Introduction
The purpose of this report is to assess management’s effectiveness and efficiency in the Coca-Cola Company. According to the official information available at website, the Coca-Cola Company is an American corporation, a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. The company owns four of the world-known non-alcoholic soft-drink brands: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite.
By far, it is the largest beverage manufacturer and distributor in the world and one of the largest corporations in the United States. It traces its history since 1892 and nowadays specializes primarily in the manufacturing of syrup and concentrate for its top-of-the-line product Coca-Cola and selling it to bottling facilities all over the world. The company makes its revenue in two segments, such as concentrate operations and finished products operations.
Mission/Vision/Values Statement
Mission Statement
Coca-Cola declares its mission as a purpose to refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, and create value and make a difference. This formula tells what the company does to get to its ideal vision. Values serve as an ethical guide to how the mission should be implemented. As for Coca-Cola, its mission statement describes the effect a non-alcoholic soft drink has on a person, and it does not seem to interweave with Coca Cola stated values so far.
However, for the stakeholders, which are not only customers but also internal and external parties, the mission statement determines corporate strategy and provides focus and purposes, serving as a PR instrument as well.
Vision Statement
The corporation’s vision lies within six major domains, such as people, portfolio, partners, planet, profit, and productivity. It seeks to be a great place to work, create a portfolio of quality beverage brands, nurture a winning network of customers, help build and support sustainable communities on the planet, maximize long-term return to shareowners, and be a highly effective organization. The vision is supposed to determine the framework and guide every aspect of the business. Here, the company paints the desired picture of its plans for the future, trying to get the understanding to the stakeholders. It is noteworthy that the order in which the vision points are presented is important as it reflects the company’s values. Thus, care about the planet has been put ahead of their profit and productivity.
Values Statement
The Coca-Cola values are in the following domains: leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, passion, diversity, and quality. They are represented in the form of mottos: the courage to shape a better future; leverage collective genius; be real; if it is to be, it’s up to me; committed in heart and mind; as inclusive as our brands; what we do, we do well. The values are supposed to describe how the company behaves in the world and be a compass for the actions. However, the way the Coca-Cola values are formulated may justify whatever the company intends to do to gain its profit, and each motto requires explanation and elaboration.
Problems and Challenges
One of the key problems the company is facing is the worldwide spread of obesity that represents a threat to modern society. Sugary beverages might have contributed to its escalation in the world and America particularly. The corresponding challenge is the public habit change for healthy and nutritious food and drinks (Govind, Singh, Garg, & D’Silva, 2019).
Even though Coca-Cola is holding the world’s most recognized beverages associated rightly with American national tastes, it has become a priority to offer safer drinks that do not lead to weight problems. The company assures it is working on reducing sugar in drinks as well as bringing innovative solutions to the market. Specifically, it is investing in natural sweeteners, such as stevia.
Some of the key managerial challenges the company might be facing today are managing for ethical standards and sustainability, which are inextricably interwoven (Kinicki & Williams, 2017). The corporation has already been suited for invoking water scarcity, as all its products contain water, and creating environmental problems (Business and Human Rights Resource Center, n.d).
On the one hand, Coca-Cola is investing some part of its profit into such socially relevant spheres as agriculture, package recycling, women empowerment, human and workplace rights, and some others (Jones & Comfort, 2018). On the other hand, supporting the projects mentioned above is within the ethical scope of any modern organization of a similar level. Hence, what seems to be a problem is the company’s focusing on distributing its profit rather than on producing healthier products in an environmentally friendly way.
Conclusion
Trust is the foundation of any kind of relationship, not only corporate. However, in such a juggernaut as the Coca-Cola Company, trust is the foundation of the business. All the misfunctions, drawbacks, and failures are better seen on the lowest hierarchy level. Therefore, it is crucial that the company’s management of any level translate the mission, vision, and values in their everyday actions. Loss of trust happens when the employees, customers, or suppliers find apparent inconsistencies in management’s words and actions, which in the end, cause reputational damage and, consequently, lead to financial losses.
To mold the promising candidates into a winning team of managers who will be able to build the corporation’s strategy, it is highly advisable to establish a learning organization within the company. Such an institution, which might have a form of business laboratory, would allow to unite and unify the apprehension about the mission, vision, and values among the would-be managers around the world.
References
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. (n.d.). Coca-Cola lawsuit (re India). Web.
Govind, R., Singh, J. J., Garg, N., & D’Silva, S. (2019). Not walking the walk: How dual attitudes influence behavioral outcomes in ethical consumption. Journal of Business Ethics, 155(4), 1195-1214.
Jones, P., & Comfort, D. (2018). The Coca Cola brand and sustainability. Indonesian Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research, 1(1), 34-46.
Kinicki A., & Williams B.K. (2017). Management. A Practical Introduction. Eighth edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.