Functional Level Strategies - Assignment Example

Functional Level Strategies Executive summary The Coca Cola Company arguably represents one of the most popular brands in the world of business. Its HRM department which is responsible for the recruitment of staff should take credit for the kind of success this company has achieved over the years. It is the HRM department that recruits, organises, takes care of relations of the most important resource; the human resource. Due to the fierce competition in this industry, the Coca Cola group has never been under illusions and as a consequence, it has worked round the clock to ensure its leading market status. Through the use of a variety of various marketing strategies, the company has navigated through all the kinds of competition that has come its way. The primary mission of the HR department in any business organisation is to provide guidance, facilitation, and coordination in the unit (HRM guide 2009). It also engages in efforts to offer innovative and cost effective human resource projects that lead to measurable outcomes whose aim is to support the strategic goals of the organisation. This is achieved through recruiting, retaining, development, and rewarding the staff which is their most priced resource. In this engagement, the human resource office provides equality of opportunity and equity at the workplace to all members of the Coca Cola community. The future of any company depends on how well the employers of the company are treated (Storey 1999). In that aspect, the human resource department is a very vital department in the organisational setup. Task 1 It is the people and not the technology or any other production factor that makes a company. The benefits that accrue to the aspect of human resource management are quite enormous. Given the fact that this is a global company with a wide range of variations in its composition of staff, then it requires great skills in harnessing the differences towards achieving unity of purpose to execute the different tasks that the company does engage in (Scribd 2008). Job analysis and designing the personnel department is charged with the responsibility of job analysis. This involves the process through which the necessary duties and skills of a specific job are determined. The objective of the department would be job description and secondly job specification. The department thus gets the education requirements, personality issues among other things that affect the job vacancies to be filled (Allen 1994). The HR department also develops the appraisal criteria to be employed in the different jobs on offer. Through the use of the generated information during interviews, the HR department is able to come up with a uniform approach to the issue. The relationship part of the work is also addressed by the same department (Cheatham 1999). Planning and Forecasting The other objective of the HR department is to fill vacant positions of the company. Through laid down procedures, the HR department decides which positions are to be filled and how to have them filled. Through the use of company strategic planning, the department does sufficient planning on hiring new recruits over the subsequent times (Parsloe 2000). The department forecasts for the expected changes in technology, and takes necessary measures to address the issue. On the basis of the views of the HR department, the company acts on recruitment demands. Training process of employee The training process is an essential part. The HR department has this objective to achieve. Through training, the employee comes to understand the procedures of employment, rules and regulations of the firm. Sometimes on the introduction of new technology, it is the responsibility of the HR department to train employees. Performance appraisal The performance appraisal in the company is annually done (Masters and Albright 2002). HR manager Waqar Mahmood said that they apprise the members of staff owing to their feat on the basis of the goals of the organisation. The job appraisal part is done by the HR department. A critique The HR department has been said to be employing various strategies of recruitment, training, and appraising the activities of staff. Through the strategy of developing the different academic and personality qualifications, the company is able to come up with competent staff. The strategy seems to serve the company well in as far as the choice of workers to fill vacant positions is concerned. Through the training strategy, company employees are able to be shown how work is done and in the case of retraining due to changes in technology, the employees are given light on task performance given the new technology (Huczynski and Buchanan 2004). This is a positive aspect which enables for the orientation of workers to job activities. Through such orientation programmes, the task execution is made much easier and productivity is increased. The appraisal approach in evaluating the worthy of employees in the execution of tasks helps the organisation towards the achievement of its corporate goals (Kumar 2007). When the workers understand that their work is to be evaluated, the urge to succeed is always present. As a result, the company workers have been able to provide top quality services leading to the domineering position that the company currently occupies. In order to fit into the internal environment of the company, training is necessary. The external environment like the training of personnel from colleges does not adequately gear them to specific companies (Oliver 2005). The appraisal approach makes sure every worker fits into the internal working environment (Luthans 1985). The approach is also affected by external issues like competition. This means high productivity is necessary if the company is to keep pace with the competitors. Task 2 The head of the human resource department has four major functions. The functions include; performance management, career development, succession planning and compensation. Danielle fish, the current HR of Coca Cola Amatil, has been able to do the following; she led start ups and managed