Question 1 Describe the various IT-enabled initiatives discussed in this case study and categorize them as either above-the-line,

below-the-line, or some combination of the two. Answer: From the case study paragraph two, a multitude of IT systems are constantly churning in the background, not only keeping the organization running, but also keeping it running ahead of the competition. In Run-Grow-Transform framework is similar in many ways to both Porters three generic strategies and an above-the-line versus below-the-line approach, run=overall cost leadership=below the line. A mature organization like Coca-Cola with a well-defined and successful line of products and services will often focus more on the run aspect. The organization may already be a market leader and want to ensure and sustain its competitive advantage through price and cost optimization. Cost optimization is one of the ways to minimize organization expenses and is considering under below the line approach. The other IT-enabled initiative is also categorize under below the line approach. The new and innovative IT steps rolled out a new line of software services that create standardization. Standardization in this case equates to saving money by reducing expenses associated with supply chain activities. Thus, in this case it support a below the line strategy. Question 2 Why standardization so important in supply chain management? Coke is developing its own set of software services for bottler to use. Do you think Coke charges the bottlers for these software services? Why or why not? Answer: Standardization means, the condition in which a standard has been successfully established or to make activities of the same type to have same features or quality. Why is standardization important in supply chain management? Firstly, with the standardization in supply chain management, it able to lower downs the costs, to increase the quality of the system and to develop economies of scale... [continues]

Contact Us Careers Newsroom Investors Blogs Home Building Tomorrow's Enterprise

o

Industries
o

Services
o

Products and Platforms

o

Company
o

View all Infosys blogs

Supply Chain Management

Home | Features & Opinions | Offerings | White Papers | Case Studies | News & Events | Blog

The Infosys global supply chain management blog enables leaner supply chains through process and IT related interventions. Discuss the latest trends and solutions across the supply chain management landscape. June 2011 | Main | August 2011

July 28, 2011

True Truckload optimization - Opportunity for leading supply chain products
Just imagine that you want to relocate with your family to another country for 2 years for company's work. It is but obvious that you would want to carry the maximum luggage with you without paying hefty fine for the excessive baggage at the airport. As a part of logical thought process, you would first consider the various constraints imposed by the airlines (weight, volume, number of luggage/ hand baggage, etc.) and then you would start to pack the stuff. Won't you agree with me that the most important step is placing different items inside the bags - like which items should be at the bottom (ideally sturdy ones),which items should be alongside of the bag, which items should be in the hand baggage (fragile ones), et al. Applying st similar other parameters after 1 round of packing you would weigh the bags, re-shuffle the items 4-5 times in various bags and would spend almost 3 hours in this process till the objective of maximum luggage within the specified weight constraints is met. How nice it would be, if any software program can

provide an end-to-end solution to you - i.e. right from considering the constraint to the layout of the products to be placed in the bags? In today's era of fierce market competition and high fuel cost, companies are also looking for such a solution to facilitate the load building process to great extent. Every supply chain planning product possesses the basic capability of producing distribution requirement planning (DRP) or deployment planning output by considering the constraints (Number of cases, W eight, Volume, etc.). However at the execution level, there are real challenges for the vehicle loaders in the dock in the process of placing the product inside the truck. When certain products are fragile, the complexity increases further. This is one of the major needs of every organization which has not been fully met by today's best-of-breed supply chain products or even by SAP APO/Oracle APS. Some of the niche players like TWO (Transportation and Warehouse Optimization) grabbed this opportunity with both the hands and helped many Fortune 100 companies (including CPG industry leaders like Nestle, P&G, Kraft) to reduce the transportation cost by 4-8%. The load building product (AutoVLB) developed by TWO, rightly termed as "SuperTruck", has been made so smart that it also considers the weight restrictions on the axles of the truck (to conform to the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Rule in US to prevent heavy vehicles from damaging roads and bridges) and distributes the load accordingly inside the truck. This unique feature of the product makes sure that trucks are not held up at the weigh scales. With the help of AutoPalletP3 (optimized mixed product case picking) and AutoLoaderT3 (optimized load building), AutoVLB can create a loading diagram and a case pick sequence for every shipment as well, which is one of the striking benefit of the solution. To cut down on transportation cost, companies are relentlessly striving to attain the "true truckload optimization". So there is definitely a huge and growing need of an end-to-end load building solution in the market. Now, the question still remains - will it be possible for the market leading or best-of-breed supply chain packages to cater to this requirement or this area would always be dominated by niche players?

Posted by Umesh Sonawane at 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 19, 2011

Green supply chain - Reverse logistics and Package-less for Quick-wins
This is continuation to my previous blog. In this blog we can see Reverse logistics and Packaging in detail, which can give quick results to the green vision. What have you done after finishing Pepsi, Coke or Dominos? Yes, tossed the can/bottle/box into litter-box. You do not need it once the contents are over. At the same time you cannot have drink alone without can or bottle, or Pizza delivered without a box. There are certain functions you expect the packaging to meet - like protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. It is never intended to end in landfill or to be a burden to nature.The bottle you dump in Recycle bin or giving back to the shopkeeper goes back to the manufacturer via reverse logistics. This saves a lot for manufacturer and plays its role in greening the supply-chain. Pepsi has already started installing Reverse vending machines called - "Dream machines" where individuals can recycle their cans and bottles and earn reward points. With only 34 percent of non-alcoholic bottles and 25 percent of PET plastic bottles recycled annually, Pepsi aims to boost that number to 50 percent through increased recycling at reverse vending.

