Cadbury Case Study

Introduction:-

John Cadbury was one of ten children of Richard Tapper Cadbury, a prominent Quaker who had moved to Birmingham, England from the West Country in 1794.

In 1824, 22-year-old John Cadbury opened his first shop at 93 Bull Street, next to his father's drapery and silk business in the then fashionable part of Birmingham.

Apart from selling tea and coffee, John Cadbury sold hops, mustard and a new sideline - cocoa and drinking chocolate, which he prepared using a mortar and pestle.

Cocoa and drinking chocolate had been introduced into England in the 1650s but remained a luxury enjoyed by the elite of English society. Customers at John Cadbury's shop were amongst the most prosperous Birmingham families, the only ones who could afford the delicacy. Cocoa beans were imported from South and Central America and the West Indies.

Experimenting with his mortar and pestle, John Cadbury produced a range of cocoa and chocolate drinks, the latter with added sugar. The products were sold in blocks: customers scraped a little off into a cup or saucepan and added hot milk or water.

John Cadbury had a considerable flair for advertising and promotion. "John Cadbury is desirous of introducing to particular notice 'Cocoa Nibs', prepared by himself, an article affording a most nutritious beverage for breakfast," announced his first advertisement in the Birmingham Gazette in March 1824.

In 1831, John Cadbury rented a small factory in Crooked Lane not far from his shop. He became a manufacturer of drinking chocolate and cocoa, laying the foundation for the Cadbury chocolate business.

By 1842, John Cadbury was selling sixteen lines of drinking chocolate and cocoa in cake and powder forms.

Cadbury is a British multinational confectionery subsidiary company wholly owned by American company Mondale International(originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Wrigley's. Cadbury is headquartered in Uxbridge, Greater London and operates in more than fifty countries worldwide. It is famous for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best known British brands, in 2013 The Telegraph named Cadbury among Britain's most successful exports.

Cadbury was established in Birmingham, England in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Cadbury developed the business with his brother Benjamin, followed by his sons Richard and George. George developed the Bournvilee a model village designed to give the company's workers improved living conditions. Dairy Milk chocolate, introduced in 1905, used a higher proportion of milk within the recipe compared with rival products. By 1914, the chocolate was the company's best-selling product. Cadbury, alongside Rowntree's and Fry, were the big three British confectionery manufacturers throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Cadbury’s HR Practices:-

Cadbury is a well-known name in the Indian confectionaries market. Recently, in 2012 it has been acquired by the U.S conglomerate Kraft, under the name of Mondolez International. Mondolez International is now a multinational confectionary conglomerate. Cadbury acts a subsidiary of Mondolez. But the famous products like Dairy Milk and Bourneville still operate under the name of Cadbury.

Here, in this report the various HR practices of Cadbury are identified and analyzed. The HR practices of Cadbury are uniform in all its branches, all over the world. But, a few of the practices are customized for certain environment in a particular country. The same are highlighted. Prior recommendations are noted.

When we talk about HR practices of any company, we have lot set of parameters to be considered. The parameters that are considered in this report are:

Strategic Human Resource Management:-

• HR Procurement
• HR Development
• HR Evaluation and Compensation
• HR Maintenance and Motivation

Cadbury Mission:-

Cadbury means quality this is our promise .Our reputation is built Quality .Our commitment is continues improvement will ensure that our promise is delivered

Vision:-

Working together to create a brands people love it

Corporate Culture:-

Cadbury is having good HR team with them where they can handle all the issue of the company. But now the corporate culture of the company is changing. This is because of the present changes in the competitors industry then they appointed Kraft for the HR administrative department.

Strategic Human Resource management:-

Most HR policies are decided by the company based on external factors, but Cadbury in 1977 has come up with a HR policy based on internal factor i.e. strength of employees, and further develop it based on available resources. A new HR policy is developed namely “Managing for Value”.

Managing for Value:-

Managing for value is a concept in which employee understanding of business goals is linked to the profitability of the firm. This has three parts:

Accountable:-

 This say about the individual responsibility that is related with each employee that makes him accountable for the profit or loss the company makes.

Adaptable:-

 The employees must be aware of the current trends in the industry and must be able to adapt to them. This makes company grow along with the holistic development of the employee.

Aggressive:-

 This is kind of a result of the first two. In this the employee is expected to be result oriented and goal driven. Thus making individual goals for the benefit of the organization and may be vice versa also.

This is an evergreen policy as it comprises of the clause   adapting to situations. The policy’s success has resulted in further implementation of the same in Cadbury’s branches in India, Australia and Nigeria.

HR Procurement:-

Cadbury uses different recruitment and selection methods in different countries.

Cadbury in U.K and Australia:-

Here it is a two stage process.

I-grasp: This is a initial level contact with the Cadbury. I-grasp does the advertising of Cadbury’s jobs. The prospects are to apply at I-grasp. After which the selection process begins. So the initial contact between job seeker and Cadbury is I-Grasp.