Technology environment, in line with the business theory, is composed of hard and soft technology. Hard technology entails the practices that enable an organization to stand at a better position as opposed to its competitors, by aligning the said practices with any of the objectives on the part of the concerned business. Soft technology, on the other hand, is the own objectives of the organization such as training, using information from lessons learned and training (Khosrow-Pour, 2006) . Below is information about the soft and hard technology used by PepsiCo for both the external and domestic environments.
PepsiCo has used hard technology practices such as, the sale not only of beverages, but also of foods, which is in order for it to stand at a better competitive position as opposed to other beverage companies. “Intriguingly, 53% of company’s net revenue came from food and 47% from beverages in the year 2014 despite being recognized as a beverage manufacturer in the first place than a food and snacks manufacturer” (Mishra, 2015) . It has also bought many patents, to sports, protein, and beverage brands, which it is experimenting with in an attempt at discovering the more rewarding ones. PepsiCo is planning to come up with vending machines like those of Coca-Cola, but also intends to have them be more interactive by offering games whose winners will be rewarded free drinks, and charging and USB ports. The company also plans to introduce a system by which beverages could be wirelessly dispensed. Looking at the soft technology practices, PepsiCo hired great directors such Luke Mansfield of Samsung Electronics into the innovation department as opposed to previously hiring normal people.
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PepsiCo faces several technology barriers for both environments (Mishra, 2015) . One of them pertains to accusations that they are using carcinogenic additives in addition to excessive amounts of lead in their products. Another barrier is stiff competition, which leads to legal battles, mostly on the account of patent infringement accusations.
The good news is that PepsiCo has several strategies that it continues to use to protect their technology (Mishra, 2015) . Changing their products according to consumer preferences is one of them. The other one is investing in having a bigger innovation team. PepsiCo is also planning to expand on food production, so as to stand out from other beverage companies. The final strategy would involve expanding its operations to developing markets such as the Chinese, Brazilian, African, Russian, and Mexican market.
I would recommend that PepsiCo works more on media advertising, especially for countries other than the USA. This should help it keep up with competing companies, which are doing so well in that. Marketing all its products is another good strategy that the company should consider implementing. This is because, as things stand, people only identify PepsiCo with beverages and not with the foods that it produces and which apparently, give it more income.
References
Khosrow-Pour, M. (2006). Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology Management, Volume 1 and Volume 2 . USA: Idea Group Inc.
Mishra, V. (2015). PEPSICO'S TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND INNOVATION STRATEGIES: A brief walkthrough. Stellarix Consultancy Services .