The Coca-Cola Company made a hit when it announced a new "plastic" soda bottle that is made 30%, in part, from sugar cane and molasses-based materials , and which is 100% recyclable. Dubbed the "PlantBottle," Coke will use the new material in a variety of package sizes for its drinks, mainly for its Dasani water brand. Why manufacturers re-cycle or re-use the packaging? Greening is not the only motivation, this reduces the packaging cost considerably for them.The % of recycled component in bottles and cans is already a KPI for the beverage manufacturers. Consider cement transportation- Dry cement powder is packed in paper bags of 50 kilo-grams each. However even for a small construction you need lots of such packs. Then why are they packing it in 50 kgs packs? Why can't it be packed in bigger packs or rather deliver on the spot without packing? Popular answer is that there are problems for storing it. Again, Why do you want to store it, when all you want is Just in time? Looking from this angle smaller packs are driven by convenience to store factor, and inability to meet Just In Time requests. There is a scope for greening via just in time, package-less delivery of goods. Let's see what's happening in paint industry. Whenever paint is poured into a container, around 5% of it will stick to the walls of container . This is generally referred as skin losses. This loss pinches the industry not by the amount of paint lost, but by the cost involved in safely disposing the "paint skins". It has gone to a level that many times the safe disposal cost of paint skin with heavy metals is much more than the gains from it. This resulted in the classical Economical Order Quantity (EOQ) formula itself tweaked to accommodate cost of disposal in the cost side. Automobile paint shops also faced this problem, initially the containers and skins were send back from plant to the paint supplier via effective reverse logistics, who can reuse or effectively dispose the skins utilizing the economies of scale. Later the car manufacturers found it more sensible to outsource entire paint shop to the paint company. The Skin losses and environmental costs which were part of automobile paint shops a decade back got totally eliminated by outsourcing the entire paint shop to the paint manufacturer. The automobile manufacturers can concentrate more on their core competencies, leaving paint management to experts . This not only saved the disposing head-aches, but also the inventory worries - greening the supply chain along with other merits. There is a big scope for greening the supply-chains from a packaging perspective - the hierarchy is Prevent > Minimize > Reuse > Recycle > Dispose. Two main enablers for achieving this are 1) Just in time delivery (Minimize packaging ) and 2) Reverse logistics for packaging materials (Reuse and Recycle) More and more KPIs are emerging day by day to track the reverse logistics and to measure the recycle effectiveness of reverse logistics . Also now manufacturers started capturing the packaging cost separately and higher managements are looking these as increased opportunities to reduce costs.

Overall the perception about packaging is changing from cost sinks to opportunities. I would like to hear your thoughts and views on these. Posted by Majush K Philip at 5:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 11, 2011

Going Lean and Staying Agile
The emerging trend a few years ago was the adoption of lean warehousing principles in organizations. In most cases, these initiatives were rolled out as pilots. So far, their success and adoption have been mixed. In this blog, I will focus on a key - yet often missed - element critical to the success of lean warehousing, viz. the alignment between operations and systems. Lean warehousing refers to the application of 'lean' principles to warehousing and logistics operations. These principles are derived from lean manufacturing that calls for the identification and elimination of waste (waste is defined as any activity that does not add value). Lean warehousing is a process of continuous improvement involving a constant review of warehouse operations (from ASN creation through product shipment), removal of activities that do not add value, and the enhancement/addition of processes that create value. Since the best feedback comes from those who use them, every warehouse operator is encouraged and empowered to constantly think of better ways of working. Improvement techniques like the 5s framework (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain) are applied. If lean has much benefit, why is its adoption limited? The reasons are many; but one of them is the dissonance between continuous operational improvements and software development cycles. Let me give you an example. Imagine that you are employed as a Receiver in the warehouse. Your job is to stack the incoming cases on a pallet for putaway. Your WMS has been configured to recommend 20 cases to be stacked per pallet. However, you begin to notice that your organization is asking its vendors to sometimes send the same item in smaller case dimensions, thereby allowing you to stack 30 cases per pallet and override the system suggestion. In other words, the number of cases that can be stacked on a pallet is a function of the case type and not a function of the item number. Unfortunately, your system has not been designed to recommend the quantity by case type. Since the system was likely developed based on certain assumptions that have now evolved, you request your IT team to modify the WMS. IT places your requirement on a wish list. Since your organization follows the traditional waterfall model of software development, this list is evaluated every 3-6 months. Assuming that your request is rated important (a very big if), it will be designed, coded, tested and deployed alongside other requirements. If you are extremely lucky, your changes will hit the system within 6 months. In most cases, it takes a year.

And therein lies the disconnect. You want to empower your associates to constantly think of improvements, but the desired software changes come through only after a year. You want your warehouse operations to be lean, but your software operations are not. I believe that the successful adoption of lean warehousing will only materialize when lean thinking also permeates systems design and development. The waterfall model has its utility in certain situations, but if you are talking continuous improvement and incremental change, the agile method is better suited. An organization needs to invest significant time and effort to the adoption of agile practices, and if it works with IT partners and third party integrators, their practices must be aligned as well. I do want to highlight that the frequency of incremental change does not matter. I have come across one client who prefers changes every 2 months while another wants them every 2 weeks. A recent engagement revealed an agile software development process where there are no 50 page functional specifications or multiple approval cycles. Instead, rapid incrementalism is the mantra. Business & IT work closely with each other. Design through deployment (including documentation and user testing) conclude within 4 weeks. And these take place even with an offshoring element in the mix. When you create an environment where employees think, suggest improvements and make changes, and their work is supported by flexible software tools that support these changes, you get a lot more than just lean warehouses. You get motivated employees and happier customers. Now wouldn't we all want more of that? Posted by Arun Kumar at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 5, 2011
Is Inventory the "necessary evil"?
In my earlier blog, I had highlighted the following challenges most of the Supply chain professionals face across multiple dimensions from a Customer Service perspective: 1. The drive towards Globalization has resulted in the focus to not only look at the developing markets for cheap supply, but also to tap these developing markets to drive future growth. These newer markets do add to the overall growth of the organization, but also pose newer challenges in meeting the customer demand satisfactorily 2. Increasingly demanding customers with information at finger tips and lower brand loyalty 3. Increased channels to service the customers with varying degrees of Customer Service expectations 4. Intense competitive activity driving lower prices and reduced scope for differentiation 5. Increased pace of product innovation - rapid new product introductions combined with rapidly reducing product life cycles. All these factors contribute to the overall Demand Volatility in the Supply Chains while confronting with the reality on the Upstream: 1. Increasing lead times with most of the manufacturing bases of suppliers outsourced or

offshore 2. The Escalating costs of fuel drive these supply chains to employ slower and economical modes of transport like by water rather than by air. This not only adds to the overall lead times but also the overall lead time variability of the Upstream partners We see the following competing forces in action that need to be addressed well:

We have traditionally employed Inventory as a buffer against these competing forces. The Inventory, while helping in decoupling the subsequent stage from the activities in the preceding stage, also does result in various types of costs and thus are generally the sour point for most of the Finance executives. There are many articles and blogs that weigh the benefits against the costs associated with carrying Inventory. The focus of my blog is however with one peculiar aspect of the challenge mentioned above - the increased number of stages or echelons in an end-to-end Supply Chain exacerbating the potential downside impacts of carrying Inventory. We further narrow down our focus on the Safety Stocks that are required to cover the variability / uncertainty related to the Customer Demand and the Supplier Lead Times. The more the number of echelons and the more the number of stocking points, the larger would the total Safety Stock in the Supply Chain. This is a key point to keep in mind that we can no longer plan for inventory to be available in every node in the Supply chain. We do see the use of Weeks of Supply as a way to setup Safety Stock at every node in the Supply Chain, though this approach is a sure-fire way for disaster as the inventory lying in the network faces two significant costs - the Opportunity Cost and the Obsolescence Cost. If we were to employ the concept of Risk Pooling and have the Safety Stock maintained in one single location, the total Supply Chain Safety Stock would be reduced by a factor of the Square Root of the number of nodes. From a Safety Stock perspective, again the idea is that this Stock must be determined to cover the Lead-time variability from all the upstream stages and the Demand variability from all the downstream stages. This approach when used to meet a specified target service level is an improvement over the static weeks of supply-based target for the Safety Stock.

This capability is available as part of most Advanced Planning Solutions available in the market, one of them being SAP SCM. The above-mentioned approach has ample room for improvement by deploying the Inventory Optimization models to determine the Inventory levels across multiple echelons of the Supply Chains. The Inventory Optimization functionality is generally available as an add-on tool that complements very well and feeds into the Replenishment planning modules within the Advanced Planning Systems [for e.g. SmartOps which provides multi-echelon Inventory Optimization has very tight integration with SAP APO]. I would like to not conclude whether Inventory is indeed a necessary evil yet, but would like to end this blog with the following interesting analogy made by Mr. Larry Lapide about Inventory in his article in SCMR: "I wrote an article where I used the analogy that inventory is like cholesterol. Both have two components to them: good and bad. So like cholesterol, you want to keep your total inventories as low as possible, but you don't want the good component to get too low." Posted by Sandeep Deolekar at 5:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Follow us on

Poll

Infosys on Twitter

Blog Roll

@ Supply Chain Management SCM Wire Who said supply chains are boring? SCM Pulse Supply Chain Matters Supply Excellence IT toolbox: SCM community Business Assurance: Supply Chain Blogs The 21st Century Supply Chain Procurement Blog

Recent Posts

True Truckload optimization - Opportunity for leading supply chain products Green supply chain - Reverse logistics and Package-less for Quick-wins Going Lean and Staying Agile Is Inventory the "necessary evil"?

Categories

Enterprise Asset Management: IT Asset Management (43) Generic SCM (117) Multi-Channel Selling & Fulfillment (76) Sourcing,Procurement,Contract & Spend Management (38) Supply Chain Planning & Forecasting (58) Supply Chain Risk Management(SCRM) (17)

Archives

April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012

March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 Safe Harbour Provision Trademarks

Sitemap Feeds Slideshare Youtube Facebook Twitter Copyright 2013 Infosys Limited Terms of Use Privacy Statement

After reading the Coca-cola case study, standardization being the first topic; the case points out that that if Coke and its bottlers are speaking the same language, so to speak, using the same technology, then the supply chain management application will be more efficiently streamlined.(Haag & Cummings,59) With Coke developing its own set of software services for bottlers to use, can only make standardization easier and flow more accurately, by saving money and reducing expenses associated with chain supply activities.(59) As for Coke charging bottlers for the software services, I think it could go either way, but if I were in charge, I would not charge for the software, because if you develop an easier way for bottlers to make YOUR product, then it is to your advantage, this only assists with standardization. If a company wants to follow a process and stay the same throughout its plants/operations then they need to make the software readily available for all its bottlers. As for how a My Coke reward is an example of switching cost, I believe it to be an extra perk for Coke drinkers. If I remember correctly, from previous classes, a switching cost is the cost that it takes to change a customer from buying a product to buying your product. As for the extra perk I would say Coke offers the rewards program, as an incentive to buy their product, the more the customer buys the more the rewards they can earn. I do not think that Cokes switching cost has a monetary penalty, because they are not actively developing a new product, they are simply adding an incentive to their products, and this not only may attract new customers, but keep current customers. Answering the question about obtaining information about business intelligence from its rewards website could be that polls and surveys. My rewards could have comments section to provide feedback about the product, other products, and its rewards program as well. By knowing more...

Student units. Question 4 How is My Coke Rewards an example of a switching cost? How can a switching cost not have a monetary penalty associated with it? Answer... Premium Business consumers. A switching cost might not have a monetary penalty associated with it if there was no initial payment in the beginning or no contract. For example, phone... Premium Organizational Assignment external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Behavioral learning concepts such as association... Premium Hrdv 5590 external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Behavioral learning concepts such as association... Premium Understanding Inclusive Learning And Teaching In Lifelong Learning allows people with mental or physical abilities to work. The scout association is one of those organisations which has members from mixed religions, race, ethnic... Premium Theories external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Behavioral learning concepts such as association... Premium Motivational Drives motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, and threat of punishment. Competition is in general... Premium People Management cultures operating in one company can also impact employee performance. For example, if the organization maintains a reserved talk when necessary culture, employees... Premium Theories Of Motivation are motivated to do things because of external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Incentive... Premium Reaction Paper In Hbo who are virtually organized primarily interact by electronic means such and provide an example to an organization with help desk that links the market and client via... Premium Coke Vs. Pepsi generate a return greater than the company's 10% cost of capital. With the data given in the above example, we can calculate the EVA as follows: Current Activities...

Premium Diet Coke The name Diet Coke is self-explanatory and descriptive of the product, thus simple and very memorable. It is also likable because of its association with Coca Cola... Premium Reward Management competent employees will find the company that can give them a good reward. The example of the company that provide a good reward system is Tenaga Nasional Berhad... Premium Coke Vs Pepsi ways to promote a variety of products. In 2006, Coca-Cola introduced My Coke Rewards, a customer loyalty campaign where consumers earn virtual "points" by entering... Premium Marketing Research Coke on cultural branding initiatives. Threat The current health fad is hurting Cokes sales. Where Coca-Cola Classic is Headed Rather than trying to persuade... Premium Coke Research for our actions and inactions Steward system assets and focus on building value Reward our people for taking risks and finding better ways to solve problems Learn... Premium Non Monetary Rewards In The Workplace for their efforts. Introduction: What are Non-Monetary rewards? Non-monetary rewards are small and mostly non-costly rewards given to employees in recognition... Premium Non-Monetary Rewards In The Workplace One advantage of non-monetary motivators is that they are less costly for employers than monetary motivators. For example, praise and recognition for a job well... Premium Rewards Resources Management activity which is devoted to monetary rewards such as pay wages or salaries, fringe benefits and incentive schemes. Examples of fringe benefits... Premium Non Monetary Rewards In The Workplace value. However, fundamentally, this is a non-monetary reward system. For example, an employee can earn 1,000 miles just for working for the company for one year and...

