WRL AS 2

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Management

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Nov 24, 2024

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Introduction Coca Cola is a company that is well established in the world as the top producer of soft drinks. The company, which has its headquarter in Atlanta, United States of America, produces four of the world’s top five soft drinks (coca-cola, Diet Coke, Fanta as well as Sprite). Coca Cola Company also runs one of the largest distribution networks globally, providing its products in over 200 countries globally. The founder of the company, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, traveled to Atlanta from Columbus in 1869 and established a chemical lab in Atlanta in 1885. By 1886, Pemberton prepared a mixture of coca leaf and kola nut extracts, sugar, and water, and then included caffeine into the resulting syrup. Through comprehensive research, Pemberton concluded that this mixture was able to refresh, and that is how Coca Cola Company was founded. Evaluate experiential work-related skills linked to management and leadership roles and requirements within a chosen organisation Every business entity or organization, whether big or small, needs to develop and implement the basic four management functions. The success of any business organization depends on how the four functions of management are implemented. These management functions allow an organization to handle its business strategy, tactical and operational decisions. The aim of this paper is to discuss the four functions of management namely: Planning, Organizing, Directing and controlling. The four functions of management are crucial for an organization to succeed. Therefore these functions should be properly developed and implemented for an organization to succeed. Principles of management Planning The vision of the Coca-Cola Corporation is to become the biggest and the best anchor bottler in the world and its mission is to refresh everyone which guides its management team in the planning process. The top management of the company engages in formulating five year longer term plans as well as shorter term planning for the next year or so. The idea behind this type of planning is to have a strategic vision extending over a longer period as well as a flexible and adaptive strategy to change according to the imperatives of its external environment. Apart from this strategic planning, the top management at Coca-Cola also engages in tactical planning in consultation with the middle management who in turn acts on the feedback from the salespersons on the ground. The planning at Coca-Cola entails setting targets for all employees at all levels that are periodically reviewed for either success or failure in meeting the targets and in case of the latter, feedback is sought from the managers and the employees who have failed to meet the targets about the reasons for the same. This is then incorporated into the decision making loop so that the next year’s plan can address and redress the shortcomings as well as set new targets taking into account these aspects. Organizing

Coca-Cola follows the decentralization within centralization model of organizing itself. This means that while the global headquarters retains its overall decision making, the corporation is divided into regions and geographical territories in which it operates. These regional divisions are then organized into the functional departments which in its case comprise the Production, Industrial Relations, Sales and Marketing, and Human Resources departments. The key to understanding the organizing function at Coca-Cola is to recognize that employees with similar skills and common work functions are grouped together . This helps the company avoid redundancies in problem solving processes as well as bestowing a certain functional autonomy at all levels. Further, the organizing function at Coca-Cola follows the maxim of the span of control not exceeding five direct reports which means that no employee has more than five others reporting to him or her. Having said that, it must be noted that there is cross functional reporting as well which is in the case of the managers and the functional heads reporting to the other divisional heads in addition to the country heads. Leading Though Coca-Cola is organized around geographical regions and then the various departments for each region, the company emphasizes the importance of transformative leadership at both the Global and the Local levels. This means that local managers and the heads of departments in addition to the Country Heads in the various markets that the company operates in are free to decide on the appropriate strategies for their territories as long as they conform to the global norms and global culture that permeates the organization. This decentralization within centralization is the hallmark of the Glocal approach which has been stated in the thesis. Apart from this, the leadership at Coca-Cola believes in a democratic and laissez faire approach to leading which is necessary considering the business it is in which is heavily dependent on both the macro level vision and mission that need to be translated and transformed into micro level execution. Typically, the General Manager is at the top of the regional hierarchy who in turn reports to the country head. These general managers have other managerial subordinates such as the ones referenced for this article who have mentioned how the organization practices behavioral leadership that is based on acting on the specifics of the situation at the micro level. Controlling The controlling function in Coca-Cola is done through periodic reviews of managerial and salespersons performance. Towards this end, an appraisal system based on objective evaluation of whether the employee being appraised has met his or her targets forms the backbone of the controlling function in the company. Though managerial performance goes beyond evaluation of targets and their compliance as the managers typically perform other roles such as people management and strategic planning, the salespersons are appraised based on the Sales Person’s reporting system and the Sales Person’s evaluation system.

