Cadbury Schweppes

Cadbury Schweppes is the market leader in the confectionary industry. The strategic relevance of human resource management at Cadbury Schweppes is high because of the highly competitive industry it operates in. As a result, the company has to continuously reengineer its internal business processes in order to build and maintain a competitive advantage. This means that the management of the company has to align employee interests to organizational interests. The combination of the best fit model and the resource based model facilitates this alignment. The combination of these two models enables the management to manage cultural change while maintaining employee morale. This is a critical success factor for the company as it merges with or acquires other companies in the industry. In this respect, the strategic value of human resource management is maintained through combining the best elements from both cultures.

Cadbury Schweppes is the market leader worldwide in the confectionary industry. However as the industry is characterized by a high level of competitive rivalry, the management has to adopt strategic human resource management in order to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore the company has moved from a paternalistic HR strategy, in which the management provided considerable benefits in exchange for compliance with process-based control mechanisms, to commitment HR strategy in which employees are trained to align their efforts to the strategic focus of the organization. This is an example of strategic human resource management. It has a high degree of importance at Cadbury Schweppes because unlocking the human potential is its source of competitive advantage. Therefore HR strategies have to be set in such a way that employees are given the necessary level of empowerment to be held accountable for their contribution to the strategic focus of the company. This is strategic human resource management at Cadbury Schweppes.

Strategic human resource management at Cadbury Schweppes is taking place through a combination model borrowing from both the resource-based model and the best fit model. The management is practicing the resource-based model because it views managing human resource as its prime source of competitive advantage. To this end it is investing considerably in training and development programs in order to develop the necessary skills sets which will enable the employees to align their efforts to the strategic focus of the company. The resource-based model is based in the thinking that employees are the most important assets of an organization. As a result, employees are seen as resources rather than as variable costs. This is the scenario at Cadbury Schweppes. As a result, the management has undertaken extensive incentives programs such as the share schemes in order to align the profit-driven approach to the work of the employees. In fact employees are empowered to manage the alignment on their own and are given the learning to do so through training programs.

Business strategy at Cadbury Schweppes is adapted to fit the worldwide competitive situation. The management at the company is implementing the best fit model of human resource management by contextualizing human resource planning accordingly. In this respect, the strategic management of human resources is taking place in the context of political forces such as the Fairtrade movement, economic forces such as the highly competitive business environment and cultural forces such as those arising from integration with the cultural factors of acquired companies such as Trebor Bassett and Adams. These three forces are shaping the formulation of organizational structure which in its turn is interacting with human resource management in order to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. Human resource management is also being driven by mission and strategy such as maximizing shareholder performance by unlocking human potential. The framework at Cadbury Schweppes is illustrated in the diagram below.

            The management at Cadbury Schweppes has developed the 3As approach in implementing the best fit model. Accountability in employees ensures that the employees own the processes and take responsibility for their performance. Adaptability enables the organizational structure to respond to the changing competitive environment while aggressiveness ensures that internal business processes such as HR practices are focused on the results of maximizing shareholder performance. The combination of the 3As ensures that the process of strategic human resource management takes place in alignment not only with the strategic focus of the organization but also with the changes occurring in the external environment. For example, in order to develop accountability, the management launched the program called Managing For Value. This training program enabled the employees to see how their efforts fit in with the wider organizational objectives such as maintaining competitiveness. Being able to assess this interconnectedness on their own motivated the employees to integrate into the organizational culture and perform accordingly.

            Training accountability into the employees ensured that they owned the culture as opposed to having it imposed on them (cited in Hersey, 2007). This facilitated the process of alignment between employee objectives and organizational objectives. Accountability also led to adaptability and aggressiveness as the employees were motivated to continuously improve the internal business processed in order to maximize their efficiency and effectiveness. This made the employees results-driven. Therefore there was match between employee performance and business strategy and this was facilitated by adoption of the three As approach. The three As gave the necessary framework for the process of strategic human resource management to interact with organizational structure and mission and strategy to manage the political, economic and cultural forces to the best advantage for both the employees and the organization itself. This was the foundation of the best fit model at the company.

            As the scope of operations expands globally, the HR agenda at Cadbury Schweppes is changing in response. In the past the company practiced paternalistic human resource strategy which focused more upon process control. Now the HR agenda has changed to reflect a ‘results-driven’ strategy. In order to make this strategy successful, the management at the company felt that the need was to adopt a coaching approach or a joint problem-solving approach. The widening HR agenda was also facilitated by having HR on the main board and by having HR represented at every regional business unit. This meant the HR functions at the company such as training and development, performance management, online tools for collaborative management, embracing change etc were being continuously adapted to reflect the changing agenda. The adaptability means that in spite of having a hard centre in making a profit, the company puts people issues higher than softer companies would.

