What Made Coca Cola Achieve Superior Performance

What Made Coca Cola Achieve Superior Performance Coca Cola has been operating in the industry since 1886 and is continue leading industry at this date. As the worlds largest beverage company today, Coca Cola has business operation to more than 200 countries found in Eurasia, Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Pacific, marketing a portfolio of 500 brands and 3300 beverage products. In 2009, Coca Cola ranked 26th in the BW 50 and bagged the recognition having the best brand name by the Interbrand. Commenter of the BW 50 especially mentioned that Coca Cola has triumphed over difficult times because of its innovative spirit. In particular, the companys innovative strategy involves preserving the companys values that made Coca cola remarkable and that is by taking its brand image of wholesomeness and family and friends and applying the values in a new category. Moreover, studies have shown that companies that invested in innovations during recessions have recorded the biggest jump in profits. The innovative spirit of Coca Cola is one of the key factors that contributed for the companys superior performance, that is, its innovation strategy gave the company the competitive advantage over its competitors. A competitive advantage is something that provides incremental value when compared to other offerings, wherein value is the perception of how much the buyer benefit ted beyond what was being paid in the product. In order to create value, the four Ps of marketing (that constitute the marketing mix) product, price, place, promotion have to be observed and practiced effectively. Dwyer and Tanner (2006) assert that innovation can be in the form of innovative marketing strategy, innovative manufacturing processes or innovative corporate structure. Also, companies that display the innovative spirit were found to have a corporate culture that supported innovation. Such a culture is dominated by a desire for the company to grow, to improve and to take advantage of all possible opportunities. That is, innovative companies tend to focus on opportunity risk (Dwyer Tanner 2006). With regards to Coca Colas strategy, the innovation comes in the form of innovative marketing strategy embracing the values that made it famous. Moreover, studies have consistently shown that key factors contribute to the likelihood of success of a company. One factor is vision, or the degree to which the development team shares a vision of what the new development project is supposed to accomplish. Another factor is a structured new product development process. Finally, having a long term perspective is another important characteristic. In many ways, these factors may be characteristics of an innovative culture. As Peter Drucker (1985) wrote, When all is said and done, what innovation requires is hard, focused, purposeful work. The literature also points five key components of success; namely close ties to well-defined market that lead to a product advantage; highly integrated and market-oriented company; competitive advantages in technology and production, strong marketing proficiency, and strong financial support. First, if the company has close ties to well-defined market, then it is able to anticipate customer needs, creating a product advantage. In this case, product advantage is the dominant factor in success (Cooper and Kleinschmidt 1987). Second, there must be close coordination between all who participate in the new product development process. A market-oriented company selects its targets more wisely and offers a product mix better matched to customer preferences. Third, the company must have competitive advantage technology and production capability, with which the new product is a good fit. These first three factors should result in a product or service that is unique and delivers superior benefits. The fourth element is that the company must have a strong marketing proficiencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The last but essential component is that the company must have strong financial support for its product launch and must take advantage of the marketing proficiencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦These factors were identified in studies involving tangible products and services. In addition, it helps to choose a market with a high growth rate (Dwyer and Tanner 2006). Coca Colas focus on beverage creation and marketing enables the company to understand and meet the diverse and ever-changing beverage needs and desires of the consumers from all over the globe. The magnitude of Coca Colas advertising and distribution system enabled the company to easily market new non-alcoholic drinks as well as mineral water. Because of this, despite continuously changing consumer taste and preference, Coca Cola maintained its competitive advantage and lions share in the industry. Moreover, Coca Cola marketing campaigns such as Its the Real Thing, The Pause the Refreshes, Things Go Better with Coke and the latest Happiness have further enticed more consumers to try the companys products. In effect of the strong marketing proficiency, the company has become a global selling company with about 1.6 billion servings of products being consumed every day. Coca cola growth strategy in three ways/directions during 1996 olympic games: Emotional branding,the main idea was to let consumers experience the experience instead of product. Main focus was made on recognition of worlds diversity and individuality, and makes connection brands core ingredient. Company made it obvious to consumers that it recognizes its global status. Artworks: Coca cola bottles were used as canvas by 53 artists from different countries to express their spirit, cultural values, customs and traditions. Some of the artworks were so successful that were put on permanent display at theWorld of coca cola in las vegas. Just In Time advertising: during the Olympic games company ran 88 different TV commercials for 17 days. Each commercial was devoted to a particular theme of the Games and was never repeated. This is a very good example of global advertising campaign, as the advertisments ran simultaneously in 135 countries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Another way Coca-Cola tackled this strategy was through art. With Coca-Cola bottles as the canvas, artists from 53 different countries created works of art using local materials while capturing the spirit of their native traditions and cultures. Among the works, a six-foot-tall replica of Stonehenge from England and a ten-foot bottle made of rattan, wood and grass from the Philippines. The artwork received amazing reviews as many of the bottles went on world tour. Some of the bottles have even been put on permanent display at the sWorld of Coca-Cola in Las Vegas to demonstrate the global power of the Coca-Cola Company that parallels with the international Olympic Gamesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The third way the company embarked upon this global growth strategy was with Just In Time advertising. Coke screened 88 separate television commercials, and over the 17 days of the Olympic Games, none of them was repeated. Each spot was also carefully bought to target that particular progra ms specific audience. The 17 commercials, one for each day of the Games, reflected the theme of the day and the latest Olympic news to the 135 countries the advertisement ran. These three global growth strategies proved very successful for Coca-Cola. (http://www.unc.edu/~jdee/creativestrategy.html) Further, using the social media, Coca Cola have invested on archives that collect advertising as well as marketing materials. The archives document the crossing point between the companys products and its consumers. It contains advertising and marketing materials from the newspapers, magazines, radio, advertisements and commercials and also photo collection that depicts international and domestic distribution of Coca Colas products. Blogs are then created that promotes the company with focus on heritage and pop culture. Through this resource, the company is able to get new information from the followers of social media. In this way, the company is learning new ideas helpful for future strategies. An example of this is the Fan-based strategy of Coca Cola, as cited from a literature: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Coca-Cola used the fan-based strategy in an attempt to differentiate itself from traditional Olympic advertising, which used athletes. The For the Fans campaign went into action with a series of ads featuring actual photographs of fans drinking Coke at Olympic Games from 1928 onward. The first two commercials aired during the week of March 6, 1996 and featured black and white photos from previous Olympics showing fans in Switzerland holding Coca-Cola bottles. In the next step, Coke focused on a series of ads highlighting real life stories about how Coke has made a difference to young aspiring athletes. Finally, for the third step, Coke used commercials, print ads, and posters that addressed whether the enthusiasm of the fans makes a real difference to the outcome of the sporting event. The answer was resoundingly yes. (http://www.unc.edu/~jdee/creativestrategy.html) According to Dwyer and Tanner (2006) learning is when we connect new information to what we already know. Learning organization is one that consistently creates and refines its capabilities by connecting new information and skills to known and remembers requisite for future success. Organizational learning is the process of developing new knowledge that has the potential to influence behavior. Learning facilitates behavior change that leads to better performance. Many executive have said that the only truly sustainable competitive advantage is to be able to learn faster than competition, a contention supported by research. Moreover, the companys competitive advantages are explored in the following: buyer bargaining power, supplier bargaining power, barriers to entry, intensity of competition and threat of substitute. Among the customers of Coca Cola, the restaurants have the largest bargaining power. Coca Cola earns the largest profit margins from the large purchase volume made by authorized bottlers on its concentrates, in which the bottled beverages are then passed on the customers (restaurant chains). The overall bargaining powers of the buyers have given Coca Cola an average of 28% operating margin. In terms of raw materials, Coca Cola established a good bargaining power with its suppliers. The companys financial situation, e.g., high and stable gross profit margin of 65% indicates that there is low risk for the bargaining power of the suppliers to affect Coca Colas profitability. Also, high earning per capita of the companys employees reveals that the company has relatively low sensitivity to labor costs changes. The company has established exceptional network of distribution system throughout the globe that enables the company to enjoy economies of scale, and hence a remarkable competitive advantage that created barriers for new entrants to participate in the industry. Also, the companys strong brand and large scale advertising provided the company a barrier to competition. Further, the