Coca Cola Company's Organizational Development - Research Proposal Example

ASSESSMENT THREE (50% weighting) Throughout this module you will have been made aware, with the help of writers on organisational learning, that, for many reasons, pockets of creativity and innovation at work are often stifled, or not encouraged; these companies often are not aware of the benefits an examination of organisational learning might bring.  You have played the role of consultant within your target company over the past few weeks, and will now be well placed to put forward some views on creative and innovative practices.  Using research from your target company discuss whether you believe it is feasible to stimulate, encourage and reward creative and innovative practices within contemporary organisational settings. (Please ensure that you make specific references to the three areas outlined below.) Suggest where you believe any blocks to such creativity might be. Wherever possible, use real-life examples to illustrate your viewpoints.  Prepare a professional report for the head of your consultancy company (which has been called in to conduct this survey of its personnel and practices) to outline your findings. This will require sound back-up of your views and findings by reference to appropriate organisational learning research headed up as ‘Literature review’ within your report. Provide supplementary information as appendices to support your findings. Introduction Organizational Development (OD) refers to the measurement, study and use of organizational factors that influence and lead to growth and success of an organization and to sustain itself in the long run. Its use implies the measurement of behavioral patterns and the resultant events, identification of the change levers, to identify barriers to organizational effectiveness, develop the strategies for betterment as also to monitor the resultant changes and improvements over the given time period. It is also the systematic application of behavioral science at individual and group levels to bring about change in a planned way so as to result in better quality of work life and increased productivity and profitability. Literature Review However experience has shown and proved that whatever the intensity and spread of using OD measures within organizations, a large number of them are often found to be struggling to gather momentum in achieving positive results. Transparency and effective use of OD measures have often proved to be futile due to some snags that invariably occur while being unable to implement these in their true spirit. Companies are mostly not certain of success being achieved in adopting a professional and dedicated approach that truly involves its people in the process. The need of the present business scenario is that all organizations aiming to succeed in their endeavors to make it big in their respective fields, must adopt a very farsighted and proactive approach to systematically adopt the OD module and to implement it professionally. Surely this will wipe out the hurdles, inefficiencies and negative attitudes of the people who work with the organization. If we take the example of the Coca Cola Company which is planning to foray in a big way in the Chinese market, we will see the OD module working in letter and spirit. All interventions of OD and Organizational Behavior are implemented in a systematic method to make the productivity and profitability of the organization into a long term objective, and to methodically target and involve all personnel to maximize their motivation levels and to even think for the long term benefits of the organization. There should be ample encouragement and motivation for each worker to take on his responsibilities and to achieve given targets using the available resources to the maximum. Proactive planning and subsequent action to achieve targets ensures results for the person as also for the organization. Methodology OD operates through humanistic values, systems orientation, experiential learning, problem solving, contingency orientation, bringing change agents and using different levels of interventions in all functional areas. All these actions require a massive transformation in the entire outlook of the organization which surely results in far reaching positive implications for all individuals and work groups as also the management . Organization development uses behavioral science and related practices for companies to achieve better productivity, more effectiveness amongst workers and improved quality of life for its people. Theoretically OD emerged from four major backgrounds (Cummings, & Huse, 1989) which were laboratory training, survey research feedback, action research and productivity and quality of work life (QWL). As per French (Varney 1967) OD emerged from three origins around 1957 as follows: 1. Douglas McGregor's work with Union Carbide in an effort to apply some of the concepts from laboratory training (see above) to a large system. 2. A human relations group at the Esso Company that began to view itself as an internal consulting group offering services to field managers, rather than as a research group writing reports for top managers. With help from Robert Blake and Herb Shepard, the group began to offer laboratory training in the refineries of Esso. 3. The Survey Research Center (see above) started using attitude surveys. To fully understand the OD process we need to understand the role of Organizational Behavior, as also the role of Leadership in the organization. Organizational Behavior is a closely related concept of OD, which is the study and use of knowledge of how people act within groups and as individuals. Organizational Behavior studies the application of knowledge relating to how people, individuals and groups behave in target organizations, Meaning that we have to interpret the actions of entities to build better relationships so as to achieve human, organizational and social goals. Hence we can see that OD encompasses a wide range of studies to be done to enhance performance at all levels. Pattern of human behavior, working of teams, change patterns, and leadership has to be studied carefully to decide on the strategy of any organization to achieve its goals The philosophy, goals, values and vision of any management makes the base of any organization, and thus the organizational culture is determined which in turn gives way to the quality of leadership present as also the direction in which the organization is going. This gives the level of motivation to the workers resulting in the prevailing satisfaction levels amongst them. The individual satisfaction levels and personal growth and development opportunities combine to create the framework that the organization operates from, which further