This Report is totally bases on real time research on The Better Drinks Company by Shimant Rai

1. KEY INVESTMENT RATIOS to 20 May 2011
QTR 1 YEAR 3 YEAR
Total shareholder return (%) 36 226 82
NZX50G(%) 5 15 -2
Relative performance (%) 31 211 84
The Better Drinks Company
Answer 1: Organisation
1.1 Besides making profits the most important thing that the owners (Marc Ellis, Stefan Lepionka
and Simon Neal) gained was their friendship. The took their friendship and trust on to a next
level and inserted it into the business. In my views, it was there understanding which came out
as a strength for the company, and this lead to the CREATIVE thinking which helped in
making things happen. Despite this they earned a lifetime asset of experience and respect in
the society which money can never buy. Moreover, they gained self-respect of building a
business on their own.
1.2 Charlie’s have always been COMMERCIAL in their functioning, as their aim was to trade more
of the good stuff and earn profits. They economically became strong when they bought
Phoenix organic in 2005, which is basically an organic energy drink. After buying it, they
captured a large numbers of club market. This is how, the company contributed a lot to the
country’s economy as they had started from a base level to a huge scale. As per the New
Zealand Stock Exchange fact sheet share prices started growing from 2010 which thus,
boosted the beverage industry of NZ.
HISTORICAL SHARE PRICE
30
25
20
15
10
Jan 08 Jul 08 Jan 09 Jul 09 Jan 10 Jul 10 Jan 11
(Fact Sheet Charli's Group Ltd., 2011)
1.3 The basic aim of the company was to manufacture a healthy product and this was really a big
step for the society as in 1999 there was no other beverage company producing a
preservatives free product. However, Charlies with development in production methods
developed environment friendly plants which increased the employment opportunities and
Charlie’s delivered health and safety as they COMMITTED. Moreover, they also provide
natural mineral water from the springs in New Zealand.
Answer 2: Management Roles

2. 2.1 Interpersonal: - As per Henry Mintzberg, the roles of management in this category includes
providing information and ideas. Under this category there are three roles (Figurehead, Leader,
Liaison). Although the managers of The Better Drinks Co. effectively fulfil these features but I
would like to discuss about ‘Leader’. (Robbins, 2014)
Leader: - This role describes leadership, this comes with a responsibility of organising and
motivating the department.
In my views, James Macvicar (General Manager, Creative Growth Team, The Better Drinks Co.)
fulfils the role of Leader effectively, his duty is to motivate his staff and to carry out all the research
and development activities. (The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
2.2 Informational: - Per Mintzberg, this role consists of analysing information. There are three
subheads under this role (Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson). We will discuss ‘Monitor’ in
detail. (Robbins, 2014)
Monitor: - In this role, one seeks information related to the organisation. Manager also monitors
the team.
However, I think Michael Tutty (National Sales Manager, Sales, The Better Drinks Co.) achieves
this role effectively. His duty is to collect all the sales related information’s from the source and
take decisions accordingly. He also checks the daily sales using one drive and in the end of the
day all the sales persons are aware about the exact sale figures which helps him briefing his team.
(The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
2.3 As said by Mintzberg, the role of manager in this category involves using of information. This
role includes four Sub divisions (Entrepreneur, Disturbance handler, Resource allocator,
Negotiator). So, let’s briefly talk about ‘Resource Allocator’. (Robbins, 2014)
Resource Allocator: - This involves funding of resources and assigning the resources to the
organisational staff.
Whereas, John Evans (Group Operations manager, Production, The Better Drinks Co.)
Successfully achieves this role as he is responsible for Allocating the resources and budgeting
them. He also approves the organisational decisions. (The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
Answer 3: External Environment
3.1 Stefan Lepionka (Founder and CEO, The Better Drinks Co. in 2011) decided to align with
Asahi (Japanese beverage company) in 2011. (VANESSA ELLINGHAM, 2011) This decision
benefited the company in two ways: -
 The company gained funds which they used in improving their production techniques.
For example, initially when Charlie’s started in 1999 they used hand squeezing method to
produce their product but as the time passed their production techniques went on updating
but after the collaboration with Asahi the raised funds and established a bottling plant as
well as a squeezing plant with advanced production method which made the production
more effective and efficient.
 This partnership helped Charlie’s to grow internationally as this opened their doors to the
Japanese market and they got a chance to take the flavour of New Zealand to Japan. For
example, In the beginning Charlie’s use to sell its products in New Zealand and Australia
but after the association of Asahi they started sale in Japan, which was highly successful
for the company.
3.2 The Better Drinks Company managed to enter the global market successfully because of their
good values and trustworthy products. They also focused on political, legal and the health and
safety guidelines of the countries which made them popular among the people. Above all they
amazingly use a strategy, that they join hands with the local companies in the country which would
provide them with capital, new and effective production techniques and an effective opening in a

