Tetra pak

Business Communications 1
Business Communications
Final Project

The Internal and External Group Members:
Communication Processes of Tetra ArslanAftab
Pak AsimLiaquat

Muhammad Bilal

Muhammad WaleedUsman

SakinaMannan

Salman Irshad

Lahore School of Economics

Submitted to: Ms. Amna Mustafa


Contents
Acknowledgment .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Synopsis ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 7
History of the Company: ............................................................................................................................... 7
Vision and Mission Statement: ..................................................................................................................... 7
Policy and Goals of the Company................................................................................................................. 8
Ownership ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Products ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
Organization Structure .................................................................................................................................. 8
Customers ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Competitors ................................................................................................................................................... 9
The overall Communication Processes ......................................................................................................... 9
Emphasis on communication at Tetra Pak: ............................................................................................... 9
Updating of the employees: .................................................................................................................... 10
Communication Process at Tetra Pak ..................................................................................................... 10
Formal Communication Network ....................................................................................................... 10
Informal Communication Network ..................................................................................................... 11
Preferred Media and Channels at Tetra Pak............................................................................................ 11
Confidentiality Policy at Tetra Pak ......................................................................................................... 11
Role of MIS (Management Information System) to facilitate Communication Process ........................ 12
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 ................................................................................................... 14
Color ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
Public Relations Department .................................................................................................................. 16
Team and Groups .................................................................................................................................... 16
Preparation of proposals at Tetra Pak ..................................................................................................... 16
Internal And External Communication In Marketing Department ............................................................. 17
Internal Communication ......................................................................................................................... 17


External Communication ........................................................................................................................ 17
TOWERS WATTSON............................................................................................................................ 17
Competitive Advantage .......................................................................................................................... 18
B To B Communication .......................................................................................................................... 18
B To C Communication .......................................................................................................................... 18
Consumer Awareness.............................................................................................................................. 19
Emotional Communication ..................................................................................................................... 19
Supply Chain............................................................................................................................................... 20
Communication Process in Supply Chain at Tetra Pak ........................................................................... 21
Communication Channels ....................................................................................................................... 21
Human Resource Management .................................................................................................................. 23
Newspapers Ads...................................................................................................................................... 23
Headhunter ............................................................................................................................................. 24
Online Website ....................................................................................................................................... 24
Communication with other Department ................................................................................................ 25


Acknowledgment
We would like to thank first and foremost, to our teacher, Ms. Amna Mustafa, 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 Pak-
for 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. RaufHameed- 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.


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.


Executive Summary
Tetra Pak has a unique business model and it is one of the world’s 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 doesn’t face direct competition from any company and it
major customers are Engro Foods, Haleeb Foods and Nestle.

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

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.

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 don’t 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

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-to-
Business 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
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 company’s 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 multi-
product 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
Euro. 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 company’s policy to openly communicate with its stakeholders and to report on the
performance on a regular basis.

Ownership: 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, Haleed 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:


Mark
Chart Title et
Others share
17% of… lper's
O
22%
Milk
Pack
Heleeb
36%
25%

Competitors:As mentioned earlier that Tetra Pak isworld'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 doesn’t
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)

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.

─ How much emphasis is put on the communication process
─ How the employees stay abreast of the company’s daily activities.
─ Which medium of communication are preferred.
─ How the work is assigned to the employees.
─ How proposals are made.
─ How the interdepartmental communication takes place.
─ How effectively it’s making use of latest MIS (Management Information System).
─ How employees are rewarded.
─ How the direction of the company is set.
─ How a bad news is delivered to the employees.
─ What kind of culture the company has.
─ What format is used in the reports and mails to communicate
─ What the core values of Tetra Pak are
─ What is the color of the organization
─ 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. RaufHameed (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.

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:

I. 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.
II. 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.
III. 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‖ – RaufHameed( 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-to-
face meetings because it is the most interactive of all. ―The most reliable channel to
communicate is face-to-face meeting‖, says Mr. RaufHameed. 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
management tool and calendar software. There are three main reasons as to why they use
Microsoft Outlook for communication which are as follows:

i. Saves time viewing, creating and managing e-mail
ii. Gets easier access to right tools
iii. 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.


100%

50%

0%
Strictly Highly Moderately Confidential
ConfidentialConfidential Confidential

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. RaufHameed. 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 doesn’t 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.
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. RaufHameed (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‖ – RaufHameed (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
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. RaufHameed.


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 doesn’t 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.


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:

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


─ 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. RaufHameed 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
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. RaufHameed, 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 pprlan 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), TVC’s, 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 improve 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
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 doesn’t 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 Pak’s 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
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 FMCG’s 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 NGO’s. 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:

Supply focuses on the raw materials supplied to manufacturing, including how, when,
and from what location.
Manufacturing focuses on converting these raw materials into finished products.
Distribution focuses on ensuring these products reach the consumers through an
organized network of distributors, warehouses, and retailers.

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 enterprise—not 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
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:
TetraPak 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 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 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,
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.

Newspaper Ads.
Headhunters.
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, Nawaiwakth. 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, direct-
hire 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.

Online Website:

Web site is also a 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 Department:

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 other. 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.

Tetra pak

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