Organizational Leadership

End of Course Paper

Analysis of The Coca Cola Company

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Overview of The Coca Cola Company…………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Fundamentals Of Leadership .………………………………………………………………………………………… 4

Strategic Thinking …….……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Emotional Intelligence ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Communication & Leadership …..…………………………………………………………………………………… 7

Organizational Culture & Climate….………………………………………………………………………………… 7

High Performing Teams …………….….………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Managing Change …….. …………….….………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Problem Management & Decision Making………………………………………………………………………..9

Consensus Building & Negotiation….………………………………………………………………………………… 9

Ethics & Professional Code Of Conduct………………………………………………………………………………9

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Introduction

This is a final paper about the Coca-Cola Company where I will provide a detailed analysis of the company. Mainly the paper will describe how the company applies some of the lessons that we have learned in this course. Some of the concepts which will be highlighted in detail are fundamental leadership, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, communication and leadership, organization culture and climate, high performing teams, managing change, problem management and decision making, ethics, managing conflict within the organization, strategic planning, and the power and politics.

Overview of the Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is a pioneer in the Food & Beverage industry. The company has now been serving people across the globe for more than a century. The company was invented in the 19th century by John Stith Pembbebrton and later bought out by Asa Griggs Candler who through his marketing tactics led Coca-Cola towards dominance of specifically the soft drink market. The name Coca-Cola refers two ingredients which are the coca leaves and the kola nuts which is the source of caffeine. Even though there are a variety of experimental recreations and reported recipes which have been created in the past, the current Coca-Cola formula still remains a trade secret (Gowen, 2014).

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The company specifically produces a concentrate which is then sold to Coca-Cola bottlers all over the world. Coca-Cola bottlers hold exclusive territory contracts with Coca-Cola Company which is mandated to produce finished products in bottles and cans from the concentrate. Coca-Cola bottlers then sell and distribute the finished products to vendors, retailers, and restaurants. Coca-Cola Company then sells concentrate for soda fountains to the major food-service distributors as well as to major restaurants. Coca-Cola Company has occasionally introduced some cola drinks under the Coke name. Some of the common cola drinks are diet coke, Coca-Cola Zero sugar, Coca-Cola vanilla, Caffeine-free Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola Cherry.

Fundamentals of leadership, including leadership style and traits

Coca-Cola Company operates with about 250 partners across the world. The company board of directors has 15 members which includes even the CEO of the company Ahmet Muhatar Kent (Gowen, 2014). The board members are divided into several committees as indicated in the table 1 below:

Table 1

Name

Audit

Compensation

Directors of Corporate Governance

Executive

Finance

Management Development

Public Issues and Diversity Review

David B. Weinberg

        

Sam Numn

Chair

        

Bobby Kotick

        

        

Muhtar Kent

Chair

Alexis M. Herman

        

Chair

Herbert A. Allen

        

        

Marc Bolland

        

Ronald W. Allen

        

        

Ana Botin

        

Evan G Greenberg

Chair

        

Helene D. Gayle

        

        

Barry Diller

        

        

Chair

        

Howard G Buffett

        

Maria Elena Logamasino

Chair

        

        

The role of the Board of directors as shown by the table above is to overlook on the decisions which are made by both regional and division leaders. Coca-Cola Company has divided its operations according to the region and each region has a head. In the year 2016, the company changed the operating structure internationally so that they could make use of its key leaders. Therefore, the company has recently divided its operational structure into three major groups which are; the Asian Pacific which is led by John Murphy, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa which is led by Brian Smith and Latin America which is led by Alfredo Rivera. 

It is only through visionary leadership that any company can remain at the top (Lussier, & Achua, 2012). Coca-Cola Company leadership is aligned with its business goals which is one of the core reasons why it has remained at the top. By the look of the organizational structure from the company CEO to the regional leaders, it is true that the organization believes in the rule of taking responsibilities and the need for division of labor. Also, from table one, the organization leaders are divided into committees based on their functions and ensure all the organization functions are not under the control of one individual and using the SME’s so as to work on every functional division.

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Another trait found in the Coca-Cola leadership is the art of innovation. This trait was first coined by Dr. David that involved idea delegation, implementation, and evaluation. In addition, the root of this trait was in path-theory where the leader increases the need for creativity (Lussier, & Achua, 2012). Coca-Cola CEO, Kent believes in an innovative way to develop the organization. He believes in investing in research and development, finding new methods to satisfy the organization customers and the welfare of the employees. Other traits and styles found in Coca-Cola leadership are a cross-cultural types of leadership and visionary leadership.

Strategic Thinking

Coca-Cola Company has four strategic thinking approaches; first the company focuses on driving profitable growth and revenue. Initially, the company used to segment revenue growth strategies across their business in a way which is varied by market type. The company has aligned its employee incentives accordingly. In the emerging markets such as Africa, the company has focused primarily on increasing volume, strengthening the Company foundation for future success, and keeping the company’s beverages affordable.

One of the strategic thinking of the company this year is to segment the company markets in such a way that is able to drive revenue and growth. Second, the company looks to invest in their brands and business. The company plan to do this by increasing quality and quantity for their advertising. The company plans to spend over $250 million in advertising. Third, strategic thinking of the company is to become more efficient by looking into steps on how they can rebuild a company’s growth momentum. One part of the solution is zero-based work which is a way of looking at the company’s business which starts from the assumption that the company’s budget starts at Zero and ought to be justified annually. Overall the company plans to realize more than 600 million dollars (Gowen, 2014).