The former tracks the activities of the salesperson on a daily basis whereas the latter is done according to the appraisal cycle and the results of which are used to determine promotions, bonuses, and other incentives. The evaluation period is usually a year for sales managers whereas it is a quarterly cycle for the market development roles, and a monthly cycle for the salespersons. Further, the controlling function also ensures that a performance development plan is prepared which takes into account the salespersons meeting the targets such as growth in sales, market development, and completion of customer and partner calls including conversion of cold calling, attendance, and the punctuality of the salesperson. Leadership skills in practice Democratic type of leadership assumes a transformational style where the leaders engage with the followers in the process of decision making (Ahmed, Nawaz & Khan, 2016). This is an essential form of leadership to the company given its complexity and relationship to franchises. the management of Coca- Cola values the positive performance of the company as well as the well being of the workers. Coca-Cola assigns responsibilities to the employees as well as the franchisees for the overall good of the company An autocratic leader focuses on the procedure and requirement and requires no contribution in the process of decision making. Coca-Cola applies this type of leadership on its manufacturing plants where employees are obliged to follow a prescribed procedure for conducting their job Laissez-faire type of leadership is focused on delegation of responsibilities with a limited approach to micro-management of the followers. Coca-Cola embraces this type of leadership given its complexity in influencing the employees and franchisees performance. Laissez-faire and democratic leadership styles are recommended for increased productivity and performance of the company. It is only through visionary leadership that any company can remain at the top. 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. 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.

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Analyse the role of the manager in contributing to the strategic aims and direction of a chosen organisation There are several roles that managers within the Coca Cola Company have. According to Mintzberg, a manager’s roles can be categorized into three major groups: informational roles, interpersonal roles, and decisional roles. The first category of the managerial roles involves the inter-personal category that entails the company’s managers providing ideas and information. As suggested by Mintzberg, the key roles in this category involve those of a figurehead, a leader, and liaison. As figureheads, managers in the Coca Cola Company have legal, ceremonial, and social duties such as the signing of legal documents, host receptions, greeting visitors, among other roles. They are anticipated to become the source of inspiration in the company as workers look up to them. As leaders, Coca Cola’s managers are expected to offer leadership direction for their team, department, or company. And as leaders, the company’s managers have the responsibility of managing the performance of all workers, such as interactions with the staff. Finally, as Mintzberg suggested, Coca Cola Company’s managers have the role of liaison, including business correspondence and participating in meetings. The company’s managers have the duty of liaison or communicating with both the internal and external contacts. The managers can network effectively and productively on behalf of the Coca Cola Company. The second category of the managerial roles involves the informational category that entails the company’s managers processing information. As suggested by Mintzberg, the key roles in this category involve monitoring, disseminating, and spokespersons. In the role of monitoring, Coca Cola Company’s managers constantly seek out information regarding the company and the sector, searching for appropriate changes in the business environment. Examples of these roles include attending seminars and training, maintaining personal contacts, among others. The managers also monitor their team regarding welfare and productivity. In the role of disseminator, Coca Cola’s managers are tasked with the duty of communicating possibly useful information to the rest of the workers or the team. For example, they send memos, and reports inform workers of the company’s decisions. And finally, as the spokesperson, the managers have the responsibility of representing and speaking on behalf of Coca Cola Company through passing on memos and reports, participating in meetings among other roles. In this role of a spokesperson, the company’s managers are in charge of passing on information regarding the company and its objectives to the individuals outside the company. The third category of the managerial roles involves the decisional category that entails the company’s managers using information. The key roles under this category, as suggested by Mintzberg involves those of an entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator . In the role of an entrepreneur, Coca Cola’s managers are tasked with creating and controlling change within the company. This implies addressing challenges, developing new ideas, as well as executing them through implementing innovations and planning for the future. In the disturbance handler’s role, the company’s managers are expected to take charge and handle the situation when the company hits sudden barriers. The managers also assist in mediating when conflicts arise in the company through settling conflicts among the workers or selecting strategic alternatives. In the role of a resource allocator, the managers within the company are responsible for making decisions that establish where company resources are

best utilized. The role involves assigning funding and allocating workers’ duties through, for instance, drafting and approving plans, budgets, schedules, and set priorities. Finally, in the role of negotiators, Coca Cola’s managers are tasked with taking part in and directing significant negotiations within their teams, subsection, or the entire company. For example, the company managers are participating in and directing negotiations within the team, department, as well as the entire company. Reference role of manager in organization - 7

WRL AS 2

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