3. new market. For example, when Charlie’s entered the Australian market they collaborated with a
local Australian firm which provided them efficient production techniques which thus reduced their
cost of production and joining hands with local Japanese firm provided them with capital which
they used to develop their company.
Sociocultural factors basically mean considering Social as well as Cultural factors before entering
a new market. In my views, the factors they must consider are that they should do a thorough
research of the culture and values of the country. For better understanding let’s take an example,
In Japan people love drinking tea on special occasions, keeping that in mind The Better Drinks
Co. introduced Stash tea with the same honest values. (Fact Sheet Charli's Group Ltd., 2011)
3.3 In my views, Charlie’s targets almost all age groups specifically youngsters and mums as juice
is such a product that is consumed by everyone. In today’s busy world everyone wants to stay fit
and healthy and Charlie’s provide the good stuff which adds on to the health of the people. The
Better Drinks Company comprises of 6 brands which are fully organic and focused on quality
ingredients. Therefore, company takes into consideration the health and safety of the consumer.
For example, Mothers who has the responsibility of health of the whole family tries to get a product
which do not compromise with the health of her family.
But initially fitness was not the major concern, According to The New Zealand Herald high
amount of sugar became the reason of obesity among children. So, government asked the
beverage companies to reduce the amount of sugar and provide the ingredient information on the
bottle. So, this is how Charlie’s became popular among the public as the provided the naturally
squeezed juice.
Answer 4: Internal Environment
a) Organisational Culture: - It can be described as the mixed values, the ways of doing things
that lets one know how people behave in organisations. These shared values have a huge
impact on the people in an organisation. The ways of thinking and behaving in an organisation
makes it different from the other organisations. (Robbins, 2014)
Organisational culture plays a huge role behind the success of a company. In the same way, it
was the backbone of Charlie’s which in collaboration with the honest values came out to be a
huge success. So, let’s discuss about some dimensions of organisational culture which led to
the success of the company: -
1) Innovation and Risk Taking: - In this employee are encouraged to innovate and to get
involved in risk taking. In Charlie’s innovation and the risk-taking spirit can be described
with an example of Charlie’s Juices as when rest all other beverage companies like
Homegrown started selling fresh juice same as Charlie’s so they came out with a new idea
of mixing two flavours of fresh juice and selling them, they invested a huge amount of
capital in this project but they didn’t know that this idea would work or not, it became a
huge success and people loved the product. In this example, we can clearly see their
company values especially CREATIVE thinking and a spirit of becoming better not best.
(The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
2) People Orientation: - In this dimension the point to stress on is the effects on the people
in a company. In Charlie’s health and safety of the employees is the primary objective, they
also provide their employees with flexibility which motivates them to work more effectively
in the favour of company. This also shows the value of being COMMITTED and keeping
the workers happy. (The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
3) Team Orientation: - In this staff is encouraged to work with people rather than individuals.
In Charlie’s there is a different team for each activity carried out may it be production, sales
etc. As discussed by our guest speaker Michal Tutty, we got to know that almost all the
decisions in Charlie’s are taken in teams where group of people come together and share

4. their ideas, which helps employees to participate in debates and give ideas for the
betterment of the firm. He also told us that he holds group meets very often and loves
working in groups. This also helps in fulfilling the COMMERCIAL policy of the company.
(The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
b) Charlie’s is known for its purity and honesty because of which they became successful but this
was not only the reason behind their success. They were very efficient in optimal utilization of
their resources. They have utilized several resources like Capital, Machinery, Nature, human
etc. So, let’s discuss these resources in detail.
1) Capital: - In the beginning Charlie’s started with a less capital investment but as they
started to grow they gained investment and improved their production techniques which
were more effective and efficient. In 2005 Charlie’s bought Phoenix Organics for $10
million which made them to sell products in clubs. (The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
2) Machinery: - Initially Charlie’s used hand squeezing machines to squeeze out fresh
orange juice but as the time passed they started to use effective machines including
squeezing plant and bottling plant. After collaboration with Asahi the got to know about
‘Heijunka’ a Japanese process which is very cost effective and fast. (The Beter Drinks
Company, 2017)
3) Nature: - It is the very important resource for Charlie’s as they use mineral springs of New
Zealand for Charlie’s Spring water bottle. The bottle is made from 50% recycled material.
(The Beter Drinks Company, 2017)
Although all the resources are very important for the company but per Michal Tutty, Human
resource is the most important one as it is the only resource which binds all other
resources, without it all other resources are of no use. After all humans are those who
completes the tasks and make decisions for the organisation. All skills like communication,
customer support etc. of human resource work in favour of the company. For example, a
manager makes the decisions and sets goal for the organisation and the staff fulfils the
goals.
Answer 5: Management Practices
5.1 Efficiency: It is the ability to achieve something with minimum wastage of resources (Time,
Money, Machinery etc.). It helps us to determine productivity of the company. Charlie’s is very
efficient in its functioning as they are producing honest orange juice, squeezed and put inside a
bottle which involves no wastage. Charlie’s also builds good relationships with local companies
which keeps them up to date with new production techniques thus their production becomes more
efficient. As far as I think Charlie’s is efficient in its functioning as if fulfils all the requirements as
promised by them with almost no wastage of resources. For example, Charlie’s use advance
production techniques like Heijunka which are far more efficient and highly cost effective.
5.2 Effectiveness: - It is the capability of producing a desired result as estimated beforehand. It
helps in the growth of the company. Charlie’s can be said to be effective as the base of the
organisation is its values. The values with which they started (Honesty, purity etc.) with, from 1999
when Charlie’s started till date we can see the honest values of the company in each of their
products. In my views, Charlie’s have grown because of these values only, if they would have
gone away from these values they wouldn’t be so successful as they are today. These values bind
the whole business together. For example, Charlie’s focus on day to day tasks and monitors the
daily production, if the daily production is as per the goal then obviously, the overall production will
be effective and result in the growth of the company.
5.3 Task Focus: - It is the approach or a managerial style in which the manager totally focuses on
the tasks to achieve the desired results. This clarifies the main aim of the firm and helps in better

