Business Communication Tetra Pak

download Business Communication Tetra Pak

of 29

Transcript of Business Communication Tetra Pak

The Internal and External Business Communications Communication Final Project Processes of Tetra Pak

Group Members: Lahore School of Economics 1 Arslan AftabAsim Liaquat Muhammad Bilal

Contents Muhammad Waleed Usman Acknowledgment.............................................................................................................................3 Sakina Mannan Synopsis...........................................................................................................................................4 Salman Irshad Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................5 Introduction......................................................................................................................................6 History of the Company:.................................................................................................................6 Vision and Mission Statement:........................................................................................................6 Policy and Goals of the Company...................................................................................................7 Ownership........................................................................................................................................7 Products...........................................................................................................................................7 Organization Structure.....................................................................................................................7 Customers........................................................................................................................................8 Competitors......................................................................................................................................8 The overall Communication Processes............................................................................................8 Emphasis on communication at Tetra Pak:..................................................................................9 Updating of the employees:.........................................................................................................9 Communication Process at Tetra Pak..........................................................................................9 Formal Communication Network.............................................................................................9 Informal Communication Network........................................................................................10 Preferred Media and Channels at Tetra Pak...............................................................................10 Confidentiality Policy at Tetra Pak............................................................................................11 Role of MIS (Management Information System) to facilitate Communication Process...........11 Culture of Tetra Pak...................................................................................................................12 Reward and Appreciation at Tetra Pak......................................................................................13 Delivery of Bad News................................................................................................................13 The format of the E-mails and Reports......................................................................................13 Color...........................................................................................................................................15 Public Relations Department.....................................................................................................15 Team and Groups.......................................................................................................................15 Preparation of proposals at Tetra Pak........................................................................................16

2

Internal And External Communication In Marketing Department................................................16 Internal Communication............................................................................................................16 External Communication...........................................................................................................16 TOWERS WATTSON...............................................................................................................17 Competitive Advantage..............................................................................................................17 B To B Communication.............................................................................................................17 B To C Communication.............................................................................................................17 Consumer Awareness.................................................................................................................18 Emotional Communication........................................................................................................18 Supply Chain.................................................................................................................................19 Communication Process in Supply Chain at Tetra Pak.............................................................20 Communication Channels..........................................................................................................20 Human Resource Management......................................................................................................22 Newspapers Ads.........................................................................................................................22 Headhunter.................................................................................................................................23 Online Website...........................................................................................................................23 Communication with other Department.....................................................................................24 Communication with other DepartmentBibliography ...25 .

Index..26 Appendix28

3

Acknowledgment We would like to thank first and foremost, to our teacher, Ms. Mashal Yousaf, for giving us this opportunity to work on this project, for providing us guidelines throughout the project as how to collect the data and how to work on our project. It is due to her continuous efforts and support that we are able to complete this project in a very comprehensive manner. This project has helped us to broaden our horizons in the field of business communications. We cannot fully express our gratitude to Mr. Anjum Jamal- the finance executive of Tetra Pakfor fully cooperating with us and sending us the sample mails for the purpose of analysis. He has provided us continuous support and information to throughout the project, from data gathering to report writing. Without him, we would have been unable to complete this report. And at last, but not the least, we are truly grateful to Mr. Rauf Hameed- the communication manager of Tetra Pak- for giving us ample time out of his busy schedule for the interview. He has provided us with all the necessary and reliable information that we needed to complete this project.

4

Synopsis This report is on the internal and external communication processes of Tetra Pak. The report gives a detailed overview of the overall communication processes of Tetra Pak. It describes what kind of culture Tetra Pak has and what are its core value. Moreover, it elaborates in a detailed manner what kind of communication channels Tetra Pak uses. The report also gives an overview about the Human Resource Management Department of Tetra Pak and explains how it communicates with internal and external audiences. It explains how the employees are recruited and how work in assigned to each employees of the within the department. The Supply Chain is also discussed in the report. It tells why the company is unable to use latest technology to coordinate with its suppliers. Further, it explains how coordination with the external business partners takes place. Most importantly, the report sheds light on the key communication processes of marketing department. Different media and channels are discussed in a detailed manner and the reasons why the company uses them. Furthermore, it tells why the company has decided to start communicating to the end-consumers directly.