companys strong brands have reduced competition in the consumer staple sector. Disruptive Innovation Theory: Among the companies providing goods and services to consumers around the globe, only 10% are able to maintain and sustain a level of growth that is acceptable for the shareholders, while the rest of the 90% are not able to. Though these 90% have been applying the best strategies to make the business survive like investments on technological innovations, mindful of healthy competition and customers feedback, these efforts are not enough. The requirements of long-term sustainable success not only include the right normal strategies but also disruptive strategies in innovation. The core principle of disruptive innovation theory is that the innovation made by companies tends to have a faster pace that the changes in the customers lives. Hence, to maintain growth, a company must not only create innovations but also must be able to retain its core offerings and should always continue to practice sustainable innovation In the case of Coca Cola, though the company has been operating for quite a long time already, and can actually be considered as a very old company in the industry, it continues to hold a large share in the industry and even expand its market. The reason is that though Coca Cola adapts innovations, it is still able to embrace the values that made Coca Cola remarkable in the first place. In particular, the company preserved its brand image of wholesomeness and family and friends and continuously applying the brand image to new categories. Innovation Index One indicator that Coca Cola engages in innovations is the Innovation Index published by the UTEK Corporation. The latest Strategos/wRatings Innovation Index result of the UTEK Corporation confirms that Coca Cola continues to be innovative, with index score of 78.04 and leads the ranking of innovation performance of food and beverage companies. The SW Innovation Index is based on end-consumers feedbacks on the tangible benefits that they have obtained for the companies products. Corporate Sustainability In terms of corporate sustainability, Coca Cola initiated its Commitment 2020 plan. The plan outlines Coca Colas goals for the next 10 years which include minimization of water usage, reduction of carbon footprint by 15%, retrieval of 100% of the packaging and increase campaign on recycling. The company also plans to use local resources and pledge to eliminate potent greenhouse gases called HFCs (or hydroflourocarbons) by 2015. Literature views Corporate sustainability as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a new and evolving corporate management paradigm. The term paradigm is used deliberately, in that corporate sustainability is an alternative to the traditional growth and profit-maximization modelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it recognizes that corporate growth and profitability are important and re requires the company to practice the goals of the society, especially those relating to sustainable development like economic development, protection of the environment, social justice, and equityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the concept borrows elements from four more established concepts: sustainable development; corporate social responsibility; stakeholder theory; corporate accountability theory. ..Sustainable development need for economic growth with environmental protection and social equity to meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ corporate social responsibility deals with the role of business in society wit h the premise that corporate managers have an ethical obligation to consider and address the needs of society, not just to act solely in the interests of the shareholders or their own self-interestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Stakeholder theory asserts that the stronger the companys relationships are with other external parties, the easier it will be to meet your corporate business objectives; the worse your relationships, the harder it will be. Strong relationships with stakeholders are those based on trust, respect, and cooperationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is corporate accountability is the legal or ethical responsibility to provide an account or reckoning of the actions for which the company is held responsible (www.sunstar.com.ph). The 2020 Vision of Coca Cola maintains that the company will double its global servings per day to 3 billion from 1.6 billion and will double system revenue and improve margins. If this is pulled-off as planned, along with their dividend payout and stock buybacks, it will create solid shareholder returns over a 10 year period. In 2009, Coca Cola publicized its new plastic bottle made partially from plants. The PlantBottle is a fully recyclable bottle and is made from a combination of petroleum-based materials and plant-based materials. In this instance, Coca Cola have made an innovative product. Quoting from the companys website: The Coca-Cola Company the first company to introduce a beverage bottle made with recycled plastic has been focused on ensuring the sustainability of its packaging for decades. It has put resources behind creating packaging that is recyclable and investing in recycling infrastructure to ensure that its packages are collected, recycled, and re-used. Earlier this year, the Company opened the worlds largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C. The plant will produce approximately 100 million pounds of recycled PET plastic for reuse each year the equivalent of nearly 2 billion 20-ounce Coca-Cola bottles. These