Coca-Cola
History : The Coca-Cola Company began in downtown Atlanta, Georgia in 1886. Since then the company has grown to become a world scale provider of soft drink refreshment experienced and loved by generations. Once created in 1886 by John S. Pemberton, the first cola was sold in a local pharmacy and during the first year of sales, only nine bottles were sold per day. The company was named when company accountant Frank Robinson thought of the name Coca-Cola, thinking the two C’s would look and sound well in advertising. After just a year seeing the success of the product, the formula is bought by Asa Candler for $2,300 who launched an aggressive advertising of the company.
Coca-Cola is so popular, by 1911 their annual advertising budget is one million dollars, expansion to the Philippines and Asia has begun and just two years later is already being distributed by 2,300 Wholesalers with over 415,000 retailers. Approaching the 1920’s the company is booming and is sold for $25 Million to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff. During the next 40 years Coca-Cola becomes even more wildly popular and can be found in many forms of advertising including songs, booklets, coolers and even posters which helped develop our current interpretation of Santa Claus.
The company’s success is really in debt to it’s explosive advertising and amazing taste. Approaching the turn of the millennium it’s almost easier to name places that Coca-Cola hasn’t expanded its advertising and business to. Continuing on now the company is still expanding and extremely profitable. Today it is estimated to be consumed 1.7 billion times every single day—about 19,400 beverages every second. Safe to say they have done well for the company since opening.
Coca-Cola is so popular, by 1911 their annual advertising budget is one million dollars, expansion to the Philippines and Asia has begun and just two years later is already being distributed by 2,300 Wholesalers with over 415,000 retailers. Approaching the 1920’s the company is booming and is sold for $25 Million to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff. During the next 40 years Coca-Cola becomes even more wildly popular and can be found in many forms of advertising including songs, booklets, coolers and even posters which helped develop our current interpretation of Santa Claus.
The company’s success is really in debt to it’s explosive advertising and amazing taste. Approaching the turn of the millennium it’s almost easier to name places that Coca-Cola hasn’t expanded its advertising and business to. Continuing on now the company is still expanding and extremely profitable. Today it is estimated to be consumed 1.7 billion times every single day—about 19,400 beverages every second. Safe to say they have done well for the company since opening.
Products :
- Cherry Coke
- Monster
- Fresca
- Minute Maid
- Dasani
- Dr. Pepper
- Fanta
- Nestea
- Powerade
- Sprite
- Simply Orange
- Many many more!
Location:
Coca- Cola had become a $10 Billion company, and has 275+ bottling partners all around the world who are responsible for manufacturing the Coca-Cola for that region. Just a few of these locations would Include Sydney Aus, Johannesburg, South Africa and Bejing, China. In 1996 Coca-Cola dropped its 'domestic' title.Coke's chairman at the time said, "The labels 'international' and 'domestic,' which adequately described our business structure in the past, no longer apply."It would appear that since this point Coca-Cola has recognized itself as a world scale global retailer of its Coke products.
Culture of the Company:
What Does the company say about its culture and media? The company says leadership,passion, integrity,collaboration,diversity,quality and accountability are what defines its culture. More so it says it's promise is, "to refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, and inspire moments of optimism; to create value and make a difference." Being such a large company that Coca Cola is with employees all around the world, it has a very diverse group of employees who are encouraged to share ideas and talents. The company also states, "As a global business, our ability to understand, embrace and operate in a multicultural world -- both in the marketplace and in the workplace -- is critical to our sustainability."
Coca-Cola truly does go far for its employees. Aside from ensuring an inclusive and fair work environment, it also offers programs to develop diverse individual talents, provide support systems for those with diverse backgrounds, and even educational programs for it's associates. It appears that verbal communications are important to Coca-Cola, often sending associates to classes to develop a better understanding of diversity and dialogue to help understand everyone better and give more success in the markets.
Coca-Cola truly does go far for its employees. Aside from ensuring an inclusive and fair work environment, it also offers programs to develop diverse individual talents, provide support systems for those with diverse backgrounds, and even educational programs for it's associates. It appears that verbal communications are important to Coca-Cola, often sending associates to classes to develop a better understanding of diversity and dialogue to help understand everyone better and give more success in the markets.
Ethical Reasoning :
I believe that Coca-Cola is in the sixth stage of Lawrence Kohlberg's Stages of Ethical Reasoning; at this stage a person is focused on self-chosen ethical principals that are found to be comprehensive and consistent- that is, something is right or wrong because it reflects that persons individual value system and the conscious he or she makes in life.