            The management at Cadbury Schweppes practices human resource management in a strategic context in order to develop internal human capital. This allows the management to reconcile considerations of employee well-being and superior shareholder performance. The management recognizes that the two objectives are dependent on one another and in order to emphasize this interconnectedness, the Managing for Value program was launched. The training program enabled employees to see the bigger picture in terms of how their efforts were linked to the organizational objective of profit maximization. In addition to conducting training programs, the management also provided financial incentives in the form of share schemes to motivate the employees to improve their level of performance. As a result of these strategies, the role of human resource management at Cadbury Schweppes has become that of the strategic business partner. This had led to a synergistic fit between the Human Resource Function and business strategies. This is a critical success factor for Cadbury Schweppes as the industry that it operates in is characterized by high competitive rivalry worldwide. Therefore, it is important that business strategies are based in developing a sustainable competitive advantage. The strategic value of human resource management becomes apparent in this context.

            Companies in different industries most often implement strategies of differentiation, cost minimization and quick response in order to position themselves differently for competitive advantage (cited in Robbins & Judge, 2007). However these strategies are easily transferable from one organization to another regardless of cultural differences. Therefore when the competitive advantage is rooted in a particular cultural orientation, then it becomes difficult for competitors to imitate that strategy. As a result, the management at Cadbury Schweppes is looking at developing internal human capital to serve as the source of the company’s competitive advantage. In this connection, the management has launched several programs related to human resource management such as Managing for Value, Passion for People, Growing Our People and Working Better Together.

These programs were created in order to create a cultural fit between employee objectives and organizational objectives. This cultural fit is the source of the company’s competitive advantage which enables it to maintain a market leadership position in most product categories. Because companies even in the same industry have different cultural orientations in terms of shared values, norms and attitudes, the systems approach that Cadbury Schweppes has taken in order to ensure alignment between strategic focus and core competencies cannot be coped easily. In this manner, the company practices strategic human resource management in order to meet its objective of achieving superior shareholder performance through creating a sustainable competitive advantage (cited in Hill & Jones, 2007). The particular organizational structure in question is given sustainable form by ensuring employee satisfaction.

            Cadbury Schweppes maintains globally diversified operations. The expansion strategies in this respect are implemented not only through setting up new operations in new regions but also through acquisition of existing operations. The challenge in implementing an acquisition strategy is to reconcile the differences in the two organizational cultures so that the strategic focus of Cadbury Schweppes can be maintained or modified as needed. The program Working Better Together was put in operation in order to facilitate the strategies in this regard. However the relevant issue in this respect is that the underpinnings are embedded in strategic human resource management. Without strategies to manage people, the company would not have been in a position to make expansion strategies effective and deliver superior shareholder performance. This is particularly true in the context of an international business which has to handle market conditions widely varying from one country to another. In this situation, the only way for the company to maintain the momentum is to develop an organizational culture based on talent management.

            The process of talent management is defined as the process of creating internal human capital. The process entails development of a knowledge management system that captures the tacit information hidden in employees in terms of their experience and expertise. In order to maintain the effectiveness of this system, the management also has to focus on creating an effective communications structure. This is necessary in order to motivate the employees to participate in a process of information sharing across departments. This is particularly true in the case of Cadbury Schweppes which has to manage change on a continuous basis in order to maintain its competitive advantage. Managing change effectively requires a cross-functional project management team. Therefore, the importance of developing collaborative approaches is high. The collaborative working environment is the most important aspect of the organizational culture at Cadbury Schweppes. As a result, the management recognizes the importance of retaining its workforce by minimizing turnover.

            The management at Cadbury Schweppes is dedicated to creating the best possible working conditions by way of minimizing employee turnover. As a result, the strategic aspect of human resource management is emphasized. A high degree of flexibility is maintained in the Human Resource Function so that problems as they emerge are addressed effectively. This is a departure from the norm since in terms of actual practice, in most organizations, human resource management is seen as having more operational relevance than strategic relevance. This is part of a wider trend according to which HR managers are emphasizing on the business partner model of practicing human resource management. This is already in evidence at Cadbury Schweppes. Here the management customizes the process of human resource management to emerging issues and thus ensures that employees remain focused on the ultimate objective of maximizing shareholder performance while at the same time maintaining satisfaction in working for the organization. In this manner the Human Resource Function at Cadbury Schweppes continues to evolve strategically.

            Strategic human resource management is the process of aligning HR strategy to business strategy. The only way to do this is through building the right cultural orientation. This was a challenging task at Cadbury Schweppes because of global expansion and the resultant acquisition of companies with different cultural orientations. The integration process failed initially as the climate survey revealed that employees were unhappy with the way poor performance was dealt with. This was a critical failing as it related to organizational culture which provided the framework for aligning HR strategy to business strategy. The solution to this problem was approached though launching the programmes of Working Better Together and Passion for People. The former program developed online tools for collaborative planning and implementation while the latter program developed new mechanics of performance management. The two programmes facilitated cultural integration between Cadbury Schweppes and the acquired company. As a result, a common set of desired behavioural patterns could be developed under one cultural framework.