efforts are all focused on helping close the loop on packaging use and produce truly sustainable packages for consumers (www.thecoca-colacompany.com.). Financial Performance As one of the well-known companies worldwide, Coca Cola currently is trading at a reasonable value. At the end of 2009, the company has published an 8.7 revenue growth, earning growth of 11%, and cash flow growth of 11%. The average annual dividend of the company is $1.76 but entering 2010, the dividend yields 3.26% with a 3-year dividend growth of 10%. Coca Cola showed remarkable performance over the decades. The companys financial performances over the years are reflected in the table below: 2009 2008 2007 2006 Revenue Growth $B 30.99 31.994 28.857 24.088 Earnings Growth $B 6.906 5.807 5.981 5.080 Cash Flow Growth $B 8.186 7.571 7.150 5.957 Dividend Growth Dividend $ 1.64 1.52 1.36 1.24 Yield % 3.28 3.04 2.5 2.8 The financial health of the company is outstanding. Coca Colas net profit margin is at 22% at the end of 2009, which is higher as compared to its competitors like PepsiCo (with only 14% net profit margin). Analysts and investors also considered the cash flow as the life blood of any business. Cash flow is used as a core indicator of a firms financial health and viability and it is considered as a good gauge to quickly judge a firms financial performance. As an indicator, a negative cash flow, on one hand, indicates that the firm is financially troubled. No firm can keep on operating if cash flow is negative. On the other hand, positive cash flow, when cash is increasing, indicates that the firm is financially healthy (at least for the period) and can be able to pay its bills. In relation to this, Coca Colas cash flow exhibits a growth of 11%, from $7.571 billion in 1998 to $8.186 billion in 1999. In terms of dividend growth, the company has recorded increases in dividends for years in a row that made Coca Cola to be among the top in the list of dividend aristocrat. The current companys stock yields 3.28%. The companys dividend has also increased by 7.3%. Moreover, the companys payout ratio is currently at 56%. Moreover, Coca Cola has a long-term debt-equity ratio of 0.20 while the current debt-equity ratio is 1.3 So, in terms of financial conditions, Coca Cola is financially healthy demonstrating a fairly good dividend growth. The company has the highest profit margins in the food and beverage industry, diversified brands, a strong brand, extreme international exposure, and a solid growth. The companys price-earning ratio is also playing a little above 18, which is not bad. Further, the company has concrete revenue, earnings, and cash flow growth. The stock offers an above average dividend yield, and has been diligently increasing dividends over the past 48 years. This is the type of company that just works, period. You dont need billions of dollars in reinvested research and development to sell more Coke, and the products dont get replaced overnight. The Return Driven Strategic Framework The Return Strategy Model is based on three dimensions of performance namely superior and sustainable return on investment, growth while maintaining superior return on investment, and superior total shareholder return. The model serves as the fundamentals of business strategies. It is the result of combining extensive research and real world applications of great corporate performances over ten years or more. The strategy examines the commonalities in business strategies that have resulted to superior performance. Using the Return Driven Strategic framework in evaluating Coca Colas performance, the following points are highlighted so as to show that the company has indeed demonstrated superior performance. First, the company continuously innovate its offerings to better satisfy the needs of its customers, in which innovate is defined as changing the companys product to better satisfy the needs of the targeted consumers. This is done through re-examination of their offerings, modification of the existing ones and development of new products that are perceived to better satisfy the unmet needs of the customers. Coca Cola continuously change its offerings since the company believes that by doing so, they are creating more value for the customers with the anticipated superior return on investment from the innovation. The value is of creating an intellectual and emotional connection between the consumers and the companys offerings. Another driving factor for Coca Colas superior performance is its strong commitment to and discipline for making shareholder value by focusing on return on invested capital. The company maintains goals, incentives and performance measures that are definitely in line with a sustainable return on investment. The Coca-Cola has been profiled as a company that has used Economic Value Added to create shareholder value. In fact, Cokes value-creating business strategies have increased shareholder value. Moreover, Coca Cola have accomplished superior returns as well as growth without violating any ethical parameters of the community where its businesses are operating. CONCLUSION In todays global, intensively interconnected business environment, a major challenge faced by business organizations is how to maximize shareholder value and sustain growth, while at the same time creating economic value for all. For the leading Coca Cola Company the attainment of superior performance is a tough endeavor and it requires combinations of strategies. The remarkable strategy of Coca Cola is its innovation strategy that enables the almost 100 year old business excels and grows despite tough market pressures.

