Cadbury's origins go back over a hundred years.
P U B L I C L I M I T E D C O M P A N Y
Introduction:
Cadbury's origins go back over a hundred years. John Cadbury first started selling tea and coffee in 1824 in Birmingham. Cocoa and initially incidental, became Cadbury's main business within a few years. Overtime Cadbury's popularity drove the company in to success. In 1969 Cadburys merged with Schweppes originating from 1783 when Jacob Schweppe perfected his process of manufacturing mineral water in Geneva. Since then the company has expanded internationally to become the leaders in sugar confectionery. Cadbury Trebor Bassett the largest wing of the company based in Bournville merged with the well known companies Trebor Mints and Bassett's in 1990 to form the UK based stronghold Cadbury Trebor Bassett.
Aims of the Business:
Like all businesses Cadbury's also has aims to help them plan and set targets for what they want to achieve. These aims that Cadbury Trebor Bassett abide by not only concern its welfare but also concern the welfare of the business but also concern the affects of its existence to the local community and environment. Amongst those aims Cadbury's core aims to strive successfully in the competitive market of confectionery is to:
* Working together to create brands people love
* Make a profit
These aims are the guidelines of Cadbury's successful existence in the highly competitive market of confectionery. Other aims for a company like Cadbury's to attain success might be:
* Be environmentally friendly
* Provide Charitable and Voluntary Services
* Maximise sales and increase the quality of a product
* Survive as a business or expand
* Provide a highly competitive service
These aims play a major role behind the success of Cadbury Trebor Bassett. It is vital that Cadbury's strictly adhere to these aims in order to receive maximum results. By donating to charities Cadbury's helps various causes based around various people whether it is national or international. By carrying out actions of this sort the business gains popular support from the community thus helping the company gain popularity in the local environment. Cadbury is dedicated to ensure that all of its products are of a high standard. They constantly experiment with their existing brands improving the quality as well as venturing in to different areas to create chocolate with newer combinations, thus creating a wider variety of high quality confectionery available to the consumers. It is also important that Cadbury's ensures that whilst it produces its products there is a minimal effect on the environment. To ensure that there is little or no effect to the environment and that the quality of life is not lost for the residing community Cadbury's has its own set of strict regulations. Cadbury's also strictly abides government principles for businesses to ensure that all activities are lawful and do not create a hazard for the consumers.
Objectives:
In order to achieve the aims and high standards that Cadbury's has set it they have a set of measurable objectives. These Objectives set targets and challenges for the business as well. Their objectives are separated in two sections as the aims. The first section is the core objectives and the second set being the secondary objectives. The core objectives are things that must be achieved in order to survive as a business. The secondary objectives revolve around methods of enhancing the services that the business provides in order to succeed.
The core objectives of the business are:
* Grow shareowner value over a long term
* Enhance existing products or introduce a new brand
The secondary objectives of Cadbury's are:
* Sell more of a brand than a competitor
* Provide new or enhance existing services
* Increase sales
* Establish and enable employee accountability for environmental performance
* Strive to prevent pollution and to minimise the environmental costs and impacts of global operations
It is very important that Cadbury's attains these targets that they have set in order to not only survive but survive as a successful business. It is the aims and objectives of a business that gives it its individual quality and purpose of existence "together to create brands people love". Without achieving or even having aims would result in the business being a complete failure in all aspects. It is essential for Cadbury's to achieve the standards they have set or even excel were possible in order to attain its name as a successful business within the market and the consumers.
