Kraft Foods Organizational Alignment: Strategy & Structure
This paper analyzes the alignment of organizational components with the mission and strategy of Kraft Foods, a major North American food and beverage manufacturer. The paper examines the company's shift to a divisional structure following a 2012 demerger, the development of planning analyst teams as strategic controls, R&D investment as a human resource priority, and the cultural transformation through a philosophy known as "positive discontent." Together, these components are evaluated against Kraft's stated mission of being the best food and beverage company in North America, generating products consumers love, and delivering superior returns to investors. The paper concludes that strong alignment exists but recommends additional innovation-support strategies such as innovation workshops and scenario planning based on consumer forecasts.
- Introduction: Kraft Foods background, mission, and paper scope
- Organizational Design: Divisional restructuring and brand empowerment
- Key Strategic Controls: Planning analysts and supplier controls
- Primary Human Resource Concerns: R&D investment as competitive HR priority
- Cultural Factors: Positive discontent philosophy and cultural change
- Alignment of Organizational Components, Mission, and Strategy: Synthesis of components against mission goals
- Conclusion: Key findings and innovation recommendations
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper moves logically from individual organizational components to a synthesizing alignment section, ensuring each element is evaluated both on its own terms and in relation to the overarching mission.
- It grounds claims in concrete operational details — such as the 525 R&D staff across two centers, the 23-supplier constraint, and the "positive discontent" cultural philosophy — giving the argument specificity rather than generality.
- The conclusion is appropriately balanced: it affirms the strength of existing alignment while identifying actionable gaps such as innovation workshops and scenario planning, avoiding an uncritical endorsement of the firm.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates organizational fit analysis — systematically examining whether discrete organizational components (structure, controls, HR, culture) support a firm's stated mission and strategy. This technique, associated with writers such as Mintzberg, involves treating the organization as an integrated system in which each element should reinforce the others. The paper applies this framework clearly by returning to the mission statement as the evaluative benchmark in each section.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an executive-style abstract paragraph before the introduction, then proceeds through four component-focused body sections (organizational design, strategic controls, HR, culture). A dedicated alignment section synthesizes the component analysis against the mission, and a brief conclusion reiterates the key finding and recommendation. This structure mirrors a standard organizational analysis report and is well-suited to undergraduate business writing.
Introduction
Kraft Foods is a major U.S. food manufacturer known for many well-recognized brands, such as Jell-O, A1, Philadelphia, Planters, and Maxwell House. Most of these brands hold a leading or second-place position in their respective markets, and 98% of U.S. households have at least one Kraft Foods product in their home (Kraft Foods, 2014). The company — described by CEO Tony Vernon as made in 1903 and remade in 2012 — has changed significantly over the last several years. The company's mission statement is to be "North America's best food and beverage company, and we'll get there by continuing to offer products consumers love, creating a performance-based culture that motivates and excites employees and becoming the best investment in the industry" (Kraft Foods, 2014).
These aims reflect the organization's performance goals in relation to both consumers and shareholders. In order to deliver the superior performance demanded by this mission, the organizational components need to be aligned with the strategy used to achieve those goals. This paper examines Kraft Foods' organizational components, assessing the alignment of its organizational design and structure, strategic controls, human resource focus, and organizational culture with the company's goals. The significant changes undertaken since 2011 to improve performance may be hypothesized as placing the company in a strong position, facilitating alignment between operations and strategy through careful management of its various organizational components.
References
Buchanan, D; Huczynski, A. (2010). Organizational Behavior. Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall.
CSI Market (2014). Kraft. Accessed at
Forbes. (2013, March 22). How Kraft Changed the "Change" Perception. Accessed at http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/03/22/3822/
Kraft Foods. (2014). Accessed at
Kraft Foods. (2013). 10-K. Accessed at
Retailing Today. (2013, June 14). Kraft creates new structure, names division heads. Accessed at http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/kraft-creates-new-structure-names-division-heads
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