5. coordination of groups. Charlie’s is a task oriented firm which focuses on the main aim, they
provide the employees with the day to day tasks and ensure the accomplishment of those tasks.
This approach leads the employees to be involved in the betterment of the firm and complete their
desired goal much faster. However, I conclude that to some extent task orientation is necessary
for the functioning of the firm as it helps them to focus on their goal and achieving them. For
example, Charlie’s have a bunch of different departments for everything which is led by a manager
who sets the goal and provide tasks and deadline to the employees which thus come out to be
more efficient and effective functioning.
5.4 People Focus: - It is the managerial style which tends to motivate the employees and make
them feel appreciated for the work done by them, in this employee are given more flexibility. It is
important as it makes the people feel themselves a part of the company and work more effectively
and efficiently for the betterment of the firm. Charlie’s are people focuses as they motivate their
human resource and make them feel a part of the company by asking for advices and innovative
ideas for the growth of company. For example, In Charlie’s there are regular meetings and
seminars which involve the gathering of the whole staff and exchange ideas and feedback from
the employees.
Answer 6: Problem Solving/Decision Making
1) The problem here is to add a few preservatives to their Charlie’s line of drinks.
2) Decision criteria here can be analysis of different facts like: -
 Adding preservatives will increase the shelf life of the product.
 Cheaper cost per drink.
 Increase in production.
 Increase in sales targets.
3) Adding preservatives will affect the brand value of the company. The basic motive of the
company was to produce a preservative free drink and if they go against it they are going
away from there ethical principles. However, the company started with their Vitamin C’s
(Committed, Creative and Commercial) and adding preservatives will affect their history and
values.
4) Alternatively, they can opt for several other ideas rather than adding preservatives like: -
 Increasing the cost of the Charlie’s.
 Improving the production methods.
 Increase the production.
 Using organic components to increase the shelf life.
5) Analysing the alternatives: -
 It is the best option as it will increase the profits of the firm with a little additional
capital but on the other hand it will also affect the market to a little extent.
 This option will require an additional capital to be introduced but will increase the
production.
 This will require a lot of capital to be invested as to increase the production new
plants are to be set up but will increase the productivity.
 This requires a lot of research as to find a healthy alternative to preservatives.
6) In my views, they should go with the first alternative of increasing the cost of Charlie’s line
of drinks to increase the profits.
7) Implementing the decision will require a new label with the new prices and this information
is required to be in notice of all the sellers. This decision will pressurise the sales and
marketing department as the marketing strategies must be changed and the sales persons
are to be updated with the changes around the country.

6. 8) After the decision, has been implemented, a meeting should be called and the effects of the
decision should be discussed. The decision will affect the sales as the cost is increased
which will reduce the sales to some extent.
9) As a manager, I could be vulnerable to decision making errors like: -
 Overconfidence Bias: - I was quite confident about my decision. So, when it got
implemented, I didn’t review the effects and sales after the decision came in power.
This overconfidence might get against the company. (Robbins, 2014)
 Selective Perception Bias: - In the beginning when I heard about the problem of I
thought that it would be difficult to implement but as I started to work on, it seems to
be very interesting and resourceful and after implementation found that it was a good
decision. (Robbins, 2014)

7. References
1. Stephen P. Robbins, David A. DeCenzo, Mary K Coulter & Megan Woods (2013) Management the
Essentials.
2. Underhill, J (2011) The New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10736210
3. Fact Sheet Charlie’s Group (2011)
https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/140273.pdf
4. Stuff We Make (2017)
http://charlies.co.nz/stuff-we-make/
5. Vanessa E, Vincent H (2011)
http://idealog.co.nz/venture/2011/07/charlies-juice-sells-13m-stays-honest
6. The Better Drinks Company (2017)
http://www.betterdrinks.co.nz/