drives the organizational culture and which is instilled amongst the workers. Organizations operate in several ideological ways, major amongst them being autocratic, custodial, supportive and collegial. Normally a combination of all these four options is used with one of them dominating the system of working. This determines the ideology and value system of an organization. Every organization ought to strive to bring about a working atmosphere so that quality of work life is excellent. Action learning environment has to be created with efficient management and implementation of change. Kraiger, et. el. (1993) proposed that learning may be classified into one of three types of outcomes: cognitive, skill-based, and affective. In addition, each type of outcome includes particular categories and foci of measurement (the focus is on two points): These learning outcomes are important, for once they are identified, they can be used to develop instructional strategies and generate learning objectives. Learning outcomes are different from learning objectives. Learning outcomes reflect the goals of the instructional designer. In addition, they are linked to the design of the training. Whereas objectives specify what the learner will be able to accomplish after the completion of training. Learning outcomes may be developed by viewing them through three different perspectives: 1. Examining the goals of training _ For example, is it for development or to correct performance deficiencies. 2. Identifying the instructional strategies - Such as coaching, exploration, or concept learning. 3. Examining the performance domain - Such as looking at job descriptions, observing expert performers, or interviewing subject matter experts. The objective of most performance interventions can be stated in terms of results or impacts, such as reduced turnover, improved efficiency, reduced costs, or better quality. These impacts or results are achieved by closing performance gaps, developing employees to achieve better results, improving process, and removing performance blocks. The role of the business leader is very pivotal in carrying forward the organization towards its goals. He influences his people to achieve objectives and directs the organization in a way that organization goals are achieved with the resources in hand. This makes the Company more cohesive and coherent. They apply their leadership attributes with their beliefs, values, ethics and skills to carry the organization forward. A good leader has honorable character and a sense of selfless service for his organization. A leader needs to be technically proficient, should seek responsibility and take responsibility, make sound and timely decisions, work by setting examples, know his people and strive for their welfare, keep his workers informed and develop a sense of responsibility in them. He should ensure that all jobs are well understood, delivered and well supervised. He should believe in team work and use the capabilities of his people and organization to the maximum. Leaders are able to influence their environment in several ways by setting standards of performance, establishing values for the company and the business concepts that they establish. They set high standards of goals by using the entire spectrum of strategies, plans, presentations, quality and reliability for the organization. Findings I am of the strong belief that it is possible to stimulate, encourage and reward creative and innovative practices within contemporary organizational settings. Today’s innovative practices are the universal usage of OD practices and related interventions for the betterment of the organization’s future prospects as also to ensure its growth, profitability and professionalism to stay profitably afloat in the competitive world. OD is known to influence every sphere of the organization’s working and has far reaching consequences in positively bringing better results in terms of profitability, growth and productivity. It is quite natural to assume, as has been the experience of several organizations, that initially there are bound to be disappointments and hurdles when such practices are put to practice. It is known that humans have a tendency to not accept change straight away. There is discomfort and a sense of insecurity when new measures are adopted. But the management and leadership have a strong role to play in motivating all concerned to be patient, strong and hopeful in eventually being rewarded with better results. Hence the need to build strong leaders and management practices to meet such challenges, which are indeed of great significance for the achievement of the long term goals. Making strong and efficient managers to groom as future leaders and role models for the work force is indeed another daunting task ahead of organizations. It is a time consuming process as leaders are not made overnight. In this context, the Coca Cola Company had a difficult time when it entered the Indian market to launch its brands in the face of stiff competition from already well established foreign and local brands. The company faced a formidable task removing the mental blocks of local managers to adopt a more professional approach while dealing with workers. Training them to become more professional and to adopt the role of leaders was very time consuming and convincing them was another challenging task for the management. Business practices must change with the changing times and with the need of the process involved. The organizational behavior of similar industries in the same geographical markets need to be studied to make strategies and to implement the same in their true spirits. Coca Cola being a proactive and farsighted company in the formulation of its plans and strategies for the achievements of its goals was able to overcome these initial problems in the Indian market. Taking the example of the Coca Cola Company in India, I am of the firm belief that if the management of a company is flexible enough to adopt the trial and error method by tirelessly implementing all possible interventions and with different variations, there is no reason for the desired results to not happen if the exercises are done dedicatedly by all concerned, the initiative for which will start from the management and percolate down the line through designated leaders at every stage of implementation. The expected results foreseen by the management will be the result of strategy formulated and backed by research and exhaustive data which enable the decision maker to take calculated risk and decide accordingly on the course of action to be taken. This initiates a chain of activities amongst the entire set of people from the management and work force and a whole set of actions is set in motion to achieve targeted