Coca-Cola’s Business Practices: Facing the Heat in a Few Countries
To: Francisco Santo, Vice President Colombia Atul Singh, President & CEO India
From: Joseph Cain, Nicholas Dabbraccio, Margaret Metz, Johnny Rueda, and Keshma Thomas
Date: October 8, 2011
Identification of Symptoms:
(Internal Management)
• Continuously denying accusations of fault
• Ignoring problems by switching business strategy/operations
• Continuing to pay heavy fines/penalties without a fight
• Believing that philanthropy and job creation is the only requirement for consumer acceptance
• Having disputes relating to labor relations only being solved in the place of origin
• Management not investigating the relationship between plant managers of
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Problem 3: Coca-Cola must take action to address the global concerns over its business practices and reassure the public that the company is committed to quality in every aspect of its business.
Problem Analysis
Problem 1:
As a global company, Coca-Cola is responsible for its operations in many geographic locations. The more the company continues to grow, the more issues they will have to face on different levels. In this instance, the main issues at hand include: accusations of violent labor practices, groundwater contamination problems, and anticompetitive practices. Even with a Coca-Cola Quality System and extensive policies and procedures, management believes that disputes should be handled at a local level because “the best capability and knowledge to manage such issues exist at that level.” (Case Study) This may be seen as employee empowerment, however, on a local level some issues may not be taken as seriously until they become larger issues; by the time corporate management is aware, it may be too late. Coca-Cola continues to argue that it is committed to responsibility and ethical practices, but this is not enough. Management needs to take direct action to ensure there is effective communication –at all levels--within the company. This will help in making sure that small issues are addressed before they get worse.
Problem 2:
Looking at the many accusations Coca-Cola has faced, it seems like the company has not been tackling
The next stage is a stage of providing the actual change actions. Here, the company has chosen a new CEO and President, Douglas Daft, who was an opposite of Ivestor. Daft was a delegator, who wanted to turn Coca-Cola to a most desired company by employees in the world. He also saw a company as a head of the class, when speaking about diversity of workforce and business. Daft was fast in his actions. He has put Ware on the position of Vice-President for Global Public Affairs, as he was concerned about diversity issues in the company as well. They applied Ware’s suggestions about supporting the diversity from the top-executives and tying compensation increases to the achievement of diversity goals. On this stage, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia approved the Settlement Agreement, which was used to non-hourly U.S.-based workers of the company, excluding its bottlers and called for pay-back to employees, future pay equity and equal employment opportunity. Task Force was created to provide an independent supervision of company’s compliance and was reporting on implementation of these programs. On this stage, Coca-Cola learned a lot about its past mistakes and provided dozens of changes to its policies and procedures. As it is not possible to change a whole organization in a short-time period, Coca-Cola was implementing changes during the next decade after a lawsuit and even created a document, called “Manifesto of
As it is stated in the case of Coca-Cola, “it was a marketing machine ran by bureaucrats and accountants focused more on getting the most out of what they had than of thinking of good ideas” (Harvey & Allard, 2015, p. 100). At that stage, Ivestor, who was a CEO of the company, was focusing more on the numbers and revenues than on what is really going inside of the company. He was described as “arrogant and insecure” (Harvey & Allard, 2015, p. 100) and refused to listen to his own people, working for him. Instead of solving the real problems in the company, he was focusing on keeping profits on the same level. Case gives an example of passivity of his actions by increasing the price of Coke syrup sales to bottlers to keep it. Of course, it was a mandatory action due to the “largest product recall in company history" (Harvey & Allard, 2015, p. 100) but it only accumulated a racial tension in the company, as he was indifferent to people and focused on financial results. Ivestor tried to prevent dramatic outcomes of the lawsuit more than to solve the problem and prevent it in the
The multinational company that I have chosen is Coca Cola Company since it is a very popular brand and has been serving its customers for more then 10 decades and even after so many years its popularity seems to be increasing day by day which itself speaks about the company's remarkable performance. The Coca Cola Company is an American multinational corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of the nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups (Wright, 1999). It came into existence in 1886 and was invented in Columbus, Georgia by John Stith Pemberton. The current statistics of the company shows that it is currently operating in over 200 countries offering its customers over 500 brands with each day serving of more then 1.7 billion (Charles W. L. Hill, Essentials of Strategic Management, 2012). .Further more the Coca Cola Company is alone responsible for the 78% of the total gallon sales of all the beverages sold worldwide. The company is listed in New York Sock Exchange and is very popular in most of the countries especially United States of America, which alone consumes 47% of the total gallons, sold worldwide (Zurkuhlen & Meeker, 1987). The company headquarter is located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America and its current chief executive and chairman is Muhtar Kent (Charles W. L. Hill, Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, 2012).