Ownership:
There are several different types of ownership that is present within businesses. Depending on the type of ownership the owners have different responsibilities and involvement in the business. One aspect of this is who bares the business risk and whether they owners have a limited or unlimited liability. There are several various types of ownership. These types of ownerships are:
* Sole Trader
* Partnership
* Public Limited Company (PLC)
* Private Limited Company (Limited/Ltd)
* Co-operative
* Franchise
Amongst these various types of ownerships listed Cadbury's has been through various types of ownerships. Originally when Cadbury's started life in 1820's it was a sole trader business owned by John Cadbury. Soon after that it developed into a partnership between John Cadbury and his sons. Overtime popularity has forced the small family business to expand in to the massive Company it is today. Cadbury is currently serving as a Public Limited Company. The company has a board of 11 members heading it towards success. The PLC status also allows the public to become shareholders within the company. This also means that should the business fail to succeed only the amount invested by a shareholder will be at stake. This makes it a safer environment for the general public to be involved with. The selling of shares is not limited just to the general public but also includes the employees giving them a chance to invest. This in simpler terms means that shareholders have a limited liability. The Public Limited Company is the largest sort of business that is available. Although Cadbury's is now in the higher rankings of various types of businesses there are also some disadvantages to it. PLC's are often far too big meaning it is a very difficult task for senior members of staff to have an employer and employee relationship. This not only affects those employed within the company but often severs links between the general public/consumers. For a company like Cadbury it would a better to have several managers allocated to one section of the organisation to ensure the relationship is always present. This helps the productivity of the company improve and create a better working environment. The Board of executives is made of 11 members. Amongst the 11 members there is a Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a Deputy CEO, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer and 5 non executive board members. Together this team of 11 people are responsible fro the companies welfare in all aspects. Here are some diagrams describing the organisation used within Cadbury Trebor Bassett.
Board members:
Note: The boxes which are the same colour indicate members of staff operating on the same
level of status.
These are the Board members who are responsible for the welfare of the company. These members are set the task to make decisions which are in the company's best interest in order for a successful future. These 11 board members are not only responsible for the future of Cadbury Trebor Bassett but they are also responsible for the future of the business globally. They represent the business as a whole under the name ...
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Board members:
Note: The boxes which are the same colour indicate members of staff operating on the same
level of status.
These are the Board members who are responsible for the welfare of the company. These members are set the task to make decisions which are in the company's best interest in order for a successful future. These 11 board members are not only responsible for the future of Cadbury Trebor Bassett but they are also responsible for the future of the business globally. They represent the business as a whole under the name of Cadbury Schweppes PLC.
Business Location:
There are many things which may affect the choice of location of a business like Cadbury. In order for a business to be successful it has to be located in a strategic position which allows it to carry out its activities in an effective manner. Businesses are required to consider a lot of factors when they choose their business location. They need to ensure that they are close to customers, competitors or suppliers and skilled employees. This is only a small list of factors which may affect the choice of business location. Other factors maybe:
* Cost of Labour
* Number of people with appropriate skills
* Financial Support
* Transport
* History and tradition
* Cost of Premises
The need to be present were a customer is
Cadbury's location in Birmingham came after the success of John Cadbury's corner shop business. Of course it was his younger son George Cadbury's introduction of the cocoa essence in 1866 and the introduction of the Cadbury's Dairy Milk bar in 1897 which drove the company to its success. The demand for quality chocolate outgrew the small corner shop business. This meant that a larger complex was required. The 26 acre land which lay 4 miles outside Birmingham was chosen. There a factory was built and a small Quaker community was established. Thus Bournville began its life. In order to remain successful within the competitive market of confectionery Cadbury Trebor Bassett is required to constantly improve existing product as well as introduce new products. The business is also required to promote its products via media publicity and offer schemes such as its current scheme, which allows children to exchange chocolate wrappers for school sports equipment. Cadbury's location in Bournville allows the company to present and publicise it self via attractions such as Cadbury World and Cadbury Learning Zone. This gives the company a more strategic position within its competing market as its location Bournville is the first of the factories, which was used to create the large confectionery industry the company, is today. The company's location is also famous for its history and the fame, which it gained with George Cadbury's recipe for success.
