Financial scandals the implementation of the UK Corporate Governance Code - Free Essay Example

Introduction Financial scandals of a business would happen through complex methods of misusing funds or giving incorrect information to mislead public and many others way. The occurrence of financial scandal had brought huge impact to the economy, the revenue of the economy was reduced drastically, escalating unemployment rates and local governments suffer huge losses prior to these financial scandals. The confidence in the business system has been weakened by these incidents and people broached questions with regard to the effectiveness of corporate governance. A good work was done by Cadbury Committee to introduced UK Corporate Governance Code in year 1992 to lead the company as a guideline to perform effective, entrepreneurial and sensible management to deliver a long term success for the company. UK Corporate Governance Code is also implemented broadly by many companies to establish an effective management for sustainable success of the company. Financial Scanda ls Tyco There will be discuss about 3 cases of financial scandals that happened in the world; one of the financial scandals was cases of Tyco. There was a general belief that Tyco was a reliable blue chip investment, fabricating electronic components and safety products. The scandal happened in the year 2002 as CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz were reported for siphoning off big sum of money from Tyco. $170 million was obtained by Swartz in unapproved loans and Kozlowski fraudulently sold 7.5 million shares of unauthorized stock, for a reported $450 million. The money was stolen from the conglomerate, usually concealed as executive bonuses. The money was used by Kozlowski to further his luxurious lifestyle, which included a birthday party of his wife which cost him 2 million. The executives got caught as questionable accounting practices were exposed. Tyco scandal might be avoided with the compliance of the current version of UK Corporate Governance Code. Kozlowski was the former chairman of Tyco’s board of directors. One of the main principles of the Code that could be apply to this case is leadership. According to the principle of leadership section A.2, the duties between the operation of the board and the executive should be divided plainly. No individual should possess unlimited powers of decision. The same person should not take on the roles of chairman and chief executive. The distribution of duties between the chairman and chief executive should be plainly established, presented in writing and approved by the board. Tyco could prevent the happened of scandal by adopting this principle. It is incumbent on the board to track the running of the company and to guarantee that it is being operated together with the mandate of the company and the desire of the shareholders. Since the CEO is the executive position accountable for facilitating those operations, possessing an integrated role leads to monitoring oneself. The CEO may abuse his or her position. As such, the ability of CEO to vote on his or her own compensation gives rise to a conflict of interest. Besides, the principle of leadership A.3 states that it lies with the chairman to lead the board and be always effective on all respects of its role. Culture of debate in the company should be encouraged by the chairman through stimulating the non-executive directors to contribute effectively and ensuring positive relations between executive and non-executive directors. The chairman should also provide correct, plain and opportune information to the directors. Not only is that, as a chairman there are responsible for communicating effectively with shareholders. Tyco should meet the important criteria that set out in A.3.1 which states that a chief executive should not continue to take on the role of chairman of the same company. If the board makes decision to appoint the chief executive as chairman in unusual circumstances, the board is necessary to ask th e major shareholders for advice in advance and present the grounds of the appointment to shareholders in the appointment and what is more the next annual report. By implementing this principle into practice, conflict of interest could be avoided by Tyco. An independent individual should be the chairman of the board should not be the CEO of the company; it would be easier for Tyco to detect unethical behavior of the directors and professional misconduct. In addition, the principle of leadership section A.4 states that the non-executive directors who take part as the role of the members in unitary board should aggressively interrogate and contribute to the development of proposals on strategy. They should work out to ensuring the reliability and transparency of financial information and that financial management and systems of risk control are strong and appropriate. It is incumbent on the non-executive directors to set proper levels of remuneration of executive directors and they have a fundamental role in appointment and removal of the executive directors. There is no getting away from the fact that companies with inexplicable financial structures are more dangerous and worthless investments because the investors are not able to estimate the financial position of the companies and their bankruptcy risk. Without setting the appropriate levels of remuneration, Kozlowski could abuse the funds of company to improve his lifestyle. Furthermore, Tyco should fulfill the integrity criteria set out in C.3.5 which states that the audit committee should reassess the concerns raised by the employees of the company about probable dishonesty in financial reporting issues. Independent investigation of such issues should be carried out by the audit committee. Tyco could avoid the scandal by booking the transactions at the level above what the external auditors examined and internal auditors should take part in reassessing functions of the headquarters. Bayou Hedge Fun d Group Next of the scandals that will be discussing is the case of Bayou Hedge Fund Group scandal. It was a funds group and founded in by Samuel Israel 3, $450m was raised from investors but the funds were misappropriated for personal use. The investors were conceal about the funds returns, to cover up their misdeed a fake accounting firm was set up to provide fake auditing results by Samuel Israel 3 and CFO Daniel Marino. In July 2004, the officials were started alert about the company when an abnormally large transfer of $99 million was made into a Wachovia account in New Jersey, prompting the initial investigation and follow by the demise of Bayou. Both of them were pleaded guilty in year 2005 because the company started a fake accounting firm to perform an audit to themselves. Sam Israel led the Bayou hedge fund, and had stolen estimate around $300 Million from its investors. He convinced his clients that the fund was doing well by producing fake accounts, while they were un der performing. According to the UK Corporate Governance Code, under section C accountability in the principle of C.1, it stated that financial and business reporting the board should present a fair, balanced and understandable assessment of the company’s position and prospects. It is the boards responsibility to present a correct assessment. They had intention to conceal their investors since the beginning, by overstating gains, understated losses. The principles of financial and business reporting state that the board should establish arrangements to ensure that the information presented is fair and understandable. Furthermore the annual report should also include the correct figure of the profit and loss of the company. If Bayou Company obeys the principles, there would not be happen that hiding the truth from the investors when they are