1. ContentsIntroduction .. 1Organization Design. 3Departmentalization. 6Establishing Relationship Report. 10Allocating Authority.... 11Coordinating Activities 16Basic Forms of Organizational Design.. 18Current Issues in Organizational Design... 24References.. 27 1 2. 0. Introduction:Organizational structure is formal and informal framework of policies and rules, within which anorganization arranges its lines of authority and communications, and allocates rights and duties.Organizational structure determines the manner and extent to which roles, power, andresponsibilities are delegated, controlled, and coordinated, and how information flows betweenlevels of management. Organization is a word many people use loosely. Some would say itincludes all the behavior of all participants. Other would equate with the total system of socialand cultural relationships. Still others refer to it as an enterprise, such as the United States SteelCorporation or the Department of Defense. But for most participating managers, the termorganization implies a formalized intentional structure of roles or positions.In the first place, people working together must fill certain roles. In the second place, the rolespeople asked to fill should be intentionally designed to ensure that required activities are doneand that activities are fit together so that people can work smoothly, effectively, and efficientlyin groups. Certainly, most managers believe they are organizing when they establish such anintentional structure. It is often said that good people can make any organization pattern work.Some even assert that vagueness in an organization is a good thing in that it forces teamwork,since people know that they must corporate to get anything done. However, there can be nodoubt that good people and those who want to corporate will work together most effectively ifthey know their parts they are to play in any team operation and the way their roles relate to oneanother. This is as true in business or government as it is in football or in a symphony orchestra.Designing and maintaining these systems of roles is basically the managerial function oforganizing. 2 3. For an organizational role to exist and be meaningful to people, it must incorporate (1) verifiableobjectives, which are major part of planning; (2) a clear idea of the major duties or activitiesinvolved; and (3) an understood area of discretion or authority so that the person filling the roleknows what he or she can do to accomplish goals. In addition to make a role work outeffectively, provision should be made for supplying needed information and other toolsnecessary for performance in that role.It is in this sense that we think of organizing as 1. The identification and classification of required activities, 2. The grouping of activities necessary to attain objectives, 3. The assignment of each

grouping to a manager with the authority (delegation) necessary to supervise it, and 4. The provision for coordination horizontally (on the same or a similar organizational level) and vertically (for example, corporate headquarters, division, and department) in the organization structure.An organization structure should be designed to clarify who is to do what tasks and who isresponsible for what results, to remove obstacles to performance caused by confusion anduncertainty of assignment, and to furnish decisionmaking and communications networksreflecting and supporting enterprise objectives. 3 4. 1. Organizational Design: Organizational design is about enabling a group of people to combine, coordinate, andcontrol resources and activities in order to produce value, all in a way appropriate to theenvironment in which the business competes. So, designing is not just an one-step action butrather it is a process. This means that, you cannot have a predominant form which is fixedforever. It must be constantly change and evolve with its changing environment. Appropriateorganizational design enables an organization to execute better, learn faster, and change moreeasily. Organization Design is one of or maybe the most important determinant things whicheach manager must know to be successful in implementing strategy in an organization. To do so,they must be masters in strategy, accounting, psychology, information technology, and manyother fields. To be successful in organizational design, it is not important to be good in just oneor two fields and the areas are interdependent to each others.In every job, workers actions are influenced by the situation in which the person works in. As aresult, to achieve an effective performance, companies must align various organizationalfeatures. Organization design interventions deal with modifying elements of an organizationsstructure, including the division of labor, allocation of decision rights, choice of coordinatingmechanisms, delineation of organizational boundaries, and networks of informal relationships.Organizational performance is the result of the interaction of strategy, organizational context,and individual behavior. This means managers need to choose the right approach to the rightmarkets, create processes to deliver quality goods and/or services to those markets, and motivatepeople to act in line with the companys objectives. Organizational design takes into account allthree critical performance factors: strategy, organization, and motivation.If you want to know about organization design, you have to know the basic forms of structure.Consider an architecture analogy if you know different types of structures commonly used forbuilding a house for example, town-house, studio flat, blocks of flats, open plan, detached, semi-detached, terraced you can then accept or reject structures that do not fit your purpose.Functional structures, process structures, product, geographical, market structures, matrix or 4 5. project organizations, boundarlyess organizations, and so forth are different forms of anorganizations structures. Figure 1However, structure is not the only consideration. For organizational design, there are a series ofpolicies that are controllable by management and can influence employee behavior. They can bedescribed in five categories and depicted as a star model (Figure 1&2).This model clearly demonstrates that changing the structure impacts on each of the other aspectsof the organization. For things to work well you need to design not simply re-structure. Figure 2 Star model 5 6. Figure 3 Input-Output ModelsIn this model of designing/redesigning, we have an input-output diagram where structure anddesign decisions take place in the processing elements (people, work, formal organization,informal organization, see Figure 3) where