Business Activities:
Businesses carry out one or more activities. For all businesses it is crucial for it to decide what its main activities are and whether they are involved with goods, services or both. A few examples of these activities are:
* Sales of goods e.g.- retail, wholesale
* Manufacturing goods e.g.- consumer goods
* Producing raw goods e.g.-agriculture, fishing
* Client Services e.g.- financial, health
* Other services e.g.-transport, communications
The main activities of Cadbury's are sales and manufacturing of goods. This is because Cadbury's manufacture their high quality chocolate and sell directly to their customers via the net and shops. This is the most important activity of Cadbury's and it is this activity which they have carried out for the past hundred years which has created them the global leaders in confectionery. If we look at Cadbury's as a whole or Cadbury Schweppes PLC we can see that the business has moved on to soft drinks and chewing gum. Even the UK based branch deals with other sugar based products apart from chocolate. My suggestion would be for the company to expand more into other fields. As we can already see that the business has a lot of franchises cakes and biscuits, snacks and ice cream industry. Some of the well known and popular brands which have emerged are Cadbury's Mini Rolls, Animals, and of course ice creams which are replicated from popular brands of chocolate that Cadbury's produce such as Dairy Milk. This shows that by moving into other areas of confectionery widens the range of products for the consumers the company has to offer making it more competitive. It is essential that Cadbury's carries on and constantly improves and develop new activities to create a never ending range of selections for the consumer. This is what builds the economy.
Functional Areas:
To make and provide a service a business needs to carry out a range of functions. For Cadbury Trebor Bassett it is essential for the company to carry out the range of functions in order to create brands and products according to the level of demand and of course receive feedback from the consumers. For a company like Cadbury the consumer is one of the most important factors in the cycle of productivity. It is the feedback from the consumers which provide the company with valuable information for it to improve products and increase sales. It is important for the company to provide support for customers should their product be faulty in any way. For companies like Cadbury's it is essential that consumer demand is met and that customers are satisfied with the services and activities/products the business provides. If in any case the company fails to satisfy the customer it would lose a consumer and would also receive negative propaganda. Some of the functions that large firms like Cadbury may carry out include:
* Human Resources
* Finance
* Administration and ICT
* Operations
* Marketing & Sales
* Customer Services
* Research & Development
These functions help the business run smoothly throughout the day to day tasks. It helps the whole organisation communicate when required immediately for effective results. It also allows the company to keep records of things with ease and satisfy customers who are not satisfied by the services and products provided.
Functional Areas: Human Resources
Businesses like Cadbury's want to recruit the best employees and make sure that they work effectively and safely. This great task of employing the best in the league rests with the Human Resources team. They are required to carry out many activities to ensure that the company is offering the best to the employees as well as training staff to be more effective in their field of work. Some of the activities and issues that the team are involved with are:
* Recruitment, Retention and Dismissal of staff
* Working Conditions
* Training, development and promotion
* Employee organisations and Unions
* Health and safety
This is one of the most important units within the functional areas department. This team is required to constantly communicate with the employees of the business to ensure that all members of staff are satisfied with the opportunities the business offers. This allows the Cadbury's to keep in touch with its employees and constantly update the offers it has for its employees. This develops a good employer-employee relationship. It boosts the confidence and morality of the employee making it more effective. Successful businesses like Cadbury's develop their products and services to anticipate consumer demands and satisfy them .It is important that Cadbury's employees are kept up to date with changes and developments that affect their jobs and careers. This not only benefits Cadbury's but also improves the employees' future job prospects. It is via the Human resources team that this achieved. This shows the importance of the Human Resources team to the business.
Functional Areas: Finance
Businesses like Cadbury's needs to manage all its income and expenditures. They also need understand this information in order to be able to take the next step. To do this Cadbury's has a finance team led by David Kappler the Chief Financial Officer. This team is set with the duty of monitoring all finance related issues relating to Cadbury's such as expenditure, income, profit etc. This information is stored and provided to the executives via the Chief Financial Officer. Some of the tasks that the finance team are involved with include:
* Preparing accounts
* Paying wages and salaries
* Obtaining Capital resources
This information is stored in records. It allows the companies executive and non-executive board members to understand the company's financial situation as well as decide new moves which would help it. This could mean that the company will merge or take over a smaller company. The decisions of Cadbury's fate are assisted by the financial team.