generating a lost. Besides that, if Bayou Company obeys the rules that under section C accountability, a correct n fair assessment can be show to the directors and also their investors, so that a financial crime might be prevented. Furthermore, under section B effectiveness, section B5, information and support indicate that the board should be supplied in a timely manner with information in a form and of a quality appropriate to enable it to discharge its duties. For example the chairman is responsible and should ensure that the directors receive accurate timely and clear information. Management has obligation to provide accurate information but directors should seek clarification or amplification where necessary. In this case we can clearly see that Bayou Hedge Fund group did not obey the principles, the director Samuel Israel 3 did not present accurate information to directors. He claim that the company is generating profit while it is suffering lose. He also produces a fake account to hide it from the directors, but the actual is the company had never made any money.Israel has consistently sent out performance reports to investors and at one point claimed the fund was worth $450 million. He funneled all of thehedge funds trades through Bayou Securities, reaping huge commissions since hedge funds trade millions of dollars’ worth of stocks every day.So even as the hedge fund lost money, Israel still banked through his securities firm. If the director doesn’t produces a fake accounts the investors will not surfer such a great lose. Next, according to section A, A.1 the role of the board mention that every company should be headed by an effective board which is collectively responsible for the long term success of the company. Bayou Hedge funds does not have an effective board because of Samuel Israel 3 and James Marquez, they did not provide entrepreneurial leadership of the company and clearly did not have effective control of the company which lead to high risk high loss of the company. Risk has to be assessed and managed by having effective control of the company by the lead ers. From our opinion, it shows that they are both ineffective leaders and the company will end up generating loss and have to create fake accounts to trick the directors is because of both of them which have no proper plan and direct direction of their company. This can be prevented if they obey UK corporate Governance Code section A leadership A.1 the role of the board. Enron Lastly, the final cases that would be discussed in this research is the cases of Enron Company. Enron company scandal cases had make a noise in the world, it consider is one of the most serious scandal in the world and also United States history. After merging of Natural Gas that based at Houston and InterNorth, Enron was formed in year of 1985 by Kenneth Lay, and the scandal was revealed in October 2001. The main players of the scandals include the former CEO Kenneth Lay and the CEO of Enron, Jeffrey Skilling, the fraud case had influence financial problem of Enron Company and lead to bankruptcy in Dec ember 2001. In the Enron financial scandals, they had tried to conceal the fraudulent of their financial report to continue enjoy the revenue from the investors that are doesn’t know about the true financial condition of Enron. Due to the fraudulent earnings report that report to public, it had attracted many new investors that are desired and willing to enjoy the apparent financial gains. The action of hiding the true of the financial conditions of Enron not only caused a huge loss to Enron it also affected all of the investors lost their money and thousands of employees lost their jobs. Arthur Andersen, auditors of Enron Company also founded guilty by giving inaccurate information and hiding the truth for Enron Company. The introducing of UK Corporate Governance Code could likely help to prevent these financial scandals, Enron as the example to explaining how the UK Corporate Governance Code might be prevented happened of the incident of Enron. Based on the main principl e of effectiveness of UK Corporate Governance Code, under the B.1 the composition of the board, it stated that the board and the committees should have suitable and acceptable balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge of the company to enable them to perform their duties and responsibility effectively. With the compliance of this principles, the board should be include with an proper combination of executive and non-executive directors to prevent there are individual or small group of people can control the board’s decision making. In the case of Enron, majority of the decision probably mostly taken Mr. Skilling, the chance of Enron to hiding the truth will be decrease if the company compliance this principles. Besides that, code provision had further explained that the board should identify the annual report of each non-executive independent director and indicate that the reasons if it is determined as independent person. If Enron obey the principles, there c ould hardly be hiding any truth from the public. Besides that, in the main principles of effectiveness, there is a concept of re-election. Re-election should be submitted for re-election for all directors at regular times to continue running the company with a satisfactory performance. Shareholders should take notice with the annual election for all directors; all directors should be subject to the elections after the first annual general meeting. The re-election should no more than three years. This could help to prevent there is directors or CEO trying to play a role of one man show to cover or hiding some truth such as Enron company. In additions, based on the principles of C3, audit committee and auditors, it stated that formal and transparent arrangements should considering by the board on how they should apply to reporting the risk management and internal control. It also stated that the board should maintain an appropriate relationship with the company’s auditors . One of the code provisions states that role and responsibility of audit committee should be written in term of references. If Enron Company has maintain an appropriate relationship with auditors, Arthur Andersen the auditors will not help Enron to cover and hide information. Significance of UK Corporate Governance Code In year 1992, the first version of the UK Corporate Governance Code had introduced by Cadbury Committee. The purpose that UK Corporate Governance Code introduced by Cadbury Committee is to provide effective, entrepreneurial and prudent management that drives the company for the long-term success. The UK Corporate Governance Code divided into five main principles such as leadership, effectiveness, accountability, remuneration and also relations with shareholders. Leadership is where an efficient leader is needed so that the operation of the company can flow nicely. The leader is responsible for the long term success of the company. Besides that, effectivenes s is where every employee including the board and its members should have balance of skills and knowledge regarding the company in order to balance the operation of company. Furthermore all directors should allocate some time and regularly update skills to their company. Next of the main principles of UK Corporate Governance code is accountability, which is how important the board is in a business where they have to present a clear assessment of the company to the directors and to determine the risk and strategic the company have to use. In additions, remuneration is where a significant proportion of reward is needed time to time to the employees in order to attract and motivate directors to run the company, but no director can decide their own remuneration. Lastly, relationship with shareholders stated that shareholders should have