Lesson 7 Written Exercise: Organizational Transformation
According to Aldrich and Ruef (2006), an organization undergoes a transformation when its dimensions of goals, activity systems, or boundaries are changed. These changes must alter the organization’s pre-existing routine and challenge the body of knowledge that it once subscribed to. In the case of the Coca-Cola Company, each of the three dimensions have been significantly altered since its conception in the late nineteenth century-- thus prompting an incredibly transformation to occur. I would consider this organization to be successful because of its high profitability and its deep penetration in the global market. Within 130 years, the organization grew from being sold in one Atlanta …show more content…
When the Coca-Cola Company was first founded by Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton in 1886, its goal was to sell Coca-Cola at a local pharmacy as a new fountain drink for a small profit. The introduction of this variation in the Atlanta population was positively selected: its small-scale fame soon caught the attention of local entrepreneurs.
Once portions of the company were sold to three Atlanta businessmen a year later, the organizational goal became much larger: to expand sales across the United States. The organizational goal changed in its breadth, from specialism to generalism, within one year of its operation. Although the initial goal was to find success in Atlanta, new leadership widened the Coca-Cola Company’s goal to finding national …show more content…
For Coca-Cola, its boundaries have undergone a substantial transformation as a result of organizational acquisitions. For example, the Coca-Cola Company acquired Minute Maid in 1960 (“The Minute Maid Company History,” n.d.). In 1993, the Coca-Cola Company acquired Thums Up -- a spicy cola beverage company that originated in India (“20 Years Later: A Look Back at Coke’s Dramatic 1993 Return to India, 2013”). Two years later, they acquired the root-beer beverage company Barq’s Incorporated (“Company News: Coca-Cola to Acquire Barq’s, a Root Beer Maker,” 1995). The first organizational acquisition of the 20th century came in 2001 when Coca-Cola acquired Odwalla, a juice beverage company (“Coke Buys Odwalla, 2001”). These acquisitions led to a successful transformation in that they each helped the Coca-Cola Company diversify their brand to keep up with market demands and their competitors. Since the purpose of an acquisition is to increase a company’s profitability by reducing market competition, the Coca-Cola Company was able to successfully buy out their competitors to maintain power in the soft-drink manufacturing population. The struggle for scarce resources, the consumers, has led the Coca-Cola Company to acquire other
According to Aldrich and Ruef (2006), an organization undergoes a transformation when its dimensions of goals, activity systems, or boundaries are changed. These changes must alter the organization’s pre-existing routine and challenge the body of knowledge that it once subscribed to. In the case of the Coca-Cola Company, each of the three dimensions have been significantly altered since its conception in the late nineteenth century-- thus prompting an incredibly transformation to occur. I would consider this organization to be successful because of its high profitability and its deep penetration in the global market. Within 130 years, the organization grew from being sold in one Atlanta …show more content…
When the Coca-Cola Company was first founded by Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton in 1886, its goal was to sell Coca-Cola at a local pharmacy as a new fountain drink for a small profit. The introduction of this variation in the Atlanta population was positively selected: its small-scale fame soon caught the attention of local entrepreneurs.
Once portions of the company were sold to three Atlanta businessmen a year later, the organizational goal became much larger: to expand sales across the United States. The organizational goal changed in its breadth, from specialism to generalism, within one year of its operation. Although the initial goal was to find success in Atlanta, new leadership widened the Coca-Cola Company’s goal to finding national …show more content…
For Coca-Cola, its boundaries have undergone a substantial transformation as a result of organizational acquisitions. For example, the Coca-Cola Company acquired Minute Maid in 1960 (“The Minute Maid Company History,” n.d.). In 1993, the Coca-Cola Company acquired Thums Up -- a spicy cola beverage company that originated in India (“20 Years Later: A Look Back at Coke’s Dramatic 1993 Return to India, 2013”). Two years later, they acquired the root-beer beverage company Barq’s Incorporated (“Company News: Coca-Cola to Acquire Barq’s, a Root Beer Maker,” 1995). The first organizational acquisition of the 20th century came in 2001 when Coca-Cola acquired Odwalla, a juice beverage company (“Coke Buys Odwalla, 2001”). These acquisitions led to a successful transformation in that they each helped the Coca-Cola Company diversify their brand to keep up with market demands and their competitors. Since the purpose of an acquisition is to increase a company’s profitability by reducing market competition, the Coca-Cola Company was able to successfully buy out their competitors to maintain power in the soft-drink manufacturing population. The struggle for scarce resources, the consumers, has led the Coca-Cola Company to acquire other