A Leader Of Coca Cola Company

A brief introduction to the company. Everyone could wish to work with such an organization is Coca-Cola. Coca cola has the most expensive brand name internationally and it is one of the most prominent companies all over the world having an excellent opportunity to stand among the different brands in all proportions in the terms of business act. Though, over the last decade, the firm has fought back to attain its financial objectives and has been allied with a number of ethical crises. It is among the one of the huge beverage companies universally and worldwide and is known for marketing the four of the world’s largest soft drinks that is, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. Coca Cola also initiated to sell some other brands which comprise of, Minute Maid, Dasani bottled water and, PowerAde. The coca cola company has one of the largest distribution networks internationally and globally, which makes possible for the company to serve its customers in more than 200 countries of the world. Coca-Cola has estimation that more than 1 billion of their beverages are consumed on daily basis approximately. Coca-Cola and its opponent, PepsiCo, have been in long fights on the recognition of the same products or we can say the substitution products commonly we can regard as the cold cola wars in USA but Coca cola having additional market potential make it possible to avail the opportunities and just became the king of the global soft drink industry. (Coca-Cola strategic management)

The difference between a manager and a leader: an important phenomenon to understand

It is very necessary to understand the difference between a manager and a leader. Managing is about efficiency and leading is about effectiveness. Leadership is about innovating and initiating. Management is about how a work is done while the leading is the counterpart to it; leading is about what should be done and why it should be done. Management deals with the system and procedures of while leading has to do something with the people and their trust. Management is about copying, about managing the status quo. Leadership is imaginative, adaptive, and nimble. Leadership is about the expanded vision and not about just focusing on the main bottom line. Instead a leader is the one who has to ability to pursue a vision that could lead people to something new and innovative and leader has the quality to make that vision a reality by taking the actions. Leaders inspire people and leader empowers the people to think new and do something extra ordinary. It is a very right quote about differentiating the manager and the leader I happened to read it somewhere that: A manager is the one who do the things rightly while the leader is the one who do the right thing (Johnson, The Difference Between a Leader and a Manager)

The basic characteristics of strategic leader of our company are:

Our leader rapidly and cleverly comprehends the complex situations and forecasts all the possible solutions to save the organization from being in to hot water, before the situation worsens. He creates the opportunities to minimize the effects of the situation. He defines the long range strategies to align the shot tem and long terms goals to be aligned with the vision and mission of the organization. He identifies, explores and exploits the new opportunities in the environment for his organizations and devises new ways to do the beneficial things. He can proactively plan to make parallel arrangements and settlements between different stakeholders of the organization, builds the capabilities and mobilizes the resources to achieve difficult and complex objectives. He can foresee the talented and valuable employees in the organization and mends the ways to attract, retain, develop that talent and makes sure that the best people stay with the organization. He builds the road towards the goal achievement by creating a passion for the future and creates the commitment in all concerned to make the future achievable and bright. He has the capability to think in the broadest perspectives and beyond the local limitations. He keeps abreast with the latest developments and integrates the information from all resources to develop a well thought, diverse perspective that can be used to maximize the performance of the organization. He knows well that change is the only constant and changes are for good. He creates a flexible environment that has the capability to accept and institutionalize the change. He makes courageous decisions that ensure the shareholders’ value and interest.

The leaders of our organization are fully devoted towards their work and they actually contribute in all directions or can they examine their capabilities, identify their strengths and weaknesses and ensure that there are people in the organization to fill in for their weaknesses and create the appropriate organizational balance. The greatest example of the people working within the organization who has potential to put a balance in the organization while identifying their opportunities yet not forgetting their potential ethics of right and wrong was when an employee of COCA COLA was being arrested by FBI for selling the most secret information to the PEPSICO and his this action was reported and identified by the COCA COLA’s executive administrative assistant Joya Williams, who is the global brand director of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, she had some idea about the information which were describes and explained by that employee named “Dirk”. Employees should ‘be held responsible for protecting intellectual property and this breach of confidence by a Coca-Cola employee was a serious ethical issue. And yet company recovered from its crises under the great leadership even when the company was going through catastrophic circumstances. Which included many issues for the company such as: breach of the trust by the employee, competition with PepsiCo, contamination issue in which some children got sick after consuming the products of COCA COLA, the trouble with the distributors and unions etc. beside all these facts the leaders of the company never stopped trying and believing that the company could go at the top and they yet put their full effort towards it and the company also fulfilled it social responsibility all the time. Coca-Cola has made local education and community development programs a top precedence for its philanthropic programs. The company is practical on local issues, such as HIV / AIDS in Africa, and has amalgamated with UNAIDS and other NGO’s to put into place significant initiatives and programs to help fight the menace of the HIV / AIDS outbreak. Coca-Cola also offers funding to various colleges and universities in more than half of the United States, as well as several international grants. Additionally Coca-Cola provides scholarships to more than 170 colleges, and this number is probable to increase to 287 in the next coming years. The company recognizes its responsibilities internationally and continues to take action to sustain this responsibility, such as taking steps not to damage the environment while obtaining goods and setting up facilities.

In spite of Coca-Cola’s troubles, customers surveyed after the European contagion indicated they felt that Coca-Cola would still perform in the approved manner during times of crises. The company also ranked third globally in a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of most-respected companies. In the time of crises when other companies were set forth to troubles and facing the problems such as the large companies, including Colgate, Palmolive, P&G etc the coca cola however keep its strong ranking in the market while the rakings of the other companies fell surprisingly. And this all happened just because of the strategic leadership in true means. Good strategic leaders can take the company out of the crisis and could not let down the morale of their people and takes the company through the harsh times like a skilled sailor.

