Essay on Coca Cola CSR

“Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism” by Bartow J. Elmore tells a story of how Coca- Cola have changed its industry as well as the globe by utilizing natural resources. To start on his journey about Coca-Cola, Elmore questions the success of the company behind selling Coke, a low-priced mixture of “sugar, water, and caffeine, packed in glass, plastic, or aluminum” (Elmore 8). Elmore discovers that even though advertising plays an essential key in selling products, Coca-Cola is mostly profitable from outsourcing the supply (Elmore 9). Besides explaining his research on the Coca-Cola capitalism, Elmore also emphasizes on the ecological evidences that support it, which make this book an environmental history of Coca-Cola capitalism (Elmore 14).

The everyday person will consume more than 200 calories each day from drinks that are full of sugar. The statistics show that the consumption of sugary drinks has increased four times since 1965. These drinks are one of the main reasons for obesity and diabetes. When someone drinks more of these drinks than on average they become subject to having a higher risk of heart disease.(Solomon, Marshall & Stuart, 2012).

Background Coca-Cola Company Coca Cola Company is an American beverage manufacturing corporation in which it is taking care of the manufacturing, marketing and retailing of their non alcoholic beverage and syrup products throughout the world. Coca-cola company was started by a pharmacist whose name is John Stith Pemberton in 1889 in Columbus, Georgia it is now a multi-billion corporation operating in nearly 200 countries with its main headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia (www.coca-cola.co.uk/about-us/our-business). Although the company is best known for its most popular product “Coca Cola”, an aerated non-alcoholic cold beverage, but it offers around 500 brands all over the globe. (Pendergrast, 2000).

Water is one of the sought after natural resources in the world or even in the galaxy. So you would imagine that it is cherished and not wasted for self-gain. Coca-Cola has been at the top of the list when it comes to complaints for mistreatment of water all over the world. In recent year that company has been sited right here in the United States. In a town in the western district of New York called Tonawanda Coca-Cola had a major issue regarding regulations. On May 11, 2015 it was reported Coke, “will pay $2.75 million in civil penalties, spend approximately $7.9 million to reduce air pollution and enhance air and water quality and spend an additional $1.3 million for environmental projects in the area of Tonawanda, New York.”(Tonawanda,1).

Today Coca-Cola is viewed as one of the most successful corporations all around the world. Melinda French Gates Co-Chair of “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” sates “Non-profit should learn from mega corporations like Coca-Cola, whose global network of marketers and distributors ensure that every remote village wants and

Coca cola has been accused of providing commercial waste to farmers to use as fertilizer. This has been faulted to have toxic substances . The management of Coca cola India has denied presence of toxins and termed the waste as safe.

Coca-Cola’s video wants to inform their American consumers of the fact that for over 125 years, they’ve been bringing people together with their beverages, and now they are bringing people together to fight obesity. They have taken steps to reduce the unhealthier beverage options that were previously available to children in schools. One step that they have taken includes offering water as an alternative to soda and juice, as well as offering low calorie or no calorie diet options.

Policy Memo To: Business Manager From: Lynnella Artimisi Subject: Information Technology (IT) Security Risk Management Policy Date: 20 August 2016 It has been noted that IT security risk is a serious threat to

Coca-Cola’s Water Neutrality Initiative 1. The public issue that the Coca-Cola Company was facing is this case was its impact on its water use in local communities. The company was depleting local water reserves and introducing dangerous levels of pesticides in its products in and around its global plants. I feel that the nonmarket stakeholders were the ones most concerned by this public issue in the beginning. The global leaders (government) understood that the depletion of the world’s water resources could have a profound effect on the world in the near future. The water shortage also had an effect on the rise in food prices, regional conflicts, and disease. This in turn caused concern in another nonmarket group the general public.

A company must scan and analyze the environment surrounding its operations for potential threats. 3. Coca Cola has clearly defined its organizational values, and through its various water sustainability initiatives undertaken over these years emphasizing on employee commitment and ethical aspiration. Given the accelerating impacts of climate change, population growth and urbanization, water scarcity is obviously a risk factor for the sustainability of the beverage industry itself! As a result, the company has actually been continually working to reduce their impact and minimize their use. Thus it can be observed that the company has actually placed an intrinsic value to the ground water resource, as they are totally aware about the depletion of this natural resource. Hence, for their future business life cycle sustainability, the company has been constantly striving to work with the communities around their bottling operations.

1. Do you think Coca-Cola will surpass the scandals around the world like it did in the past?

Who would have known that Coca-Cola debut to the world was all because of a pharmacist? And just a touch of carbonation has truly made it a refreshing and an enjoyable carbonated soft drink. It is within “arms reach of desire” as former CEO Robert Woodruff notes. The Coca-Cola Company ultimately cares about its customers and prides itself into providing good citizenship. One of Coca-Cola’s largest international investors was India, from 1993 up until 2003, Coca-Cola invested more than US$1 billion into the country. In August of 2003, CEO of Coca-Cola India, Sanjiv Gupta came to a standstill where he had to further anticipate his next move for the company. The company faced a crisis where the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) issued a press release affirming that three samples of the 12 cold drink brands sold in and around Delhi containing pesticide residues were of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo brands.

The crisis that happened at Coca Cola was a very crucial incident. It affected issues such as brand and reputation, and the company has to take action so as not to ruin its image. Coca Cola is a company with a very strong brand name all over the world. An attack like this of the NGO can lead any company to problems. Although the Center for Science and Environment attacked the safety of Coca Cola India 's products, Coke was well within the Indian government 's legal limits for pesticide residue in beverages. The fact is that the country 's standards are weak, so the problem of Sanjiv Gupta and his team is how to rebuild trust. Furtherore, Gupta tries to find ways on how he could contribute on the creation of higher standards for food and

“Have a Coke and a Smile” “A Coke is a Coke, and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same, and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."(Andy Warhol, 1975) Regardless of its corporate reputation, the organizational performance and its social responsibility of Coca-Cola makes it loved around the world. Ever since its creation in 1886 Coca-Cola has been a household brand known globally for generations of families. I have to mention, of all the cases researched this is my least favorite not only because of my childhood love for the product because the ethical issues in one way or another always manage to resolve themselves not before further tainting the reputation Coke worked so hard to obtain. Most times, whether an organization is innocent of an unethical act, it becomes secondary to the suspicion of the original act. Almost as if the court of public opinion has the power to ruin the reputation of an organization based on an unfounded accusation. In spite of my loyalty after having ready the case, I do believe Coca-Cola to be flawed. The contamination scare in Belgium is a great example of a public relations nightmare. The slightest hint of impurity should have pushed Coca Cola into crisis management mode but they were slow to react, citing it a minor issue (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, (2011). It was not until local officials

2. Over 3500 products are available in more than 200 countries (The Coca Cola Company, 2013).