results. The execution of the planned course of action is indeed a strategic decision in the way that things start to move. Results are then monitored and changes made where ever deviation is observed in the achievement of targets. Since the role of its people in any organization is very significant, it is imperative that competency levels of people are given top priority amongst the planned initiatives. If the managers and other workers down the line are well equipped with the latest techniques and systems to produce the goods and services that the company is engaged in, there will be an upper edge for the company in staying ahead in the competition. A systematic planned training agenda has to be chalked out to cater to the knowledge enhancement need of each worker, supervisor and manager so that they are constantly updated and well versed with the techniques to maximize productivity and efficiency. Major corporations worldwide provide a percentage of their yearly budget estimates for knowledge enhancement. No doubt today’s business world is knowledge oriented and the need is to cater to this requirement without any compromises. A systematic plan is always present in such organizations which run a full fledge training center for their people. Additionally training is now more oriented towards some leisure and opportunity for enjoyment so that workers rejoin their duties with a fresh and active mind. To further get an idea of the present status of success of OD measures taken by the company, questionnaires were framed for various sections of managers and staff and their responses obtained to formulate further innovative measures in the system. Questionnaire from the Model Manager 1 Do you feel OD interventions are relevant for your organization Yes 2 Have you been trained in OD procedures and are you well versed with such systems Yes I have been trained exhaustively in almost all such practices 3 What is the level of encouragement and support you get from the top management for implementation of such interventions I get very good support and encouragement to make this a success 4 How responsive are the staff and managers to OD measures Initially there were teething problems but gradually they have adapted to the new systems and find strength in their ability to bring better results for the organization 5 What are the OD systems and interventions you use for your staff and managers We train our managers in the best practices by renowned specialist in this area and our training centers are well equipped to train all staff and managers in leadership, group activities, team work and in inculcating the latest technology for production. 6 How effective have these measures been for your company The measures have started already to bring a better and cordial working atmosphere as also increased productivity. 7 What are the hurdles and hardships you face in its implementation There are certain elements amongst workers who are not responsive, but we believe with rigorous follow up with them, they will ultimately fall in line 8 Are all employees encouraged to express themselves freely Yes they are as long as required discipline and code of conduct is maintained. Questionnaire from Employee 1 What is the present state of efficiency in your department Very good 2 Is the staff responsive to OD interventions Yes 3 What type of training workshops are conducted for workers Depending on the need of worker groups, training modules are framed at our training centers and workers are made to go through such programmes 4 Do you find potential for workers’ development and company advancement due to adoption of such measures Yes 5 To what extent is the leadership involved with workers down the line As far as possible management is constantly keeping watch on the welfare of and performance levels of workers through the heirarchy 6 Are the personal learning requirements catered to for all workers Yes 7 Does your organization have fully developed training centers Yes 8 What is the present contentment level of staff Staff is mostly contented with training opportunities and their content 9 How do you look at your company’s performance 5 years down the line With the proactive approach that the company is handlig matters, I am sure we will remain at the top in our market segment Given the results of the responses to questions asked to the managers as also employees, it can be seen that the Coca Cola Company has adopted OD measures in the right spirit and that they are working well for them. However continuous watch over the pattern of responses and results obtained is required so that need based changes can be made as and when required Conclusion and Recommendations Unfortunately some organizations suffer endlessly for want of realizing the need to keep their workers abreast of technological advances and are unable to keep pace with the competitions. Such organizations suffer from employee resignations and in the long run the momentum is lost in maintaining desired productivity. A strong case in point is of several Indian companies which initially made big strides in the Information Technology and made huge profits, but ultimately their growth slowed down for want of adhering to latest techniques in the sector. Since the margins are low and profit is mainly due to volumes in this sector, many companies have no option but to close down in search for other ventures. Such blocks need to be removed and its high time for organizations to be alive to the fact that in this knowledge world it is the survival of the fittest in terms of quantum and quality of knowledge. References Coch, L. & French, J. (1948). Overcoming Resistance to Change. Human Relations. (1: 512-32). Cummings, Thomas & Huse, Edgar (1989). Organization Development and Change. St Paul, MN: West Publishing Company. (Pp. 5-13). Varney, Glen (1967). Organization Development and Change. (p. 604). In The ASTD Training & Development Handbook. Editor Craig, Robert. New York: McGraw-Hill. He cites: French, Wendell, A Definition and History of Organization Development: Some Comments, Proceedings of the 31st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, August, 15-18, 1971. Marrow, A., Bowers, D & Seashore, A. (1967). Management by Participation. New York: Harper and Row. Nadler, Leonard, (1984). The Handbook of HumanResource Development Newstrom, John & Davis, Keith (1993). Organization Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New York: McGraw-Hill. (p. 293)]. Kraiger, K., Ford, J. K., & Salas, E. (1993). "Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation." Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 311-328. www.amanet.org/press/amanews www.nwlink.com www.human-synergistics.com www.aimnsw.com.au findarticles.com/p/articles/ www.km4dev.org/ ngc-knowledge.com Read More