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OrderThe Coca-Cola Company was initially started in the USA but with time became a multinational beverage company. This Company is well-known for its famous product, the Coca-Cola soft drink which was invented in Columbus by John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The company was later integrated by Asa Candler after buying the Coca-Cola brand from the pharmacist in 1887. This company works as both a vendor and manufacturer of non alcoholic drinks. The Company has a decentralized organization structure as presented below:
The company is limited by such a structure since they have always wished to meet the customers’ demand and expectations. The organization is divided into two operating groups, the bottling investments and corporate department. The operating group is further divided into other smaller regional divisions. These divisions include Africa, Europe and Asia. These divisions are also divided into geographical groups. By ensuring that these smaller divisions exist, the company is able to act accordingly to issues that arise locally concerning the change in the market demand(Talent Management: From Competencies to Organizational Performance – Coca Cola, 2004). The management level at this stage is able to deal with such problems easily and in a better way more than those located at the headquarters’ offices.
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Write My PaperOther divisions like the finance, planning, strategy, marketing and the human resources departments are located within the corporate allotment of the company. In this division, decision-making is left out for people at the top of the command chain. At other times the local divisions are given the privilege to advertise the decisions made by their managers. For example, in 2002, the local governments were allowed to advertise the decision made at the corporate level of sponsoring the World Cup, despite the fact that they were not involved in the decision making (Pendergrast, 2000).
The conflict between groups of employees
The local government representatives at times have the feeling that they are not equally represented in the company’s organization structure. One of the facts behind this feeling is that these people are not involved in the decision making. This has raised heated debates between employees at the regional bases and their bosses. The regional officers have at times been forced to strike so that they can have their views being recognized or considered. I support the officials at the local government department since they are equally qualified as some of the officials working at the headquarters performing the same role. The main difference between the two is only their location; otherwise they are equally qualified and perform the same duties. A good example is the regional managers and the managing director in the company. The only difference is that these people are placed at different locations but perform related duties. This is a substantive conflict since the two groups are fighting over the result of performed actions or goals.
This kind of conflicts highly affects performance of the company in that some employees feel that they are not being equally regarded, and as a result, they lack the morale to perform the work perfectly. They may therefore end up providing a substandard work which may in return affect the company sales and its performance in general. For example, the Coca-Cola Company was highly affected by conflict that arose between two groups of employees, since it highly affected the company’s sales. Some of them resigned from their seats without any notice. Others assumed the other group views and, as a result, misunderstanding arose leading to heated debates that at times ended up resulting to wars or even to a distorted management forum. The company would be at risk at such times since there was no good communication among all its sections, thus the problems being experienced at one level were not well analyzed and looked into(Category management: Hong Kong convenience store and Swire Coca Cola, 1998). The company could also collapse at such moments. The Coca-Cola Company located in the USA was almost sabotaged due to such problems in 2003.
This argument also affected personal relationship between managers and, as a result, during meetings there was absent the sense of unity and they also could not offer themselves fully for the company’s welfare as well as participating in what they had united to discuss. Lack of unity and self motivation, as well as the aspect of feeling that another person is trying to be more superior than others, had led to some of the employees feeling unwanted and unsatisfied.
In most companies the employees are highly regarded and considered since they determine the future of the company. The Coca-Cola Company should try to ensure that they treat all employees equally and assure that cases like those reported back in 2005, where some employees were reported dead after they had been killed by others, do not occur again. Such occurrences of death could make the other employees feel threatened and they could wallop from their work. Personally I could encourage the company to help the employees to understand the need to respect other people despite what they do for living. Through this strategy the company will manage to run in a smooth manner. I would try to bring two managers to an understanding and explain to both of them the limit one can express his authority over the other. I can also try to involve all the employees in the decision making process so as to try and stop the arguments that could crop up among the employees.