5

Executive Summary Tetra Pak has a unique business model and it is one of the worlds leading food processing and packaging solutions company. It was started in 1950 in Sweden and currently it has 74 sales offices across the world. In Pakistan, it doesnt face direct competition from any company and it major customers are Engro Foods, Haleeb Foods and Nestle. 1. Overall Communication Process Tetra Pak puts a lot of emphasis on communication to its internal as well as external audiences. It uses all kinds of communication channels and it is making full use of MIS to facilitate the communication processes. It has an enriched culture and it treats all employees like family members. It has a confidentiality policy to safeguard it valuable information. Furthermore, it uses direct approach to deliver bad news to its employees 2. HRM Communication Process HRM department works effectively to communicate with the external audience. It uses internet, newspapers and head-hunting services to recruit people to its organization. The work is assigned to people in the department in a team and a team leader is selected to lead the team. 3. Supply Chain Communication Process Supply chain is unable to communicate with its vendors using latest technology and MIS because of the fact the vendors are not fully equipped with the latest technology. Furthermore, the suppliers of the company dont have the know-how to communicate through modern communication tools. Al though, different channels of communication are used to coordinate with the major customers of the company 4. Marketing Department Communication Process The marketing Department uses all means of communication channels to communicate with its internal and external audiences which include billboards, Television commercials, newspapers and internet. It has made a contract with a company Towers Perrin to get feedback from its customers and employees from across the world. Previously, it used to only use Business-toBusiness Communication but now it has started putting emphasis to Business-to-Customer Communication. The marketing department is working successfully on the new advertising campaign Strike your Balance.

Introduction

6

Tetra Pak is one of the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with its customers and suppliers, it provides safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people. It has a unique business model through which they create new brands with its business partners. In Pakistan the major customers of Tetra Pak are Nestle, Engro Corporation and Haleeb Foods. It is known for its 6 layers technology and for its environmental-friendly nature and products. A brief overview of the companys history is given below: History of the Company Tetra Pak began in the early 1950s as one of the first packaging companies for liquid milk. Since then, it has become one of the world's largest suppliers of packaging systems for milk, fruit juices and drinks, and many other products. In 1991, Tetra Pak expanded into liquid food processing equipment, plant engineering, and cheese manufacturing equipment. Today, it is the only international company in the world able to provide integrated processing, packaging, and distribution line and plant solutions for food manufacturing. This means that its customers enjoy the advantage of being able to get multiproduct solutions from a single source, with matching equipment at every stage. Currently, there are 41 Tetra Pak market companies and 74 sales offices across the world, 43 plants for packaging material and closures and 10 packaging machine assembly factories. The company has approximately 21,640 employees and achieved in 2008 net sales of 8,825 million Euros. The net sales figures are increasing every year. Tetra Pak products are sold in more than 150 markets.

Vision and Mission Statement Vision: We commit to making food safe and available, everywhere Mission: We work for and with our customers to provide preferred processing and packaging solutions for food. We apply our commitment to innovation, our understanding of consumer needs and our relationships with suppliers to deliver these solutions, wherever and whenever food is consumed. We believe in responsible industry leadership, creating profitable growth in harmony with environmental sustainability and good corporate citizenship. Policy and Goals of the Company The Company has made a commitment to run its operation in an environmental sound and sustainable manner. This is the reason why it has made partnership with the WWF global environmental conservation organization, UN Global Compact and GAIN Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. It sets goals for continuous growth and improvement in development, sourcing, manufacturing and transportation activities. It is companys policy to openly communicate with its stakeholders and to report on the performance on a regular basis. Ownership

7

Tetra Pak is a private limited company and it is owned by a Sweden Family. It is one of three companies in the Tetra Laval Group a private group that started in Sweden. The other two companies are DeLaval and Sidel. Tetra Laval is headquartered in Switzerland. Products Tetra Pak supplies everything one needs for processing, packaging, and distributing beverages and foods. It has a vast experience in foods technology which guarantees efficient performance, un-interrupted operations and environmental friendly packaging solution. On a global scale, it provides 2,359 types of packaging for different companies. Organization Structure According to Maira Ahmad, who is the HR manager of Tetra Pak the organization has the following structure.

Customers In Pakistan its major customers are Nestle, Haleeb Foods and Engro Corporations. The company provides these customers its 6 layers technology mainly for the packing of Juices and Milk. But it is expanding its horizons to new areas to have a larger market share. It customers have approximately 83 per cent of the market share and this 83 per cent is as follows: Competitors As mentioned earlier that Tetra Pak is world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Around the world it has been facing a competition and there are companies which has a business model as unique as Tetra Pak. In Pakistan, Tetra Pak doesnt face any competition and ruling as a market leader. However, it faces a little competition from some small local Packaging companies. There are some small packaging companies which we call NSS Niche Small Suppliers, says Mr. Anjum Jamal (Finance Executive of Tetra Pak)

