For any company or business to move forward, change must be implemented. Important to note, change is a process and not an event, and thus much need to be done for the change process to be successful. In most cases, when a company is not able to fully achieve its objectives, that when they diagnose the need for change and work towards making it (Cameron, 2008). Change requires people to change the way they do things, and this means that the company's culture will have to be altered with to accommodate the change. It is thus expected that there must be several obstacles towards the intended change (Cameron, 2008). Kotter gives eight steps that any business should follow to attain the desired change and still achieve positive results. The steps provide a guideline from the initial stage of the change process to the last that the change becomes part of the company's culture. This paper will, therefore, diagnose a modification of the Coca-Cola Company and use the eight steps to discuss how the change can be implemented in the company.
Company Overview
With over 500 brands, Coca-Cola Company is the largest beverage company in the world (Pendergrast, 2013). Coca-Cola soda is the leading consumer favorite drink followed by other brands such as Fanta, Sprite, Minute Maid and diet coke. The company has a vast distribution channel and systems, and this has made it possible to have its beverages enjoyed in more than 200 countries worldwide (Pendergrast, 2013). Also. The company together with its bottling partners has a higher rank in the top ten private employers globally having more than 700,000 employees (Kant, Jacks,& Aantjes, 2008). Like any other company or business venture, Coca-Cola Company has its competitors. The company's main competitor is Pepsi which has come up with several ready to drink beverages with aims to be the leading company in the industry (Kant, Jacks& Aantjes, 2008). To keep up with the competition, Coca-Cola Company has come up with several initiatives to sustain their customers and even attract more to their side.
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Diagnosis
While working at the company, one strategy that was implemented is the strategy to have customization on the Coke bottles and gifts. The stores were filled with Coke bottles having names of people or even messages such as ‘I love you' or ‘happy holidays.' A lot of people appreciated the move and Coca-Cola made one of the greatest sales in its history. People would spend hours on the bench just to get hold of that bottle that had their name or the message that applies to them. It was quite frustrating for one to spend quality time at the bench searching for a bottle with an individual message only to come out of the store with the one with a different message or no soda at all. To be able to sustain the customers and still implement the strategy there was a need for change (Smith, 2011). The change will involve having customers book for their own customized bottles online for their occasions or celebration. Moreso, the customized sodas will be delivered right at their doorsteps at a small shipping fee. The change will involve several departments within the company, and thus a well laid out plan is required to ensure that all systems are working towards the change and probably achieve it within the shortest time possible. Kotter's eight steps approach towards change thus comes in handy to ensure that the change is implemented in the best way possible.
Kotter’s 8- Step Approach
The first step involves creating an urgency for change. According to Kotter, change cannot take place if all the company stakeholders do not want it (Sidorko, 2008). Thus, they can only accept it if they perceive the change as an urgency in achieving a particular goal within the organization. Also, the perception of urgency will create a spirit of motivation within the company. The issue of customization mainly involves the marketing department, and thus it is responsible for creating the need to the management and the other agencies. The marketing department will do this by laying out the statistics of the possible customers lost due to lack of their desired words on the bottle and the competitive dynamics from the other companies if the change is not implemented. Dialogues with the management and the relevant stakeholders such as the other departments and customers will help a great deal in making them understand the need for the change. Kotter argues that 75% of the company’s management must be willing to support the change for it to be successful (Sidorko, 2008). Thus, the marketing will need to spend quality time and energy to convince them to ‘buy the idea.
The second step requires the change ambassadors to form a strong coalition (Sidorko, 2008). For the change process to be successful, the marketing team which is the key leaders of change must exhibit strong leadership skills. At this phase, the marketing team will evaluate influential people within the organization and organize them to form a team or a collation that will be responsible for driving the change process (Sidorko, 2008). The team has to be all inclusive where it is prudent to have members across all the departments. The communication technology department is one such department that should be represented in the coalition as it will be entirely involved in the booking and ordering for the customization. The department is the one that comes into direct contact with the customers and thus it is quite crucial to incorporate it. Even after the coalition is formed, there is still the need to insist on the need to continue building up the change momentum so as to keep them focused (Sidorko, 2008). Also, the team should be encouraged and taught how to work as a team and not as a group of individuals with different professions.
The third step is creating a vision for the change. It is important to consider what the company wishes to achieve by the modification and combine it all together to create an image (Sidorko, 2008). The idea of change came as a result of customer frustrations for not being able to find a customization of their own in the Coke bottles. Thus, the primary goal is to be able to take care of all the customers need by giving them the privilege of ordering Coke bottles with the messages of their choice. Thus, the vision is to make it possible to give the customers a customization of their own choice in the comfort of their own houses. The strategy in return is expected to increase the sales of the Coke sodas. The vision gives the stakeholder a sense of direction as they are aware of what they want to achieve. The management should be able to give a description of the vision in the shortest time possible possibly in five minutes or less. Creating the vision is not enough, and it requires the team to develop a strategy for executing the vision and the values that are required (Alvesson& Sveningsson, 2015). This will ensure that everyone on board understands that needs to be done to realize the vision.
