, such a task is not impossible.Coca Cola has bought out a number of bottlers and brands in order to cut costs and increase distribution flexibility (IBIS, 2011).
“The marketing task is to find ways to enhance customer value by improving the perceived benefits and/or reducing the total costs of ownership” (Coca-Cola Diversity Report, 2010). Initially this acquisitions cost a vast amount of money in long run it results in large profits. Furthermore, the company does not need to worry about this product or service as being part of the competition. Brand recognition is the significant factor affecting Cokes competitive position.Coca Cola is known well throughout 90% of the world population today (Coca-Cola Company, 2011).
Today, the company wants to get there brand name known even better through investments in the emerging markets (Coca-Cola Company, 2011). It is an opportunity that most companies will ever dream of. The Coca Cola has the opportunity to continue to expand the gap between them and their competitors. Current and future threats in communication Even though Coca Cola dominates in the market place, it still has to deal with many threats.
The changing health-consciousness attitude of the market could have a serious effect on Coca-Cola (IBIS, 2011). This needs to be viewed as a dominant threat. In today’s world, people are constantly changing their eating and drinking habits. This could directly affect the sale of Coca-Cola’s products. Another possible issue are the legal conditions. There are always issues with a company of such wealth and popularity.
Somebody is always trying to find mistakes. Furthermore, Coca-Cola needs to be careful with lawsuits. Also, the Health department could be seen as a threat.Again, some people may try to exploit the unhealthy side of Coca Cola’s products and could threaten the status and success of sales. Other threats are of course the competition. Coca Cola’s main competition being Pepsi, sells a very similar drink (Datamonitor, 2011).
Coca Cola needs to be aware that Pepsi does not grow to be a more successful drink. Other product such as juices, coffee, and tea are threats. As earlier mentioned substitutes could take precedent in some people’s minds over Coca Cola’s beverages and this could threaten its potential success.
