Comprehensive Report on Gatorade's Business Management and Operations

This report delves into the business management and operational strategies of Gatorade, a leading sports beverage company. It examines key business functions such as marketing, finance, and manufacturing, highlighting their roles in ensuring smooth operations and sustained productivity. The report explores the elements of the operation process, including strategy, management accounting, quality management, and information technology, and how these contribute to value creation. It analyzes the transformation process within Gatorade, focusing on how raw materials are converted into valuable products, and details resourcing, product service delivery, capacity management, and quality management strategies. The report also includes a reflection on the learning experience gained from conducting the project, emphasizing the research process, analytical skills, and personal growth achieved through the assignment.

Foundations of Business
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
For any business organisation to be able to successfully operate in its operational
industries and gain a sustained competitive advantage against its perceived rivals within the
business environment, the business organisation is required to be effectively managed, so that the
various different operations and functions of the business organisation can operate cohesively in
a smooth manner, allowing for the business’s sustained productivity and profit margins (Anand
and Gray, 2017). This report assesses the management operations of Gatorade, which is a
business organisation that specialises in the production of sports themed beverages and
additional food products. The main signature products of Gatorade relate to their energy and
sports drinks. Gatorade was founded in 1965 and currently operates from its headquarters in
USA. Gatorade is owned by PepsiCo and conducts its operations in over 80 different countries
around the world in order to effectively service the needs and demands of their customers.
Gatorade is looking to manufacture and introduce to the global markets, a newly developed
health drink.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
Business Functions of Gatorade:
The business functions of Gatorade include diverse operational processes and areas all of
which are required for the smooth and productive operations of Gatorade in the beverage
industry of UK. The business function of Gatorade includes marketing, finance, manufacturing,
supply chain, storage and warehousing, distribution, management etc. Marketing business
functions of Gatorade are responsible to the promotion and advertisement of its products in the
global markets, manufacturing business function is responsible for transforming the procured
raw materials into goods and products that are useful and valuable to the consumers, finance
business function is responsible for allocating financial resources to the different business
function and overseeing the financial aspects of the business organisation etc. (Piran and et.al.,

2016). All these diverse business functions are essential for the business organisation’s
successful operations within the global beverage industry, with all the diverse business functions
of Gatorade required to effectively communicate and cooperate with each other in a cohesive
manner through which the business can conduct its operations in a smooth manner.
Elements of the Operation Process:
Operations pertains to all the activities conducted by a business organisation such as
Gatorade to create value. This includes resourcing of raw materials, production of goods and
services and the distribution of manufactured goods to consumers. There following are the main
elements of the operations process at Gatorade:
 Strategy and Planning: These relate to the capital investments required by the business
organisation to support its business growth and sustain profit margins in the consumer
markets. Management Accounting: This relates to the process of measuring operations within
Gatorade, implementing alternative and improved strategies and making the
measurements again in order to improve the operations of Gatorade. Quality Management: This relates to controlling and managing the overall quality and
standards of the manufactured goods and products of Gatorade so that these conform to
expectations and specifications. Information Technology: These involve systems used to automate and measure
operations within Gatorade through the use of information technology. Business Processes: These include the day to day business processes of Gatorade that
create value for both customers and the business organisation (Terwiesch and et.al.,
2019).
 Performance Management: This relates to managing the performance of the various
employees of Gatorade, in order to encourage them to operate towards expected optimum
standards.
Transformation Process:
Transformation process relates to the business processes and activities within Gatorade
that takes one or more inputs and transforms this input by adding value to the input, creating an