a dialogue between them and communicate well where it is the board’s responsibility to make sure that a satisfactory communication takes place and helps the company run smoothly. This not only supported by company and the shareholder, it also had been imitated by internationally. From the understanding about the UK Corporate Governance Code, one of the most significant codes for the business is principles of accountability. In the code of accountability, it has 3 sections; it is financial and business reporting, risk management and internal control and also audit committee and auditors. From the section C1: financial and business reporting, it said that a fair, accurate and understandable report should be present by the board of directors. When preparing the annual reports, directors should be responsible to consider the necessary information regarding the company performance, business and strategy. If company comply this principle, company will more responsible to provide an annual report that include explanation of the basis and fair, balanced and understandable about their company information. Secondly, section C 2 is about the risk management and internal control. This is about the responsible of the board to find out the nature and the importance of the risk that will be occurring in achieving company strategies objectives. Not only that, the board should also control and maintain the management and internal control systems. A review of the effectiveness risk management and internal control system of the company should report to the shareholders yearly. Review must be fair and clear which includes all materials control such as financial, operational and compliance controls. Without this code, the directors will be blurring about the company’s operation and result whether it is generating profit or loss. The board must inform the shareholders about the risk of company will be facing annually so that they can decide whether to continue invest in the company or to getting other way to reduce the risk of company. In section C3, audit committee and auditors stated a formal and transpa rent arrangement should establish for company to consider how to apply the report of company and risk management and internal control principles for maintaining an appropriate relationship with the company’s auditors. Main role and the responsible of the audit committee are to monitor the financial statements and the formal announcement about the company’s financial performance and the review of the significant financial reporting judgement. If a company can maintain an appropriate relationship with auditors so that a understanding and clear information can be present in the corporate yearly report. Overall, although accountability may are the significant principles in business, but to run and set up a business there are many dimension that should be look after to achieve a better performance, so that the other principles such as leadership, remuneration also playing an important role in business. Company is encouraging that to comply and explain the UK Corporate Go vernance Code to attain a better future. Conclusion In this research, we had reviews some company had failure in management system run by the high status companies, we also had discussed that the key components of the code which can lead to the avoidance of the scandals. In the UK Corporate Governance Code, we had learn that there are many importance and usefulness of the code such as effectiveness of the boards of directors, the role of audit committee, integrity of financial information, division of responsibilities at the head of the company are essential to the long-term success of the company. Therefore, the chances of preventing cases of financial scandals such as falsifying financial statements and embezzlement of funds will be outstandingly high if every institution complies with the UK Corporate Governance Code. This is because the Code plays a vital role in upholding the ethics that could produce everlasting success of the corporation. An overarching conclusion of this review, not amazingly, is that the severe conflicts of interest result in the failure of corporate governance.

Marketing Project Example

Marketing Project Example The marketing project example is the type of creative work aimed to successfully advertise products or services. Â  In the modern world, the trend of preferring local producers of all the possible goods is becoming more popular every year. People tend to believe that a local producer would have the best quality of grocery or other goods just because they are produced in the area around consumers. That is why, the marketing project example is going to describe the campaign designed for the local company. To start the local company, an entrepreneur should do a huge amount of work. An essential step is to conduct a marketing campaign about the product of the future company to find out the market size, possible revenue, and volume of sales. The company, which would be the scope of the research is the new grocery store with one hundred percent natural, GMO and pesticides free products. The first step of each marketing campaign is setting the goal of it. It sounds slightly easy but each purpose of sales or marketing should have different campaigns, which use different tools and methods to operate it. In the case of launching a new local grocery brand, the marketing campaign should answer the questions about intended volume of sales, market size, and expectations about profit. The deadline for this marketing project completion is three months, which is enough to conduct an extensive research and analyze the obtained results. The success of the marketing project and its level of confidence mainly depends on the methods of marketing research, which were to create this project. It means that methodology should be chosen very carefully. In the case of a new grocery store, it was decided to choose an effective mix of methods, which would provide both scientific and ‘field’ data. Firstly, focus-group method would be applied. It would help to get the scientific social information about the intended consumers of this area and to assess the prospects of the new store. The second method would be the observation of the real grocery events during two months. It would provide the marketing specialists with the most relevant information, which is gathered ‘on the field’. The reason of choosing those two methods is because they support each other. One is very credible with small groups, but still is a sociological one, which means that it could have irrelevant data because of the focus-group size. Another method is not so exact, but it provides a general idea about the market and prospects of the new brand. After two months, the research specialists could start working with gathered information to organize it into the proper marketing project summary. The obtained information was gathered by fifty focus groups; each consisted of fifteen people with a different demographic background. Furthermore, the analysis of eleven events from the intended market, for instance, weekend grocery markets or thematic events of this industry have also given some relevant info. The marketing specialists made an excellent job to analyze the obtained data, using the last version of STATISTICS software. The marketing project is credible and relevant, which is shown by the 95 percent confidence of the obtained data. References Hall, R. (2009). Brilliant marketing. Harlow, England: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kerin, R., Hartley, S., Rudelius, W. (2009). Marketing. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Peck, D. (2011). Think before you engage. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley Sons. Treadaway, C. Smith, M. (2010). Facebook marketing. Indianapolis: Wiley Pub.

