Workplace Practices of Carlsberg Group: A Strategic Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the workplace practices within the Carlsberg Group, a global beer manufacturer. It begins by exploring the strategic HR priorities pursued by the company, including the development of a common group culture, employee capabilities, and profitability. The report then delves into the 'Winning Behaviours' strategy, its rationale, and alignment with HR practices. It examines the five core behavioral concepts of the strategy and how they are implemented. The report also discusses the difficulties faced during strategy implementation, such as translation challenges and market-specific barriers. Finally, it analyzes the potential for the 'Winning Behaviours' strategy to be adapted and implemented within the Australian context, suggesting training and HRM practices tailored to local needs and interests. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and offering recommendations for future improvements in workplace practices.

Running head: WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
Workplace Practices of Carlsberg Group
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion....................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Strategic HR priorities pursued by Carlsberg........................................................................2
2.2 Rationale for implementing the ‘Winning Behaviours’ strategy...........................................3
2.3 Align of Carlsberg's 'Winning Behaviours' strategy with HR Practices................................5
2.4 Difficulties faced by Carlsberg during strategy implementation...........................................6
2.5 Analysis of 'Winning Behaviours' strategy to work in the Australian context......................7
3. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................12

2WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
1. Introduction
The Carlsberg group is one of the recognised beer brand, which is based on Copenhagen
in Denmark. The company was primarily founded in the year 1847. The company has owned
more than 41,000 people. The company is also responsible for selling more than 500 different
kinds of beer brands. With the popularity of the beer brand within the region of Denmark, they
have highly become famous in the region of Malawi in the year 1968 (Hatch & Schultz, 2017).
With the popularity of the various products, they have has improved the quality of their beer
brands. With the high rise of competition in the global market, the company has also expanded
its services in the broad areas of the beer sector.
The discussion in this report discusses the different HR practices that were pursued by
Carlsberg in making the bringing innovativeness in their services and making themselves
innovative. This kind of thinking and bringing innovativeness in their services would be highly
helpful as the company would be able to lead themselves in the competitive market (Niero et al.,
2017). The impact over the implementation of the ‘Winning Behaviour' strategy has also been
discussed within the report. The report also discusses the use of CSR strategies that would be
implemented within the business in order to bring out the best kind of possible outcomes for the
business.
2. Discussion
2.1 Strategic HR priorities pursued by Carlsberg
The Carlsberg group had launched a new process based on the development of their
strategy. In order to bring innovativeness within their workplace culture, the company had also
launched different concepts. These concepts were known as ‘Must-Win Battles’ that had

3WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
included the development of common culture within the group of the workplace (Mosca &
Civera, 2017). The different HR priorities that were launched by Carlsberg had included the
development of culture within the workplace based on growing the brand name. The
development of the capabilities of the employees and their capacities were also defined. The
drive towards the profitability of the business was also considered as another aspect that was
thought within the HR prospects. The primary focus of the company was to take the leading
position in the global marketplace.
The primary strategy for the business of Carlsberg was to expand to other countries and
thus setting up their breweries and manufacturing plants based on focusing over the local market
of any particular country (Isaksson, Kiessling & Harvey, 2014). The other forms of culture that
were possessed by Carlsberg was to engage widely with the people in the society and thus
winning the hearts of customers. The other intention of the company was that the behaviour
patterns of the various practices should greatly align with the global business strategy. In order to
define the priorities of the company, they would represent the specific local needs, constraints
and interests. The HR practices that were defined by the company would be more focused
towards an end-to-end perspective of the business based within their value chain (Hatch, Schultz
& Skov, 2015). The different kind of perspectives that were outlined with the HR priorities
would mostly help the company in gaining several kinds of benefits to grow in the competitive
market.
2.2 Rationale for implementing the ‘Winning Behaviours’ strategy
In the year 2009, the senior staff within the organisation who were hired from various
new companies and some existing subsidiaries were highly involved in developing some high-
quality products based on the ‘winning behaviour' concept (Brusendorff, 2014). The concept of

4WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
‘winning behaviour' that was defined by the industry owners of Carlsberg mainly focused on the
use of five behavioural concepts. These concepts were defined as:
1. Together we are stronger – With the implication of the concept, it can be described
that a proper kind of collaboration between the teams would be highly crucial for the
development of better strategies. This would highly effect the future growth and prove benefits
towards the business.
2. We want to win – A proper kind of strategy would help the employees in implanting
the best procedure within the preparation of beer. Producing the high quality of beer would help
the company to lead themselves in the competitive market.
3. Our customers and consumers are at the heart of every decision we make –
Listening to the feedback gained from customers and implementing the best kind of measures
could be a best way to satisfy them. This would in turn help them to attract more customers that
would again lead to them to the top position in the global market.
4. We are each empowered to make a difference – Producing innovation within the
market would help the company in differentiating themselves from the other brands. Thinking of
innovative strategies would also be a major factor.
5. We are engaged with society – Listening to the need for changes would be helpful in
engaging with the culture of the society. This would help them in mixing with the society and
thus produce before them a high quality product.
With the bringing of such kind of concept within the prospects of the company, it was
considered to bring a certain form of change within the organisational prospects and thus ensure
the success rate of the company. The primary intention with the bringing of such kind of

5WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
innovative concept is that behavioural patterns of the employees would be aligning with the
global business strategy of the company (Bjørn-Andersen & Raymond, 2014). This kind of
innovativeness within the business concept would be greatly helpful for the company to integrate
with the HRM practices and also ensure the productivity of the company in the future. The
concept would be further aligned with the various kind of materials that includes posters,
brochures and entries that would be based on the website of the company.
With the implication of the concept within the business, there would many kinds of
significant efforts that would be shared with the senior management teams that are spread all
across the world (Hare et al., 2018). They would thus conduct different seminars and workshops
in order to influence the employees based on the understanding of the motives of the company
and thus helping them to reach to a global market position.
2.3 Align of Carlsberg's 'Winning Behaviours' strategy with HR Practices
With the aligning of the ‘Winning Behaviours’ concept with the HR practices
implemented by the industry of Carlsberg, there are some practices that would be focused upon.
These include:
1. Equity and diversity – Based on focusing over the Carlsberg group, it can be
discussed that the company should deeply focus on the inclusion of equity and diversity within
the workplace. The HR managers should be capable of hiring efficient individuals who would be
able to mirror the organizational values and demonstrate their values and behaviours before the
customers of the company (Leleux & Van der Kaaij, 2019). The different kind of attributes based
on diversity are age, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation and physical
ability. Based on focusing over such factors, the company could be able to bring in massive
changes towards their workplace culture.

6WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
2. Workforce planning and development – Carlsberg group should analyse the
implications of a proper plan of the business among the workforce. HR managers of the company
should understand the goals of Carlsberg group based on selling their beer brands in different
countries (Osborne, 2016). They should then determine the competencies for each employee
based on winning the hearts of their customers by attaining their set goals. These managers
should also be able to assess the gaps within their present abilities and the future needs.
3. Social responsibility – The organisation has a certain social responsibility towards the
society and the regions in which they would be performing their business operations (Tørning,
Jaffari & Vatrapu, 2015). They should be able to work together and engage with the society in
order to bring in a change of culture among the people. The HR managers should carefully
understand the priorities of the customers. Based on a proper form of understanding, they should
conduct a thorough analysis over their present strategies (Søderberg, 2015). They should then
think about the steps in which they could retain their customers by continuously attracting them
with new offers on their products. Such kind of culture could be improvised within the
workplace in order to improve the social life of employees as well as customers.
4. Work-life balance – The HR managers within Carlsberg group should bring in
flexible working arrangements and innovative practices that would help the employees to enjoy
their work life culture. Different kind of practices such as part-time job schedules, daily start and
end times, job sharing and telecommuting would help employees to accomplish their work
(Vrellas & Tsiotras, 2015). These strategies would also help employees to care for their family
members and also nurture their talents.

7WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
2.4 Difficulties faced by Carlsberg during strategy implementation
With the implementation of the ‘winning behaviour’ concept within the company, there
were some challenges or difficulties that were faced by the company. The company had faced
some serious issues based on understanding the people and the local market and the ways in
which they would penetrate into the local market. One kind of difficulty includes the bulk
translation of the concept within the local languages (Vrellas & Tsiotras, 2015). The company
officials would have to link themselves to the local culture in order to understand their
behaviours and thus advertise their products.
Another challenge that has been faced by the company is to sell and promote their brands
in a Muslim country. The advertising of beer products was heavily banned and the taxes that
were imposed over the company was on a huge amount. The primary focus in the concept was
mostly welcomed within the subsidiary culture (Tørning, Jaffari & Vatrapu, 2015). This had
mostly helped the brand in the creation of credibility of Carlsberg as one of the responsible
alcohol producer company.
2.5 Analysis of 'Winning Behaviours' strategy to work in the Australian context
The ‘Winning Behaviours’ strategy had been improvised within the local firm at
Carlsberg. The strategy could be termed as FAST (‘Fast, Ambitious, Smart, Team’). This kind of
concept had been mainly been introduced for helping the people working within the company to
work in a close and collaborated manner (Hanson et al., 2016). The global business strategy that
has been implemented by Carlsberg would mainly focus on the key beer markets and thus would
help the local firms to develop their business.
Based on the understanding of the perspectives of the company, it could be recommended
that such kind of concept should be used within the Australian context. The implementation of

8WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
such kind of business concept would require an immense form of training for the employees as it
would be highly helpful for them to develop their strategies in the local market. These employees
should be taught the ways in which they could understand the concerns of the people living in a
certain region. This would help them in winning the hearts of the people and thus bring in rapid
developments of the business.
The practice of HRM within the workplace culture should be able to understand the
specific needs of the local people. The company should also be able to detect the specific
interests of the people. This would help the company in understanding the ways in which they
could help the people by bringing in such kind of products that would help them in making a
foothold over the local market and over the people. Based on bringing in such kind of initiatives
within the market, it would help in increasing the profitability of the business (Castelló, Etter &
Årup Nielsen, 2016). Understanding the constraints within the company is also defined as
another way in which they could think of strategies for improving their workplace culture.
Different constraints based on advertising of products or selling their products in other
international markets could be further mitigated based on promoting their brand culture. This
could further proceed with the help of conducting seminars and workshops and then making the
local companies understand their motives of the business.
The company should also bring in the enhancement of their work culture by improvising
the changes in terms of organizing, production and leadership skills, which would be highly
helpful for the company (Gammelgaard, 2015). With such kind of approaches, the company
would be able to provide the best kind of service to their customers and thus progress widely in
the global marketplace.

9WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
3. Conclusion
The discussion in this report focuses widely on the various kind of concept in relation to
the Carlsberg group and their implementation of strategies for the business. The research in this
discussion focuses on the various ways in which a new process of strategy development would
be developed for the business. Based on the discussed strategy for the business, it has been
concluded this culture mostly helps in improvising the culture of the brand. The company has
discussed the concept of ‘winning behaviour'. Based on the discussions over the concept, it can
be concluded that the main aim behind the implementation of the culture was to mainly align
their business strategy with the strategy of the global business. With the help of such kind of
concepts, it would help the business to engage with the senior management and other teams from
all over the world by conducting seminars and workshops. The company also discusses the
impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) based on the ‘winning behaviour' concept. This
kind of initiatives would be welcomed by the subsidiary group and they would put more focus on
the emphasis of the volunteering work. Such kind of work would also ensure the credibility for
the Carlsberg group and thus they would be able to prove themselves as a responsible alcohol
provider.

10WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
References
Bjørn-Andersen, N., & Raymond, B. (2014). The impact of IT over five decades–Towards the
Ambient Organization. Applied ergonomics, 45(2), 188-197.
Brusendorff, A. S. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study on Carlsberg.
Castelló, I., Etter, M., & Årup Nielsen, F. (2016). Strategies of legitimacy through social media:
The networked strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 53(3), 402-432.
Gammelgaard, J. (2015). Case study I Internationalization of brewery companies. International
Business Strategy: Theory and Practice, 109-113.
Hanson, D., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2016). Strategic management:
Competitiveness and globalisation. Cengage AU.
Hare, J., Beverley, K., Begum, T., Andrews, C., Whicher, A., Walters, A., & Ruff, A. (2018).
Uncovering human needs through visual research methods: Two commercial case studies.
Hatch, M. J., & Schultz, M. (2017). Toward a theory of using history authentically: Historicizing
in the Carlsberg Group. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(4), 657-697.
Hatch, M. J., Schultz, M., & Skov, A. M. (2015). Organizational identity and culture in the
context of managed change: Transformation in the Carlsberg Group, 2009–2013. Academy of
Management Discoveries, 1(1), 58-90.
Isaksson, L., Kiessling, T., & Harvey, M. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: Why
bother. Organizational Dynamics, 43(1), 64-72.

11WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
Leleux, B., & Van der Kaaij, J. (2019). Winning Sustainability Strategies: Finding Purpose,
Driving Innovation and Executing Change. Springer.
Mosca, F., & Civera, C. (2017). The evolution of CSR: An integrated approach. Symphonya.
Emerging Issues in Management, (1), 16-35.
Niero, M., Hauschild, M. Z., Hoffmeyer, S. B., & Olsen, S. I. (2017). Combining eco‐efficiency
and eco‐effectiveness for continuous loop beverage packaging systems: Lessons from the
Carlsberg circular community. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 742-753.
Osborne, S. (2016). Employee engagement and organizational profitability.
Søderberg, A. M. (2015). Recontextualising a strategic concept within a globalising company: a
case study on Carlsberg's ‘Winning Behaviours’ strategy. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 26(2), 231-257.
Tørning, K., Jaffari, Z., & Vatrapu, R. (2015, July). Current challenges in social media
management. In Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Social Media & Society(p.
14). ACM.
Vrellas, C. G., & Tsiotras, G. (2015). Quality management in the global brewing
industry. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 32(1), 42-52.

12WORKPLACE PRACTICES OF CARLSBERG GROUP
Bibliography
Brown, D., & Knudsen, J. S. (2015). Domestic institutions and market pressures as drivers of
corporate social responsibility: Company initiatives in Denmark and the UK. Political
studies, 63(1), 181-201.
Komańda, M. (2017). Brand sponsorship and social media. Coca Cola and Carlsberg illustrated
with an example of the European Football Championship 2016. Trends Economics and
Management, 11(28), 37-46.
Lasserre, P. (2017). Global strategic management. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Paukštė, E., Liutkutė, V., Štelemėkas, M., Goštautaitė Midttun, N., & Veryga, A. (2014).
Overturn of the proposed alcohol advertising ban in L ithuania. Addiction, 109(5), 711-719.