To be able to say that Coke is in the sixth stage of Ethical Reasoning is clear. The company is not solely going for profit and burning bridges in the process. Coca-Cola has developed a well functioning set of ethics followed by the whole company. Within the company employees are taken care of given support programs when in need, and possible education for those looking for a better future. To the world the company offers more than just its many products. Coca-Cola states, "As a global beverage company, we have committed ourselves to improving the quality of life in the communities where we do business. Our community investment priorities reflect the global and local nature of our business and focuses on those global pillars where The Coca-Cola Company can make a unique and sustainable difference: water stewardship, active healthy living, community recycling and education." It appears clear that Coca-Cola is an ethically moral company which does it's best not only for the company but also the communities that have driven its success.
To be able to say that Coke is in the sixth stage of Ethical Reasoning is clear. The company is not solely going for profit and burning bridges in the process. Coca-Cola has developed a well functioning set of ethics followed by the whole company. Within the company employees are taken care of given support programs when in need, and possible education for those looking for a better future. To the world the company offers more than just its many products. Coca-Cola states, "As a global beverage company, we have committed ourselves to improving the quality of life in the communities where we do business. Our community investment priorities reflect the global and local nature of our business and focuses on those global pillars where The Coca-Cola Company can make a unique and sustainable difference: water stewardship, active healthy living, community recycling and education." It appears clear that Coca-Cola is an ethically moral company which does it's best not only for the company but also the communities that have driven its success.
Code of Ethics/Conduct
As to be expected The Coca-Cola Company does have a Code of Ethics. On the cover of the large in-detail document are I'm assuming the core Ethical Values; Act with integrity. Be honest. Follow the law. Comply with the Code. Be accountable. The document can be found online in .PDF form. It is very extensive and covers all aspects of the company in the 43 page document, from what is expected of everyone to Business and Financial Records to Political Activity and Anti-Bribery, even Q&A in most sections of the document.
A short example from the Trade Restrictions Section: "The Company must comply with all applicable trade restrictions and boycotts imposed by the U.S. government. Such restrictions prohibit the Company from engaging in certain business activities in specified countries, and with specified individuals and entities. These restrictions include, for example, prohibitions on interaction with identified terrorist organizations or narcotics traffickers. Sanctions for non-compliance can be severe, including fines and imprisonment for responsible individuals, and the Company may be prohibited from further participation in certain trade."
It would appear though that the 'Dealing with Governments' section is significantly longer than most of the other sections in the code. If I had to speculate as to why this was I would think that this is one of the most important things in here, because it defines the confines of the law. Obviously being within the law is extremely important to any company, even more so one of such magnitude. Having so many employees spread literally all over the world would make this difficult without a written code given to the employees.
Even though not every employee has the wrong intentions, some laws may even be broken by accident and the company as well as the employee are still responsible.Therefore, outlining policies on Anti-Bribery, What payments are acceptable, Hiring government officials, and improper payments by third parties is extremely imperative to the company's survival. The amount of extra information in this section of the code is just reinforcing the safety of the company.
A short example from the Trade Restrictions Section: "The Company must comply with all applicable trade restrictions and boycotts imposed by the U.S. government. Such restrictions prohibit the Company from engaging in certain business activities in specified countries, and with specified individuals and entities. These restrictions include, for example, prohibitions on interaction with identified terrorist organizations or narcotics traffickers. Sanctions for non-compliance can be severe, including fines and imprisonment for responsible individuals, and the Company may be prohibited from further participation in certain trade."
It would appear though that the 'Dealing with Governments' section is significantly longer than most of the other sections in the code. If I had to speculate as to why this was I would think that this is one of the most important things in here, because it defines the confines of the law. Obviously being within the law is extremely important to any company, even more so one of such magnitude. Having so many employees spread literally all over the world would make this difficult without a written code given to the employees.
Even though not every employee has the wrong intentions, some laws may even be broken by accident and the company as well as the employee are still responsible.Therefore, outlining policies on Anti-Bribery, What payments are acceptable, Hiring government officials, and improper payments by third parties is extremely imperative to the company's survival. The amount of extra information in this section of the code is just reinforcing the safety of the company.
Human Resources
To my surprise Human Resource information is extremely limited coming from the Coca-Cola Co. It is not mentioned in the code of ethics and articles on the topic are practically non-existent. Even searching through the data base tools given to us by our library I was unable to find anything appropriate to this project.