you are working to get balance and harmony amongthese elements in order to produce the required outputs. The challenge in trying to achieve adesign that results in this balance is in being able to look beyond the structure of yourorganization, whether it is hierarchy, matrix, network or something else, to the design that liesbehind it. You need to be able to make sound judgments on what to change and what to leave remembering that as soon as you change one element, it will affect all the other elements. Tocompound the challenge, you are trying to make this judgment in a context where customerrequirements and environmental demands are constantly shifting.There are some principles in organizational design. First one is principle of Division of Labourwhich the manager decides about departmentalization and specialization. In designing, themanager must think about how to divide labors between different parts of the organization andalso there must be some specialization for each job. Second is principle of Unity of commandwhich includes defining the line of command and also having one superior in the company. Thethird principle is Authority and Responsibility which itself consists of line and staff authorityand authority and power. The last two principles are Spans of Control and ContingencyFactors. Spans of control is deciding about the levels of control in the organization and alsodeciding about centralization and decentralization of the departments of the company.Contingency factors in designing an organization is thinking about Environment and technologyand having the Knowledge technology which is about task variability & problem analyzability. 2. Departmentalization: 6 7. Its the basis on which individuals are grouped into departments and departments into total organizations. Managers should make choices about how to use the series of command to group people together to perform their work. There are five approaches to structural design that reflect different uses of the chain of command in departmentalization.. Vertical functional approach People are grouped together in departments by common skills and work activities, such as an engineering department and an accounting department.. Divisional Approach Departments are grouped together into separate, self-contained divisions based in a common product, program, or geographical region. Diverse skills rather than similar skills are the basis of departmentalization. . Horizontal matrix approach 7 8. Functional and divisional chains of command are implemented simultaneously and overlay oneanother in the same departments. Two chains of command exist, and some employees report totwo bosses. . Team-based approachThe organization creates a series of teams to accomplish specific tasks and to coordinate majordepartments. Teams can exist from the office of the president all the way down to the shop floor.. Network Approach 8 9. The organization becomes a small, central hub electronically connected to other organizationsthat perform vital functions. Departments are independent, contracting services to the central hubfor a profit. Departments can be located anywhere in the world.Each approach to structure serves a distinct purpose for the organization, and each hasadvantages and disadvantages. The basic difference among structures is the way in whichemployees are departmentalized and to whom they report. 2.1 Advantages of Departmentalization: Department can be staffed by experts with specialized training. Consistency among departments for repetitive activities. Shared management responsibility. Supervision is facilitated. Coordination within the department is easier.

2.2 Disadvantages of Departmentalization: Personnel unfamiliar with procedures performed in their department by others. Inter-department documentation of activities is often not accessible. Delays when there are problems. Decision making becomes slow. Accountability and performance are difficult to monitor. 9 10. 2.3 Major forms of Departmentalization: Functional Departmentalization - Grouping activities by functions performed. Activities can be grouped according to function (work being done) to pursue economies of scale by placing employees with shared skills and knowledge into departments for example human resources, IT, accounting, manufacturing, logistics, marketing, and engineering. Functional departmentalization can be used in all types of organizations. Product Departmentalization - Grouping activities by product line. Tasks can also be grouped according to a specific product or service, thus placing all activities related to the product or the service under one manager. Each major product area in the corporation is under the authority of a senior manager who is specialist in, and is responsible for, everything related to the product line. LA Gear is an example of company that uses product departmentalization. Its structure is based on its varied product lines which include womens footwear, childrens footwear and mens footwear. Customer Departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of common customers or types of customers. Jobs may be grouped according to the type of customer served by the organization. The assumption is that customers in each department have a common set of problems and needs that can best be met by specialists. The sales activities in an office supply firm can be broken down into three departments that serve retail, wholesale and government accounts. Geographic Departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of territory. If an organizations customers are geographically dispersed, it can group jobs based on geography. For example, the organization structure of Coca-Cola has reflected the companys operation in two broad geographic areas the North American sector and the international sector, which includes the Pacific Rim, the European Community, Northeast Europe, Africa and Latin America groups. 10 11. Process departmentalization - Grouping activities on the basis of product or service or customer flow. Because each process requires different skills, process departmentalization allows homogenous activities to be categorized. For example, the applicants might need to go through several departments namely validation, licensing and treasury, before receiving the drivers license. 3. Establishing Reporting Relationship: Its one of the most important factors on the organizational because every position mustreport to another position. HRIS keeps track of this departmental organizational informationthrough the Reporting Relationship fields. This data can be updated through theEstablish/Maintain Position workflow to initially enter or maintain any changes in theorganizational structure. These changes must be approved by the ECC Team Assistants; it willbe reflected in HRIS. The data maintained in HRIS for the reporting relationship will also exportto another part, so it is most important that this data be kept up to date and exact. This action isprocessed in the Establish/Maintain Position workflow.The third basic element of organizing is the establishment of reporting relationship amongpositions. The purpose of this activity is to clarify the chain of command and the span ofmanagement. Chain of command is an old concept, first popularized in the early years of the 20thcentury. The chain of command actually has two components; the first, called unity commended,suggests that each person within an organizational must have a clear reporting relationship to oneand only one boss. The

second, called the scalar principle, suggests that must be a clear unbrokenline of authority that extends from the lowest to the highest position in the organizational.On the other hand, the internal audit manager shall report directly to the Board of Directorsthrough an established Audit Committee designated by the Boardand report administrativelyto the General Manager. The intent of this reporting relationship is to establish auditor 11 12. independence by reporting directly to the Board and General Manager, while emphasizingexecutive-level teamwork among the internal auditor, the General Manager, and the Board.For daily operational matters, the internal audit manager shall report directly to the GeneralManager. The internal audit manager shall also report to the Board of Directors, or its designatedaudit committee, at least once every three months.The internal audit manager shall file all internal audit reports, audit plans, and all other writtenaudit documents, directly to the Board of Directors, or its designated audit committee, and theGeneral Manager. The internal audit manager also shall prepare quarterly summary report ofaudit activities to the Board of Directors and the General Manager. Each summary report willinclude comments about major audit findings and recommendations. 4. Allocating Authority:Most businesses will have various aims and objectives and it is important that employees in theorganization know these objectives and work towards them. For example, for a business wants totry to improve the quality of the service that they provide, a customer service employees shouldbe nice to customers or give them the best quality service when dealing with them. In anyorganization, it is highly likely that a person will have responsibility for managing a number ofother people in the organization. In some cases it might just be the responsibility for looking afterone other person and in other cases it might be very many. The number of people that one personhas responsibility for is termed the span of control. The more people an individual hasresponsibility for the wider the span of control is said to be. Chief executives are responsible forthe overall activities of an organization, but each manager or supervisor is responsible for theorganization of his/her own department. 4.1 Line and Staff Authority: 12 13. Line units and personnel conduct major business of the organization like production andmarketing functions. Staff units and personnel assist the line units by providing specializedexpertise and services like accounting and public relations. Line authority flows down the chainof command. For example, line authority gives a production supervisor the right to direct anemployee to operate a particular machine, and it gives the vice president of finance the right torequest a certain report from a department head. Therefore, line authority gives an individual acertain degree of power relating to the performance of an organizational task.Two important clarifications should be considered, however, when discussing line authority: (1)line authority does not ensure effective performance, and (2) line authority is not restricted toline personnel. The head of a staff department has line authority over his or her employees byvirtue of authority relationships between the department head and his or her directly-reportingemployees. 13 14. Staff authority is the right to advise or counsel those with line authority. For example, a qualitycontrol manager aids a production manager by determining the acceptable quality level ofproducts or services at a manufacturing company, initiating quality programs, and carrying outstatistical analysis to ensure compliance with quality standards. Therefore, staff authority givesstaff personnel the right to offer advice in an effort to improve line operations.Functional authority is referred to as limited line