major acquisitions in different environments by aligning people to practices in respect to organisational cultural and growth aims. She also successfully led and achieved the business strategic and cultural aims by realigning people to practices and the management of reforms and the growth of people (Stone 2002). She has also developed and cultivated productive relationships across the relevant levels of all the functions of the business. In a business organisation there must be an inter link among the different departments (Heathfield 2009). Through the use of the strategy of coordination, a working formula is easily attainable as reflected by the works of Danielle. Through the provision of internal communication mechanisms, the company firm under control was working harmoniously (Handy 1994). This may have been necessitated by the common stand that the effects of effective communication are a positive for any business organisation. It is through such good communication that Danielle was able to take the Amatil firm to great business heights. The shared service recruitment function was responsible for all the external recruitment in CCA Australia. This system was later expanded to include all the business partners of the Coca Cola Company (Mark 2000). During this time, she achieved to integrate the IT departments all over Australian businesses without losing any talent and at the same time achieving great effectiveness and efficiency as in regards to the company objectives. At the same time there was a successful beginning of official routine and succession planning methods across client groups. The HR was also to achieve the establishment of the national recruitment and talent acquisition, a centre for excellence. This centre could go a long way in addressing the recruitment exercises. The strategy to harmonise personnel focus towards the achievement of organisational goals has been key (DeCenzo and Robbin 1999). The HR realised the need for this. If I were in her position, I would also consider adopting changes to the company culture in order to be in synchrony with those of the people in the given environment. This should however be with utmost care so as not to compromise on the company objectives. But, in as far as the company objects can get aligned to the culture and achieve the objectives, then it would prove to be a worthy undertaking. Using the same strategy of coordination as used by Danielle above, I would call upon all the departmental heads to provide the on goings in their respective departments to the HR department. On the basis of the generated information, I would take appropriate action in coordinating the departmental activities with a view to expanding the operations of the business. The internal communication strategy is a necessary ingredient in all business ventures (Clutterbuck 2005). Human beings are born differently and as a result are inherently unique. So as the prospective HR, I would focus on the same issue. While it is worthy to introduce changes, I would want to build on the good work that was set out by Danielle. I would establish a new department - a public relations office to deal with internal issues and offer immediate solutions. This would ultimately annul the possibility of conflict occurrence in the company (Whitmore 2009. It has also been highlighted that through the use of integration strategies, Danielle was able to integrate the IT departments all over the Australian businesses without loss of talent. This is a positive attribute in possession of the HR (Coan 2004). What I would do in this case is to take upon where she left it. There are some departments that need to be integrated. For example, the production and the sales department should be integrated for the common good of the business. The sales department clearly understands what happens in the market; as a result they are best placed to advise the production department on the most appropriate production levels required. Task 3 On the basis of the findings presented in task two, it becomes advisable that the top management in the HR department should consider adopting few changes so as to progress even further in regards to their business position. Harmony at the work place is very crucial, I do not dispute the current efforts towards the exercise but I sincerely believe there is room for improvement (Pheysey 1993). Like the focus to change the people’s culture to meet with company requirements is a sound idea, a different approach to reverse the process may prove beneficial to the company only if the company position is not put at risk. This is something which I believe can be achieved easily. This is preferable because changing an individual may never be easy as early childhood developments affect individuals. Individuals may choose to pretend in an attempt to secure a job though this is not absolutely the case. It may take time to change the company culture, but it may be a worthy undertaking (Standage 2005). The level of coordination in the company is relatively good. The only aspect of it that needs reforming is the time aspect. Coordination ensures a smooth flow of business activities. The procedural provision of the company gives a detailed account on how it is done. This is the area that calls for reforms (Watters 1978). Every department should be able to relay information directly to the other department without necessarily going through the head office. This way, much time that is lost on the procedure would be addressed. It is on this basis that I call upon the HR to reconsider reforming the aspect. The use of the strategy of internal communication to enhance business operations augurs well for business. It is on this understanding that I applaud the measures taken by the current management in order to achieve the state of affairs (Fredenburg 2006). To reap more benefits from the internal communication strategy, the need to establish a care centre to specifically address employee issues should be given a try. Though mechanisms that deal with the issue exist, it is worthy to make this provision (About.com management 2009). This would address issues to