            The role of culture is an integral aspect of strategic human resource management at Cadbury Schweppes. This is because the company draws its strategic focus from the cultural orientation of aligning employee performance to organizational performance. In this respect, the company is about to introduce a system for evaluating the different mechanics of managing performance. This step was implemented in response to findings in the Global Climate Survey in which the employees expressed dissatisfaction with the way that the management was dealing with poor performance.

This indicates the strong role that culture played in guiding strategic focus at Cadbury Schweppes. Further evidence of the cultural role is provided in the acquisition process in which the management focuses on integrating with the new culture rather than abolishing it. For example, when the company acquired Trebor Bassett and Adams, the focus was on blending the two cultures rather than on imposing the cultural orientation of Cadbury Schweppes. This not only indicates the importance that the management attached to the dimensions of organizational culture, but also indicates the flexible attitude that the management maintained towards maintaining a particular orientation in this respect. This flexibility might have been prompted by the need for the continuous improvement process. The company was expanding globally and therefore the management was under pressure to develop practices that were globally transferable.

            In terms of maintaining competitiveness in the context of globally diversified operations, the management would have to take into consideration cultural differences characterizing the international markets. This is particularly relevant because the concern of developing a sustainable competitive advantage was addressed through maintaining the right cultural orientation. The management at Cadbury Schweppes managed to push these differences to the back and develop a common platform for human resource management by focusing on the alignment between employee objectives and organizational objectives. Maintaining this alignment was facilitated by the implementation of the integrative model of human resource management which provided the framework for achieving cultural fit with business strategies. In this respect, the first priority for the company was to attain superior shareholder performance. The attainment of this objective was facilitated through the continuous process of managing change. However the change management process was kept aligned to business strategies under the framework of acquisition and development, and locus of control. As a result, the management was able to standardize the cultural dimensions across its globally diversified operations by emphasizing on the financial priority and giving employees the opportunity to pursue it as they saw fit keeping in mind the strategic focus.

            The management at Cadbury Schweppes was practicing strategic human resource management by tying together the priorities of superior shareholder performance and employee job satisfaction. The management ensured job satisfaction in this regard by focusing on building the right cultural orientation through launching different HR initiatives such as Growing Our People and Working Better Together. These programs aiming at building an employee-oriented organizational culture that was also oriented towards maximizing the financial priorities is conclusive proof of the strong role that culture played in strategic human resource management at Cadbury Schweppes.

            Strategic human resource management planning is the process of analyzing the future requirements of human resources in alignment with change in the strategic focus of the company. The process can be divided into four phases: analyzing data for future human resource requirements, setting HR objectives, implementing programs to attain the objectives and monitoring the results of the implementation process. At Cadbury Schweppes, SHRM planning was not a critical need in the past because the level of environmental uncertainty was minimal. However the current business environment is characterized by an intense level of competitive rivalry which is the result of fast change economically, sociologically and technologically (cited in Hitt, 2007). As a result, SHRM planning at the company is no longer a reactive process. Instead line managers and HR managers are working jointly in order to develop the best framework for maintaining human resources to the best advantage of the company. As a result SHRM planning is becoming integrated with the strategic planning process in the organization.

            The importance of SHRM planning in SHRM is illustrated in the HR practices at Cadbury Schweppes. Here line management cooperates with HR managers to develop business plans and to forecast human resources requirements accordingly. Once the requirements have been determined, the management works with the human resource department throughout the process in order to measure the effectiveness of different HR programs such as training and development, performance and reward management and staffing. Because HR planning facilitates the development of measurement tools which can enhance the effectiveness of different HR programs, it is an essential component of strategic human resource management. The central focus of strategic human resource management planning at the company is to develop HR programs that align employee satisfaction to the strategic focus of the company. This alignment is a critical core competency at Cadbury Schweppes and makes SHRM the central component of strategic planning. Therefore, the value of SHRM lies in Strategic HR planning.

            The process of human resource planning is essential for building a sustainable competitive advantage for Cadbury Schweppes. This is because the process of human resource planning ensures that employees are satisfied in working for the organization. This is a critical consideration in the modern business environment which is characterized by a high level of competitive rivalry. In order to respond to this competitive threat, the company has to reengineer its internal processes on a continuing basis in order to build and maintain a competitive advantage (cited in Fred, 2006).