Third strategic thinking removes the layer of functional management and gets connected to regional business units. This was in response to moves by many companies to invest in the beverage industries. The company has already begun this by enhancing their employee experience. Lastly, the company plan to refocus on the company business model by creating value for their retail and the restaurant’s customers

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is said to be the use of emotionally intelligent people who perceive emotions, understand their meaning, and use them to make informed decisions. Emotionally intelligent people are able to solve their emotional problems with very less thought, they develop verbal skills and also they tend to be agreeable and open to others (Bradberry, 2009).

In a survey done by the HR department at Coca-Cola, they found out that those individuals who participate in emotional intelligence training usually exceed their targets by fifteen percent. There are five types of emotional intelligence at Coca-Cola Company which are empathy, social skills, motivation, and self-evaluation. Coca-Cola uses emotional intelligence as a powerful tool in effective management. According to Coca-Cola senior management, emotional intelligence in winning commitment of other employees and willing engagement (DLIProductionsInc, 2013).

Communication and Leadership

Coca-Cola Company utilizes both internal and external communication aimed at developing both external and internal structure of the organization communication system. Internal communication is aimed at creating a favorable working environment for the organizational workers where there is a free exchange of ideas at all levels of management and among the company employees.

One of the company directors Fahad Qudir has been holding an enlightening and interactive session with the companies’ employees in his region. These sessions provide very variable insights into the company’s goals and strategies. From the analysis, Coca-Cola mode of communication is to listen and reply and to work with links to everyone within the organization. This has assisted the organization to achieve better performance and instructions are better received and effectively acted upon by the company employees (Gowen, 2014).

The current company’s leadership is headed by Muhtar Kent who is the chairman of the organization board of directors. James Quincey as the Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Smith as the president and chief operating officer. These senior leaders are mandated to oversee the achievement of the company goals (Gowen, 2014) 

Organizational culture and climate

Diversity is an integral part of Coca-Cola. It defines how the company operate and how it sees the future. The company culture is defined by seven core values which are passion, integrity, accountability, quality, and diversity. The central goal at Coca-Cola is to refresh the world in spirit, body, and mind and this can only be achieved through diversity at the workplace. Coca-Cola Company depicts its organization culture via the following indicators; the company’s history, innovation and leadership, human and workplace right, stakeholder engagement, and its charitable foundations.

High Performing Teams

Coca-Cola Company is one of the organizations with very high performing teams. One of the high-end team which has been accredited is the marketing team, as the company has always recorded high profits every year due to the effort made by the marketing team. One of the requirement by Coca-Cola to all its teams is the ability to make a difference, the ability to grow, and be part of the it’s a diverse team. Coca-Cola management has achieved this by rewarding all the company’s departmental and team members (Gowen, 2014).

Managing Change

From our lessons, one of the reasons for adopting change is so as to improve the overall performance of the organization. Others reasons for managing change is so as to respond to the emerging customers’ demands, improve employee performance, and to create the best practices both within the organization and outside such as setting beverage industry standards (Kotter, 2012).

Coca Cola is a company which requires constant changes to be made to its business strategies and products. The company has made lots of external changes, for example, during World War II, the company was able to discover new niches and new markets. To manage the change, the company employed the theory of organizational change. The recent change management strategy at the company is directed towards motivations and intrinsic values of the organization’s employees which is referred to as employee management. A survey is done twice annually aiming at highlighting the areas where the action is required.

Problem management and decision making

One of the issues which have been encountered is the nature of the company, since the organization is a multi-national company which has resulted to organizational management issues. As a result, the company decided to have management plans which were formulated by the executive officials to meet the requirements of the larger population internationally. Strategic management problem at Coca-Cola was noted during organizational analysis. In addition, at Coca-Cola, decisions are made via working as a global team with the organization is able to meet its professional growth and achieve creativity. Second, is through planning; this is the process of setting goals and the art of developing strategic goals and at the same time outlining tasks (Lussier, & Achua, 2012). 

Consensus building and negotiation

At Coca-Cola there are three stages of building consensus; the very first stage is by preparing face to face negotiation. In here, the company does this by building a team of mediators or facilitators who assist parties in their internal negotiations. They also assists in a mapping of conflicts. The second phase employed by Coca-Cola Company is a face-to-face problem solving technique which is moderated by a mediator or a facilitator (Gowen, 2014).

Ethics and Professional codes of conduct

Ethics and professional codes of conduct at Coca-Cola serves as a foundation of compliance to international standards. Code of conduct and ethics clearly states a company’s expectations of accountability in regards to ethical conduct especially in the areas of business. Coca-Cola code of conduct involves first being aware of the reasons as to why there is a code, make good ethical decisions, safeguarding company assets, demonstrate accountability, dealing fairy with others, caring for our communities, and avoiding conflicts of interest and building a transparent relationship. With this code of conduct, it has helped employees to understand what Coca-Cola expects from them (Gowen, 2014).

Conclusion

All the concepts that I have discussed in this paper depend on the leadership approach that a company employs. Different leadership approaches are usually employed by company leaders. Leadership approach styles by the executive of a company can be determined by factors such as expertise and skill level of the business senior and junior team. Senior management should therefore settle for leadership styles that adequately deal with team motivation, business and community goals of the specific company, and the technical knowledge level of the all the employees. Good leadership approaches that can be employed by companies include: transformational leadership, laissez-free leadership, and democratic leadership (Lussier, & Achua, 2012).

References

Bradberry, T. &. (2009). Emotional Intelligence. San Diego: Talent Smart.

DLIProductionsInc. (2013). The Coca Cola Conquest – Part II: Cola War and… by DLI Productions Inc. . Chicago: DLI Productions Inc. Press.

Gowen, C. L. (2014). Coca-cola company. by Charles L Gowen . New York: Gale Ecco Press .

. Project Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading Change . Boston: Havard Business Press.

Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2012). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

ProjectManagementInstitute. (2017). Project Management Institute . New York : PA Project Management Institute Press.