Grantham University Coca Cola Capstone

WEEK 1
The Coca Cola Company operates as a total beverage company whose products can be found in
more than 200 territories. The American Corporation offers more than 500 beverages (Linked In, 2022).
The Coca Cola Company primarily operates in the food & beverage industry, where it engages in the
manufacture of sweetened carbonated concentrates and syrup for Coca Cola, marketing and sale. The
main sources of revenue of the Company come from the sale of the Coca Cola syrup and the host of
beverages in its portfolio ranging from Dasani waters, Fanta, Sprites, Minute Maid juices, Del Valle
juices, Powerade sports drinks and so forth.
In terms of employment, the Coca Cola Company works with its bottling partners to employ
over 700,000 people, who help complement its objectives (The Coca Cola Company, 2022).
The Corporation operates through a division organizational structure in terms of its structure.
Here the Company has organized its operations structured in terms of geographical segments. These are
North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. However, it also has a
functional structure for Bottling Investment Groups and Global Ventures, non-geographic.
A look at the employment trend of the Coca Cola Company shows a fluctuation in the number of
people employed. For example, one can see the shifts in employee trends between 2007 and 2020. The
Company has had a rise in the number of employees followed by a decline and a fluctuation in the rates
(Macrotrends LLC, 2022).
While the Coca Cola Company has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the US, its operations
are spread worldwide and can be found in over 200 territories. As a global corporation, the Coca Cola
Company has faced numerous challenges ranging from product safety, channel stuffing, anticompetitiveness, pollution, racial discrimination, distributor conflicts, health concerns, intimidation of
union workers and natural resource depletion (Sawayda and Boostrum, 2014). However, the Company
has sought to address these challenges through legal settlements, setting up an ombudsperson that
investigates claims of harassment, and instituting safety measures. The Company has also been working
with the local communities to ensure that its operations support sustainability. The Company has also
responded to the health concerns by providing detailed information on the product so that their
customers can make informed choices (Sawayda, Sample and Boostrum, 2014)
A SWOT analysis of the Company shows that the Company enjoys a strong brand identity,
extensive global outreach, high valuation for the brand, and dominant market share. It has great
customer loyalty and the greatest brand association; it has made the significant acquisition and a
distribution system like no other. In terms of weaknesses, the Company faces health concerns, very
aggressive competition, particularly from Pepsi, limited product diversification in comparison, lawsuits,
packaging that are destructive to the environment and too much reliance on technology providers that
are third party (Business Strategy Hub, 2022).
For its opportunities, the Company still has room to increase its presence in developing nations,
diversify its products portfolio, make acquisitions that allow it to expand, package water, and adopt
advanced supply chain systems (Business Strategy Hub, 2022).
The Coca Cola company also faces threats that range from controversies in the usage of water,
lawsuits from pollution, economic uncertainty, and completion that is both direct and indirect. There is
also the challenge of increasing health consciousness and contamination issues (Business Strategy Hub,
2022).
The Company has been dealing with the threats and weaknesses it faces while, on the other
hand, working to exploit the strengths and opportunities at hand. For example, in response to the
growing health consciousness, the Company has sought to provide sufficient details on its products to
enable its customers to make informed choices. They have also sought to expand their products to have
products for everyone.
A look at the human resource function at the Coca Cola Company shows that they focus on
attracting and retaining knowledgeable and highly skilled employees, which enable them to maintain
leadership in the market. The organization perceives human resources as a valuable asset. It thus invests
in ensuring that all its employees feel like part of the organization and are willing to undertake their
duties effectively to achieve the organization’s mandate (G?sterici, N2012). Responsibilities in the
organization are assigned based on the job description for each position that an individual occupies. This
information is vital in the selection, performance appraisal, compensation, employee relationship and
training. Further, HR has been integrated into the organization’s management. It helps to forecast and
plan on the workforce that will be needed and the position to meet the organizational needs.
