Zero Malt Project Analysis Stephanie Kimber October 1, 2017 2 Zero Malt Project Analysis Introduction Coca-Cola is one of the popular companies in the world based on the number of companies it operates in and the annual revenues it enjoys from its operation in more than 200 countries across the world (Jakeman et al., 2014). The company specializes in the production of beverage drinks which has seen it control a significant market share of the total global beverage market and consequently become one of the biggest players in the soft drinks industry. In the recent years, the company has faced stiff competition from other rival companies which are so much to reduce the market dominance of Coca-Cola Company (Karnani, 2014). It is the primary objective of every firm to maximize profit subject to cost minimization and to also enhance the firm’s reputation by enhancing customers’ satisfaction. The success of a firm to achieve such objectives is highly influenced by its innovation and marketing strategies (Cross, Belich, & Rudelius, 2015). Additionally, in a more competitive industry, a firm needs to show the resilience and aggressiveness in ensuring that it endures high market competition by generating new ideas that can help foster organizational change. This paper analyzes some of the recent products introduced in the market by Coca-Cola and whether the revenues generated from these products justifies the need for the firm to continue producing them. Market Strategies Coca-Cola Company has been in the past implementing numerous ideas and marketing strategies to help increase its performance. Due to dynamics being witnessed in various major markets around the world and annual changes in consumer preference globally, the firm has opted to undertake product diversification as well as market segmentation. Product diversification refers to the process in which a firm produces new products which might not 3 necessarily be related to the main products that the firm opted to produce during its establishment (Oh, Sohl, & Rugman, 2015). On the other hand, market segmentation refers to the process in which a firm segment a market into different categories based on the market demand of the product in each group and consumer preference towards the products sold. With product diversification, a firm can always increase its operation in producing other products which it thinks are needed by consumers so as to complement the revenues it enjoys from the main products its produces. On the other hand, market segmentation enables a firm to charge prices for its products sold different based on the market features. For instance, Coca-Cola as opted to reconsider lowering the price it charges some of its beverage products being sold in African Market and Latin America since most of the consumers in these two markets are mostly poor families (Akhter et al., 2016). On the other hand, the same products are being charged relatively higher in North America and Europe due to the fact that these continents are more developed and therefore its citizens are financially stable. The Coca-Cola “Zero Malt” Project Every year, the Coca-Cola Company launches different new products to help encounter the high business completion and meet the ever-changing taste and preference of consumers around the world. In 2014, the company launched over 450 new products (Elmore, 2014). However, the recent launch of these new products is what has enabled the firm to substantially increase its market dominance in beverage drinks production. The production of these new products has proven to be a hit in the market based on the market response received from customers from different countries across the globe. The firm has however failed to capitalize on revelers who desire to have non-alcoholic drinks which can be used as substitute to alcohol drinks when revelers are having some fun in various social joints and clubs. The number of 4 individuals who don’t drink but likes to hang around with their drinking friends is significantly high and there is need for the firm to consider serving such group of customers. The Zero Malt project is designed to produce non-alcoholic drinks which such population can consume. The main reason why the above project should be implemented is because there is high number of people across the globe who would wish to consume some non-alcoholic drinks which are close substitute of alcoholic drinks. Exploiting such an opportunity would enable Coca-Cola Company to enjoy high revenue from production and marketing of these products. The following table provides a discrete budget proposal that is required for the implementation of the “Zero Malt” project. Zero Malt Proposed Budget Amount ($ ‘000) Item Total Revenue………………………………………………….3, 000,000 Expenses Raw Material…………………………………………………………….250,000 Equipment………………………………………………………………..300,000 Supplies…………………………………………………………………..200,000 Rent and Utilities…………………………………………………………150,000 Administrative Expenses…………………………………………………150,000 Salaries and Wages……………………………………………………….450,000 Total Expenses………………………………………………….1, 500,000 Project Cost and Source of Capital In the past, the core responsibility of any project manager was to ensure that the project is completed within the time stipulated and that the project implementation is within the outlined 5 budget constraints. In recent years, the scope and responsibilities expected from a project