deal with role allocation, execution, conflict resolution among other things arising at the work place. The integration strategies are key considerations in any business activity. I congratulate the management for taking up steps towards that end. But there is need to revise the strategy (Anderson 2005). Instead of the wide focus of integration, I would propose that internal integration be given more consideration. This is because only through such integration can business growth and expansion can be attained. It is in the interests of the HR manager to adopt these recommendations because at the end of the day, the aim is to take the business ahead (Bach 2005). The decision to take or reject the recommendations solely rests with the department under focus. As such I do not expect to have much influence, but my recommendations have a case for consideration. The soundness of these proposals would prove too good to resist and I guess the HR would adopt and implement the recommendations. The HR seems to be agreeing with my views though she claims that introducing the recommendations may not be as easy as they appear on paper (Brewster 2004). For example, she agrees with the need to change the company culture, but claims that it would require the input of other stakeholders to execute. On the same basis, she further suggests that the current financial climate does not allow for expansionist policies that would consume a great deal of funds. Pestle and swot analysis Coca Cola just as any business does not operate in a vacuum. There are certain conditions that are both internal and external to the company that affect the operations of the business. The ongoing radical changes in the economic landscape especially in the financial markets have a huge bearing on the operations of the Coca Cola Company. The financial melt down means that the company must tighten its grip on its budgetary control. At the same time, a shrinking economy needs to be addressed as this would ultimately affect the sales of the company. It is clear cut that Coca Cola enjoys an almost unrivalled brand name in the soft drinks industry. As a result, the company can take advantage of this and move to greater strengths. But as the current trends suggest, the free market enterprise allows for entry and exit. There is an emerging level of competition in the market and Coca Cola should be wary of this. The major weakness of the company is the negative publicity and the sluggish nature of its development especially in North America. The company however has opportunities to intensify acquisitions and effectively compete with emerging water bottling companies. References About.com management 2009, Manage conflict and workplace violence, About.com online. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:WcXapuot9WUJ:management. Allen, F 1994, Secret Formula: How brilliant marketing and relentless salesmanship made Coca Cola the best-known product in the world, New York: Harper Business. Anderson, L 2005, Coaching that counts: harnessing the power of leadership coaching to deliver strategic value. Elsevier-Butterworth Bach, S 2005, Managing human resources: personnel management in transition. http://books.google.com/books?id=F76sJFhSEXkC&dq=human+resource Brewster, A 2004, Buchanan Arms Hotel and leisure Centre, Buchanan Arms Hotel and leisure Centre. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:qlz3TrtqZQEJ:www.buchananarms Cheatham, M 1999, Your Friendly Neighbor: The Story of Georgia's Coca Cola bottling families, Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press. Coan, G 2004, Managing workplace conflict, Robert Bacal production. Ontario, Canada. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:4jEzzsGhcD0J:conflict Clutterbuck, D 2005, Making coaching work: creating a coaching culture, London, CIPD 2005 DeCenzo, D, & Robbins, S 1999, Human Resource Management, sixth edition, John Wiley & Sons, New York. Fredenburg, A 2006, Managing conflict at the work place. buzzle.com. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:JvYv5fxAuGEJ:www.buzzle.com Handy, B 1994, Understanding Organisations, Harmondsworth, 4th edition, Penguin, UK. Heathfield, S 2009, Managing your human resources, About.com Guide. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementtips/a/conflict_solu HRM guide 2009, Human relations, Alan Price and HRM Guide Network contributors, UK. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://www.hrmguide.co.uk/communication/internal-communication.htm Huczynski, A & Buchanan, D 2004, Organisational Behaviour, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall. Luthans, F 1985, Organisational behaviour, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, Australia. Mark, P 2000, For God, Country, and Coca Cola: The definitive history of the great American soft drink and the company that makes it, 2d ed., New York: Basic Books. Masters, M. & Albright, R 2002, The complete guide to conflict resolution in the workplace, Oxford university press, Oxford. Oliver, T 2005, The Real Coke, the Real Story, New York: Random House. Parsloe, E 2000, Coaching and mentoring : practical methods to improve learning, Associated press, London. Pheysey, D.C 1993, Organisational Cultures -Types and Transformations. Routledge. Canada. Kumar, A 2007, Personal, academic and career development in higher education: SOARing to success, London, Routledge. Scribd 2008, HR Coca Cola gift, gift business school Gujranwala, viewed, 16/12/2009, 2008http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:5js1gh7Mh14J:www.scribd Standage, T 2005, A history of the world in six glasses, New York: Walker and Company. Storey, J 1999, Human resource management: a critical text, Springer publisher, USA. viewed, 16/12/2009, http://books.google.com/books?id=bc8OAAAAQAAJ&pg   Stone, F 2002, Coaching and mentoring, Oxford, Capstone. Watters, P 1978, Coca Cola: An illustrated history, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. Whitmore, J 2009, Coaching for performance: GROWing human potential and purpose: the principles and practice of coaching and leadership, Nicholas Brealey, UK. Read More