Review Of The Great Warrior - 1414 Words

Exploration, Encounter Exchange; Review of Literature for Sparta Spartans and Athenians did not necessarily get along, therefore they fought a lot. Athens and Sparta were both greek city-states. Their power rivaled each other therefore causing some friction. Athen’s rise to power was through democracy and philosophy and the Spartan’s despised every bit of it. Only because they rose to power through war and fear. The Athenians believed that they were the descendants of Athena. The Spartan’s were believed to be descendants of the Dorians. The leadership in both places were majorly different for instance, the Spartan’s had ‘two kings† but they were actually the high ranking generals that were considered loyalty. The Athenians had the†¦show more content†¦So every summer the Spartans march north and spend a month killing all the Athenian crops, while the farmers hid in fear in the city. The Athenian navy then has to bring in even more cash crops than is normally required. The second summer of this ki nd, that of 430, is made more painful for the Athenians because plague strikes the city and kills a third of the denizens. Thucydides catches it, but survives to write his great history of the war (Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War). Pericles, architect of the Athenian war strategy and defeats , is less lucky; he falls victim in the most crucial summer of the plague, 429. Yet Athens survives even this series of disasters, and by 425 Sparta seems the one cut out to lose- suffering a series of defeats close to where they stay in the Peloponnese, at the mercy of soldiers landing from Athenian war boats. It appears as though no one side can ever win this conflict.The war was won by Sparta in the end because of the militant power they had over the Athenians. As shown in the source The Peloponnesian War: A Military Study. In the book it states that the Spartans would create a battle formation known as the Phalanx which was â€Å"Impenetrable as a brick wall† ( Lazenby 41). Ther efore because of this organization and discipline they were able to win in the long run against the theoretically unprepared Athenians.

Help with Writing a Research Paper

Research paper is formal writing which includes research and students personal ideas. The process of writing a research paper is not easy, as it demands plenty of work and deep concentration. Following some particular steps in writing a research paper will help to get good results. The first step in writing a research paper is choosing precise topic. The topic of the paper should be interesting. Make sure that you will be able to write on the particular topic, because some of them may be too difficult for you. Try not to select too wide topic; make it specific. After choosing the topic, start to search for information. Nowadays, there is the number of sources of information on any topic available throughout the Web, media, printed sources etc. The most widely used are books, Internet, magazines, encyclopedias, newspapers etc. You can search through several of these sources. After you find some information on your topic, mark the most useful sources, which you will use in your paper. Do not forget to write down the information about your sources, so that you will be able to cite them in your paper. Third step in writing a research paper is identifying a thesis statement. Do not make it too long. Thesis statement should reflect your point of view and the idea of the whole paper. Next step is making an outline of your paper. Write down few ideas that you want to specify. Do not forget about the structure which presumes introduction, body and conclusion. Write few sub-points to the main points of your outline, make it more detailed. This will help you to write detailed and structured paper. After the outline is done, start to compare gathered information to your outline. Find the most suitable sources and information. Organize these sources according to the outline. This will help you to simplify your writing process. During this stage of writing, you will learn much about your topic. Try to organize your notes in the way that is clear for your. Make sure that you will be able to find any information during writing process. Do not use any sources or information that you dont understand. You next step is writing the first draft. Make sure that you follow each step of your outline. Develop each point of your outline into a paragraph. Use the notes and sources that you have prepared. Stay focused; do not write down unnecessary information. Avoid plagiarism; use references and in-text citations for quotes or any other information you take from different sources. After the draft of the paper is ready you should revise it. Read through the paper and make sure that you followed an outline. The essay should be logically structured. All of the points that you make should be clear. Make sure that all of the sources that you used are properly cited. Check the grammar and spelling mistakes. The last step in your writing process is writing a final version of the paper. If you have done the revision carefully, you should not experience problems with your final version. Following all the steps of the writing process that are mentioned above will simplify your work and guarantee you succinct and well-structured research paper.

The Importance Of Good Leadership An Organization And...