authority. It gives a staff person power over aparticular function, such as safety or accounting. Usually, functional authority is given to specificstaff personnel with expertise in a certain area. For example, members of an accountingdepartment might have authority to request documents they need to prepare financial reports.Functional authority is a special type of authority for staff personnel, which must be designatedby top management. 14 15. 4.2 Line and Staff Conflict:Conflict between line and staff personnel is almost inevitable. Although minimal conflict due todifferences in viewpoints is natural, conflict on the part of line and staff personnel can disrupt anentire organization. There are many reasons for conflict. Poor human relations, overlappingauthority and responsibility, and misuse of staff personnel by top management are all primaryreasons for feelings of resentment between line and staff personnel. But there are several ways tominimize conflict. One way is to integrate line and staff personnel into a work team. The successof the work team depends on how well each group can work together in efforts to increaseproductivity and performance.Another solution is to ensure that the areas of responsibility and authority of both line and staffpersonnel are clearly defined. With clearly defined lines of authority and responsibility, eachgroup may better understand their role in the organization. A third way to minimize conflict is to 15 16. hold both line and staff personnel accountable for the results of their own activities. In otherwords, line personnel should not be entirely responsible for poor performance resulting fromstaff personnel advice. 4.3 Delegation:Tasks have to be given to other people to do. When this happens there is a transfer of some levelof authority. You might, for example, have been in a shop and the cashier has had to ask theirmanager or supervisor if s/he will come and sign something or do something with the till. Thismight relate to a refund or the exchange of a product, for example. If a worker is given theauthority to be able to carry out these types of task it is referred to as delegation. A person candelegate the authority for another person to be able to carry out a certain task. What they cannotdo is delegate responsibility. Ultimately, the responsibility for the way the business operates lieswith those who own the business or who have been given the responsibility to carry out such atask. Exactly what those responsibilities are might be specified in a persons job description. 4.4 Traditional Allocation: By seniority and experiences: the more experiences the more important role. By gender: Characteristically different jobs, varies in different cultures. By Qualification: the higher level the more responsibility. By Individual Contribution: suitability, eligibility and personal skills. 5. Coordinating Activities: 16 17. Coordination activities is a becoming a very important factor that plays in an organization.Basically its the linking of the two or more organizational members and/or units so they canperform the required functions together well. Coordinating can be achieved by many severalways such as programming, feedback and culture.Programming is recommended for most of the companies to get the suitable plans and to guideour organization. Policies and rules are also considered from the programming section which canmanage the organization behaviors. Communication skills and interaction will help theorganization to identify itself as a learning organization. Through feedbacks of thesecommunications and conversations, you will get the best coordination of the organization. Alsosharing ideas, beliefs and values are assisting the coordinating part of the organization hence itreflects the staff points of view. 5.1 Vertical Coordination:Its a

process of ensuring that each successive stage in the production, processing, and marketingof a product is appropriately managed and interrelated to the next, so that decisions about what toproduce, and how much, are communicated as efficiently as possible from the consumer to theproducer. Vertical integration is a type of vertical coordination, but the latter does not necessarilyrequire that a single organization own or control all of the stages. For example, the use ofcontracts and marketing agreements between buyers and sellers plus the availability of timely.Basically its the linking of work units separated by hierarchal level. Direct supervision is a wayto gain the vertical coordinating hence the supervisors have the communication skills and abilityto coordinate other staffs. Implementing the rules and procedures will be governing the routineevents which will be leading to a successful coordination. Working together in a team with avisional goal is a cooperative idea to enhance the idea of vertical coordination since all of themembers are working and performing from the same purpose. 17 18. 5.2 Horizontal Coordination:Its another type of coordination which is focusing on the Linking of work units (individuals,teams, departments) at the same hierarchal level. Its like dealing with members or units for thesame operational or functional level. Direct contact between members in the same level will beserving as the way considered horizontal coordination. Establishment of integrating rolesbetween the units and members will be useful since it will work as a coordination point betweenthe different units. Applying multiple command systems will also perform the actions in such afaster way by combining two or more units or groups together. The below example shows animage of command systems:5.3 Coordination Factors:There are many factors that may affect the coordinating process. Formality of the organizationsstructure will play a very important role to decide the coordination possibility. Also theinterpersonal orientation may cause a difficulty to handle the coordinating process, thats why itsvery important to know the focus purpose, whether it is task or relationship focus. An originationshould find the proper procedure to handle the time management in gaining knowledge of resultsor consequences of actions, in a result will be leading to a time oriented organization. Also the 18 19. goals and visions should not be conflicted with other units goals; therefore the organization topmanagement must pay an attention to similar issues which may affect the coordination scale. 6. Basic Forms of Organization Design:Typically, design is approached as an internal change under the guidance of an external facilitator.Managers and members work together to define the needs of the organization then create systems to meetthose needs most effectively. The facilitator assures that a systematic process is followed and encouragescreative thinking.The basic forms of organization design:1. Simple structure2. Functional structure3. Multidivisional structure4. Strategic Business Units (SBUs)5. Conglomerate structure 19 20. Simple structure: The simple structure is a structure in which the owner-manager makes allmajor decisions and monitors all activities while the staff serves as an extension of the managerssupervisory authority. Typically, the owner-manager actively works in the business on a dailybasis. Informal relationships, few rules, limited task specialization, and unsophisticatedinformation systems characterize this structure. Frequent and informal communications betweenthe owner-manager and employees make coordinating the work to be done relatively easy. Thesimple structure is matched with focus strategies and business level strategies, as firmsimplementing these strategies commonly compete