Functional Areas: Administration and ICT
The Administration and ICT support function allows the company to run smoothly from day to day. The ICT allows the staff at Cadbury to work around difficult things with ease. It also allows them to keep records of their progress and contact worldwide branches of the company instantly. Some of the things that ICT is used for are:
* Communicate via email, video conferencing
* Share common data e.g.- orders and store records
* Security systems e.g.- virus protection, backup against loss
* Online customer support
* Electronic transaction e.g.- barcodes, sales
The activities that the administration function carries out are:
* Clerical work, collecting and distributing mail and keeping records
* Meetings, responding to enquiries
* Cleaning and Maintenance
* Health and Safety
* Security
* Support and support for software applications
The Administration and ICT function allows the company to run all its important activities from day to day with ease. It allows the company to respond to respond immediately to any problems to keep everything on track without disturbance in the company's activities. This function is essential for the business in order for it to run according to its regulations correctly as well as simplify the process.
Functional Areas: Operations
Cadbury's has to obtain, organise and use a variety of resources including people and equipment. The Operations teams' main task is to produce goods and services by making the best use of:
* Buildings and land e.g.- offices, factories
* Equipment e.g.- computers, machinery
* People e.g.- operators, managers, support staff
* Materials
Large firms like Cadbury Trebor Bassett's any disruption within the operations department could result in massive losses. This may be due to late deliveries and shortage of supplies. To ensure that the company does not have any problems within its functional areas it employs highly qualified members of staff within the operations team to work around issues with intelligence ad speed.
Functional Areas: Marketing and Sales
Cadbury's is dedicated to meeting customer needs through a range of activities. It is essential that the company meets the customers' needs and has the consumers' full satisfaction. Some of the activities that Cadbury's does to ensure a good consumer and supplier relationship are:
* Market research
* Promotion
* Sales
These activities allow the company to provide further incentives to the consumer as a way to promote their products. This process also allows the company to receive feedback regarding improvements of their products and the services they provide. Cadbury's sells its products over the internet as well which provides the consumer to order from the comfort of their home. Services like these help the company to gain their popularity for high standards. Cadburys employs smaller companies who specialise in the field of market researching to provide the company with the information it needs in order for
Functional Areas: Customer Service
All businesses especially Cadbury's depend on their customers to buy their products or use the services they provide. In return customers expect goods and services to be available when they want them, to be safe and to offer value for money. To build and maintain a good relationship Cadbury's has a team dedicated solely to see to the needs of customers as well as ensuring consumer satisfaction. Some of the activities that are held within this team are:
* Providing Information
* Giving advice
* Providing Credit facilities
* Delivering goods
* Providing after sale services
It is one of the most important sections within the organisation. The task of providing the correct support for unsatisfied customers is left to the customer services ream. It is essential for the team to try their utmost to try and ensure that they are able to provide the correct support.
Functional Areas: Research and Development
The Research and development team within Cadbury's functional areas play a major role in the company's development and ideas, their core purpose being to study the products after sale and take on board suggestions for improvements provided by the consumers. This function allows the business to keep it self updated with the latest requirements of the consumers. It often allows the company to even surpass the needs of a customer thus providing more value in its product than required. This allows the company to promote it's product a lot more I n order to increase sales.
Functional Areas: Working Together
The functional areas within Cadbury Trebor Bassett are required to communicate with the other branches within this department. This is done via communication such as emails and telephone and direct liaison via members or representatives of the various sections. This allows the business to fulfil one of the company's major aims working together to create brands that people love. In order to achieve this aim the areas are required to work and communicate together in order for a successful and productive session. This allows the company to provide services to its customers as well as gain their full satisfaction regarding what the company has to offer.