8

The overall Communication Processes In this section we will be discussing about the overall external and internal communication processes. The main characteristics that will be covered in this section are mentioned below. 1. How much emphasis is put on the communication process 2. How the employees stay abreast of the companys daily activities. 3. Which medium of communication are preferred. 4. How the work is assigned to the employees. 5. How proposals are made. 6. How the interdepartmental communication takes place. 7. How effectively its making use of latest MIS (Management Information System). 8. How employees are rewarded. 9. How the direction of the company is set. 10. How a bad news is delivered to the employees. 11. What kind of culture the company has. 12. What format is used in the reports and mails to communicate 13. What the core values of Tetra Pak are 14. What is the color of the organization 15. What is the role of PR Emphasis on communication at Tetra Pak It is the business policy of Tetra Pak to openly and continuously communicate with their employees and to report on the performance of the company. Tetra Pak puts a lot of emphasis on Communication Mr. Rauf Hameed (Communication Manager of Tetra Pak) Tetra Pak have internal as well as external communication. They have devised methods as how to communicate with their internal audiences and external audiences. It is considered very important that all the key messages are delivered to the external audience and especially, to the internal employees through all kinds of channels and mediums. Updating of the employees Tetra Pak updates its employees in a very systematic manner. All the employees are updated on regular basis through a meeting with the managing director of the company. These meetings take place quarterly in which managing director of the company addresses the employees. He gives all the employees the business update. This business updates comprise the progress of each and every project and assignment of each department. For instance, if they have started a new marketing campaign the Managing director will address to the employees and tell them how good or how bad the response was for the new campaign. If the response was good, the marketing department and its main players would be appreciated through some reward that is not necessarily a monetary reward and if the response was bad the marketing department would be given a constructive feedback as what mistakes they did.

9

Furthermore, the Board of Directors of the company has their own meetings. These meetings take place, usually, after every week. In this meeting they make plans and decide the direction of the company and decide which new projects the company should go for. Moreover, in this meeting different technical aspects are discussed and the production analysis takes place. Communication Process at Tetra Pak The communication process of Tetra Pak is very much aligned with what an ideal business communication process is ought to be. It has both formal as well as informal communication networks. Formal Communication Network Tetra Pak, like any other big organization, has a formal communication network. In this network different information is transferred or delivered from each hierarchy level to another hierarchy level. At tetra Pak the information flows in three directions. These three directions are as follows: 1. Downward Communication: It is the flow of communication from a higher hierarchy to a lower hierarchy level i.e., from executives to employees. Mostly the executives it includes executives decisions and commands that helps employees do their job. 2. Upward Communication: It is the flow of communication from a lower hierarchy to a higher hierarchy i.e., from the employees to the executives. It basically includes all the information regarding any difficulties in the project or progress of any project. 3. Horizontal Communication: It is the flow of information from one department to another department or to put in another way it is a flow within a hierarchy level. This interdepartmental flow of information helps employee to coordinate tasks and solve complex problems. Informal Communication Network The informal communication network of Tetra Pak is very unique. It is very much similar to the formal communication network because of the fact that Tetra Pak has a very Family-like culture. The informal communication takes place in Cafeteria and through the intranet system of the company. Employees can coordinate with each other by using Instant messages (IM) or by directly going to the office or cabin to the other employees. Further, employees can call or text each other to share information. Preferred Media and Channels at Tetra Pak Tetra Pak uses all kind of Channels and Media to deliver/ send its message across. It uses all kinds of media i.e., written, visual and electronic forms. Plus it uses all kind of channels to communicate i.e., Emails, Face-to-face conversation, Internet, Television, Newspapers, Events etc. Key messages are sent through all kinds of channels. Which includes E-mail, Face-to-face meeting, Events, Awards Rauf Hameed ( Communication Manager) Like any other large and big organization it has set some preferred channels to communicate with its internal as well as external audience. The most preferred way to communicate is Face-toface meetings because it is the most interactive of all. The most reliable channel to communicate is face-to-face meeting, says Mr. Rauf Hameed. The second most preferred way to communicate is E-mail (Electronic Mail). They use Microsoft outlook to communicate within or outside the organization. Microsoft outlook is the premium business and personal e-mail

10

management tool and calendar software. There are three main reasons as to why they use Microsoft Outlook for communication which are as follows: 1. Saves time viewing, creating and managing e-mail 2. Gets easier access to right tools 3. Accesses vital information anytime, anywhere.

Confidentiality Policy at Tetra Pak Tetra Pak is a Multi-national organization. The information generated at Tetra Pak is very valuable. The leakage of this valuable information could translate into losses of millions of rupees. That is why, Packages has a confidential policy which protect and safeguards the valuable information from any internal as well as external threats. The information and documents produced at packages and pre-labeled before they move around within the organization. Each document is labeled as strictly confidential, highly confidential, moderately confidential and confidential. Where the strictly confidential being the highest confidential document while, the confidential being the least confidential document. The following graph gives an idea about the confidentiality level of the documents. Role of MIS (Management Information System) to facilitate Communication Process: As mentioned earlier, that Tetra Pak uses all means of communication to send its message across. Tetra Pak is equipped with latest technologies and information system that helps it foster communication process. We have a very advanced MIS, says Mr. Rauf Hameed. The latest technologies are used at Tetra Pak are as follows: Video Conferencing: All the international meetings are mostly conducted through video conferencing which helps the company save a lot of travelling cost. It provides the same benefit as an in-person meeting. Video-conferencing enables the participants in the conference room to virtually present at another location, to see and hear everyone the other party while being seen and heard by the other party. It not only enables two parties to participate in a conference but now with latest technology more than two parties from different location can participate in one conference room at one point in time. Such a realistic interaction makes a meeting more productive and cost-efficient. Tetra Pak uses video conferencing in both room system; specialized conference rooms facilities with large-screen displays, and desktop systems; which typically uses a webcam attached to each participant computer. Intranet: Tetra Pak has a wide and effective intranet system; a private computer network that simplifies information sharing within the company. Intranet handles the company information like Instant Messaging (IM), e-mail, websites, and internet phone calls. This internet is shielded and safeguarded from public access to ensure safety of the company valuable information. The company doesnt use extranets to communicate with its external business partners and suppliers because of the fact that most of the suppliers of the company are not comfortable with the use of latest technology of extranets. Culture of Tetra Pak Tetra Pak has an enriched culture. Its corporate culture has all the features and characteristics of an Ideal corporate culture. It is a private limited company and owned by a Swedish Family.

