Introduction of Management

The presentation discusses key issues related to the changing business environment and the challenges faced by Coca-cola. It explores the company's efforts to improve its position in the health drinks market and the competition it faces from other brands. The presentation also analyzes the impact of customer bargaining power and water accessibility on the company's operations. Additionally, it discusses how these issues are related to management concepts and theories, such as Michael Porter's Five Forces and PESTLE analysis. The presentation concludes with recommendations for improving the company's value chain and implementing different strategies to gain a competitive advantage.

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Introduction of Management
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Introduction of Management
Contents
Key issues discussed in the presentation:..............................................................................................2
How these issues are related to management concepts and theories?....................................................3
To what extent and why your teamwork performance of this group presentation was effective?..........6
How could you improve your teamwork further?..................................................................................7
References:............................................................................................................................................7
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Introduction of Management
Key issues discussed in the presentation:
The business environment is changing as the customers are becoming more health conscious.
People are switching to healthier options but Coca-cola does not have many options in this
category. The company is trying to improve its position in health drinks market by launching
zero-sugar products and products that contain real fruit juice. As there are already well
established players in this market so it will be difficult for Coca-cola to gain competitive
advantage.
Another issue is regarding the tough competition that Coca-cola is facing from companies
like Pepsi and Nestle that offers similar products. As, the company’s products are not unique
so it faces price pressure. Its competitors like Pepsi have a diversified product offering but
Coca-cola does not have this luxury as it is only focused on beverages. Overall, the intensity
of internal competition has been increasing in this industry due to the increased spending on
marketing from different brands and due to the growth in local brands.
The increase in bargaining power of the customers has also affected the company as the
customers these days are more aware and they have lot of options. Due to the growth in
information and technology, the customers can easily express their opinions and stories about
bad experience with the company’s products which can quickly spread on social media.
Another major issue is the water accessibility as water is a basic requirement for soft drinks
industry. If there is any issue regarding the Coca-cola’s easy access to water then the
company will plummet due to the lack of product diversity. Also, the raising awareness
regarding the sustainability has put the pressure on the firm to implement sustainable
development goals in its business operations to act more responsibly.
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Introduction of Management
How these issues are related to management concepts and theories?
Michael Porter’s Five Forces is used for the industry analysis and measuring the firm’s
competitive environment (MaRS, 2019). Various risks/issues related to Coca-cola can be
analysed using this framework. The company faces risk from the substitutes like health drinks
and energy drinks. Also the products from other brands like Pepsi have same taste. So, the
threat of substitute products is medium to high for Coca-cola. The increase in consumer
awareness and growth in information and technology has increased the bargaining power of
the customers but Coca-cola’s brand image and marketing efforts have moderated this effect.
The intensity of competitive rivalry has grown high due to the growth in local brand and
aggressive marketing practises in the industry. The increasing intensity of these forces
affects the competitive environment which can impact the pricing power and margins of
Coca-cola.
PESTLE analysis determines the external or macro factors that affect an organization
(Sammut-Bonnici and Galea, 2015). It helps to discover the potential threats to the business.
As the people are getting more health conscious so they are moving to healthy alternatives
like no-sugar drinks and natural drinks. This is reflected in both the social and economic
factors. Coca-cola has a minimal presence in this market so it needs to respond to the
changing social factors else company’s revenues will be affected. Also, the environmental
factors are very important to Coca-cola as it is affected by the water accessibility. So, the
company need to have proper strategy to counter these factors.
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Introduction of Management
How could you improve your arguments/recommendations based on the feedback you
have obtained from your tutor?
The feedback we obtained is regarding the Value chain (to justify strengths and weaknesses)
and the strategy options.
Value-chain analysis- It provides a framework to identify the business activities that can add
value and create competitive advantage for the company (Dudovskiy, 2015). So, the
examination of the five main value chain activities to study the strengths and weaknesses will
lead to a better analysis/understanding of the Coca-cola’s business.
Inbound logistics: Water is the major input for almost all the Coca-cola’s products, so the
company need to have effective system for easy water accessibility as the challenges in
acquiring this raw material can have devastating consequences for the company.
When it comes to the suppliers of the other raw materials, Coca-cola has an advantage due to
the small size of the individual suppliers and overall diversity among the suppliers.
Operations: Coca-Cola system consists of different entities for manufacturing, packaging,
merchandising and distributing. The company owns the brand and it concentrates upon the
development of the brand value and marketing strategy. This strategy has helped the
company’s management to create one of the most respectable brands in the world.
Outbound logistics: Coca Cola has one of the largest beverage distribution systems in the
world, which has helped the company to expand its operation in developing and developed
nations.
Marketing and sales: The company’s advertising and marketing strategies has been efficient
and led to nice sales numbers in past. But the changing trend towards health drinks need to be
considered else the company’s sales will be affected.
Service: Coca Cola provides customer service via phone line, online chat on its website and
social media. This has helped the company to use growth in information and technology to
counter the increased customer bargaining power.
Strategy options- Following are the three strategies that can be used by the firms to gain
competitive advantage (Boddy, 2016).
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Introduction of Management
Volume: This strategy focuses on increasing the company’s market share by selling its
products at lower prices. This also involves continued improvement in company’s operation
and use of economies of scale to reduce the overall cost of production. This reduced cost will
help company make a profit even after charging lower prices for each unit.
Custom: This strategy involves product differentiation by making the company’s products
different or more attractive than its competitors. This also needs effective sales and marketing
as the market needs to understand the advantages offered by this product customization.
Niche: Companies can use this strategy to focus on a particular niche market by developing
well specified products. It involves deep understanding of the unique customer’s needs and
market dynamics.
Coca-cola can implement the custom strategy by making its products health focused by using
low sugar in its products and by using natural ingredients like real fruits. This will minimize
the company’s weaknesses and threats related to: customers moving to healthy alternatives
and indirect competition from the companies in this health drink sector.
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Introduction of Management
To what extent and why your teamwork performance of this group presentation was
effective?
The teamwork performance was effective because of the planned approach followed to
deliver this presentation and the efficient implementation of this approach. First, we decided
the overall outline for the presentation and then divided the sub parts among members. We
also had group meetings to conduct proper discussions among team-members. In these
meetings we used to listen to the viewpoints of other members and used to provide
constructive feedback to each other. This helped us in increasing our knowledge about
various management topics and company’s business. We carried out a detailed research of the
company which helped us in making a self-explanatory and informative power point
presentation and at the end, resulted in a confident group presentation.
How could you improve your teamwork further?
We can improve the teamwork further by doing proper time management. We had not set the
proper deadlines for individual members and that created some inefficiency. Next time we
can make a proper schedule for the sub parts of the presentation so that we do not miss the
important management theories and their effects like how the value chain of Coca-cola
justifies its strengths and weaknesses. Also, we can establish some team rules to increase the
group productivity for example, no use of mobiles in group meetings.
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Introduction of Management
References:
Boddy, D. (2016). Management : An Introduction. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
MaRS. (2019). Industry Analysis | Porter’s Five Forces | Competition. [online] Available 16
April 2019: https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/industry-analysis-and-competition-using-
porters-five-forces/
Dudovskiy, J. (2015). Coca Cola Value Chain analysis. [online] Available 16 April 2019:
https://research-methodology.net/coca-cola-value-chain-analysis/
Sammut-Bonnici, T. and Galea, D. (2015). PEST analysis. Wiley Encyclopedia of
Management. United States: John Wiley & Sons.
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