Operational Excellence in the Greek Brewing Industry

Abstract

An overview of the two largest breweries in Greece reveals some of the ways that operational excellence can be achieved in the brewing industry. At Athenian Brewery SA, one of the largest companies in Greece, the total quality management philosophy addresses product quality and safety, environmental protection, and employee health and safety to focus on stakeholders' needs and well‐being. In addition to implementing a total productive management program to drive continuous improvement, the organization's leaders also pay particular attention to raw material quality and the distribution network to ensure customer satisfaction. At Mythos Brewery SA, Greece's second‐largest brewing company, a revamped information management system complemented the company's emphasis on recycling and other sustainability initiatives to cut costs and improve productivity. Pioneers in operational excellence in a demanding market, these two companies serve as role models for other organizations in their region and industry. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Re-conceptualising Total Quality Leadership: a framework development and future research agenda

“…Connected in a group can help employees grow in confidence during the continuous changes and improvements required from the TQM approach (Prodanovska and Mitreva, 2013). In the case of TQM social interactions and connections are hidden to the process of improvement of everyday work; to the increased conformity of repeated tasks with quality standards; and to the reach of operational excellence, are using best practices (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014). In a similar vein, it can be argued that less connections and social interactions can immensely affect employee performance and ability to continuously improve quality outcomes.…”

Why would anyone come to Corfu to have a Heineken?

“…The Athenian Brewery produces the Amstel, Heineken and Alfa beer brands that are found widely across Greece and the Greek islands. The Mythos Brewery has around 15 per cent of the Greek beer market, and “is a subsidiary of Denmark’s Carlsberg Group, the world’s fourth-leading brewer” (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014, p. 31). The Mythos Brewery produces the Mythos brand “which has a loyal – some would say fanatical – following” (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014, p. 36).…”

“…The Mythos Brewery has around 15 per cent of the Greek beer market, and “is a subsidiary of Denmark’s Carlsberg Group, the world’s fourth-leading brewer” (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014, p. 31). The Mythos Brewery produces the Mythos brand “which has a loyal – some would say fanatical – following” (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014, p. 36). Indeed, the beer brand Mythos is now available to purchase in 30 countries (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014), allowing many tourists the opportunity to consume the product at any time to re-create their Greek vacation experience.…”

“…The Mythos Brewery produces the Mythos brand “which has a loyal – some would say fanatical – following” (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014, p. 36). Indeed, the beer brand Mythos is now available to purchase in 30 countries (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014), allowing many tourists the opportunity to consume the product at any time to re-create their Greek vacation experience. However, despite the dominance of these two corporations and their four main product brands in this market, in their “Overview of the Greek Brewing Industry”, Vrellas and Tsiotras do note the recent appearance of Greek microbreweries.…”

“…Is it possible to buy Corfu Beer in Germany, or to ship it?" Similarly, in August 2014 an e-mail was received from America: However, as the beer is a fresh living product, made with no preservatives, it is not currently possible for this small company to export its beers further afield, and the owner does not yet want to consider licensing production of the company beers in foreign markets, unlike the brand Mythos (Vrellas and Tsiotras, 2014), and Amstel, which as its bottle labelling in Greece states is "produced by Athenian Brewery S.A, [. .…”