11

Consequently, it has a very family-like culture. All the employees are considered to be a part of the family and are treated with equal respect. Once people join this company they never leave it or at least take a part of it with them to whichever organization they go to Mr. Rauf Hameed (Communication manager) The above quote shows that how an employee feels a part of the family of Tetra Pak once he / she join it. Furthermore, a lot of emphasis is put on the core values of the company. The core values of the company play a vital role for each and every employee. They decide how and employee should work as a team member. The core values begin from the vision of the company; to commit to making food safe and available, everywhere. Each and every employee takes care and respect of the vision of the company and contribute on his part for the achievement of the vision. Moreover, the vision of the company decides what the strategic priorities of the company should be and what direction it should take in the near future. The vision and mission statement are the integral part of the culture of the company and they decide what the projects that the company has to try are. Tetra Pak, unlike many large organizations which are tending to be informal, has more of a formal culture in the organization. An employee is supposed to wear proper attire all the time in the company and there is a decorum set for the meetings which all the employees have to follow. The decorum of the meetings is largely guided by the common sense and is very much similar to the normal human interaction. There are no proper guidelines or structure as how one should sit and talk. Mostly the formality of the communication process depends on the flow of communication. The upward communication tends to be more formal than the downward communication flow. One unique feature of culture of Tetra Pak is that, they celebrate each and every little thing. Celebration is a part of their culture. Even a slightest success in celebrated with great energy and enthusiasm. All the successes are celebrated not only on organization level but also at department level. Celebration is a part of our Culture Rauf Hameed (Communication Manager)

Reward and Appreciation at Tetra Pak We all know that it is the nature of the human beings that we need something in return for what we do. The appreciation and reward system of a company keeps the employees motivated and focused toward their goals and assignments. In Tetra Pak, when an employee manages to achieve his/ her goals or be successful in their project, they are rewarded and appreciated. Usually a meeting is called in which that employee gets a reward. Further, a proper round of applause is given to him/ her. Everybody is informed about his/ her achievement and this way he is given recognition in the company. The rewards that are provided to the employees are sometimes monetary and sometimes non-monetary. Such reward and appraisal system is part of the core values of the culture of the organization. Delivery of Bad News The bad news such as failure of a project, failure of a campaign, firing of an employee etc, is mostly delivered through face-to-face meetings. Face-to-face meetings are more interactive and reliable. They do not use indirect approach for the delivery of bad news they rather use a direct

12

approach to deliver a bad news. The company tends to admit its mistake and try to be honest about it. The delivery of bad news is really very straight-forward, says Mr. Rauf Hameed. The format of the E-mails and Reports The company follows a very standard format for mails, reports. The brand and graphic standards of the company are very detailed. The guidelines as to where to put pictures are present. The company uses the Power Point template for the making of slides. This template is followed by the 2200 thousand employees of Tetra Pak all over the world. A sample of the E-mail that has been sent by the Mr. Anjum Jamal, Finance Executive of Tetra Pak, is shown below

We can see that the company somewhat uses the letter format for the sending routine and official e-mails. The sample e-mail tells us that the company doesnt use a standard format for proposals and invitations. However, it does use a letter head while communicating to the internal and external audience. We can see that at the end of the e-mail, there is an e-mail signature. Each employee of the company has its own e-mail signature which includes the designation of the employee, mailing address of the company, e-mail ID of the employee and the web-site address of the company. Further, there is an end-note at the end of the mail which states that if the mail is intended for a specific person and if it has been delivered to a wrong person it is requested that you do not review the content of the e-mail. Further we can also see that there is an excessive use of you attitude in the mail which implies that the employees does make a use of you attitude toward their audience.