Figure 1: Components of the Character of Good Leadership (Source: Peterson Seligman, 2004) Importance of Good Character Leaders with good character are vital for build organizations that are socially responsible. Character also plays important role in determining the ethical management of an organization and responsible decision making. A leader with good character can touch the hearts of workforce (Peterson Seligman, 2004). On the other hand, the leaders lacking good character generate chaos and promote despair among the workforce due to their unethical management and irresponsible decision making. In order to avoid outcomes like despair and chaos, it is crucial that leadership in business organizations realizes the significance of†¦show more content†¦The essential nature of this attribute cannot be underestimated. It is the building block of corporate social responsibility, good citizenship and ethical decision making. Integrity bestows inner strength and enables the leaders to play positive role and make difficult decisions to the common good (Wright Goodstein, 2007). The strategies, po licies and steps based on integrity rather than the decisions based on political measures are reported to be more beneficial and defensible as far as organizational outcomes are concerned. Wisdom and its role in good leadership Wisdom is another key attribute of character in leadership. It refers to the ability of a leader to utilize his/her experience and knowledge of the market to make decisions and judgments (Neubert et al., 2009). It is the wisdom that allows leadership to exercise its power and authority in pursuit of applying and implementing certain strategies. It brings the leadership to identify opportunities and think creatively to avail them. A leader with wisdom is open to variety of perspectives and mastering innovative business models. It enables systematic thinking in complex business situations and communicates without any ambiguity. The leaders with wisdom are capable of understanding the big picture and make decisions accordingly (Sonenshein, 2007). For instance, it was the wisdom that helped leadership in oil and gas industry to acknowledge the effects of this industry on environment leading to the

Analysis Of Pablo Picasso And The Three Dancers - 1201 Words

During heart-breaking times, the despair can sometimes be revealed in the form of dance. Artists often work this art form into their paintings, sculptures, music videos, and drawings, revealing how the power of dance can reflect upon those emotions. Likewise, in the painting Les Trois Danseuses, more commonly known as The Three Dancers, the artist, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) portrays three distorted dancers. The painting was created between Picasso’s Cubism and Classicism periods, in the year of 1925. Picasso exemplified the heart-breaking suicide of his friend, Carlos Casagemas, who had been involved in a triangular love affair illustrated within the painting (Tate para 1). Similarly, within the painting Dancers at the Barre, by the†¦show more content†¦The background appears to be an open balcony window, possibly allowing the dancers to reflect on their experiences. A sense of fresh air, a cleansing of themselves, may also be interpreted, further portraying the dance itself. Although the three dancers appear to be polar opposites, they are brought together through the art of dance, each holding hands and changing their rhythms. The use of scale and shape, variety, repetition, and color aid in exemplifying the underlying theme of tragedy within Picasso’s painting.The image emphasizes the variety of shapes, which causes the concept of chaos to be highlighted. This chaos reveals the different aspects that each of the dancers possesses. A rather prominent variety in shapes and colors provides interest by causing little focus on one specific frame. An array of colors provides for character within each dancer. The leftmost dancer shares colors with the other two, creating a sense of being a part of each. Bold reds, dull pinks, and bright blues cause this dancer to be portrayed as the most chaotic, along with the random patterns and variety of shapes that captivate the dancer’s body. Possibly resembling how hardships and successes can affect an individual. A combination of dark colors and white with jagged, geometric lines, the dancer on the far right appears to resemble the efforts of good and evil; however, in this case, the dark seems to beShow MoreRelatedGuernica a Paint by Pablo Ruiz Picasso1471 Words   |  6 PagesPicasso: Guernica â€Å" I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.† These are the words of the wise Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, a famous and talented artist in the 19th and 20th century. Many have crowned him the most influential artist of his time. Many of his works including Les Demoiselles dAvignon, Ma Jolie, and Girl Before a Mirror have set the tone for many artists to follow after. However, Guernica was one of his most famous of his pieces, painting a nearly perfect emotional picture of whatRead MoreALST3389 Words   |  14 Pageswas where she was most likely to see what interested her most: a collision between old and new. 2      Stein returned to Europe in her twenties, settled in Paris, and quickly became a sort of den mother to the most successful artists and writers and dancers of her age. They were, she recognized, moving right along the fault line that riveted her, the one that separated the classical European way of life, with its balls, carriages, and Victorian sensibilities, from what she spotted around her: the dances

Coca -Cola Company Analysis Marketer and Manufacturer

Question: Describe about the Coca -Cola Company Analysis for Marketer and Manufacturer. Answer: Introduction Coca-Cola dates its history to the late 1800s (Fernando 2009). Its founder, John Pemberton, is said to have mixed carbonated water with caramel- colored syrup coming up with a drink that was of different taste and flavour from the one taken by the people. A retailer, marketer and manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages, the Coca-Cola Company is the worlds market leader. Headquartered in Atlanta and with more than 500 brands, operating in more than 200 countries world over, it operates a stable franchised distribution system in which Coca- Cola Company produces syrup concentrate selling it to various bottlers. The company boasts of hundreds of brands as well as thousands of products in over 200 countries over the world. Due to the cultural tastes of some products, they are only sold locally while other products are region- bound. Overview of Problem Solving and Decision Making Process Cross, Miller and Cross (2009) argue that the process of making decisions in the company is centralized with the use of the classical model. The top level managers take time in making the decisions keeping in mind all the possible alternatives prior to coming up with a rationally economic