output that is increasingly valuable when compared to the input that is transformed. Gatorade
takes as its input the various raw materials that are required to manufacture its newly developed
health drink and transforms such raw materials to create their newly developed health drink, thus
adding value to their inputs and creating health drinks that are highly useful and valuable to the
consumers of the global beverage industry (Hamiru and Umanailo, 2019). Inputs for the
transformation process can be various types such as labour, equipment, buildings, information,
land, capital, customers, raw materials etc., The transformation process can be categorised in the
following different types:
 Service: Giving value to customers by providing them with required services, example
hospitals.
 Manufacture: Creating goods and products that are valuable to the consumer, example
Gatorade.
 Transport: Providing value by moving customers or goods or materials, example taxi
service.
 Supply: Providing value by changing the ownership of the goods, example retailing.
The transformation process within Gatorade includes the following steps:
 Changing the characteristics of raw materials.
 Changing the location of raw materials.
 Channing the ownership of materials.
 Changing the form or purpose of materials or information.
 Changing the psychological or physiological state of the customers.
Resourcing:
Resourcing relates to the strategic business process through which a business
organisation such as Gatorade procures all the required and essential organisational resources
related to financial resources, human resources, technological resources or raw materials that are
required to conduct the various operations and functions of the business organisation in an
effective and productive manner. For the manufacturing and introduction of their newly
developed health drinks into the global beverage markets, Gatorade is required to effectively
procure all the required organisational resources that may be required for this specific business

operation (Boscari and et.al., 2018). The most imperative resource that Gatorade is required to
procure from the external environments relates to the raw materials and products such as water,
corn syrup, sugar etc., that are required to manufacture the newly developed health drink of
Gatorade. These raw materials are procured by Gatorade through the various suppliers that
operate in the beverage industry. In addition, Gatorade is also required to resource the
technological solutions and equipment which would allow for the mass manufacturing of the
newly developed health drink and also procure the financial resources required for such
technological solutions.
Product Service Delivery:
After the transformation process within Gatorade is completed and a valuable new
product has been created such as the newly developed health drink that Gatorade wishes to
introduce into the global markets, Gatorade can focus on the product service delivery operations
of the business organisation through which the newly developed health drink of Gatorade will be
distributed to the customers in the consumer markets of UK. The newly developed health drinks
of Gatorade are required to be introduced to the global markets. This requires the product service
delivery strategies of Gatorade to place focus on the transportation and distribution operations
for the delivery of their newly created health drinks to the global customers. Gatorade can
transport their health drinks to various countries using land, water and air transportation
methods, based on the financial and operational capability of the business organisation
(Karuppan, Waldrum and Dunlap, 2016). When transported to preferred destinations, the
business is required to pick up the transportation and distribute it to the various vendors,
retailers, salesmen and wholesalers who are able to effectively deliver the newly created health
drinks of Gatorade to the customers in the consumer markets, in order to effectively satisfy their
needs and requirements and increase the overall productivity and profit margins for Gatorade.
Managing Capacity:
Managing capacity within a business organisation such as Gatorade relates to the act of
ensuring that the business organisation is able to maximise its operational processes and
activities at all times so that the business is able to achieve the optimum standards of productivity
by creating maximum capacity of products it is capable of manufacturing within a set period of

time. Managing the capacity within Gatorade is of immense importance as through capacity
management the business organisation is able to conduct is operations towards optimum
standards of performance and efficiency, through which the business organisation is able to
achieve optimum levels of productivity and financial profitability within the beverage industries.
Capacity management can change in a business organisation such as Gatorade for various
reasons such as industry changes, external forces, trends, seasonal demands, changes in
manufactured goods or raw materials etc. (Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis and Schönberger, 2017). For
the newly developed health drinks line of products at Gatorade to be successful, the business
organisation is required to effectively manage capacity of the health drink’s production to meet
standards. Management tools that are used by Gatorade to manage capacity within the
organisation relate to performance monitoring, workload stacking, simulation modelling,
analytical modelling etc.
Managing Quality:
Managing quality within a business organisation relates to the set of processes and
activities through which the business is able to achieve or maintain a set desired level or quality
of excellence in relation to their manufactured goods and products. Managing quality includes
various operational processes such as determining the quality policy within business, developing
and implementing quality planning and assurance, controlling the implemented quality and
improving on the desired quality of the manufactured product. Managing the quality of the goods
and products manufactured by Gatorade is of immense importance and significance to the overall
success of the business organisation because only through effective quality management can
Gatorade ensure that all their manufactured goods, such as the newly developed health drinks,
are up to expected specifications and are able to satisfy the needs and requirements of their
customers in addition to providing value to them. Management tools that can be used by
Gatorade to effectively manage the quality of their manufactured goods and products include the
total quality management tool, Six Sigma tool, DMAIC tool etc.
PART 2
In my opinion, writing this report has been an immensely positive learning experience for
me that has resulted in my personal and professional growth and development significantly.