Business Communication:
As members of Cadbury's workforce carry out different tasks they are required to contact each other whether they are situated locally or internationally. In order to be able to do this the company uses certain means of technology to contact its entire staff when required. These means are:
* Oral Communication (telephone, direct speech)
* Video Conferencing
* Written Communication (Letters, memos)
* Graphical Communication (pictures, etc)
This important part of the business allows the company to be aware of all its activities throughout its worldwide branches and areas. The company can improve on the methods it uses for communication. For example by using internet messaging services such as MSN Messenger set up on a company intranet the members would be able to send instant messages throughout the various branches whether it is based nationally or internationally. The use of video conferencing more often as this would increase the productivity within the dialogue. This would also help to build a good working relationship even though the employer is unable to be directly present. By suing this technique as much as possible the business can improve its work both internally and externally.
External Influences:
Businesses can manage much of their own world but there are external influences to which they have to respond and over which they have less control. Some external influences that might have affected Cadbury are:
* Business Competitors
* Economic Conditions
* Environmental Constraints
These are just a few of the obvious influences which not only maybe present on Cadbury's but other businesses too. In order to be successful Cadbury's has to be able to respond to these influences were it is possible.
External Influences: Business Competitors
Most businesses face some kind of competition from others as they try to win and retain customers. The main competitors for Cadbury Trebor Bassett are Rowntree, Mars and Nestle. These are only some of the well known competitors amongst the many. Some of the aspects that Cadbury is required to consider in order to make their product competitive against others are:
* Price
* Quality
* Availability
The use of new technologies such as telephone sales and the internet have made it possible for Cadbury to compete for customers on a global scale.
External Influences: Economic Conditions
However well Cadbury manages its own activities its success depends upon conditions in its economy. Cadburys could be affected by many things within the economy. Some of the things which may affect Cadbury are:
* Interest rates
* Prices
* Exchange rates
The government is expected to mange the national economy so the businesses can confidently plan their futures and customers can plan their spending and saving activities. Should the prices of Cadbury's raw ingredients increase it would mean that the price of the average bar of chocolate would have to increase significantly in order for the business to make a profit. This could also mean that the company's sales would decrease depending on the increase of price. This would affect the business seriously that is why the economy plays the major yet unpredictable role within the business.
External Influences: Environmental Constraints
Many business activities can have damaging effects on the quality of the local and national environment. As a result certain laws have been made to prevent wherever possible, damage to people and to the natural resources. These laws constrain irresponsible businesses, but as a result responsible businesses like Cadbury often set higher standards for themselves. Some of the various types of pollution created by businesses are:
* Air pollution
* Noise pollution
* Water pollution
* Wasteful use of resources
Cadbury has a strict code which helps the business to attain goals higher than those set by the government. Cadbury Trebor Bassett has kindly provided us with a copy of their statement regarding environment made by the CEO John Sunderland.
External influences: Responding
Throughout the years of Cadbury's existence it has mutilated itself from the small corner shop business to the large worldwide PLC it is today. The types of ownership its activities have all changed to form the confectionary giants. Throughout its history the business has responded to its external influences in many ways. Now the company has come to a stage where it is the biggest form of company. This would mean that the company's options available for responding to an external influence. The business can no longer change the type of ownership, as it is only possible for a board of members to man a company as large as Cadbury. This would mean that the business would either have to respond by expanding further or introducing more products, which will assist the company to meet its needs. Other methods might be to allow franchising in order for the company to increase its sales as well as its revenue. This would provide the company the upper hand in competing for consumers.
Statement:
"We recognise our responsibilities as a major international manufacturing company and aim to ensure that in the course of our business activities we:
* Minimise our impact on the environment around the world, working towards the objective of long term sustainability
* Find opportunities to improve the local environment in the communities in which we operate
We closely monitor the results of our activities. By taking advantage of new ideas and the latest technology our aim is to continuously improve our performance.
We are committed to sound and responsible environmental management in everything we do. This is a natural extension of the importance we place on protecting the world in which we live - in our own interests and in the interests of generations to come. It is also an integral part of achieving our objective to grow shareowner value over the long term. When the long term is taken into account, what's good for the environment is also good for consumers and good for business."