solution. In this process, no employees are consulted especially in the event of a programmed decision making. Upon receiving orders from the general managers, the line managers in the middle level management are charged with only ordinary routine decisions. The top management makes decisions related to: trade discounts, advertisements, distribution, price reductions, and package positioning. For instance, in the recruitment of the new employees, top management also gives approval to the vacancies while the human capital department personnel conduct interviews and tests. Overview of Coca-Cola Company Profile Coca-Cola Company, a multinational organization founded in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia as a beverage industry began its international merchandise in 1895 after selling their coke product in bottles (Tuleja 2008). This strategy was successful and the bottled coke was recognised as a highly consumed brand worldwide. The primary objective of the company is to be the global leader in the manufacturer, retailer and marketer of beverages in accelerating the sustainable growth. The objective is achieved through the company targeting different areas globally with different products aimed at gaining brand name and popularity. All the bottling partners have a close working relation with the customers through grocery stores, street vendors, convenience stores, and movie theatres. According to In Idowu (2009), the company carries out regular reviews and evaluation of its business plans and performance so as to improve business earning and ensure increased market competition. Business models are re- aligned with decisions in order to match the objectives with the strategies in achieving them. Problems or issues of the Coca-Cola Company Since its inception, Sander and Bobo (2011) postulate that Coca-Cola Company faces a lot of challenges in terms of its brand new strategies being developed by other beverage producing industries that threaten Coca-Cola existence. The main competitor for the company is the PepsiCo or Pepsi Cola Company whose portfolio of services and products are extensive as Cokes. Both the two beverage companies offer products which are almost similar in their flavour, price and ingredients. However, Coca-Cola Company caters for the needs of the thirsty drinkers through offering distinct products. Financially, Coca-Cola has often lagged behind PepsiCo with a decrease in both revenue and net income over the past years. For instance, its revenue between 2012 and 2014 decreased to $45.9 billion from $48 billion marking a 4 percent decline in the last three years. On the other hand, PepsiCo registered an increase in the revenue to about $66.6 billion from $65.4 billion, a 1.8 percent increment during 20 12-2014 period. Nevertheless, the company has seen an increasing cash flow as well as total assets despite PepsiCo leading in terms of revenue and profits. Objectives behind the selection of particular Coca-Cola company problems Coca-Cola Company as a successful global company still faces public perception problems (Sander and Bobo 2011) Some of the products do not taste good as well as gaining the popularity as its red flag brand. The public perception is that some of these products can more likely to lead to certain diseases such as diabetes especially when consumed in large quantities. Such attitude of changing health- consciousness of the market remains a serious effect on its visibility in the business dominance. Problem solving process in Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola employs a consultative management style to problem solving and decision making (Anderson, Billings-Harris 2010). The approach motivates the employees who are encouraged to set their goals in line with the aims of the organization which regular reviews through performance appraisals. The advantage is that it increases the efficiency of the employees, motivating and training them to be productive. As a worlds premier beverage industry spanning more than 118 years, the Coca-Cola Company focuses on strategic workforce programs that helps to embrace workers cultures, ideas, similarities and differences. Diversity advisory council is one of such mechanisms consisting of employee representatives from all functions, level and business units. The council is charged with the responsibility to develop recommendations which inform the senior management on the companys efforts and objectives. Coca-Cola Company embraces employee forums where they support each other on matters of personal and professional growth so as to enhance a collective ability. Team work is encouraged as a way through which employees voice their grievances in Coca-Cola Company as well as being accountable on matters such as quality, utilization and yield. Approaches used by Coca-Cola Company According to Miller and Jentz (2008), every business is composed of its culture which is dependent on the organizational management style as well as structure. Some of these cultures available for use by any organization are role culture, task culture, power culture and person culture. Coca- Cola Company adopts a role culture in which all the employees have a defined role to carry out. The employee roles are split into different functions which take a hierarchical order. For instance, Coca- Cola divides these functions into different sections such as accounts, production and marketing with hierarchical order of offices. Such offices are manned by production managers, technicians, supervisors, operatives among others which work by rationality and logic. Therefore, in Coca-Cola, approach to problem solving and decision making uses position as the chief power source while rules and procedures form main source of influence. Values with the Coca-Cola Company serve as a compass in decision making and problem solving for its actions, forming the main description of its global business behaviour (Anderson, Billings-Harris 2010). Among the values are: leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, diversity, quality and passion. The aforementioned values are incorporated in the Coca-Cola Company through the focus on the market and the needs of the customers and the franchise partners, possessing a global view, listening, observing and learning the market, and being insatiably curious. Tools used by the Coca-Cola Company Employee engagement forms the main tool used by Coca-Cola Company (Anderson, Billings-Harris 2010). Such engagement consists of five points: realization that hard stuff delivery is not enough, acknowledging to the workforce their strengths and weaknesses in an open way, engaging every employee in the work, involving all the employees concerning the management style, and identifying different employee talents. Solution Taken by the Coca-Cola Company Miller and Cross (2013) state that Coca-Cola Company has been hard at its work utilizing the ample war chest in building the presence in the ever rapid growing category of