Conflict of Interest
Conflict of Interest: A situation in which one relationship or obligation places you in direct conflict with an existing relationship or obligation. I don't see any conflicts of interest myself, however there are several pages dealing with different kinds of conflicts of interest that may occur within the company.
Triple Bottom Line
Triple Bottom Line is when a company decides to incorporate social and environmental updates along with their financial performance in their yearly reports. In its documentation Coca-Cola has annual reports for sustainability, financial information and social interactions within the company. Coca-Cola is always striving for the best possible environmental outcomes for its many bottling plants and distribution centers around the world. The information is updated every year in full detail.
CSR
I think that Coca-Cola Co. is more of an altruistic type CSR. While Coca-Cola may claim to be doing it's best to give back to everyone, do their part in recycling, and provide opportunities to people who would never otherwise get the chance, it still can't be a truly ethical CSR. My main reason behind this would be that the product they sell contributes to many problems that the world faces today. Emissions from bottling plants may have been cut back in recent years, however there are so many spread over a wide area it will still cause harm. More so, the product is not healthy at all, in fact most doctors will tell you to completely avoid Soda.
So although they may try to be ethical it just seems to lean more to altruism since the company actively opens programs to employees as well as scholarship programs. They give back to their communities as best they can, and it's that reason that it's an Altruistic CSR. I wouldn't consider it to be strategic mostly because Coca-Cola is such a large company if it went above and beyond for CSR programs it would surely come under fire for being a strictly strategic CSR plan.
So although they may try to be ethical it just seems to lean more to altruism since the company actively opens programs to employees as well as scholarship programs. They give back to their communities as best they can, and it's that reason that it's an Altruistic CSR. I wouldn't consider it to be strategic mostly because Coca-Cola is such a large company if it went above and beyond for CSR programs it would surely come under fire for being a strictly strategic CSR plan.
Evolution/Revolution of Company
The Coca-Cola Co. has made its way to the three levels from the beginning. Ever since it was opened over 125 years it has not stopped growing or competing in its market. It was started from the ground by just one man and his recipe. However it's major success is owed to Asa Candler who in turn bought the formula from its creator and brought it to the market with many different types of advertising's. Without the initiative given by Asa the outcome of the company could be a complete polar opposite to what it is today. Also with the bottling machinery brought fourth by Joseph Biedenham who revolutionized how people drink soda. Instead of going to a traditional soda fountain, it could not be bottled and sold individually. This allowed for a larger market to be available for their product, to which great success ensued.
Corporate Governance
I believe that Coca-Cola has a pretty good corporate governance, based on their guidelines and reading. However, are the insiders limited to the CEO, COO and CFO? Unfortunately not, Muhtar Kent is the active CEO and Chairman of the board. This means that the insiders also includes by default the Chairman of the Board as well, this may redirect initiatives to things that may not be important towards goals, but more towards concerns of making the quotas for the month. Do outside directors formally evaluate your CEO's strengths, weaknesses, objectives, personal plans and performance every year? Although every year employees and members of the senior management staff give reviews for their CEO he is not reviewed by an outside company. This may create a problem within the company, some may be scared that the CEO may find out of their individual review and feel pressured to say he's doing well or possibly face discipline. Along with this the performance of the directors
Works Cited :
Glenn, COLLINS. n.d., n. pag. <http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/13/business/coke-drops-domestic-and-goes-one-world.html>.
The Coca ‑ Cola Company, . N.p.. Web. 13 Nov 2013. <http://assets.coca-colacompany.com/7b/46/e5be4e7d43488c2ef43ca1120a15/TCCC_125Years_Booklet_Spreads_Hi.pdf>.
Larry, Walberg. n.d., n. pag. <http://www.economist.com/node/4492835>.
Coca-Cola, . N.p.. Web. 13 Nov 2013. <http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/board-of-directors-muhtar-kent>.
Glenn, COLLINS. n.d., n. pag. <http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/13/business/coke-drops-domestic-and-goes-one-world.html>.
The Coca ‑ Cola Company, . N.p.. Web. 13 Nov 2013. <http://assets.coca-colacompany.com/7b/46/e5be4e7d43488c2ef43ca1120a15/TCCC_125Years_Booklet_Spreads_Hi.pdf>.
Larry, Walberg. n.d., n. pag. <http://www.economist.com/node/4492835>.
Coca-Cola, . N.p.. Web. 13 Nov 2013. <http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/board-of-directors-muhtar-kent>.