Coca Cola is bestselling soft drink in the world. It has introduces various product like sports drink, water, juices, sparkling beverages and energy drinks. It has gone through several innovations from products to packaging. In May 1886 Coca Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia, registered trademark in US as Coke since 1944. Company sells its product at gas station, supermarket, vending machines and at most fast food restaurants like Mc Donald and Subway. Its widely availability has made its customer’s first choice leading to brand loyalty.
One of the world's most well-known brands is that of Coca Cola. It is one of America's most popular brand exports, and has seen major international success by opening up bottling and distribution plants abroad in several countries. One of these previously successful bottling plants was located in Colombia, yet events shocked both the nation and the world that would eventually tie Coca Cola into a major human rights violations scandal.
The Coca Cola Company is very cautious and responsive to change; they act with urgency and have the courage to discourse when needed to work more efficiently. Coke’s focus is to administer its system assets to build values and rewards for the people who take risks by finding better ways to solve problems. Coca Cola Company feels they are accountable for their actions and inactions and hence answerable to the people. They learn from their outcomes and understand what works or what doesn’t for them.
Coca Cola’s first main weakness is that it is highly susceptible to any kind of negative publicity. Every kind of negative publicity can hurt the brand badly. Some years ago after traces of pesticides were found in the products of Coca Cola, it had hurt the brand really hard. Sales had dipped in various corners of the world apart from the criticism that flowed. Any such thing can hurt the popularity and sales of coca cola. However, Coca cola can overcome this weakness by being more transparent regarding the ingredients it uses in the production of its brands.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s leading beverage company, with markets in over 200 countries and over 1,100 brands under their portfolio. The company was founded in 1886 and is currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This paper seeks to explain the impact of globalization on the standardization versus adaptation decision using examples from the Coca-Cola Company’s performance and strategies since their inception as a company.
3. If Coca-Cola wants to obtain more of India’s soft drink market, what changes does it need to make?
Coca-Cola is the largest non-alcohol beverage manufacturer in the world, which holds approximate 43% market share. The firm is also ranked in top 20 in the Fortune 500 in terms of the largest capital with over 100 billion dollars in assets. John Stith Pemberton is the founder of the firm, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. During its 100 years of history, Coca-Cola has grown its businesses substantially in the globe. Currently, the firm presents over 160 countries, including China, India, Japan, and South East Asia countries. The main objectives of the firm that is it can serve its products to all consumers in the globe, and expands its businesses to the majority of strategic regions. In order to grow and expand its present to the other major markets, Coca-Cola executes its marketing strategies based on three different categories, including price, place, partnerships, and core products. These marketing methods have supported Coca-Cola to sustain, and grow in the soft drink industry.
Globalization – the intensification of human interaction (Guest, 18), continues to remain a key facet towards growing economies, improving international relations and influencing new opportunities. Although global expansion is seemingly brand-new within contemporary society, such interaction is not a recent practice, but rather has been performed and cultivated for centuries past. To analyze the power of globalization, through a narrow lens, one could look at the consummation/production of Coca-Cola and a chocolate bar. By interpreting a single bottle of ‘Coke’, much can be revealed about its impact, both negative and positive, on the consumer and the environment of the country where it is produced; Plachimada. Furthermore, through that same context, looking at, a single chocolate bar can further lay bare the dominance and crisp realized influence that a small, subjectively delicious, object has on the issue of stratification, and its relation to power, on the rest of the world; that being, countries where these products are forcefully composed in.
“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
Coca-Cola has been around for generations with the same iconic taste, logo and symbolism. Its brand has represented family and the memories of good times, celebrations and comfort of being with those we love. Unfortunately, the company has not made good marketing decisions in the recent past and has lost relevancy. The purpose of this essay is to assess the conditions that created Coca-Colas marketing problems, evaluate the future of healthy beverages and non-carb drink brand extensions, and provide recommendations to the management.
Last year, Coca-cola saw its sales decreased in the European market. In order to increase the sales, Coca-Cola needs to define a new strategic communications plan. As mentioned above the image of Coca-Cola has been damaged quite a lot for the past 2 years by different factors. A hard work needed to deal with consequences of this damage in the image of the company.
Coca-Cola is a big recognized brand that produces many products than just soda drinks. With all the money and brand recognition the company possesses, there are possibilities for the company to past the scandals and keep up in the business market, like we have discovered the company has invested money to cover illicit activities. However, it is very important for the company to act ethically and respond to the scandals that the company has been accused. If Coca-Cola responds morally correct, it will shows the customers that the company cares about social responsibility, but if the company does not act fast and ethically, it exists the possibilities that the company’s sales keep declining.