DIAGEO PLC. SWOT ANALYSIS.
1. Introduction
Diageo plc is a British multinational firm that owns some of the most popular alcoholic drinks in the world. The firm boosts a reputation of not only being the largest spirits producer in the world, but also being the world 's leading premium drinks company. The company has an extensive portfolio and their most popular drinks include Smirnoff vodka, Baileys, Pimms, Blossom Hill and Guinness. The company owns 312,120 Breweries, 312,130 Wineries and 312,140 Distilleries in the world and trade in near 180 markets, and employs more than 200,000 people in about 80 countries; of which include Great Britain, Canada, United States, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Africa, Latin America,
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Investors do not like to see this and so inevitable just as quickly as the figures were announced, their shares plummeted: from 14p to £10.54 (Fletcher, 2010). It’s clear the company needs to sort this issue out and develop a strategy that will enable them to make profits in all the markets they are in. The question that needs to be asked is: Why is our strategy working in Africa and Asia but not in Europe and North America?
In 2009 Diageo announced that it was to reduce its work force in the Glasgow and Kilmarnock plants in Scotland by 900 workers. The company faced wide spread criticism from both the Scottish government and trade unions for their refusal to negotiate or adopt a compromise suggested by the Scottish government, which could have saved at least some of these workers jobs. Considering the brand had been linked to Kilmarnock for almost two centuries and most workers had been working in the plants for generations, the way in which they were treated by the company, was abominable. (Maddox 2009) This event however, highlighted a weakness between the workforce and the managers of the company which could be the source of many problems in future. If workers in other plants, as result of the Kilmarnock/Glasgow incident assume that the company views them as disposable labour, not only could the company land themselves a demotivated workforce; which in turn could lead to 'shirking
The workers are needy for their approval, work extremely hard to avoid punishment, & and are to scared/dependent to quit/go on strike (Colleen: 119)
As a result of the approach, there was high turnover of staff and there was very little initiative amongst the remaining staff. Individuals were initially reported as being highly competent but later were blamed for things going wrong, shortly before they left. The team was very tightly knit and generally appeared supportive of the team leader.
There was much dissatisfaction throughout the plant among the workers due to workers being treated unfairly by management (Engelmann, 2014). According to Engelmann (2014), “Foremen “traded” workers back and forth between departments – one of them laying off a worker and the other hiring him back at a lower wage”. Many workers throughout the plant would complain about being denied a day off to attend the birth of a child or a funeral service of a friend or family member or to care for their ill spouse or child. Furthermore, company foremen were instructing workers on how to vote in local and national elections, and threatened with layoffs if they did not comply (Engelmann,
In the whole process, the only party which is most affected are the workers of the Whyalla-based steel unit for no fault of theirs. The management walked away handing over the administration to Grant Thornton, the banks though will take a haircut on their lending’s, but they too will survive, however, the workers who have toiled hard for the company for decades will face the
Over the past 12 months, from the 29th December to 28th December 2013, Greggs plc have had many difficulties that range from market competitiveness to profit warnings. This report will identify those key difficulties that cause many issues for Greggs plc within that period. Ultimately, this report will review the prospects of Greggs plc and whether we should continue with maintaining Greggs plc or possible dropping them from our portfolio.
In the Romano Pitesti case, Tickton-Jones’ Management Team is faced with a situation that is not altogether uncommon in the business world, in that some employees feel that members of the Sales staff are being given “special” treatment by the company. Romano’s actions have probably not been as bad as what has been described to Management, but due to the fact that employees are still trying to find their place in the new, combined company, any hint of “unfairness” is immediately put under a microscope by other employees, and therefore, Management will have to take some sort of action, in order to show the other employees that their concerns are being taken seriously.
Diageo was born as the result of merging Grand Metropolitan plc and Guinness plc. Since the beginning the newly formed company maintained conservative financial policies inherited from the two parent companies; and in general from the British financial management style. There are many indications that confirm that Diageo has managed its capital structure using a conservative approach. Firstly, it is worth mentioning that the company has maintained levels of debt way below its capacity to repay, maintaining the EBIT/interest ratio above optimum levels
The decision taken by top management on sept.2006 for closing Wales factory directly affecting on 300 workers who are affiliated to GMB (Britain’s General Union) which is leading union having 0.6 million members throughout the UK. Union has trying to put the pressure on management by taking the support of some local political parties.
1. What do you think about the capital structure policies Diageo has pursued in the past. Do they make sense? How does it compare to Diageo’s competitors’ policies? Which competitors would make for the best comparison? 2. Why is Diageo selling Pillsbury and spinning off Burger King? How might value be created through these transactions? 3. Based on the results of the simulation model, what recommendations would you make for Diageo’s capital structure? Does the model capture all of the important risk factors faced by Diageo? Would you want to adjust the model I any way?
Till this day, employees that worked at the plant believed they did the best they could with what they had to work with. Furthermore, there was no trust between management and employees.
Unfortunately, the same issues that existed with the overall governance existed here. The company may have been acting as an exemplary corporate citizen, but with no overall strategy and minimal communication, there was no consistency or coordination, and the company was not getting the public relations benefits that they might have otherwise gained (Veleva, 2010).
Diageo has plans to launch another new flavour for its CIROC range of premium vodka - CIROC Lime (Marketing week, 2015),The Ciroc brand is aimed at young 25 -30 year old professionals who like to go out to night clubs on a Friday night, after a hard week at work.
SABMiller PLC is a global giant in the brewery industry and has a track record of innovation and growth. Being one of the world’s biggest brands, SABMiller has adopted a unique style to ensure competitive advantage and remain at the forefront of the brewing world.
The issues in this case are clear. Euroland has a long history that at one time dominated the market. Unfortunately, our days as leader have vanished. We are currently trading at a price below comparable companies. This can be attributed to our reduced profitability and our failure to gain sufficient market share for new products. The market signaling for Euroland is not good. Analysts are encouraging people to sell their stocks. Clearly, we need to pursue strategies that drive up their stock price in the interest of stock holders. This includes increasing our net income and gross sales. To stay competitive and capture the market share that has been lost, significant investments will need to be made into the company.
Unhappy employees may result in low output, strikes and poor work ethic, which will in turn have an adverse effect on the wealth of the partnership. Our business will strive to provide good working conditions for its employees. We will make sure that our business does not hinder the community by spoiling the environment which might give us bad publicity, resulting in the lack of customers coming to our shop and penalties arising.