The fourth step involves communication of the vision. What is done after the vision is more important than creating the vision itself (Sidorko, 2008). In a company as busy as Coca-Cola, it is evident that there are several communications passed throughout the day. To be able to compete with the regular forms of communication, the team needs to communicate the vision more frequently and powerfully. The team should not just wait for ad hoc meetings or gatherings to be called but should utilize any moment they get to talk about the visions. Daily chit chats during lunch time break should have an event about the vision discussed. The daily reminder about the vision will keep everyone’s mind lingering about the vision and possibly thinking about how it can be actualized (Sidorko, 2008). It is during the communication of the vision that people will have their questions and concerns taken care of. An important trick of communicating the vision is by using the change to give possible solutions to a problem facing the company (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). For instance, if there are lesser sales, it is important to point out that the initiative might help push up the sales. The trick will work a great deal in increasing the vision's acceptance.
The fifth step involves removing obstacles to achieving the change (Sidorko, 2008). The biggest obstacle to change in an organization is people's resistance to change (Cameron, 2008). Not all people are always willing to try out a different strategy due to various reasons such as fear of failure or just the spirit of resistance. The change team is always hopeful that after explaining the vision to the stakeholders that they will all be willing to buy in and be involved in its implementation but this is not the usual case; there are always people who are against the move in the belief that it’s not necessary or doubting its success. One such barrier to the change is the several logistics involved. There have to additional finances for the execution of the plan and computer applications required to make the booking and the shipment possible. The finance department might view this as an additional cost to the department and thus oppose its execution. It is thus important for the team to establish those that are against the change and try to make them understand its essence and how it will be of benefit to the whole organization (Smith, 2011). Trying to remove the obstacles will help ease the implementation process.
The sixth stage involves the creation of short term wins (Sidorko, 2008). Success is the greatest factor that stirs in motivation. Therefore, it would be prudent to reward those people that make success towards achieving the change, however, small the contribution is. One reward may be by giving the first customers to make the online booking a free shipment to their doorsteps. The initiative will motivate more customers to make the reservations due to the double benefit of getting a customization of their choice and getting a free shipment. On the side of the organization, the most hardworking individuals towards the change may receive a token of appreciation or just a verbal recognition in front of all the other staff. Short term reward instills a sense of recognition and in turns gives the motivation even to work harder (Sidorko, 2008). Further, people will be motivated to work if there are visible wins through the process. The wins prove that the change is possible and worth giving a trial. It may also help pull those from the resisting side. Without recognition of the small term wins, those that are against the change may give critics that have the possibility of hurting the whole change process.
The seventh step entails building up on the change. According to Kotter, if the team declares victory too early, then there is a possibility of the change project to fail (Sidorko, 2008). The short wins are only intended to give a sign of what is needed to achieve the long-term goal which is the full implementation of the change project (Smith, 2011). This stage, therefore, involves putting the real change into practicing. Systems now need to be working to deliver the customized bottles of coke to the customers. One successful booking and shipping is a great sign of success. Each case of a successful shipping after booking will provide an opportunity to understand the right aspects and those that require improvement. Feedback from the customers who have already experienced the service is a significant input towards making the necessary improvement (Sidorko, 2008). Such feedback may include issues such as delayed shipment or hick-ups in the computer system, and such information should be treated with a lot of urgencies. The change might as well require bringing more or new leaders to the coalition to ensure fresh ideas and continuously improve in the change project.
Finally, the change needs to be anchored in the company’s culture (Sidorko, 2008). The change needs to be incorporated into the company's culture for it to become a core of the Coca-Cola Company. The company's culture is the backbone of the company as it decides on what needs to be done and the values that guide day to day activities (Cameron, 2008). Thus efforts need to be made to ensure that the change is positively felt in each aspect within the company. For example. There should be increased sales and more positive feedbacks from the customers. Customer's satisfaction is the primary goal of every organization, and once that is achieved, the company will gladly accept any change that brought the success. Importantly, the company leaders need to fully support the change and its incorporation to the company's culture to ensure its continuity even after they are gone. Lack of support from the key people in the company will derail the change process leading the project back to where it started (Cameron, 2008).
Conclusion
Overall, one needs to be extra hardworking and resilient to achieve change in an organization as large as Coca-Cola Company. Proper planning is thus quite fundamental in laying out a foundation for the change process, and it increases the probability of a successful project (Smith, 2011).As seen above, change is a process that takes time to achieve, and thus patience is required when waiting for it to work out and give the expected results. Being impatient may prompt one to skip some steps in the change process, and this is likely to cause failure of the whole process (Cameron, 2008). If all the steps of the Kotter’s change approach are followed, then it would be quite simple to achieve the modification of the Coca-Cola Company and possibly incorporate the change into the operations and organizational culture of the company. When the victory is achieved, the company will surely enjoy the fruits of the energy and resources used during its implementation.
References
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress . Routledge.
Cameron, K. (2008). A process for changing organization culture. Handbook of organization development , 14 (5), 2-18.
Kant, G., Jacks, M., & Aantjes, C. (2008). Coca-Cola enterprises optimizes vehicle routes for efficient product delivery. Interfaces , 38 (1), 40-50.
Pendergrast, M. (2013). For god, country, and Coca-Cola . Basic Books.
Sidorko, P. E. (2008). Transforming library and higher education support services: can change models help?. Library Management , 29 (4/5), 307-318.
Smith, I. (2011). Organizational quality and organizational change: interconnecting paths to effectiveness. Library Management , 32 (1/2), 111-128.