John Sunderland
CEO John Sunderland
Cadbury has also provided a copy of their environmental policy which is its guidelines for caring the environment both locally and nationally.
Environmental Policy:
Conduct our business in compliance with environmental laws and with our guidelines, which set global standards for our operations
* Maintain systems to manage our environmental responsibilities
* Set clear targets for continuous improvement and monitor these targets to ensure that they are met
* Establish and enable employee accountability for our environmental performance
* Strive to prevent pollution and to minimise the environmental costs and impacts of our global operations
* Assess the impact of new operations and products and seek ways to contribute positively to their environmental performance
* Train and motivate our employees to understand their environmental responsibilities and to actively support our environmental programmes
* Work with our supply chain and business partners to improve our collective environmental performance, to protect the ecosystems that provide our raw materials and to minimise the impacts from transportation
* Communicate openly with our shareowners, employees, customers and other interested parties by regularly reporting on our commitments and our progress towards meeting them
* Review and update this policy regularly
This statement and environmental policy clearly show that Cadbury's has standards which try to exceed the level set by the government. This shows that whilst Cadbury sets out manufacturing products to survive and for its own welfare it also takes in to account the affects to the local environment.
Cadbury and Me:
Through the duration of this course we have been privileged to have met Pippa Greenslade the director of the Human Resources department who had travelled from Mayfair despite her busy schedule to support and help us. We were also given the opportunity to visit the Cadbury Bournville complex as well as the attraction Cadbury World. We were greeted by the Education Officer at Cadbury, Colin Pitt who provided us with valuable support and information.
Picture Gallery:
Cadbury World Bournville, Mini Conference room:
Monday September 16 2002 11:00hrs: Business trip to Cadbury World, Bournville
I was given the opportunity to ask Colin Pitt the Education Officer at Cadbury questions about the business and its activities. We were given a small talk about the history and present situation of the company.
Swanlea School, Business & Enterprise College, Assembly Hall:
Alongside Pippa Greenslade at School. This opportunity to interview Pippa Greenslade provided both me and my group valuable new information regarding the company and its activities.
The Interview: Interview with Pippa Greenslade
From my interview with Pippa Greenslade I was able to find out the businesses new long term plans under new management. I was told that Cadbury had a great interest in the chewing gum market. The acquisition of Adams the key gum confectioners within the north and south of America provided the company with a strategic position making it number 1. This allowed the company to move on further to acquire Orangina in France and RC Cola in New Zealand which saw the company exceed its aims. We were also told of Cadbury's long term struggle to strengthen its position further within the Middle East. After creating a stronghold in Turkey and India we were also told of Cadbury's plans to become the sole confectioners within the regions. The creation of Cadbury Trebor Bassets sister company in Canada Cadbury Trebor Allan the UK based branch merged its activities to become a stronger competitor. These key sections of information provided by Pippa helped us gain a better understanding of the company's behaviour.
Bibliography:
Throughout the course of this study of Cadbury Trebor Bassett I have received valuable support from the team at Cadbury. There valuable support alongside our personal knowledge has enabled us to delve in to the businesses activities deeply. Cadbury's support has also extended further than just visits and interviews. We have received information packs, brochures which have helped us to understand other aspects of the business such as publicity. Cadbury's has also extended there support via the internet by providing information, pictures and other resources which have assisted us greatly through out the course of this case study.
The following sources were used through out the duration of this course to gather information regarding Cadbury Trebor Bassett PLC:
Applied Business, Heinemann Publications - Carol Carysforth & Mike Neild
Applied Business, Nelson Publications - Richard Barrett
Pippa Greenslade, Human Resources Director- Cadbury Schweppes
Colin Pitt, Education Officer - Cadbury Trebor Bassett UK
Consumer Relations - Cadbury Trebor Bassett UK
Websites:
www.cadbury.co.uk
www.cadburyschweppes.com
www.chocolate.ca (Cadbury Trebor Allan)
Name: Gulam Hussain Candidate Number: 9169 Centre Number: 10500
