Writing Assignment 4

Running head: COMPANY OVERVIEW 1

COMPANY OVERVIEW 2

Company Overview

Name

Institution

Coca-Cola Company: Background Information

Coca-Cola Company was founded in 1886 by John Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It has been a leading company in the beverage and soft drinks industry since its establishment in the 19th century. The company has managed to grow from a small firm that could only manage to sell just nine glasses of the beverage each day which has increased to see the company sell billions of gallons of the Coca-Cola beverage. The company's value has grown exponentially over the years with the popularity of their beverages and soft drinks rising among the American consumers and worldwide (The Coca-Cola Company 2018). Currently, Coca-Cola has become a household name not only in the United States but also across the world. For many years, the company has attained sustainable growth in the market by being able to offer quality and consistent brands to their consumers in the global market.

Coca-Cola Company has been a publicly traded multinational firm since the 1920s. In the New York Stock Exchange, Coca-Cola Company is traded as NYSE: KO and is also listed as a Fortune 500 Companies. Over the years, Coca-Cola has been able to harness some of the key capabilities such as quality, consistency, and the uniqueness of their brands enabling them to pursue expansion into other global markets. This has enabled them to be gain a competitive advantage in the market thereby staying ahead of its competitors. Presently, Coca-Cola is a market leader in the beverage industry as it has been able to control a significant share of the global soft drinks and beverage market (The Coca-Cola Company 2018). PepsiCo is the main competitor to Coca-Cola across the world. The company has its operations, production and distribution activities, in almost every nation worldwide except in the case of Cuba and North Korea. Both franchising and acquisition have been significant strategies enabling the company to gain control of a large market share despite the presence of competing firms in the market (Rubin, Moriarty, & Mehlsak, n.d). The company has more than 500 brands available in the market for their consumers, with the largest volume of sales each day.

Organizational Structure

The structural design of the company has been designed to ensure that all its production and distribution plants across the world are functional regardless of the location. The organizational structure of the Coca-Cola Company befits a multinational company of its size as it simplifies the operations (Elmore, 2013). The president and the C.E.O of the company head all the business operations of the organization with the assistance of the sub-ordinates spread across the various global regions. The administration of the company is highly decentralized where each plant operates independently while ensuring coordination with the rest of the plants worldwide.

The firm is structured into manufacturing, marketing, corporate staff, and finance. This has enabled the company to maintain quality, consistency, and uniqueness in their brands regardless of the region that the production takes place. The areas assigned to various operating groups include the European Union, Africa, North America, Latin America, Pacific, and Eurasia (Rubin, Moriarty, & Mehlsak, n.d). These regions are further subdivided into individual countries to ensure that for easy decision making in as much as it helps the company can respond to the changes in the local market. Managers in the higher managerial levels help with the long-term planning of the operations within the company and guarantee the attainment of their goals.

Coca-Cola Company in the Beverage Industry

Coca-Cola Company operates within a highly competitive environment in the beverage and non-alcoholic drinks industry. This is because there are many alternatives which are available in the market from various manufacturers. The entry into this industry has been made almost impossible by the dominant firms such as Coca-Cola, which has seen most entrant firms failing during the initial stages of entry into the market. Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are the dominant firms in the industry controlling more than 60% of the global market share. Coca-Cola Company is a market leader in the industry controlling the largest market share globally (Elmore, 2013). Coca-Cola has managed to overcome the competitive forces from new entrants through its ability to provide consumers with unique brands. Some of the alternatives in the market include nutritional and energy drinks. Coca-Cola Company has managed to guarantee the global customers quality, unique tastes, and a wide range of benefits from their products.

Macroeconomic Environment

The beverage industry exposes Coca-Cola Company to various environmental factors that have affected their operations in the local and international market. These factors vary from internal to external forces, which may affect their operations in the foreign, national, regional, and local level. The soft drinks and beverage industries are adversely affected by the changes in the external business environment factors (Rubin, Moriarty, & Mehlsak, n.d). These include the political-legal, economic, social, cultural, and technological factors. These have been due to the changes in the political environment in most countries as well as legislations that govern the operations of local and multinational firms in different countries.

Demographic patterns have changed significantly across the world in as much as the technology being used in communication and production has advanced. This has transformed the channels used to conduct business and the utilization of particular resources which are vital to success in the industry (Elmore, 2013). Economic factors have also affected the industry with recessions and inflation globally. This affects the consumption patterns, which in turn affects the flow of revenue and profitability in the industry. The company enjoys its global brand awareness and unique selling capabilities enabling it to achieve sustainability in the market.

References

Elmore, B. J. (2013). Citizen Coke: an environmental and political history of the Coca-Cola Company. Enterprise & Society, 14(4), 717-731.

Rubin, J., Moriarty, B., & Mehlsak, A. (n.d). Sustainability at the Coca-Cola Company in a New Era of Brand Building,

The Coca-Cola Company (2018). History. The Coca-Cola Company [online]. Available at: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/history [Accessed 19 Jan. 2018].