beverages. In order to curb the problem of competition especially from its core competitor, PepsiCo, it has owned 16 percent of the Keurig Green Mountain. At the same time, a fresh Keurig Kold device is being developed which is projected towards debuting the fall in its revenue and profits as a result of the competition. Keurig, which is based used for pod- based drinks when hot, is intended to feature Cokes branded products as being strong in the market. In addition, the company recently finalised the purchase of the 17 percent stae of the Moster Beverage. This deal will help the company in the access to the energy drink segment. All these transactions are anticipated to take effect in bolstering the top as well as bottom lines with an immediate effect. Alongside, this is aimed at targeting the younger customer ba se. In order to capitalise on the fact that there has been an increase in the number of the customer base, Coca-Cola Company intends to capitalise on this shift. For instance, in India and China, Coke has continued to face water shortages due to the surging demand in the bottled water goods. Any alternative Solutions Coca-Cola Company has embraced a public relations approach in dealing with the competition issues world over (Amerland 2013). The most viable solution has been through open communication especially with the main constituents such as the media, public, trade channels, employees, suppliers, state and national government. The company has engaged into an open as well as honest communication in resolving some of the emerging competition problems with the view of ensuring that they are well resolved and identified. Amerland (2013) adds that through the well laid down communication channels, the consumers are able to make informed choices of the products. This is also effective in achieving an efficient promotion because communication finds its roots to the persons behavioural aspects which have a direct link with the culture. Coca-Cola Company has factored in the fact that poor public relations and the communication with the customers make them to lack the pre-requisite knowledge about the products. Impact of success and growth after using the company selected model Clarkson (2008) argues that firms that are said to have a higher competitive advantage over the rest have an access to special resources and use them in an efficient way. In turn, this results in a higher revenue, production growth and profits. Coca-Cola Company has utilized Michael Porters competitive forces model in dealing with the five competitive forces in the market. Through the Porters model, Coca-Cola Company has divided its competitors in categories such as traditional competitors, new market entrants, substitute services and products, customers, and suppliers. Through the use of the model, Coca-Cola Company has employed four generic strategies in managing the competition by the help of the information technology and systems. These strategies are: Low cost leadership- the company utilizes this strategy so as to achieve lowest prices and operational costs. For instance, an efficient customer response system has been incorporated in the supply chain management system so as to directly link with the customers behaviour. This has helped the company in the distribution and production as well as supply chains thus lowering the inventory and the costs of distribution. SWOT Analysis of the tools used by the Company As a five forces analysis, Porters model as used by Coca-Cola Company can be analysed using the SWOT analysis (Isdell and Beasley 2012). This can be used in the analysis of the company on the basis of the companys strengths and the weakness with relative to the opportunities and the threats. Through the use of the model, the company makes important strategic decisions in terms of the competitive factors. As a de facto framework especially in the analysis of an industrys competition factors, Porters five forces model has been used by Coca-Cola Company in measuring its competitiveness in the market. The analysis is as follows: threat to the entry of the new entrants- for the beverage industry, entry barriers of the potential competitors is very relatively low because no consumer switching cost occurs as well as zero capital requirements. As a result, many new brands are hitting the markets which are similar in prices and tastes with those produced by the company especially with referen ce to PepsiCo, the main competitor (Isdell and Beasley 2012). The Coca-Cola Company utilizes this strategy because it has been in the business for a very long period of time hence can be able to command a higher competitive purchasing power from the customers who are not willing to try a new brand. Through the threat of the substitute products competitive force, Coca-Cola Company does not have a brand that is unique in its flavour making it to be prone to the use of the other substitute products by the customers. For instance, through a blind taste test, it is argued that many people cannot easily delineate between the Pepsi and Coca-Cola (Fernando 2010). Through the bargaining power of the buyers force, Coca-Cola Company enjoys a lower power due to the fact that there is no pressure to the customers owing to the buyer brand royalty. On the basis of the rivalry from the existing firms, currently, PepsiCo is the main competitor with a wide range of the products that operate under its brand. The two beverage industries are predominant in the carbonated beverages through the outdoor activities and events. Coca-Cola Company also faces competition challenges from other brands such as Dr. Pepper due to their unique flavours. Coca-Cola Company faces a low pressure in terms of the bargaining power of the suppliers because it is the largest supplier of the carbonated water (Isdell and Beasley 2012). Analysis and Comparison of company Model with other two Models The other two models that can be used in the analysis of the competitive advantage of Coca-Cola Company are the four Ps Model and the market oriented strategic planning model. The Four Ps Model stands for product, price, promotion and place. According to Isdell and Beasle (2012), a product can be an intangible service or a tangible good which can be used in fulfilling a need. In this model, Coca-Cola Company can use this model due to its varied products in the market making it possible for the company to successful market them. According to the price, Coca-Cola Company enjoys good pricing decisions that help in impacting on the profit margins, marketing strategy, and supply and demand. Similarly, the company places and positions the products differently on the basis of the varied price points while at the same time the price elasticity is considered. Fernando(2010) states that promotion is also used by Coca-Cola Company in determining the various marketing agencies and regions so as to disseminate the relevant information to the customers. This is also used in the differentiation of the