BMGT501 Business and Management

Cadbury is a global leader in the chocolate confectionery market. Cadbury operates in fifty countries across the world (Hidiro?lu, 2019). Cadbury chocolate has been an integral part of Birmingham’s heritage since 1824. Cadbury Chocolates is among the most reputable brands in the world. Cadbury’s emerging markets are broadly spread globally (da Silva Lopes, 2016). Cadbury chocolates have dominated the chocolate industry in the world. 
Cadbury was founded in 1824 by John Cadbury as a grocery shop in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. John Cadbury sold cocoa, drinking chocolate, tea, and coffee in the grocery shop. John maintained high-quality standards for the products (Wordsworth, 2018). Drinking chocolate was seen as a healthy alternative to alcohol. Alcohol was deemed to have a negative influence on society. John purchased a four-story factory in 1931 to expand the company’s operations. John was selling almost thirty varieties of drinking chocolate and cocoa in 1842. John’s business venture continued to grow, and his brother helped him, and they changed the business to Cadbury Brothers (Wordsworth, 2018). The brothers moved to a larger factory in 1947 to ease the company’s accessibility to ports in Britain. John passed his business to his sons George and Richard (Bradley, 2011). Richard and George improved the company by providing safe and healthy working conditions. Cadbury Chocolates has expanded its operations in the international market. 
The report aims at analyzing and evaluating the performance of the operations and process management at Cadbury Chocolates in the confectionery market. Strengths and weaknesses will be extracted from the business operations to assess the competitive advantage of Cadbury Chocolates in the business environment. 
The Cadbury chocolate products are manufactured to meet the high degree of efficiency and consistency using the product layout developed by Cadbury’s engineers. The product layout enhances the production of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bars. The main ingredients of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Bars include sugar, fresh milk, and cocoa beans. The company has continuously focused on transforming its operations in the confectionery industry. The transformation of the operations has enabled the company to expand its market share in the global markets (Minifie, 2012). The main part of the company’s business operations is producing innovative products. 
The production process involves mixing sugar, fresh milk, and cocoa bean to produce a bar of standard liquid chocolate. The standard liquid chocolate is then molded into a Cadbury chocolate bar. The Cadbury chocolate bar is then transferred to the warehouses to enhance easy delivery in different locations. The production process is associated with different challenges the company addresses through service enhancement and the implementation of technological innovations that boost operational efficiency and productivity (Minifie, 2012). The company uses different technologies to improve the flow of products to the customers. 
Cadbury has an effective production layout that enables the company to meet its cost dimensions. The company focuses on enhancing continuous operations to facilitate the production of products that meet the market demand and customer needs. Continuous operations in the company’s factory facilitate the production of a large quantity of chocolate which helps in boosting the overall profitability of the company and reduces the cost of operations. The continuous production in the company’s manufacturing facility ensures that the maximum production rate is achieved in the organization (McFarlane, 2013). The company has a limited brand portfolio in the confectionery industry which enables Cadbury to focus on improving the features of existing products. 
Cadbury uses simple machinery the factor to enhance the production of chocolate. Simple machinery reduces the overall cost of investment and boosts the company's overall profitability in the business environment. The machinery used in the production process enables Cadbury to produce high-quality, successful brands (Minifie, 2012). The company focuses on continuously boosting the quality of the products to meet the taste and preferences of the customers in the market.  
Performance Objectives and Current Performance 
Cadbury chocolate has successfully led its operations in the global business environment. Cadbury is committed to meeting its vision of becoming the best confectionery company in the world. Cadbury focuses on developing differentiated products that address the changing expectations and preferences of the consumers in the competitive business environment. Developing differentiated products enables the company to expand its profit margin and increase its customer base and market share in local and international markets (Bradley, 2011). The company aims at providing high-quality products than its competitors.
Cadbury aims at taking advantage of technological advancement to boost product innovation. The adoption and implementation of recent technological innovations boost productivity, quality of the products and improve the company's growth potential in the competitive business environment. Continuous product invention allows the company to build and sustain a robust competitive advantage. Product innovation enables the company to match the competition in the confectionery industry (Bradley, 2011). The company continually improves the test and quality of the products through continuous product innovation. 
Cadbury is among the leading confectionery companies in the world. The company has been successful in the industry due to its ability to understand and react to the demands and expectations of the customers. The company is offering high-quality and tasty merchandise to meet the preferences and expectations of the customers. Cadbury chocolate is among the leading brands in diverse regions of the world. The company is expanding its business operations in emerging markets in diverse regions of the world. The corporation has reported good performance in different international markets. The company's high market share gains in Russia, Northern Europe, and France. Exploring different emerging markets enables Cadbury to boost the financial performance and the company’s customer base and market share (Spiteri-Cornish, 2014). India is the fastest-growing market for Cadbury products. Cadbury is the main player in the international chocolate sector. The company aims at penetrating the lucrative Indian market to expand its customer base and market share. Cadbury chocolates have the highest market share globally compared to other products produced by the company, such as crème egg, dairy milk, and flake. Cadbury has reported a high-profit margin in emerging markets like India, China, and Brazil (Spiteri-Cornish, 2014). 