When I was first tasked with completing this project by my teachers, I was extremely hesitant
and nervous as I had no previous experience of having completed a project such scope and
magnitude, but on advice from my superiors and teachers, I grew confident in my ability to
undertake such a project by myself. For conducting the project to optimum standards I consulted
various research publications, journals and online sources through the ICT devices in order to
procure valid, reliable, relevant and appropriate data and research for the purposes of the report
so that I would be able to complete the report up to optimum standards (Markkanen and et.al.,
2020). Though this was a difficult task for me at first, as I had not conducted research for such
scoped project before, through the help of my superiors who guided me as to the sources that I
can consider for procuring relevant required research for this project, I was able to effectively
gather all the required data and research for the purposes of completing the project. After all the
required research had been procured from diverse sources, I applied by analytical and problem
solving skills to the procured research in order to come to relevant and required conclusions of
the project.
When I was initially assigned this project by my teachers I felt extremely nervous and
hesitant as I had absolutely no inclination of how to complete a project of such scope and
magnitude, having never completed a project like this ever in the past. I also felt immensely
nervous based on the amount of research and data that the project required as I also had never
conducted thorough research by myself in the past. Though this made me feel discouraged to
take on the project, with help and assurance from my superiors and teachers relating to the
project, my confidence grew proportionally as I felt that with some help, I would definitely be
able to complete the project within the dedicated deadline limit. While completing the project, I
felt encouraged to continue despite the hurdles and challenges that I faced while completing the
project, particularly pertaining to the research phase of the project (Sekarwinahyu and et.al.,
2018). As I made progress towards the desired outcomes of the project, I felt absolute jubilation
and excitement and when the required project was completed within the prescribed deadline by
me, I felt relieved and confident in my own abilities to undertake all future projects towards in a
successful manner.
During completion of the project, there were various stages which were good for me and
some stages that presented issues and challenges towards the completion of the project within the

specified deadline restrictions. I felt that the researching phase of the project was good for me as
I faced little issues and challenges while collecting research, as I was able to effectively procure
and gather all the required research and data for the purposes of the project through various
research publications, journals and online sources without much trouble. I also found the
analytical and problem solving phase of the project to be good, as I was able to effectively
analyse and process all the procured research and data to come to valid, reliable and desired
conclusions for the project. On the other hand, I found writing part of the report to be immensely
challenging for me, as English happens to be my second language and presented challenges to
me while writing the report to optimum standards (Tawanwongsri and Phenwan, 2019). I also
found completing the project within the set prescribed deadline restriction to be quite challenging
as I was just barely able to complete the project on the last date of the deadline, with this
challenge not presenting me with any additional time to make revisions to the project in order to
improve its overall quality.
On personal analysis, I think that my researching skills are quite developed and
sufficiently adequate based on the evidence that I was able to effectively consult various research
publications, journals and online sources through both libraries and online ICT devices in order
to gather the research and data required for the project. I feel that my familiarity and competency
with the use of ICT devices was instrumental for me being able to effectively gather all the
required data and research for the purposes of the project. I also feel that my problem solving and
analytical skills are also adequate and sufficiently developed as I was able to effectively analyse
and process all the gathered research and data, towards coming to relevant, reliable and valid
conclusions that the project required. Though I was tasked to complete this project on my own, I
did consult my superiors for some help relating to the sources that I would need to consider for
completing the project, which also showcases that my team working skills are also developed
(Tanaka, Okamoto and Koide, 2018). On the other hand, I found my communication skills
particularly relating to the English language to be inadequate and underdeveloped as writing the
report presented various challenges to be in relation to my unfamiliarity with the English
language and inexperience with the English vocabulary. I also found my time management skills
to be below standards and underdeveloped as I was just barely able to complete the project
within the prescribed deadline duration, leaving myself absolutely no time to improve the project
by revising it.