References
Business Strategy Hub (2022). Coca Cola SWOT analysis 2022 | SWOT Analysis of Coca Cola. Retrieved
from https://bstrategyhub.com/swot-analysis-of-coca-cola-2019-coca-cola-swot-analysis/
G?sterici, N. (2012). Human resource management within coca-cola. Retrieved from

Linked In (2022). The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecoca-cola-company
Macrotrends LLC (2022). CocaCola: Number of Employees 2006-2021 | KO. Retrieved from
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KO/cocacola/number-of-employees
Sawayda, J., Sample, K. and Boostrum, R. (2014) The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises.
Center for Ethical Organizational Cultures. Retrieved from
https://harbert.auburn.edu/binaries/documents/center-for-ethical-organizationalcultures/cases/coca-cola.pdf
The Coca Cola Company (2022). About The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved from https://investors.cocacolacompany.com/about
WEEK 2
The Coca-Cola Company is a brand recognized worldwide for its famed soft drink beverages,
particularly Coke. The firm’s operations heavily rely on its workforce, with more than 700,000 people
working for the firm. Worldwide (The Coca Cola Company, 2022). As such, the Company needs
significant human resource management to streamline its operations and cater to the needs of their
diverse workforce
The human resource’s function has been dramatically affected by the shifting demographics in
the workforce. As Sap (2021) indicates, Coca-Cola BIG, like other companies, has been experiencing
changes in its workforce. However, the Company is significantly different since the workforce is spread
in 39 of its plants located in 16 nations across the globe. As a result, the HR function has been forced to
change and align its operations to the current workforce. One of the ways this has been accomplished is
by digitizing the HR process.
A look at the Company shows that the enterprise’s human resource management undertakes
the planning and forecasting, which allow them to meet the HR needs of the firm. The process entails
evaluating the organization and seeking to determine the positions within the organization that need to
be filled and the approach adopted to fill them. The people function department of the organization
carries out the role of HR planning and the organization?s general strategic planning. When the
organizations have vacant positions that need to be filled, the HR managers engage the line managers
and company executives, who help plan the new hires (Chepkonga, 2021).
Further, through the planning process, the organization looks at the potential needs of the
employees and the productivity level that is expected of them as a way of prediction. The organization
thus uses planning to balance the supply and demand of employees of the organization both in the short
term and long run. The process ensures that the organization always has the correct number of
employees who possess the proper knowledge and skills and have been selected to carry out the right
job at the right cost, time and place. The process ensures that the present needs of the company as well
as their future human resource needs adequately met. Therefore, even though the Coca Cola Company
does not have well-defined HR planning, the organization always engages in the assessment of their
current staff, looks at the Company’s future employment plans, determine whether the organization is
at a deficit or surplus, looks for an alternative solution and pick the best alternative.
The Coca Cola Company has an established procedure to fill job vacancies. As Chepkonga (2021)
indicates, when the HR planning recognizes that the firm has a staff shortage, they adopt a recruitment
process that is efficient and effective so that they can ensure that Company gets the right people. The
recruitment process mainly works to ensure that the job to be filled is matched with a person with the
experience, skills, and qualifications needed. The selection process works by seeking to eliminate
unsuitable persons or candidates until the right one is left.
When seeking to recruit employees, Coca Cola follows steps that enable them to determine the
characteristics and qualities of the applicant that are not particularly captured or selected theorem a job
interview. The Company, for example, subjects the candidates to situational exercises and role-playing,
which show the way the employee reacts in various situations. They also use group exercises that tell
whether an applicant can be part of a team or not (Chepkonga, 2021).
The Company also effectively uses the internet and social networks in its effort to recruit new
employees and select Chepkonga (2021) shows that e-recruitment is a significant source of the
Company’s recruitment candidates. The Company posts advertisements on such sites based on the job
description and asks potential candidates to apply. The Company’s media department publishes its ads
based on the needs of diverse territories.