products through the use of such events as advertising, social media, public relations, email and video marketing and more. All the aforementioned platforms are supported by the use of a well positioned brand aimed to maximize the return on the investment. Coca-Cola Company makes use of the Place strategy because through it various regions around the globe, different products are place in different areas considering factors such as time and price. On the other hand, the market oriented strategic planning model can also be used by the Coca-Cola Company. This is especially in the development and maintenance of the viable fit that can enable the company in achieving the set objectives, skills and resources to address the changing market opportunities . Findings from the comparison results Making the customers to be the top priority makes a company to enjoy a higher competitive edge (Miller, Cross and Jentz 2013). This is because the customers are able to put into place too effort and time in the engineering of the products and development, thus making them to be less equipped in building the solutions based on their demands. The knowledge of the customers preference and tastes helps the company to develop the products accordance to the specifications and better market them persuasively. As a result, there is an increase in the sales level and the customer base. Recommendations A marketing orientation is essential in helping Coca-Cola Company to make advanced planning on the development of the products (Hill and Jones 2010). The business has to be responsive to the perpetual changes of the customer and this can only be possible through the use of strong technology infrastructures and the clearly defined communication channels. The aforementioned marketing structures will enable Coca-Cola Company to allow for the efficient times for the response from the customers. In addition, the production process has to cater for a flex in the new products that the customers want. Introduction of strategy Roy (2009) cites that product differentiation strategy is used by Coca-Cola Company in enabling the new products or changing the convenience of the customer in using their products. In this regard, the company has used mass customization through offer of customer tailored products by the use of the same production resources through mass production which meet the varied specifications and needs of the customers. Cokes global divisions except the North American holding fall under Coca Cola International. The organizations international entities operate similar to the other eighties structure except in instances of key strategic decision where the international divisions are responsible for making their own independent decisions. The organization employs three management styles which are laissez-faire, autocratic and democratic management concept to oversee these international divisions and this implies that the corporate executives provide little guidance on how regional branches are managed unless the decision may affect its goals worldwide (Hill Jones, 2010). Cokes North London branch has entrenched the culture of laissez-faire implying that the management have given a free will on employees decision meaning that workers work independently as long as they meet Key Business Indicators (KBIs). The directors assume a relaxed role when coordinating the organizations internal operation and the executive hold a vision to refresh all the workers and to have passion for job responsibilities. The organization also has a corporate advisory council in place comprising of representatives group of employees from all levels and business divisions of the company. The council nurtures recommendations for senior management on advancing the organizations efforts towards attaining its diversity objectives. In North America the company often holds employees forum where the workers mingle with colleagues with similar interests and backgrounds and it is through these forums that employees support each others personal and professional growth for the sake of improving on each others personal and career growth with the sole focus on giving meaningful contribution to the company. The company has a general manager who sits at the top of the regional hierarchy and in turn reports to the country head. These general managers have other managerial subordinates and they act on certain cases depending with the situation at the micro level. Managerial style adopted by the executives follow incentive based system for actualizing peak performance from the salesperson, and through the concept, monetary and non-monetary incentives are issues to the salesperson to motivate them meet or exceed their sales expectations. Some of the monetary incentives may include pay hikes, bonuses and commissions while non-monetary incentives may include discounted holiday packages and vouchers for vacations. Strategies adopted to illustrate your suggestion Coca-Cola Company has also focused on the market niche as the best way of curbing the needs of the customers. This is implemented through finely tunes sales as well as marketing techniques. Through this model, the company has ensured a strengthened supplier and customer intimacy. The suppliers, for instance, have been allowed an opportunity to decide how and when they can be able to ship their products allowing them a more lead time in the production of the goods. Such strong linkages have been able to help the Coca-Cola Company in increasing their switching costs as well as remaining royal to the company. Implementation of the recommendation model against organisation problem The market oriented strategic planning model can be used by Coca-Cola Company in shaping the business products in order to help in yielding the profits and the growths (Michaux, Cadiat and Probert 2015). In line with this model, Coca-Cola Company has been able to assess each of the varied business activity through factoring in the rate of the markets growth, companys position as well as its fit in the market. The company has also been able to use this model in developing a strategy to achieve in the long run objectives, setting strategic plans and managing the investment portfolio (Mu?ller 2011). Coca-Cola Company in this model use has been enhanced in the tactical marketing plan including the advertising, merchandising, pricing, product variants and distribution channels. Conclusion From the foregoing discussion, Coca-Cola Company has a good understanding of the needs of the customers and this makes it easier for the top leadership in making decisions and solving the emerging problems. As such, the company has a good ability in marketing effectively because the research department helps in conveying the messages with clarity on their products, their use and marketing strategies. References Fernando, A.C 2009, Business Ethics: An Indian Perspective. Prentice Hall. Cross, F. B., Miller, R. L. R., Cross, F. 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