13

Further, the format used for the report is enriched and includes are forms of material that could help the reader comprehend the message. A sample of the report regarding the Pakistani Market of Liquid Dairy Products (LDP) is given below: In this report, we can clearly see that different types of aids are used to help reader comprehend the message. The report includes the following items:

1. A page no. at the end 2. The report topic at the top-left corner 3. The country name at bottom-right corner 4. The main heading and subheadings 5. Visual aid such as graphs

14

6. Side note which is giving even more details We can analyze that the report is a little over-crowded but still it provides but it is only because it provides all the necessary details to the readers. Color The company associates itself with Blue color. The brand color of the Tetra Pak is Blue. From the company logo the e-mail signatures it uses blue color. The annual reports and proposals all uses the Blue color aggressively. The few items that depicts the blue color of Tetra Pak are as follows

This way the company Tetra Pak is associating emotionally as a peaceful, trusting, cool and soothing brand. Public Relations Department The Public relations department communicates with its external audience to build and maintain its reputation. This campaign is run by Mr. Rauf Hameed who is the communication Manager of Tetra Pak. Further, the marketing department takes the responsibility of building relationship with the customers. The PR will be explained in a detail manner in the Marketing Section. Team and Groups Working in a team and a group is part of the work methodology of Tetra Pak. Even the employees are recruited on the basis that how good they are working in a group and a team. But every work is not necessarily assigned to a team; some assignments are assigned individually to each employee belonging to a certain department. Each work is assigned according to the scope of the project and activities. After that, it is determined who is most appropriate for a certain job and work. Further, each team has a leader who coordinates with everybody and lead the team. Preparation of proposals at Tetra Pak Tetra Pak uses the standard techniques of making business proposals. To prepare a proposal, a meeting is called in which all the employees who are related to the work plan participate. In this meeting a brain storming session takes place in which all the people belonging to different department pool in their different ideas. After that, some of the most practical and creative ideas are picked and work assignments are made. When the proposal is approved, each task and work is assigned to each team and the guidelines are provided as to how they should go about carrying out the assignment. Internal and External Communication in Marketing Department

15

One of the many important roles and functions of a marketing department is to communicate internally and externally. The marketing department is always responsible for creating meaningful messages with the help of ideas, words, etc. More important is, that these messages are communicated effectively. The marketing department of Tetra Pak efficiently communicates at both levels; internal and external. Internal Communication Talking about their internal communication first, Mr. Rauf Hameed, communication manager at Tetra Pak, Pakistan, discussed different ways used for internal communication. He informed that face to face communication within the marketing department and with other departments is practiced at large. There are regular scheduled meetings in which marketing department updates their employees along with the employees of other departments. In order to communicate on daily basis, e-mails (outlook) are exchanged. The marketing department of tetra Pak is also responsible to arrange business reviews, awards, events, so on and so forth. These are all few of many ways any marketing department can use to communicate internally. Internal communication is very important for the motivation of employees because it keeps them in loop as to what new plans and projects are coming up. Internal communication also gives an opportunity to recognize good/bad work done by different employees and strategies for improvement could be communicated at different levels. External Communication The marketing department of tetra Pak has meticulous and effective methods to communicate externally. Firstly, they have a public relationship plan. This plan is annually revised and it discusses in detail how to deal with different stakeholders, customers, audiences, creditors, suppliers, so on and so forth. The relationship management plan highlights how to improve relationships with the external market from one level to another. Moreover, the marketing department at tetra Pak also chalks out its external communication with the help of outdoor advertisement (billboards), TVCs, radio, print media (news papers, magazines, etc), websites and all various possible channels. Towers Wattson Moving on, tetra Pak goes an extra mile by making the effort to obtain customer feedback. This department is called, Relationship satisfaction feedback service. For this purpose, Tetra Pak has invested a significant amount of time and cost in the only globally recognized company for gathering customer feedback. The name of this company is Towers Perrin and it works by sending its agents across the globe to collect information on customer feedback. The team at Towers Perrin then gives analytical shape to the data collected and presents it to their clients such as Tetra Pak. Online resources state that, Towers Perrin is a global professional services firm that helps organizations improves performance through effective people, risk and financial management. The firm provides innovative solutions in the areas of human capital strategy, program design and management, and in the areas of risk and capital management, insurance

16

and reinsurance intermediary services, and actuarial consulting. However, in January 2010, Towers Perrin merged with Watson Wyatt, hoping to achieve better standards, altogether. It is now known as Towers Wattson. Competitive Advantage While communicating internally and externally, Tetra Pak considers the fact that they have a competitive advantage due to the unique product they offer. Unlike majority multinationals, tetra Pak doesnt promotes any brand, instead; they promote their environmentally friendly technology. For example; they are not promoting Nestle milk but they are promoting the idea that Nestle milk will reach consumers in its best condition only if it is packed in Tetra Pak. B To B Communication For decades, Tetra Pak has been involved in business to business communication only. Business to business communication refers to the idea that a company or organization sells and market its product to another company or organization. In business to business communication, consumers are not targeted. For example; Tetra Pak communicates with Nestle to convince them that their product (milk) will have a healthy shelf life if it is packed in Tetra Pack. Tetra Pak did not communicate (previously) with the users of Nestle milk (target market). Due to the nature of their product, Tetra Paks clientele includes multinationals like Nestle and local brands like Haleeb Foods. B To C Communication However, with increasing competition and consumer knowledge, Tetra Pak is now also using business to consumer communication. Business to consumer communication refers to the idea that an organization directly sells and market its product in the target market. For example; Tetra Pak is successfully running an advertisement on GEO TV with a tag line, strike for balance. The TVC starts off with showing a class room with a back ground vocal claiming that it is essential for children to have good quality milk in order to remain active throughout the day. The voice continues claiming that the student in the commercial feels lethargic because he gets to drink boiled milk. The commercial continues to explain that home boiling results in loss of essential nutrients while at Tetra Pak, milk is carefully boiled at high temperature and cooled down instantly. Moreover, the milk is packed in six-layered carton so that its nutrients stay fresh till its expiry date. The six layer carton is the unique selling proposition (USP) being used in this TVC. Consumer Awareness While communicating with the consumers, Tetra Pak is making efforts to create consumer awareness regarding the importance of shelf life for fast moving consumer goods. They are trying to educate the consumer that how important it is that the packing of fast moving consumer goods is germs free, environmentally friendly, chemicals free, and in A grade hygienic packing. For example; now consumers are conscious to use only that brands which come in excellent