In order to make the reengineering process effective, the management needs to maintain the motivation level of the employees. In this respect, the process of human resource planning ensures that the right performance management system is kept operational so that employee needs are aligned to organizational needs. This alignment ensures that the resulting competitive advantage is sustainable. Sustainability is a key issue for Cadbury Schweppes in the current business environment which is driven by fast change. The change is mostly driven by technological sophistication which once again presents the challenge of the strategic alignment process. In this respect, four areas are concerned. These are IT strategy, business strategy, organizational issues and information systems issues (cited in Grover & Kettinger, 2008). Although the strategic alignment process in this case is mostly concerned with the IT innovation of business, human resource planning has a strong role to play in ensuring the alignment process by forecasting manpower needs and by conducting training and development programs accordingly. Therefore its strategic value is undeniable.

            The strategic value of human resource planning is increasingly being emphasized at Cadbury Schweppes. This is because the development of human capital has become the most important source of developing a competitive advantage. In this respect, promoting from within has become the favoured strategy in terms of developing an organizational structure with a sustainable competitive advantage. For this reason, the management has to invest extensively in training and development programs in order to develop the right kind of expertise so that employees will have the necessary qualifications to hold wider spans of authority. However because the environmental factors are in a constant state of change, it is difficult for the management to predict in advance how employee skills should change to reflect the change outside. This is the task of human resource planning. Therefore HR managers at Cadbury Schweppes have to research both the internal environment and the external environment closely in order to maintain the match between organizational core competencies and industry competitiveness.

            The process of human resource planning at Cadbury Schweppes ensures that there are right people available in the right places at the right time (cited in Greer, 2000). This is a critical consideration inasmuch as the core competencies of the organization are dependent on the availability of human capital. Facilitating this arrangement is the task of human resource planning. However before the human capital can be developed, the right organizational culture has to be in place. This once again requires the process of human resource planning. This is the source of the strategic value of human resource planning at Cadbury Schweppes.

Talent management is one of the ways in which HR functions add strategic value to the organizational functions at Cadbury Schweppes. Depending on the availability of talent in the external environment, the HR department conducts training and development exercises. Conducting training and development is one of the important functions of the HR department. However the process of conducting training and development is of critical importance strategically because it ensures that the organization has a robust pool of human capital. The important consideration for the top management in this regard is to develop some framework that will help them determine that the resources being invested in training and development have high returns. This is the challenge for the HR department at Cadbury Schweppes. HR managers have to develop a strategically oriented methodology that clearly identifies the benefits to be gained from conducting training and development functions on a continuing basis.

            Employees are considered to be the most important assets of an organization and therefore it is a critical consideration for the management to undertake strategies that minimize the level of turnover. Employees are particularly relevant to maintaining organizational competitiveness because of the knowledge that they develop in connection with their work processes. This knowledge is difficult to capture in any formal knowledge management system because the dimensions of this knowledge operate on unknown parameters. Employees across departments develop knowledge along different lines and therefore any standardization of the knowledge management system is impossible (cited in Mello, 2005). As a result, the only course left open to the management is to create the best possible working conditions in which employees are satisfied in working for the organization. The strategic value of HR at Cadbury Schweppes becomes clear in this respect, because HR managers are in the best position to develop the desired working conditions.

            The current business environment is characterized by a high level of competitiveness which fuels a fast process of change. In this situation, companies strive to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. The generic strategies of differentiation, cost minimization and quick response are found to be inadequate in this respect because they can be easily copied by competitor organizations (cited in Aaker, 2004). However when the source of the competitive advantage is the organizational culture then there is sustainability because organizations even in the same industry have different cultural dimensions which are designed over an extended period of time. Therefore elements of organizational culture such as specific employee behaviours are sustainable sources of competitive advantage. In this respect, the important consideration at Cadbury Schweppes is to align certain behavioural characteristics to the strategic focus of the organization and to design the performance management system that effectively rewards it when employees conform to these behavioural expectations (cited in Bank, 1993). Implementing these strategies is the responsibility of HR managers at Cadbury Schweppes.

            The HR department at Cadbury Schweppes holds an important strategic position in the overall organizational structure by ensuring that employees continue to invest their time and efforts in alignment with the strategic focus of the company. HR creates the necessary cultural orientation in which employees can unlock their potential. This is the source of the company’s competitive advantage. By aligning employee interests to organizational interests, HR creates a strategic business partnering model. In this manner the HR department creates a significant strategic difference by facilitating behavioural characteristics that enhance the strategic focus of the organizations. Cadbury Schweppes would not have been able to maintain its market leadership position without practicing strategic human resource management. This is because the company operates in a global market which is characterized by a high level of competitive rivalry. In response to this competitive threat, the company frequently acquired other companies and in that case cultural integration becomes the critical success factor. These issues are addressed through integration of human resource management into the strategic planning process.

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