Capacity Management 
Cadbury implements capacity management to increase efficiency and minimize the cost of production. The capacity management strategies adopted by Cadbury enable the company to have the capacity of products that meet the demand of the products in the market. The company uses a match strategy to meet the demand for Cadbury chocolates in the market. Cadbury's capacity management strategies comprise lead and match strategy. Leads strategy involves increasing the capacity of the products in anticipation of increased demand for the products in the market (Dekkers and Kanapathy, 2012). Leads strategy enables the company to meet the customers' demand and increase its competitive advantage in the market. Lead strategy is ineffective since it contributes to the production of excess inventory, which can be wasted and increase the cost of production in the organization. 
Match strategy involves increasing the capacity of the products in small amounts in response to the increasing demand for the products in the market. Cadbury implements a match strategy when there is an increase in demand for chocolates. Match strategy is more effective than leads strategy since it does not contribute to the wastage of the products. The operations in Cadbury are centered on the anticipation of the increase in demand for the products in the market. The company is always ready to add more products to meet the increasing demand in the market. The company focuses on increasing the production capacity by small amounts to the constantly increasing demand for chocolate products (Stevenson, Hojati, and Cao, 2014). The capacity management in Cadbury enables the company to increase productivity and boost operational efficiency. The ability of the company to meet the demands of the products increases customer satisfaction and retention since the customers will not purchase the products of the competitors in the market due to limited production capacity. 
Quality Assurance 
The main aim of Cadbury is to produce high-quality products that address the needs, preferences, and demands of the consumers in the industry. Cadbury monitors the production process of chocolate using total quality management (TQM). TQM enables the company to ensure that the chocolate products produce to meet the customers' needs. Chocolate products have a lot of substitutes in the market, and the ability of the company to minimize the threat of substitutes depends on the production of high-quality chocolate products. The availability of substitutes means that the customers can lose interest in Cadbury products if the company’s products do not meet the needs and preferences of the customers. The quality of chocolates is assessed by checking their taste and appearance. 
Cadbury enforces TQM in the production process by using supervisors who monitor the employees' work, the efficiency of the machines used in the production process, and the quality of the products being made in the company. TQM ensures that the chocolate products produced in the company have the best taste that meets customer preferences in the market. TQM ensures that the product features are appealing to enhance the attraction of new customers and retention of the old customers to increase Cadbury's customer base and market in the confectionery industry (Rasch, 2018). In the competitive business environment, the quality of the products and delivery of the best customer service enables companies to build and maintain a strong competitive advantage in the market (Kindström, 2010.). Customers have high expectations, and companies should strive to meet the customers' expectations by offering the excellent customer service and superior quality goods that address the needs of the customers. 
Cadbury implements the Just in Time (JIT) strategy as a total quality management tool. JIT enables Cadbury to monitor the stock levels. JIT minimizes the wastage of its products since it enables Cadbury to keep the stocks level at a minimum (Järvinen, 2017). Cadbury has many chocolates delivered daily to the customers, and the company uses JIT to formulate the expiry dates for the chocolate products available in the market. The formulation of expiry dates means that the company cannot afford to keep large amounts of chocolate products since they will expire, making losses. JIT enables the company to change the packaging of the products to reflect different festive seasons that are important to the customers. JIT reduces inventory costs and boosts the company's overall profitability (Järvinen, 2017). JIT is an effective TQM tool that helps the company satisfy the customers' needs and minimize the overall production costs. The company changes product packaging during seasons such as Christmas and Easter. Changing the packaging of the products enables the company to maintain its competitive advantage and boost the overall sales during holidays and festive seasons. 
Location and Layout 
 Cadbury has a strategic location that enables the company to have access to raw materials needed to produce chocolate. Cadbury relocated its operations to Bourneville to reinvent its image and focus on increasing the production capacity to meet the increasing demand of the products in the market. Location to Bourneville enabled the company to have access to communication networks such as railway and canal that boosts the distribution of the company’s products to the customers (Chance, 2019). Access to the railway facilitates the transportation of raw materials to the factory and delivery of finished goods to the warehouses. The company has a large space in its physical location, providing enough space for the factory to conduct its business operations. The large space provides a good environment for the employees and boosts productivity and operational efficiency. The location enables the employees to work for long-term contracts rather than season work sessions (Chance, 2019). Employees working for long-term products increase efficiency since the company will not spend more finances in training new employees to gain skills, abilities, and expertise needed in the production of high-quality products that meet the customers' needs in the confectionery industry. 
The strategic location of the Cadbury factory is vital for enhancing the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the company in the competitive confectionery industry. Bourneville allows Cadbury to invest in creating a world-class chocolate manufacturer due to the availability of large production space and accessibility to distribution channels that aid in delivering raw materials to the factory and transportation of finished goods to the warehouses (Fincham, 2019). Cadbury's ability to build and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in the confectionery industry depends on delivering customers on time. 
Cadbury’s manufacturing unit in Bourneville has a process layout that facilitates the production of products that meet the market demand. The process layout is automated, which boosts the continuous production of products that meet the customers' needs. The production process is automated to manufacture a set of brands continuously without modification and supervision (Cadbury Chocolate 2021). The automated process layout means that the production plant is not flexible enough to incorporate other products in the production unit (McFarlane, 2013). When Cadbury wants to introduce a new brand, the process layout has to be altered to accommodate new processes that support the production of a particular product.