When it comes to evaluating, interviewing, and selecting potential job applicants, the Coca Cola
Company relies on the HR department. Although the Company engages in a decentralized hiring
approach, the Company has international standards used in the hiring process (Soomro, 2013). They
provide guidelines to all their operations in various delocalized locations. First, the Company relies on
data obtained from the online and manual application processes. The Big Data Bank department deals
with the issue.
Further, the Company also subjects their potential applicants to various tests which provide
information on different needs. These include aptitude tests for academic knowledge, technical tests for
work samples and behavioral tests. The tests enable the Company to have in-depth information on their
potential employee.
In general, the Company conducts five tests in total. The Job Description and Resume Examples
(2022) shows that the recruitment process for Coca Cola is laborious and has several stages. These
include the job application stage, the interview conducted via video or phone and the assessment test,
which focus on numerical reasoning and personality. Further, the process also entails being assessed at
the Assessment Center, the interview process, drug test and finally, training and orientation (Scheufele,
2017).
Coca Cola is, however, keen to fill its ranks internally. The Company does not have a preference
for engaging in external recruitment. Instead, it works on maintaining its bank of talent to meet the
needs of the Company. However, it will engage in external hiring when they need to carry out sudden
recruitments from time to time. Even in the hiring process, the Company gathers data for various
applicants in advance and selects from their talent pool. The Company has a policy that allows potential
applicants to leave their resumes on their website (Chepkonga, 2021).
In conclusion, human resources are a critical element of any organization?s success. at the Coca
Cola Company. There is a stated commitment to people and a crucial pillar in the firm’s success. The HR
process of the Company shows the efforts that the organization takes to ensure that they have a
sufficient workforce and can meet their objective and maintain the lead in the beverage industry.
References
Chepkonga, F. (2021). Human Resource Management of Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved from

Job Description and Resume Examples (2022). Coca-Cola Hiring Process: Job Application, Interview, and
Employment. Retrieved from https://jobdescriptionandresumeexamples.com/coca-cola-hiringprocess-job-application-interview-and-employment/
Sap (2021). Coca-Cola BIG Re-Defines HR Strategy To Meet Needs Of A Changing Workforce. Retrieved
from https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2021/02/24/coca-cola-big-re-defines-hr-strategy-tomeet-needs-of-a-changing-workforce/?sh=65d367a7706c
Scheufele, P. (2017). Assessment of Coca Cola HR-process regarding current trends (2017)
DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.15495.70564. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320730537_Assessment_of_Coca_Cola_HRprocess_in_regard_of_current_trends_2017
Soomro, M. T. (2013). Recruitment & selection by coca-cola co. Retrieved from

The Coca Cola Company (2022). Core Value. Retrieved from https://www.cocacolacompany.com/shared-future/people-values
WEEK 3
Newly employed staff at Coca-Cola undergo an orientation & training. This way, the company?s
recruitment team familiarizes new staff with their general work duties, as well as the company?s history,
culture, and policies. The orientation process involves watching videos, as well as lectures to help the
new employees understand the company. The requirements of each new employee?s roles are learned
through a practical learning process within the training aspect.
HR plays an important role in the company?s socialization and onboarding process. They strive to
create a partnership between new staff and managers of the company. This way, they form the basis for
an effective lasting working relationship with these new employees. The hiring supervisors are active
and engaged in enabling the effective integration of employees into the company. This starts before
new employees arrive and this goes on throughout the year. They establish steady interaction with new
employees and utilize supporting resources and tools like an onboarding checklist to create a smooth
transition. HR provides department-unique comprehensive training plans to make sure of proficiency in
organizational norms and job tasks. HR ensures that new employees are well connected with key
resources, information, as well as people in the organization and provide clear explanations coaching,
and direction.
The vision of Coca-Cola is to establish a global class organization with an operating excellence
culture to recurrently enhance customer satisfaction, consumer experience, company profitability, and
employee capability. The company?s performance management system is designed to help realize this. It
involves four important objectives during a yearly business cycle. It begins with a yearly performance
review where perforce is compared to goals already set and top accomplishments are rewarded.
Planning the current year’s performance goals is the second stage of the performance management
system of the company. Thirdly, pay is linked to perforce whereby top performers are recognized.