by offering a single product line in a singlegeographic market. Local restaurants, repair businesses, and other specialized enterprises areexamples of firms using the simple structure. Simple structure modelFunctional structure: The functional structure consists of a chief executive officer and a limitedcorporate staff, with functional line managers in dominant organizational areas such asproduction, accounting, marketing, R&D, engineering, and human resources. This structureallows for functional specialization, thereby facilitating active sharing of knowledge within each 20 21. functional area. Knowledge sharing facilitates career paths as well as professional developmentof functional specialists.However, a functional orientation can negatively affect communication and coordination amongthose representing different organizational functions. For this reason, the CEO must work hard toverify that the decisions and actions of individual business functions promote the entire firmrather than a single function. The functional structure supports implementing business-levelstrategies and versification. When changing simple to a functional structure, firms want to avoidintroducing value-destroying bureaucratic procedures such as failing to promote innovation andcreativity. Functional structure modelMultidivisional Structure: With continuing growth and success, firms often consider greaterlevels of diversification. Successfully using a diversification strategy requires analyzingsubstantially greater amounts of data and information when the firm offers the same products indifferent markets(market or geographic diversification) or offers different products in severalmarkets(product diversification). In addition, trying to manage high levels of diversificationthrough functional diversifications creates serious coordination and control problems, a fact thatcommonly leads to a new structural form. 21 22. The multidivisional structure consists of operating divisions, each representing a separatebusiness or profit center in which the top corporate officer delegates responsibilities for day-to-day operations and business-unit strategy to division managers. Each division represents adistinct, self-contained business with its own functional hierarchy. It has three major benefits: (1)it enables corporate officers to more accurately monitor the performance of each business, whichsimplifies the problem of control; (2) it facilitates comparisons between divisions, whichimproves the resource allocation process; and (3)it stimulates managers of poorly performingdivisions to look for ways of improving performance. Partly because of its value to diversifiedcorporations, some consider the multidivisional structure to be one of the twentieth centurysmost significant organizational innovations.Strategic Business Units (SBUs): During the past ten years, large companies have restructuredinto strategic business units (SBUs). An SBU is a grouping of functional units that have theresponsibility for profit (or loss) of part of the organizations core business. SBUs are divisions(or groups) composed of independent prod-market segments that are given primary responsibilityand authority for the management of their own functional areas. It may be in any size or level,but it has its own unique mission, identifiable competitors, external market focus and control ofits business functions. Idea is to decentralize the strategic elements. Each strategic business islarge enough to maintain its own project and program managers. The executive in charge of thestrategic business unit may act as the sponsor for all of the program and project managers withinthe SBU. The major benefit of this type of structuring is that it allows the SBU to work moreclosely with the customer. It is a customer-focused organizational structure.Conglomerate structure: Appropriate for large corps with many

prod lines in several unrelatedindustries. A holding company is formed with several subsidiaries in it. So as companiesgrowth in size and increase in complexity, they need more sophisticated work-flows. They needa more advanced structure based on their needs.Today there are some new forms of structuring in organizations. Here are three of them: 22 23. 1. Team structure2. Matrix Structure3. Project StructureTeam structure: Team structure organizes separate functions into a group based on one overallobjective. Teams are given the power to be as innovative as they want. Some teams may have agroup leader who is in charge of the group. Since the organization is made up of groups toperform the functions of the company, teams must perform well because they are heldaccountable for their performance.Matrix structure: The matrix organization is an attempt to combine the advantages of the purefunctional structure and the product organizational structure. This form is identically suited forcompanies, such as construction, that are project-driven. The figure below shows a typicalMatrix organization.In a matrix organization, each project manager reports directly to the vice president and thegeneral manager. Since each project represents a potential profit centre, the power and authorityused by the project manager come directly from the general manager. 23 24. Advantages of a pure matrix organizational form, to project management, include: Because key people can be shared, the project cost is minimized Conflicts are minimal, and those requiring hierarchical referrals are more easily resolved There is a better balance between time, cost and performance Authority and responsibility are shared Stress is distributed among the teamProject Structure: A project structure is an organizational structure in which employeescontinuously work on projects. This is like the matrix structure; however when the project endsthe employees dont go back their departments. They continuously work on projects in a teamlike structure. Each team has the necessary employees to successfully complete the project. Eachemployee brings his or her specialized skill to the team. 24 25. 7. Current Issues in Organizational Design:One of the most challenging things which companies face today is the working environmentwhich is rapidly changing. The only way they can survive in this situation is adapting themselveswith this changing environment. They need to continuously adapt themselves with pace which isfaster or equal to the speed of the changes in the world. They need to restructure and restructureagain and again to be in a place which is more advanced than the environment or at least be onthe same level.Organizations are all around us and shape our lives in many ways. But what contributions doorganizations make? Why are they important? The table below lists seven reasons organizationsare important to you and so society. First, organizations bring together resources to accomplishspecific goals. Consider Northup Grumman Newport News (formerly Newport NewsShipbuilding), which builds nuclearpowered, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Putting together anaircraft carrier is an incredibly complex job involving 47,000 tons of precision-welded steel,more than 1 million distinct parts, 900 miles of wire and cable, and more than seven years ofhard work by 17,800 employees. How could such a job be accomplished without an organizationto acquire and coordinate these varied resources? 25 26. Organizations also produce goods and services that customers want at competitive prices. BillGates, who built Microsoft into a global powerhouse, asserts that the modern

organization isone of the most effective means to allocate resources weve ever seen. It transforms great ideasinto customer benefits on an unimaginably large sale. Companies look for innovative ways toproduce and distribute desirable goods and services more efficiently. Two ways are through e-business and through the use of computer-based manufacturing technologies. Redesigningorganizational structures and management practices can also contribute to increased efficiency.Organizations create a drive for innovation rather than a reliance on standard products andoutmoded approaches to management and organization design.Today, organizations adapt to and influence a rapidly changing environment. Consider Google,provider of the Internets most popular search engine, which continues to adapt and evolve alongwith the evolving Internet. Rather than being a rigid service, Google is continually addingtechnological features that create a better service by accretion. At any time, Googles sitefeatures several technologies in development in development so that engineers get ideas andfeedback from users. Some large businesses have entire departments charged with monitoringthe external environment and finding ways to adapt to or influence that environment.Through all of these activities, organizations create value for their owners, customers, andemployees. Managers analyze which parts of the operation create value and which parts do not; acompany can be profitable only when the value it creates is greater than the cost of resources.Vizio Inc., a growing force in the flat-panel television industry, for example, creates value byusing existing LCD technology and developing an equity partnership with a contractmanufacture rather than producing television in-house. By keeping its costs low, the California-based company has been able to sell flat-panel TVs as about half cost of those sold by majorelectronics manufactures. 26 27. Organizations exist to do the following: Bring together resources to achieve desired goals and outcomes Produce goods and services efficiently Facilitate innovation Use modern manufacturing and information technologiesFinally, organizations have to cope with and accommodate todays challenges of workforcediversity and growing concerns over ethics and social responsibility, as well as find effectiveways to motivate employees to work together to accomplish organizational goals. Reference 27 28. Albert, S. Knowledge Management: Living Up To The Hype? Midrange Systems, 11(13), Sep 7, 1998, pp.52 Daft, R. L. (2008) Organization Theory and Design, SouthWestern Cengage Learning, 5191 Natorp Boulevard, Mason, OH 45040 USA Flamholtz, E.G., Das, T.K. & Tsui, A.S. "Toward an Integrative Framework of OrganizationalControl," Accounting, Organizations and Society, 10(1), 1985, pp. 35-50. Hitt M. A., Ireland D., Hoskisson R. E., (2009) Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization: concepts & cases (pp. 314-315) South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH 45040 Kerzner H., (2009) Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling (pp. 128-129) John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Organization Design,: Retrieved from http://www.emaytrix.com/mgmt307/section3.php User Webs. Allocating Wok Roles. Retrieved from http://userwebs.cth.com.au/~gcutts/Management/4workroles.html Bized Educators. Control of people in Organization. Retrieved from http://www.bized.co.uk/educators/level2/people/activity/people13.htm Scribd Community. Authority Relationship. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/24970602/Authority-Relationship. 28