In my opinion, improving and enhancing my underdeveloped and inadequate
communication and time management skills would result in my overall personal and professional
development and allow for me to be able to conduct all of my future projects and assignments in
an increasingly productive and successful manner than was possible for me in this project.
Enhancing my communication skills in English would allow for me to effectively address the
issues and challenges that I faced while completing this project making all future professional
endeavours more productive and successful (Dhaliwal, Singh and Singh, 2018). Improving upon
my inadequate time management skills would also result in my personal and professional
development as this would allow for me to make the best and optimum use of my limited time
resources in order to increase my overall productivity. Improving my inadequate time
management skills would also allow for me to make best use of my time, so that I can complete
future projects in a better manner, while leaving myself with sufficient time to make revisions
and improve the overall quality of the project, something which was not possible for me in the
past project.
In order to effectively improve and enhance my communication, time management skills,
which would effectively result in my own personal and professional growth and development, I
have created a dedicated personal development plan that details the strategies that I would need
to follow in the future in order to grow and develop my currently inadequate, underdeveloped
communication and time management skills. The personal development plan also includes the
resources that I would require for improving upon my communication and time management
skills and the time duration for the improvement process.
Development
Objectives
Strategies to Improve Skills Resources
Required
Time
Duration
Communication
Skills
I can improve upon my incompetent communication
skills in English by making a daily habit out of
reading English newspapers, novels, magazines etc.,
which would allow for me to gain experience with
the English language and make me familiar with the
English vocabulary. I can also take coaching classes
in English taught by professionals.
English
magazines,
novels,
newspapers,
dictionaries,
thesauruses,
coaching
classes etc.,
3 to 4
months.

Time
Management
Skills
I can improve upon my underdeveloped time
management skills by creating dedicated time sheets,
time schedules etc., to adhere to. I can keep a tract of
my timing restrictions of the schedule and assess the
operations in which I was not able to effectively
manage my limited timing resource in order to
improve in the future.
Time sheets,
schedules,
clock etc.,
2 to 3
months.
CONCLUSION
Through this report, it is effectively concluded that competent and effective management
operations are of immense significance for the successful productive operations of any business
organisation such as Gatorade. This report analyses the various business functions of Gatorade
placing increased focus on the operations management within the business organisation. The
report assesses the elements of the operations process, transformation process, resourcing,
product service delivery, managing capacity and managing quality aspects within Gatorade. The
report also evaluates the various management tools that might be used at Gatorade. Further the
report also provides a personal reflection of the learning experience of writing this report using
the Gibbs reflection model and creates a dedicated personal development plan that addresses the
skill inadequacies and incompetency of the individual.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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professionalism and empathy. Indian J Med Ethics. 3. pp.9-15.
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67).
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management. A decision-oriented introduction to the creation of value. 2.
Karuppan, C.M., Waldrum, M.R. and Dunlap, N.E., 2016. Operations Management in
Healthcare: Strategy and Practice. Springer Publishing Company.
Markkanen, P. and et.al., 2020. A reflective cycle: Understanding challenging situations in a
school setting. Educational Research. 62(1). pp.46-62.
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production and operations management (1999 to 2013). The International Journal of
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Sekarwinahyu, M. and et.al., 2018. Development of problem based learning for online tutorial
program in plant development using Gibbs' reflective cycle and e-portfolio to enhance
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Tanaka, M., Okamoto, R. and Koide, K., 2018. Relationship between Reflective Practice Skills
and Volume of Writing in a Reflective Journal. Health. 10(3). pp.283-288.
Tawanwongsri, W. and Phenwan, T., 2019. Reflective and feedback performances on Thai
medical students’ patient history-taking skills. BMC medical education. 19(1). p.141.
Terwiesch, C. and et.al., 2019. A review of empirical operations management over the last two
decades. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management.