17

packing. Moreover, consumers are now also aware of the fact that how important it is to consider shelf life before buying any good. In addition, Tetra Pak is also communicating to the consumers of FMCGs that ease of use, durability, comfort, etc should also be kept in mind before making purchases. Emotional Communication Tetra Pak is also actively involved in sponsoring events and providing platforms for schools to take part in debates and other international youth programs. These are also creative techniques to communicate effectively with the external world. Further, Tetra Pak actively celebrates world School Milk Day. It is celebrated in more than forty countries and is now being introduced in countries like Pakistan and Gaza. This program is implemented with the collaboration of government and NGOs. It is specially formulated for developing countries where more than six billion packs of milk are distributed amongst school going children.

Supply Chain A supply chain is a network of retailers, distributors, transporters, storage facilities, and suppliers that participate in the production, delivery, and sale of a product to the consumer. The supply chain is typically made up of multiple companies who coordinate activities to set themselves apart from the competition. A supply chain has three key parts:1. Supply focuses on the raw materials supplied to manufacturing, including how, when,

and from what location.2. Manufacturing focuses on converting these raw materials into finished products. 3. Distribution focuses on ensuring these products reach the consumers through an

organized network of distributors, warehouses, and retailers.

18

Organizations increasingly find that they must rely on effective supply chains, or networks, to compete in the global market and networked economy. During the past decades, globalization, outsourcing and information technology have enabled many organizations to successfully operate solid collaborative supply networks in which each specialized business partner focuses on only a few key strategic activities. This inter-organizational supply network can be acknowledged as a new form of organization. Supply chain initiatives like JIT (Just-In-Time), ECR (Efficient Customer Response) and VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) driven by organizations to make their supply chains more responsive and keep all the supply chain members in tune with the end customer demand, both in terms of the product and its volumes. By ensuring end-to-end communication, the occurrence of the "Bullwhip Effect" is prevented thus reducing inventory levels across the chain. It also allows partners to visualize the bigger picture in terms of the entire supply chain rather than their enterprise alone. As partner collaboration is initiated right from the planning till the replenishment stage, the supply chain as a whole is in a better position to respond to exceptional circumstances making it a more proactive entity rather than a reactive one. The first step is for supply chain executives to clearly understand how the enterprise chooses to compete. This is important not only for the obvious reason of working off the same play book, but also for the reason that it forces the supply chain operation to see itself as a customer facing entity serving the competitive goals of the enterprisenot merely an operational department. Supply chain strategy is not simply a linear derivative of the business strategy. At best, supply chain strategy can be the enabler of the business strategy. If the business strategy is to be the low cost provider, the supply chain strategy should support this. Communication Process in Supply Chain at Tetra Pak Tetra Pak has a very big and comprehensive Supply Chain department and as Tetra Pak ensures a good, complete and comprehensive communication process in all its other departments it also makes sure a good communication process in the Supply Chain. According to Tetra Pak an effective communication process is a part of its core values and also helps them achieving their goals and objectives. As Tetra Pak gives importance to the communication process in all departments, it also lays emphasis on the communication process at the Supply Chain department. According to one Executive of Tetra Pak, An effective communication process in

19

the Supply Chain helps us in minimizing our inventory costs and maximizing our profits hence achieving our long-term goals. The Supply Chain department of Tetra Pak consists of the Suppliers, Distributors and all those organizations or personals who are involved in bring raw materials and then after the transformation of raw materials to finished goods they also distribute them and finally sell them to the Suppliers. Communication Channels Tetra Pak prefers face to face meetings and Emails in its general communication process in all departments both internally and externally. A full function of Supply Chain is developed and a full department is working on it and a comprehensive and vast system is followed. For the Supply Chain following are the methods or communication techniques that Tetra Pak usually follows: 1) Telephones: The most important and largely used communication medium that Tetra Pak follows to communicate with all the people that are a part of its Supply Chain is through telephone calls. According to them the easiest and nowadays the cheapest medium to reach people directly and instantly is the Telephone. About 70% to 75% of the communication done with the Suppliers, distributors and Retailers etc is by making telephone calls. The reason for using telephone as a medium is because most of the suppliers and distributors are not literate so the best way to communicate with them is with the help of telephone and because they are not much advanced so intranets and extranets are also not used to communicate with the vendors. 2) Newspaper Advertisements: Another medium that Tetra Pak uses to communicate with its Suppliers is the newspaper advertisements. This type of communication is usually done when Tetra Pak needs two or three suppliers at one time for the completion of a specific project. So in this ad the required services are published so that the most interested and eligible Supplier may contact and submit a sealed tender. The tender submitted by all the suppliers are examined and the one which is most suitable and convincing is informed by a telephone