Finally, there is a midterm review where results are reviewed: feedback is also reviewed, and coaching
takes place.
Coca-Cola?s performance management system reflects the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary
to implement the strategic goals of an organization. First, it involves the setting of clear goals, as well as
the definition of variables. Second, it involves the determination of the roles, responsibilities, as well as
relationships by coming up with some roadmap to achieve the set goals. I also include delegation of
work and execution of the plan, monitoring of performance and progress, and the provision of
continued support. It also involves taking corrective actions through reviews and adjustments. These
are necessary aspects in the implementation of strategic goals in Coca-Cola, which other organizations
can also adopt.
Coca-Cola?s performance appraisal program is majorly based on identifying good performers and
rewarding them to recognize their efforts while warning poor performers to enhance their performance,
however, there are other factors that influence appraisal outcomes other than performance. These
include training where which helps employees improve in their tasks. This helps the company identify
talented employees who should be prepared for leadership and other specific tasks. Coca-Cola practices
two-way communication where information is communicated both from the bottom up and up to the
bottom. This creates an environment where all forms of improvement suggestions are made to enhance
performance appraisal results in the organization. The Coca-Cola culture encourages sharing and
connecting, as well as integrity and excellence. These factors are important in enhancing the
performance appraisal outcomes.
Coca-Cola analyses all job positions in the organization, which in turn helps analyze resources and
come up with sound strategies to accomplish the strategic objectives and business goals. Through job
analyses, the company is able to prepare job descriptions, as job specifications, something that the right
workforce quality is employed. It as well helps the company in employee training and compensation as it
identifies compensable job factors, skill levels, required education levels, responsibilities, and work
environments. In Coca-Cola, job analyses form the basis for the selection process for every position in
the organization hence
Coca-Cola?s career planning program has three main objectives: to identify employees? career
objectives in conjunction with their general aspirations, identify staff capabilities along with their
delegated duties, and constant career opportunities analysis. The excellent effectiveness of the program
is fueled by the fact that it is tied to the organization?s mission and vision. Identification of career
objectives in the company is a way to nurture employees? skills and matches with the organization?s
vision to provide employees with a conducive environment for their functioning. Continued
opportunities? analyses match with the company?s mission to refresh the world. The program is very
effective, and this can be measured through changes in performance indexes: enhanced employee
morale, enhanced performance ratings, low turnover rates, increased promotions from within the
company, low rate of absenteeism, and much more.
To enhance their knowledge and grow their career, employees need to engage with their
trainers. Coca-Cola maintains a mutual co-existence between employees the company?s coaches and
counselors. Coaching in Coca-Cola is believed to enhance accountability, renew commitment, as well as
facilitate continuous learning all of which result in a highly skilled individual with better working
relations and better performance (Veale & Wachtel, 1996). Through mentoring, the mentee
understands Coca Cola, and his/her roles better.
All companies face three main challenges in managing expatriates: culture shock, expatriate
costs, and language barrier. Coca-Cola solves these challenges through its expatriate preparation &
development program. The program includes orientation training before departure, which covers
language, history, culture, living conditions, and local customs. The company provides continual
development training during the assignment, which involves skills expansion, career planning, and
home-country development. Near completion, repatriation orientation training occurs. The company
has also set higher benefits for expatriates compared to those of other employees. Some of these offers
include a yearly ticket to home country, more salary, insurance & security package, helping the spouse
secure a job in any company, moving the family of the expatriate, and housing, utilities, and
transportation allowances (Azar, 2012). This way, the majority of the problems expatriates may face that
could interfere with their work are solved.
References
Azar, G. (2012). Inpatriates and Expatriates: Sources of Strategic Human Capital for
Multinational Food and Beverage Firms. International Food and Agribusiness
Management Association.
Veale, D. J., & Wachtel, J. M. (1996). Mentoring and coaching as part of a human resource
development strategy: an example at Coca-Cola Foods. Leadership & Organization
Development Journa.

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