Free Coca Cola Strategic Management Essay Sample

Introduction

Strategic management can be defined as the process of formulating, implementing and evaluating various decision making functions made within an organization by its managers that aim at enabling it to attain and achieve its business goals and objectives. It may also refer to the art and science of formulation and implementation of business plans that guide the organization in achieving its strategic goals effective and efficient control of factors of internal and external environment. Strategic management involves the maximum use of resources that are within the organization’s reach to ensure the paramount performance of the firm.

According to Finlay, strategic management entails specification of business goals, objectives and growth plans, as well as efficient allocation of relevant resources towards the attainment of such organizational goals. Usually, a balanced scorecard is used to evaluate and assess the overall progress and performance of the organization in relation to its set goals and objectives.

Company Background Information

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of soft drinks. It manufactures and sells various brands of non-alcoholic beverages, such as juice drinks, coffee, bottled mineral water, energy drinks, sports drinks and other carbonated drinks. Some of its major brands include Coke, Fanta, Sprite and Minute Maid. The company was established in 1886 and has since then shown the tremendous growth  and has numerous subsidiaries spread in over two hundred countries worldwide. The Coca-Cola company has shown an impressive and steady growth since its inception. Today, it is the most recognized brand with its beverages being the most popular on the earth.

The Company’s Corporate Strategy

For two more centuries, the company has had a corporate strategy that is characterized by local manufacturing and global marketing strategies. The company has been aiming at building a successful business that is able to sustain its growth, rather than merely grow. According to Kumar, sustainable growth has been the main growth strategy of the organization. The Coca-Cola company targets investing into the long-term growth goals, as well as meeting its short-term objectives.

The company’s major corporate strategies are increased marketing and innovation. Through improved interactions with customers and effective and efficient service delivery, the company has been able to generate new energy and systems to build their brands on, with incredible focus on the health and wellness of the final consumers. It has been striving to globalize its products for several years, an effort that has made it became the world’s largest and leading distributor of soft drinks. Additionally, it has been able to diverse its products through the production of a wide range of non-alcoholic drinks, such as juices, bottled water and coffee.

Another corporate strategy of The Coca-Cola Company is corporate social responsibility. The company has been supporting the communities within which they operate.  Pendergrast refers to this act as giving back to the community. Similarly, the organization has been acquiring and deploying highly qualified and experienced professionals, who have facilitated the achievement of the company’s strategic goals and objectives.

Growth Objectives for the Organization

Various growth objectives would be formulated for this company to enable it to achieve the sustainable growth in the future. In my view, the company should continue conducting business at a global scale, while at the same time strengthening its local approach to business growth. It should produce goods and services that are moderately priced. The products should be of the high quality and be able to conform to the international standardization requirements, such as ISO Standards. The company’s subsidiaries should be allowed to produce and sell only products that meet the company’s set quality and design standards. High quality goods will ensure the provision of value to the customers.

The company should purchase supplies from the local communities. This would help create employment opportunities to the local people and consequently raising their standards of living. This will also help boost the economy of the local community. The Coca-Cola Company can as well provide the support services to its suppliers to enable them to develop their business in line with the growth strategies of the company. From the company’s perspective, purchasing manufacturing supplies will cut down the transport costs, and hence improved profitability. Furthermore, the company should ensure that adequate resources are acquired at the right time to facilitate the manufacturing and production of the soft drinks, as well marketing of the products. The acquired resources should be utilized efficiently through dynamism and diversification.

Another growth strategy for the company would be to ensure regularly training and development of the employees. This will help maintain and acquire the top-notch expertise that will enhance business growth and development. Acquisition of a highly qualified workforce is equally important, since it makes possible the pooling together of various business talents, increases creativity, innovation and motivation of employees.

In my opinion, the global marketing strategy should be narrowed to local marketing. This is because of dynamic changes in the market and difference in consumer tastes and preferences. The marketing strategy should thus be specific to a particular market. This can be achieved through differentiation of products by the development of new products that are consumer oriented and market segmentation to meet different needs and desires of the customers.

The company should also formulate and implement business systems that are growth oriented. Effective business systems will enhance competitive advantage for the company. For example, it should recognize its major associates and business partners. Environmental conservation strategy is another important growth strategy for the company. It should be able to conduct business in a manner that does not harm the environment. It should perform environmental audits to ascertain the impacts of its activities to the environment.

Types of Growth Strategies

For profit organizations, there are various growth strategies that can be adopted by the organization. These include corporate level strategies that are formulate and implemented by the top management, market development strategies that aim at expansion of existing markets, as well as the exploration of new markets, product development strategies work towards development and improvement of the organization’s products and joint venture strategies that formulate business partnering and association goals and objectives. Kumar classifies growth strategies into two major categories, that is, internal and external growth strategies.

Internal growth strategies rely on organizational activities, such as recruitment of qualified employees, development of new products through research and development and establishment of strong customer base. On the other hand, external growth strategies focus on meeting growth objectives through establishment of good relations with business partners and stakeholders. In my view, I would utilize both internal and external growth strategies. This is because a good comprehension of the internal strategies will enable the business to understand and fully exploit its strengths and weakness, for instance, acquisition of new technology, whereas the external strategies will enable it to explore the new market opportunities and work towards reducing the environmental threats, such as unfavorable competition.

Using the Growth Strategies to Fulfill Growth Objectives

The above combination of internal and external growth strategies will help the organization fulfill its objectives by ensuring the maximum utility of its resources, for instance, manufacturing technology. Exploration of new markets will increase the company’s sales volumes, hence more profits. Knowledge of possible business threats will drive the company towards implementing new organizational changes for it to remain competitive.

Conclusion

It is evident that the Coca-Cola company is a well-established organization. However, it is equally important for it to effectively utilize the strategic management techniques to enable it to retain its competitive advantage above its business rivals.

 

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