20

call and then face to face meetings are also arranged to make sure that all questions of the supplier are being answered and now the supplier could start its work. 3) Notification through Emails: In its communication process Email is a very important medium which Tetra Pak some way or the other follows. In the Supply Chain also Email notifications are widely used. Tetra Pak send notifications and certain updates to its Suppliers or distributors through formal Emails also. These notifications may consist of messages like deadline date, targeted sales, quality improvement etc. Mostly these Emails are sent to the regular Suppliers and distributors of Tetra Pak. 4) E-Supply Chain: E-Supply Chain is another way of communication that is followed by Tetra Pak in which the company communicates with its suppliers and distributors. All notifications and updates are communicated to the Suppliers with the help of this system. The suppliers etc could login through this system and could communicate with the company if they have any queries. The most beneficial thing of this system is that it enhances a two way communication process and it is quick which saves a lot of time. 5) E-Orders: As the MIS systems of Tetra Pak are very efficient and advance they also give an opportunity to the company and to the customers to directly communicate with each other. In E-Orders the customers could directly log in and then could place an order for example 200 million packs and as soon as the order is booked online the process starts without any wastage of time. So such an effective communication process with the customers also helps Tetra Pak in saving a lot of costs and time. So this basically all covers the communication process of Supply Chain at Tetra Pak and we could also conclude that the success of Tetra Pak is surely due to its efficient communication with its Supply Chain and all other departments.

Human Resource Management The information which we received from the communication manger of Tetra Pak Pakistan that they mostly recruit people from outside (external Hiring) because of specialization in engineering and other process. Because they need high caliber engineers, operation mangers,

21

supply chain managers, marketing and finance managers. For that they use different ways to recruiting employees. Techniques used by Tetra Pak for recruiting are as following. 1. Newspaper Ads. 2. Headhunters. 3. Online website. Newspapers Ads Tetra Pak place ads in different newspaper whenever they find that there is a need to recruit more employees. Newspaper ads helps encouraging potential applicant to apply for existing or anticipated job opening. As news paper ads are inexpensive and targeted to the larger audience. They place ads in different newspaper both English and URDU. For English News paper they prefer Dawn news, daily times and for Urdu ads they use Jang, Nawai wakth. They use newspaper as second source for recruiting, because so many people apply for different post that makes the selection process much more difficult. Headhunter Headhunter or sometime also known as a third party recruiter or an employment agency acts as an independent contact between its client companies and the candidates it recruits for a position. These firms or individuals specialize in client relationships and finding candidates, with minimal or no focus on other HR tasks. Most recruiters tend to specialize in permanent, full-time, directhire positions or contract positions, but occasionally in both. They have wide range of personal contacts in the all kinds of industry. Executive search professionals are also involved throughout more of the hiring process, conducting detailed interviews and presenting candidates to clients selectively, when they feel the candidate meets all stated requirements and would fit into the culture of the hiring firm they refer to applicant to the firm Tetra Pak recruiting process main depend on headhunting they hire headhunting firms for that even headhunting is expensive and took longer period of time but they hire the desire candidate that company needs. They use headhunting for position of middle manager or top management. Managers of a company target an agency specialized in head-hunting, makes a list of employees from competitors, employees that are very good in their field of activity. And if head-hunters succeed in process they are paid commission.

22

Online Website Web site is also an official recruitment channel (www.tetrapak.com). On website they have mentioned all of the available positions and work opportunities. Applicants can go to their site and can register themselves in their electronic database. Many of worker who are working in company are hired through company website or other websites like rozee.pk When work is assign to HRM department HR people understand the scope of the project then they do activities according to that. If the project is of a small scale they align to the most appropriate person for doing that job. And if the employee is already available in the firm then they choose the best person for that job. If a team is require for that they job they made a proper hierarchy level and deadline and time frames are given to them and they have to complete their job in that time period.

Communication with other Departments Communication with the other department depends whether that message is formal or informal for formal messages they use Emails for emails they have proper format and templates which they have to follow. And for informal they have their internal instant messaging software which is internally connected and all of the employees can send instant messages to each others. Tetra Pak have their own intranet through they can communicate with other departments they communicate changes in the policies and in return other departments can use intranet to give feedback or advice. Employees also receive their salary and medical bill through intranet.

