Introduction
Job design involves the process whereby work is organized into several tasks, with a clear description of the process that the tasks will go through, as well as the structure that will be followed to achieve the desired goals. In any organization, the design of jobs takes into consideration the objectives that the organization wishes to achieve. Job design depends on the characteristics of the task, the availability and abilities of employees, and the flow of work in the organization.
The human resource department is tasked with ensuring that job design becomes successful and the organization achieves the desired goals. Human resource managers have the responsibility of managing employees who work in various departments in order to ensure that they perform their duties effectively (Daniels & de Jonge, 2010). This paper will evaluate the job design of The Coca-Cola Company with an emphasis on its effectiveness. Moreover, the paper will propose appropriate techniques that can help improve the job design process.
Job design of Coca-cola
Since its establishment in 1886, Coca-Cola has grown to become a leading beverage production and distribution company. The company supplies soft drinks to many parts of the world, and it has an established market in almost every country. The success of the company can be attributed to its current job design, which helps the company conduct production operations effectively, as well as distribute the products with efficiency.
The job design of Coca-Cola is based on the global coordination of all regional suppliers. It involves the combination of efforts from the different departments that share experience, knowledge, as well as skills and abilities to enhance the success of the organization. The job design in Coca-Cola is based on allocating duties to each of the departments. Each department plays its role to ensure that the organizational objectives and targets are achieved (Daniels & de Jonge, 2010).
Some of the departments in the Coca-Cola Company include the administrative department, human capital department, production department, operations department, services department, as well as the sales department, and industrial relations department. Each department specializes in certain roles, and this ensures that there is proper coordination of functions between departments in the organization. The administrative department is the department mandated with accounting for the sales that the company makes, as well as the receipts by the company.
The financial transactions of the company are conducted by this department, which also maintains the records of all employees and the benefits programs of the company. Under this department, there are sub-departments such as the information technology department, which keeps track of the organization’s information technology. The sub-department is headed by IT experts who possess a lot of expertise in information technology (Mukherjee and Vasconcelos, 2011).
The human capital department is another crucial department in the Coca-Cola Company. This department is mandated to look into the affairs of employees and coordinate the human resources in all departments. The department plays such roles as an appraisal of the employees’ performance, motivation, promotion of employees, and assigning roles to employees. The human capital department also plans, coordinates and manages all employees within the organization. In addition, human resource managers ensure teamwork succeeds within the organization and designs bonuses and incentives to be awarded to employees who perform as per the expected standards (Foss et al., 2009).
Production is a key component of activities at the Coca-Cola Company. This is because the company is involved in the production and distribution of beverages. Thus, another crucial department in the company is the production department, which deals with the production of beverages. Under this department, there are specialists who possess knowledge in production. The employees of this department are involved in the mixing of the ingredients and other activities that result in the final product.
The employees also operate the machinery and equipment used in the production process. There are product managers and supervisors who oversee the production of the beverages and ensure that they meet the required standards (Ferrell et al., 2011).
The operations department is another vital department in the organization. This department plays the role of receiving inventories, which are later distributed to the centers where sales take place. Moreover, the department is mandated with maintaining the vehicles owned by the company and ensuring that the trucks carrying the products are loaded on time. The department ensures that the loading of the products is a continuous process that occurs both day and night. This minimizes delays to the various destinations where the beverages are taken. The services department also forms part of the Coca-Cola job design. The department is mandated with installing and maintaining the equipment and machinery that the organization uses in distributing the beverages (Foss et al., 2009).
Coca-Cola Company also has the sales department, which plays the role of selling, as well as marketing the company’s products to the customers. There are salesmen located in different outlets in the more than 200 countries where Coca-Cola operates. The marketing strategy employed by the company is based on a number of strategies. One of the key strategies is acceptability; the company conducts marketing in an effective manner in order to ensure that their products are part of the daily lives of customers.
As a result, the beverages produced by the company have become favorite among many people and this promotes the brand image of Coca-Cola. The sales department also ensures that the beverages sold by the company are affordable and not overpriced. This has attracted a large number of consumers who purchase the products of Coca-Cola (Ferrell et. al., 2011).
The sales department in Coca-Cola has established a network that is properly organized, as well as extensive. The networks exist in almost every part of the world, and this has served to ensure that the products are available worldwide, even in areas that may be deemed as remote. The department of sales manages bulk drivers and route merchandisers who deliver the products that the company sells. The merchandisers are expected to price the products properly so as not to exploit the customers.
As part of the sales team, the merchandisers should also rotate and stock the product to ensure a constant supply to consumers. The job design of Coca-Cola is also enhanced by the activities of industrial relations department. This department looks into the welfare of the employees, more so with regard to employee remuneration and working conditions. The department acts as a link between the company and trade unions that agitate for the plight of employees (Pendergrast, 2013).
Effectiveness of Coca-Cola Job Design
The job design adopted by Coca-Cola can be regarded as effective since it has enhanced the coordination of work between the departments. Activities within the organization are well-coordinated and work flows successfully as planned. This can be attributed to the effective job design that the organization has adopted. The delegation of tasks within the organization has made Coca-Cola remain a giant in the beverage industry.
The company leads in the production and sale of soft drinks and its revenue surpasses that of other competitors like Pepsi. The improvement of the job design process can be achieved through a number of strategies. A notable technique that can improve the process is motivation. Employee motivation through methods such as proper remuneration can contribute to the success of job design at Coca-Cola. Motivating employees will ensure that they perform their duties effectively, and this will benefit the organization (Ferrell et. al., 2011).
Summary
The initial job design can be evaluated based on its successes and failures. One of the benefits that the job design will have is the improvement of employee knowledge and equipping them with appropriate skills to carry out their duties. The other benefit includes the creation of specialization in the organization as work is done by various departments. The job design also enhances high levels of professionalism within the organization, and this implies that employees will give their best.
The job design of Coca-Cola is not devoid of risks. One of the risks associated with the design is little emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as the lack of emphasis on the motivation of employees. With the job design mostly related to the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives, it is likely that there can be a lot of resistance from some employees. However, the job design has more advantages than shortcomings, and it is therefore, advisable to adopt it (Pendergrast, 2013).
References
Daniels, K., & de Jonge, J. (2010). Match making and match breaking: The nature of match within and around job design. Journal of Occupational and Organization Psychology, 83(1), 1-16.
Foss, N. J., Minbaeva, D. B., Pedersen, T., Reinholt, M. (2009). Encouraging knowledge sharing among employees: How job design matters. Human Resource Management, 48(6), 871-893.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Mukherjee, A., and Vasconcelos, L. (2011). Optimal job design in the presence of implicit contracts. RAND Journal of Economics (Wiley-Blackwell), 42(1), 44-69.
Pendergrast, M. (2013). For God, country and Coca-Cola: The definitive history of the great American soft drink and the company that makes it. New York: Basic Books.