The Ethical Issues That Coca Cola Inc.

This case study is the story of Coca-Cola, its history and the report about one of the most fascinating stories about the company this is still regarded by many as a mysterious case: “the introduction of the new Coke”.

When reading the letter from the chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent the content of the letter was optimistic and upbeat. Also, the CEO references to the company as global thirst quenching corporation that do not take the size for granted, this helps the reader understand Coca-Cola modesty. Likewise, the CEO added Targeted disciplined investments for the future of the company that will help the company to expand and grow. Furthermore, increasing revenue, profit and growth by building the brand Coca-Cola. Furthermore, Simplifying and streamlining operations of the company enabling to standardize the operation around the world.

In 2000, Coca-Cola falsified results during a marketing research of frozen Coke at several Burger King restaurants (Day, 2003). Employees of Coca-Cola engaged in this questionable conduct in the expectations of increasing business at Burger King and convincing them

The company known as Coca-Cola today was started in September of 1919, but the first Coke brand was served as early as 1886. Since that time it has grown to be one of the most globally recognized brand names with a stock value of $167 billion. Coke’s plan has always been developed with the future in mind. Right away the company realized that it was more profitable to manufacture the concentrate used to make carbonated drinks than to bottle it. From that point on they saw the entire world, not simply the originating country, as their desired market. It seems only practical that the company should pursue this agenda until conquered then focus the effort on expanding into different product lines. This logical

Coca-Cola is “Tall” in terms of organizational complexity. Coca-Cola is controlled through a vertical hierarchy, with decision-making authority residing with the company’s upper management. Daily and routine decisions are made by the line managers at the middle level.

Pepsi is a world famous carbonated soft drink made by American company PepsiCo. Its distinctive blue packaging makes a huge contrast with its long-time rival’s signature red packing, Coca-Cola. First introduced as 'Brad's Drink' in North Carolina, USA at 1893 before renaming to Pepsi at 1898, Pepsi has always trying to be the dominant brand in soft-drink market while completing with Coca-Cola, known as the Cola War, where the two brands used a series of television advertisements and marketing campaigns trying to get more influence in the soft-drink market among the consumers. Pepsi launched its new commercial advertisement ‘Live For Now Moments Anthem’ in April 2017, as a part of its previously launched Pepsi's first global campaign ‘Live For Now’ in April 2012. The protest-themed advertisement, however, not only was nowhere near Pepsi’s original expectation, but it causes a huge ethical issue, backlash and controversy that made Pepsi took down the advertisement and issue an apology in less than a few days.

5. What risk is there to Coca-Cola in using its NGO partners as a key means to reach out to local communities?

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 is the result of a patent medicine formulated in a small southern pharmacy over a hundred years ago. It has grown into a multibillion dollar international company. It also owns one of the most valuable brands in the world. Their Coca-Cola banner has won the world’s top brand 13 times on brand c-consulting firm Interbrand’s annual list (Fraser, 2012). In addition to its main product, Coke, the company owns over 3500 beverages. One of its core competencies is brand building. They have built their brand to have respectability and dependability. Their brand and logo are recognized all around the globe. It has actually become a new known on almost all households worldwide (RNWILKIN, 2009).

Coca-cola boasts of being the world’s largest beverage company serving approximately one billion customers daily. The most dominant products distributed by Coca-cola are Coke, Fanta, Sprite and Diet Coke. This strategy is aimed at ensuring that every customer gets satisfied whenever they use a Coca-cola brand. Coca-cola has large distributions across the globe making it the largest distributor in the world. The late Roberto Goizueta termed Coca-cola to be an American company with large international business and a sizeable American business (Ferrell, 2008). This has helped a lot with brand selling as it is the most recognized brand in the whole world. “Coca-Cola has the most valuable brand name in the world and, as one of the most visible companies worldwide, has a tremendous opportunity to excel in all dimensions of business performance” (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2008). Coca-cola, however, has not been smoothly running over the decades in operation. It has on numerous occasions been criticized for overlooking some ethical standards that it should have rather upheld. This essay aims at looking into some of the issues facing Coca-cola, the most significant of them, how they were resolved and how Coca-cola should have solved them.

The Coca-Cola Company was created in Atlanta, Georgia, in the year 1886. The company is considered to be number one non-alcoholic beverage company in the world. It is leading in marketing, distributing an manufacturing its product which is the concentrate and syrup. Both the concentrate and syrup are sold to bottling companies for final product and packaging to consumers. Coca-Cola company has a wide range of products of about 500 different beverage brands around the world. In the early 1920 the company started its path of globalization, and now operating in more than 200 countries. Together with the bottling companies Coca-Cola has created the best production and distribution system worldwide. The employees are very involved

The Channel Stuffing Method is a tool used to inflate sales within a company by selling goods to customers that did not order them in first place. This leads to more positive sales figures at first (which can then be stated) but has several disadvantages in the long-run.

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.

“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 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.