23

Bibliography 1. Hameed,R..(02 April,2011),Communication Manager, Tetra Pak.interview 2. Jamal,A..(02 April,2011),Finance Manager, Tetra Pak.interview 3. Niaz,M..(02 April,2011), HR Manager, Tetr Pak. Interview4. www.tetrapak.com

24

Index Acknowledgement Appendix B to B Communication B to C Communication Bibliography Customers Competitors Communication Process of Tetra Pak Confidential Policies at Tetra Pak Culture of Tetra Pak Color of Organization Competitive Advantage Consumer Awareness Communication Process in Supply Chain Communication with other Departments Emphasis on Communication 01 28 17 17 25 07 08 09 10 11 15 17 18 20 24 08

25

Emotional Communication External Communication Executive Summary History of the Company Human Resource Department Head Hunter Internal communication Internal and external communication process Introduction Online website Organizational Structure Ownership Preferred Media Preparation of proposals Public Relation Department Policy and Goals of the Company Role of MIS Synopsis

18 16 05 06 22 23 16 16 06 23 07 07 10 15 15 07 11 04

26

Appendix Statement of Purpose: To analyse the internal and external communication process of Tetra Pak and the strategies devises with respect to its organizational culture. Purpose and Scope of Work: This report is on the internal and external communication processes of Tetra Pak. The report gives a detailed overview of the overall communication processes of Tetra Pak. It describes what kind of culture Tetra Pak has and what are its core value. Moreover, it elaborates in a detailed manner what kind of communication channels Tetra Pak uses. The report also gives an overview about the Human Resource Management Department of Tetra Pak and explains how it communicates with internal and external audiences. It explains how the employees are recruited and how work in assigned to each employees of the within the department.

27

The Supply Chain is also discussed in the report. It tells why the company is unable to use latest technology to coordinate with its suppliers. Further, it explains how coordination with the external business partners takes place. Most importantly, the report sheds light on the key communication processes of marketing department. Different media and channels are discussed in a detailed manner and the reasons why the company uses them. Furthermore, it tells why the company has decided to start communicating to the end-consumers directly. Sources and Methods of data collection: For Further strengthening the research, set of questions regarding the communication process will be ask to all of the departments of the Tetra Pak. The interview of the communication manager will also be taking into an account for further understand and elaborate the communication process of Tetra Pak in detail.

Preliminary Outline Organizational structure: 1. Is your organization centralized or decentralized? 2. How the direction of the company is set? 3. What is the color of the organization? 4. What kind of culture the company has? 5. How the employees stay abreast of the companys daily activities? 6. How the work is assigned to the employees? 7. How employees are rewarded? 8. What are the core values of Tetra Pak? 9. How effectively its making use of latest MIS (Management Information System)?10. How your organization helps team members to resolve conflicts?

Communication Department:

28

1. How you keep in touch with your employees and customers: a: Blogs b: E-mails c:Memos d:Telephones e: Podcasts 2. Which of the following roles play a vital role in Tetra Pak: a: Self orientation b: Team maintenance c:Task facilitating 3. How frequent you receive and give constructive feedback? 4. How frequent you receive and give destructive feedback? 5. To survive in the culture of Pakistan, how often you pass through the condition of ethical lapse? 6. As MNC, how you communicate with your parent company? 7. As MNC, how you eliminate the element of ethnocentrism and xenophobia? 8. In what ways you communicate non-verbally? 9. What are the clichs and stereotypes of Tetra Pak? 10. In the span of one year, how many virtual meetings are held? 11. In the AGM (Annual General Meetings) your agendas are pre-decided or its just an informative meetings?

Advertisement Department: 1. How would you design and promote advertisement campaign? 2. How would you choose the best media to promote your advertisement? 3. What factors would you consider to decide the target market of your Ad? 4. What would you do if you run out of your ideas for a new Ad? 5. How you persuade your audience? 6. What are the various ways to measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign? 7. Which component of AIDA approach mostly used? Marketing Department: 1. How you segmented your market? 2. How you target your market? 3. Which component of marketing mix you usually use to target the market? 4. How you set a price of your product? 5. What is the biggest strength of your company? 6. What is the biggest threat to your company?

29

7. How you set your strategic goals? 8. What steps would you take to nurture commercial awareness and a sales focus in a customer service team? 9. How would you go about persuading a customer that our product was better than any other? Human Resource Department: 1. How you hire a new employee? 2. How you train your new employee? 3. Which channel you adopt to inform people about the vacancies? 4. Is your HR department link with other departments or it is under top management? 5. Do you prefer to work independently or with other departments? 6. You mostly rely on the stress interviews or situational interviews? 7. You mostly rely on structured interview or unstructured interviews?

Work Plan Each Phase of this study will be completed by the following dates:1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Interview to Mr Anjum Jamal (Finance Manager) Interview to Mr Rauf Hameed (Communication manager) Gathering the data Analyse and Sorting the results Outlining the Report Prepare a Draft Revising the Draft Prepare a final report Submit final Report

April 2,2011 April 02,2011 April 03, 2011 April 04,2011 April 05,2011 April 06,2011 April 07,2011 April 10,2011 April 12, 2011