manage is becoming increasingly broader (Verzuh, 2015). This is because as most organizations tend to become increasingly project based today, project managers are forced to be financially savvy. Hence, projects are not only expected to be on time and also on budget, but must also contribute positively towards enhancing shareholder’s value and also promoting the financial success of the firm in the long-run (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). Such development therefore makes financial factor to be a key pillar on which successful project implementation is built. In order to generate enough capital to help in financing the first two phases of production of the Zero Malt drinks, this paper proposes that the shareholders be required to invest additional financial capital into the company as shares. Internal financial capital from the company’s shareholders is preferred to external borrowing from commercial banks due to the fact that it is cheap and comes with limited conditions as opposed to commercial loans. Therefore, the initial project cost of $1.5 billion required for successful implementation of this project will be generated from the company’s shareholders. Expected Revenue and Cash Flows The revenues generated from the sales of Zero Malt products are expected to be computed on quarterly basis. Hence, for the next two years on which the company will be analyzing the annual profits realized form Zero Malt products, a total of eight financial statements will be produced. The following figures are the expected cash flows from the sale of Zero Malt products across the globe for the next two years after successful implementation of the project; Time 1st Q 2nd Q 3rd Q 4th Q 5th Q 6th Q Rev.(‘$000) 3,000 4,500 6,000 8,000 9,000 11,000 7th Q 8th Q 12, 000 14,000 6 Expen(‘$000) 1,500 C.flow($’000) 1,500 2,100 2,4000 2,800 3,2000 4,000 4,000 3,000 2,600 2,000 2,000 6,000 8,400 10,000 12,000 Calculation of NPV To Assess the Viability of The Above Project The Net Present Value measures the difference between present value of expected cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to help determine the profitability of a given project if implemented (Asquith & Weiss, 2016). A positive NPV is an indication that the projected earnings from a given investment exceed the anticipated costs and therefore the project/investment should be undertaken. The Net Present Value NPV= Co+ C1/(1+r)^1+C2+(1+r)^2+C3(1+r)^3+………………Cn(1+r)^n Where C= Cash flow R=rate of return on capital (10%) N= Time period for each cash flow NPV= -1,500+ 1,500(1+0.10)^1+2,400(1+0.10)^2+3,200(1+0.10)^3+4,000(1+0.10)^4+6,00(1+0.10)^5+8,400(1 +0.10)^6+10,000(1+0.10)^7+12,000(1+0.10) NPV=-1,500+1650+2904+4259.2+5856+9663.06+14881.11+19487.17+25723.06 NPV=82924 Hence, the project should be implemented since its NPV is positive meaning that the project will generate positive profits if implemented. An assessment of Assets and Liabilities According to the 2015 financial report released by Coca-Cola Company, the company recorded a positive growth in revenues by almost 2 % compared to the previous year. This is an 7 indication of the continued market dominance and unquestionable loyalty of its customers who are satisfied by the quality of products produced by the company. In the 2015, financial report, the company had a total of $90 billion dollars as its assets with a corresponding $28 billion as liability (://coca-colahellenic.com). This gives the company a positive debt to asset ratio hence indicating that the Company can successfully repay the capital it owes its creditors without facing any significant decrease in its operations. In 2014, the company had $92 billion as its asset and $ 19 billion as long term debt thus showing a relative small decrease in its asset value and an increase in liabilities in 2015. However, from the net income posted in its income statement report, it is evident that the firm decision to increase its operations in other new markets and the continued desire to always develop new products may have influenced such decrease and increase in asset and liability respectively. However, with the implementation of the Zero Malt project, the firm will able to recover back the initial invested by the second year of operation that indicating that this particular project has a short payback period and should therefore be implemented. 8 References Akhter, N., Rafique, A., Rafiq, I., Bano, M., & Usman, M. (2016). Organization Structure and Firm Performance in Financial Development for Perspective in Coca Cola Beverages in Pakistan. International Review of Management and Business Research, 5(2), 494. Asquith, P., & Weiss, L. A. (2016). The Time Value of Money: Discounting and Net Present Values. Lessons in Corporate Finance: A Case Studies Approach to Financial Tools, Financial Policies, and Valuation, 287-302. Cross, J. C., Belich, T. J., & Rudelius, W. (2015). How marketing managers use market segmentation: An exploratory study. In Proceedings of the 1990 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 531-536). Springer, Cham. Elmore, B. J. (2014). Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism. WW Norton & Company. https://coca-colahellenic.com/media/.../coca-cola-hbc_2015-integrated-annual-report.pdf Jakeman, B., Lim, S., Porcini, M., Béhar, Y., Malone, M., & Murphy-Reinhertz, N. (2014). U.S. Patent No. D716,093. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Karnani, A. (2014). Corporate social responsibility does not avert the tragedy of the commons. Case study: Coca-Cola India. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 9(3), 11. Mir, F. A., & Pinnington, A. H. (2014). Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International journal of project management, 32(2), 202-217. Oh, C. H., Sohl, T., & Rugman, A. M. (2015). Regional and product diversification and the performance of retail multinationals. Journal of International Management, 21(3), 220234. 9 Verzuh, E. (2015). The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons. 1 Stephanie Kimber Company and Key Personnel Institution September 19, 2017 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 2 Project Milestone Three The project aims to deliver support to the strategic leadership of the Coca-Cola Company in the global scale regarding its products while offering quality assurance. Initiation of the concept would guarantee the full reach of the company's products at considerable costs while allowing the organization to retain its global influence. The concept also acknowledges the quality of the products and the need to maintain relevance in the market. Regarding the implementation plan for the idea, the project for the company focuses on the application in the global setup. Nonetheless, the structuring and planning may contain challenges that prevent the successful running of the project to fruition. That said the paper provides how the concept fits within the company's core competencies, the corporate culture suitable for the project success, roles and responsibilities of the implementation team, and the contingency plan should the team require modification. Core Competencies The concept aims to be influential globally while correlating with existing relationships and, hence, the strong brand name and the extensive network of bottlers and distributors for the company will allow for the same. Likewise, the organization's adequate relationship with its dealers creates an ideal platform to establish a differentiation strategy. Similarly, the company's general relationships will ensure the project involves the collaboration of teams to improve performance through a systematic removal of waste and reduction of variation. Further, the company's divisional structure will allow for proper reactions to uncertain environments while enhancing some level of stability. The multi visional structure will allow the project manager to handle daily operations while following long-term planning. Moreover, the company includes a wide array of suppliers. Thus, establishing contractual agreements with those who have access to PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 3 real-time data such as demand trends and expectations of future volumes for the products will ensure the project can set an adequate balance between specific needs and their supply. Corporate Culture The business culture involves an inclusive workplace culture (Bell, 2013). The culture forms an integral part of the success of the project. The company includes programs to attract, retain, and promote the development of a diverse talent of employees. Also, the strategy includes providing support systems for individuals with various backgrounds and educating all associates so that relevant people can adopt the skills necessary for achieving sustainable growth. The company strives to ensure the workplace environment is inclusive and fair to its partners, who participate in diversity training regularly. Correspondingly, ongoing dialogue provides every individual with an understanding of other colleagues as well as the suppliers and customers, among other stakeholders. The inclusive culture involves a focus on diversity, integrity, quality, collaboration, gauging of performance, accountability, and customer satisfaction. Such values create the opportunity to leverage a comprehensive engagement of individuals from diverse backgrounds and with varying talents and ideas. Consequently, the culture will ensure the sustainability of the project as it creates the ability to operate in a multicultural world. Moreover, the culture emphasizes on organization and control. Precisely, the culture involves placing a high value on relationships with external stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and creditors of diverse backgrounds. The culture is suitable for the project as it is likely to yield excellent financial results and, hence, enhance the company's competitiveness. Conjointly, the culture is integral as it allows for adaptability and fast reactions to changes in the market, competition, and the external environment. Such results will allow for growth and expansion opportunities for the project. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 4 Roles and Responsibilities Project Lead The role of the leader is to coordinate the entire project to fruition and to ensure the achievement and maintenance of high morale among project team members. One responsibility involves the inculcation of team spirit, teamwork, and collaboration among members of the project. Also, the lead has the duty of improving communications and information sharing among all teams to ensure consistency in the conduct of tasks. Further, the project lead is responsible for ensuring that members obtain the relevant training to cultivate their expertise necessary to participate in the project. Moreover, the lead must initiate change management processes, collecting information for documentation and reporting to management, and obtaining funding approval. The project lead will be strictly in charge of each task and will rigorously monitor the same along the implementation course. Budget Team The group will comprise of individuals with financial skills to manage all the costs incurred by the concept. The cost manager will maintain a log of all the changes to cost that occur throughout the project for future references. In the early stages of the project, the cost manager will provide a cost breakdown structure as well as a cost curve to allow for smooth coordination of when and where the organization will incur costs. The team will work together with the project lead to identify and budget the costs for the project. Communications Team The group will comprise of individuals capable of establishing communication paths. The result will be that timely information flows freely to stakeholders throughout the project. The PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 5 primary source of communication will be emails and meetings. The communications team leader will relay all information back to the project lead for tracking and approval. Human Resource Team The group will comprise of individuals with human resource management skills to attain and manage all staffing necessary for the project. Some of the staff will be available in-house, while others will arise from an interactive marketing firm. Staff working on the project will follow a chain of command and provide progress updates to their respective team leaders. The creation of a responsibility assignment matrix will enhance the allocation of resource responsibilities to key role players. Risk Management Team Members of the group will consist of individuals conversant with risk management to manage all the potential risks likely to occur throughout the project. Following the acceptance of the project, the team leader will immediately establish a risk register and develop a risk breakdown structure. Such actions will allow for the determination of all the potential risks facing the project. The team will collaborate with the project lead to ensure the identification of all possible risks and the establishment of a clear solution to prevent the same. Procurement Management Team Members will comprise of persons with knowledge and skills on supply management to ensure the acquisition of all materials and establishment of supplier relationships. The company's purchasing policy will guide procurement practices to ensure all purchases serve the best interest of the project tasks. The team and project lead will collaborate to ensure an accurate and timely delivery of all resources and services. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 6 Contingency Plans Regarding the modification of the implementation team whenever there is the need, the process will include consultations among relevant stakeholders and resource mobilization. Precisely, coordination of the company and the project team, as well as the maintenance of a particular number of suppliers and contacts for specific resources, may help address the issue (Kerzner, 2011). Similarly, early preparation of individual tasks will allow for the prioritization of resources that require a refill or replacement. Also, assuming that funds will be sustainable throughout the project disregards the fact that the implementation team may need modification, which may lead to cost increments. For example, the change of the implementation team may involve the addition of new personnel, coupled with their need for training and the creation of tools for reinforcing learning, and, hence, would create additional costs. Subsequent actions will involve cross-cultural training, the assessment of the performance of tasks against project expectations and milestones, and the development of a framework that includes the provision of change initiatives and personal and professional development (Bryson and Alston, 2011). Correspondingly, the available funds or lack of it could create the disparity between having sufficient resources to facilitate all the tasks necessary to complete the project. Mitigating the issue will involve the identification of greater ways to generate funds, including lobbying activities, donor requests, and borrowings. Such generation of funds would also enable the project team to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities. Concisely, the concept will add value to the Coca-Cola Company through the provision of relevant resources, the promotion of management and staff development, and the enhancement of critical transitions and change to the implementation team. The teams above are suitable for PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 7 accomplishing the goal of the project, including ensuring maximum control of tasks and optimum communication activities. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 8 References Bell, L. (2013). The story of Coca-Cola. North Mankato, Minnesota: Smart Apple Media. Bryson, J. M., & Alston, F. K. (2011). Creating Your Strategic Plan. New York, NY: Springer. Kerzner, H. R. (2011). Strategic Planning for Project Management. Chicago, IL: John Wiley & Sons.
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