The motivational theories and the leaders:

Talking about the morale we have to talk about the motivation techniques about the company which we think are the important factor for the employees and staff working at every level of the company. There are different types of the motivation theories among which some are the Herzberg’s hygiene theory which is related to the hygiene and the working conditions of the workplace and it is related to the transformational leadership style, there are two leadership styles related to the motivation of the employees the transactional and the transformational and to understand their difference is really important, the transactional leadership as seen from the name is the one in which the leader essentially motivates subordinates by exchanging rewards for performance. And in the transformational leadership the leader goes beyond just the daily activities and work performances and in fact builds such strategies for his subordinates and the company to take them to a new horizon of the success. Transformational leadership focuses on team-building, inspiration and teamwork with employees at diverse levels of an organization to achieve change for the enhancement. Transformational leaders set goals and incentives to push their assistants to higher performance levels, while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth for each employee. The other motivational theories are the Maslow’s hierarchy and the ERG theory of motivation. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is related to the both transactional and the transformational leadership the need of the shelter, and money is a transactional leader’s concern to provide the employees with the incentive which is actually related to their personal need. While the self esteem can be related to the transformational leadership in which an employee can be put forward to the incentive of a higher position. The next theory we are discussing is the ERG theory of motivation which was presented by the Clayton Alderfer a modified version of the Maslow’s theory and a combination of both the leadership styles and the Motivation Theory which is used within our organization. The productivity in the coca cola is matchless nowadays in consideration to any other large company. Three important essentials make up Aldermen’s ERG theory. The very first part of the ERG theory is about the need for existence, the need for existence within the company, it means the recognition, the next part is about the need of relatedness in the company and the last part is about the necessary growth within the company needed by any employee.

The need for existence within the company could have a physiological effect on the staff and the employees additionally it could be the surrounding and the well being of the organization in order to have a synchronization within the company the staff and the employees must have the sense of equality and loyalty in their current positions they are working at and must have some chance of growth within the company otherwise they will lose interest. Because employees have the desire to be satisfied in the company they are working and for this purpose and fulfilling this need COCA COLA company is running many different and diverse programs such as the cultural awareness programs and the employee forms etc these forums comprise of such employees who have same interest and backgrounds the people and the employees in these forums give both the personal and professional growth to each other communally. The Coca-Cola Company on a daily basis motivates their employees with inducements and professional opportunities.

The company in order to reach the younger generation is using the incentive means of which the great example is in USA, to satisfy and pleas the American Youth coca cola company has started their night club based programs these programs provide the club owners with the customized lounge furniture and a lot of the live entertainment. (Motivational Process at Coca-Cola) The company differentiates financial and non-financial incentives. The financial incentives comprise rewards for pioneering solutions, plunders for employees of the quarter based on their attainments, annual and quarterly incentives for the apprehension of goals. Along with Coca-Cola’s very influential non-financial motivational incentives there are personal development, the chance to attain full potential, and the chance to be promoted. The company is very pompous of cheering internal promotions, education, recognitions, achievements, challenges and responsibility, while also providing supplementary reimbursements for the employees. (Organizational culture and people development)

Leadership leads to the higher organizational culture:

Coming towards the organizational culture practiced in the company there are three basic levels of the organizational culture the surface level which considers all the physical attributes of the culture practiced and followed within a company such as the dress code, environment, symbols, languages and any such visible products created by the company. The next one is the espoused values that are related to the leadership values, such as goals, strategies etc, and the last and the third one is the basic assumptions the beliefs and the conscious and the unconscious thoughts necessary to the working of the organization such as the timings of the female and male workers, etc. The comprehensive culture is defined by the seven core values: leadership, passion, integrity, teamwork, quality, diversity, and accountability. The Coca-Cola Company’s main purpose is to enthuse moments of sanguinity; to create value and make a difference. The diversity place of work policy includes programs to attract, keep, and grow diverse aptitude; proffer sustainable systems for the employees having the diverse backgrounds; and educate all associates so that the skills to attain sustainable growth can be mastered. The hard work is to make assured comprehensive and just work environment for all associates, all of whom experience diversity training on a usual basis. The current situation leads to enhanced understanding of company’s contemporaries, suppliers, customers, stakeholders, and eventually, to superior achievement in the marketplace

Conclusion:

The crux of good strategic leadership is not simple enough. It is to set a visionary vision, and determine the long range and short range objectives, built the capabilities and environment for strategic leadership, craft a sound strategy plan, implement it to the fullest and adjust it as needed. Exerting a take charge leadership, being a spark plug, ramrod-ding things through, and getting things done by other by coaching others to do them is difficult task. Moreover a strategic leader has many different roles to play: visionary, chief entrepreneur and strategist, chief administrator and strategy implementer, culture builder, resources acquirer and allocator, capability builder and integrator, coach, crises manager, taskmaster, spokesperson, negotiator, motivator, arbitrator, consensus builder, policy maker, policy enforcer, mentor, and head cheerleader.

For the most part, most changes have to be from top to down and vision driven. Leading changes has to start with diagnosing the situation and then to decide which of the several paths should be the best strategy. the leaders are born not made and there is a lot of difference between a manager and the leader, as we discussed and it is truly a leader a strategic leader who could take the company to such a height and even could take the company out of the crises, even if it is hurting the position of the company in the global market, a good leader is the one which could be able to take the company out of the problems and manage the company’s rating and stability in the market. As we have seen in our company the COCA COLA company. The leader of the company, not only fulfilling its social responsibility and the social ethics but on the other hand has established the standards for the culture of the organization which are followed all over the company internationally; it is all about how one is leading the company. A leader can lead and manage both at the same time, but a manager could not lead he can only manage.