29. Web References. Vertical Coordination. Retrieved from http://www.webref.org/agriculture/v/vertical_coordination.htm Organizational Transformation, Departmentalization, Retrieved from: http://asifjmir.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/departmentalization/ Departmentalization Coordination, Retrieved from: http://www.biotechnicalservices.com/downloads/Departmentalization%20Coordination% 20SQA %20Poster%20April%202008%20Poster%20Content.pdf Blacksacademy.net, Departmentalization and business organizations , Retrieved from: http://www.blacksacademy.net/content/3657.html Reporting Relationship, Retrieved from: http://hrisguide.unc.edu/lessons/Reporting_Relationship.html BusinessDictionary, Organizational Structure, Retrieved July 25, 2010, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-structure.html Koontz H., Weihrich H., (2008) Essentials Of Management (pp. 141-144), Tata McGraw- Hill, New Delhi 110 008 Myers P. S. (1996) Knowledge Management and Organizational Design, Butterworth-Heinemann 313 Washington Street Newton, MA 02158-1626 Simons R. (2005) Levers of organization design: how managers use accountability systems for greater performance and commitment, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163 29 30. Stanford N., (2005) Organization design: the collaborative approach, Elsevier Butterworth- Heinemann, Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP Ricky Griffin. (2007). Fundamentals of Management, Fifth Edition, establishing reporting relationship. 30

A Modern Supply Chain for a Classic Beverage

When it comes to the worlds most powerful brands, Coca-Cola is still number one. The iconic beverage maker, which has dominated the global soft drink market for more than a century, continued its 12-year reign at the top in 2011, according to Interbrands latest global rankings. For Coca-Cola, achievements like this are byproducts of a vision and an operating framework that is built on excellence. At Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), the exclusive Coca-Cola bottler for its territories in Western Europe, the companys goal is to be the number 1 or strong number 2 choice in every category it competes in. But on the road to long-term, sustainable growth, CCE faces similar challenges to many other manufacturing and logistics businesses. A top priority is replacing dated systems with a modernized platform across markets to create a cohesive view of metrics and streamlined processes.

Bottling iconic brands in Europe

CCE is one of the worlds largest marketers, producers and distributors of Coca-Cola products. CCE buys concentrate from The Coca-Cola Company and combines it with other ingredients to create some of the most popular beverages in Belgium, Great Britain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. In 2010, CCE completed a significant transaction with The Coca-Cola Company, selling its North American operations, while retaining its European territories and acquired new bottling rights for Sweden and Norway. CCEs executives recognized that establishing a uniform IT program across all of its business units would be critical for expanding CCEs footprint in Europe. It is very important for us to have a set of consistent standards and processes, so that when we acquire and integrate new territories into our business we can easily put those practices in place in a short time, says Kemal Cetin, vice president of European deployment at CCE.

Driving regional expansion with IT

As part of its Genesys program, CCE set out to deploy a new supply chain management solution at all 17 of its European plants. The new system would replace and automate many of CCEs supply chain processes and required new skill sets to ensure the required speed of deployment. CCE needed a partner to help deliver this new SAP-enabled business transformation. This would involve not only delivering a technology solution, but also training users on the new processes to ensure the full benefits were realized. CSC was selected because it has combined a strong front office business transformation and change management consulting capability with a back office technology delivery capability for CCE since 2008. Prior to Genesys, CSC had already been supporting CCEs applications with SAP, including order processing, manufacturing, financial transactions, human resources, procurement and other related processes. We started Project Genesys not as an IT project, but as a business transformation project to enable CCEs day-to-day business to work in a harmonized way, says Cetin. Since CSC knew our processes, people and solutions, we thought that would carry over very well into the deployment process, and especially from an acceleration perspective, because the learning curve would be relatively short. Beyond that, Cetin adds, CSC has very experienced and capable people from an implementation perspective. And, we needed to make sure the cost-quality equation worked for us. CSC met our criteria and satisfied us from that perspective as well.

Filling a gap between supply and demand

The Genesys program is an integrated SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution that will replace CCEs legacy systems in the processes of order to cash, requisition to payment, and record to report. Genesys will allow CCE to shorten cycle time in these processes and be more productive. It will also help bring more visibility into the business and improve decision making. We are a shelf-replenishment company, a supply chain company, a sales and customer services company, says Esat Sezer, senior vice president and chief information officer of CCE. It is very important for us to integrate our manufacturing plants all the way up to the replenishment of shelves in the retail outlets. Through the information side of the equation, we are basically tying those two ends of the business process together: the manufacturing side, which drives the supply of our product, and the shelf-replenishment side, which drives the demand part of our product. CSC is playing a major role in expediting the delivery of Genesys across CCEs operations, allowing CCE to deploy Genesys at multiple-country locations at a much faster pace than if CCE had forged ahead alone. There are a lot of technology areas that require some capacity that we might not have or some technology areas that we might not have the knowledge about, says Sezer. So whenever we have those knowledge gaps, we turn to our strategic partner CSC to fill in. Whenever an accelerated deployment need arises, we leverage CSC, and we can generate value much more quickly.