The Use of Drugs by 1950s Artists Essay -- Illegal Drugs Speed Narcoti

A movement arose among the artists of 1950s America as a reaction to the time's prevailing conformity and affluence whose members attempted to extract all they could from life, often in a strikingly self-destructive way. Specifically, the Beat writers and jazz musicians of the era found escape from society in drugs and fast living. But what exactly led so many to this dangerous path? Why did they choose drugs and speed to implement their rebellion? A preliminary look at the contradictions that prevailed in 1950s American society may give some insight into these artists' world. At the end of World War II, American culture experienced an overhaul that ushered in a period of complacency beneath which paranoia seethed. A generation that had lived through the privations of the Depression and the horrors of world war was now presented with large suburban homes, convenient and impressive appliances, and pre-packaged entertainment. Such wonders so soon after extended hard times were greeted enthusiastically and even treated with a sense of awe. They may have encouraged few distinctions among the middle class -- the houses in a suburb were generally as identical as hamburgers at McDonald's -- but they represented a wealth to which few had before enjoyed access. Life became automated, with dishwashers cleaning up after dinner and air conditioning easing mid-summer heat. The new conveniences left more time for families to absorb the new mass culture presented through television, records, and Spillane novels. Excitement over the new conveniences and entertainment led America to increasingly become an acquiring society. To my parents' generation, childhood in the 50s was a time when people were generally pleased with themselves and with the... ...McNally, Dennis. Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, the Beat Generation, and America. New York: Random House, 1979. O'Neil, Paul. "The Only Rebellion Around". Life 47 (November 30, 1959): 115-116, 119-120, 123-126, 129-130. Parkinson, Thomas, ed. A Casebook on the Beat. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1961. Peretti, Burton W. Jazz in American Culture. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1997. Rigney, Francis J. and L. Douglas Smith. The Real Bohemia. New York: Basic Books, 1961. Tytell, John. "The Beat Generation and the Continuing American Revolution". American Scholar 42 (1973): 308-317. Van Den Haag, Ernest. "Conspicuous Consumption of Self". National Review VI (April 11, 1959): 656-658. Wakefield, Dan. New York in the Fifties. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. Woideck, Carl. Charlie Parker: His Music and Life. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996.

Dicussion questions Essay

How do organizational functions affect organizational structures? How do your organization’s functions affect its organizational structure? How do organizational structures affect organizational functions? How does your organization’s structure affect its organizational functions? An organization is defined as a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals. The function of an organization directly relates to its structure. To succeed as an organization, all the functional areas must work together. There are different levels of structures: Vertical and Horizontal. Vertical organizational structures means a strict top down or bottom up structure (chain of command is important); horizontal, flat or closer to flat organizational structure (no leaders). While the organization I work for does not participate in any sort of sales, we do protect America through research and being knowledgeable in different aspects of careers. The Air Force follows a vertical organizational structure. There is always a person in charge of someone. To file a complaint, you have to start with the lowest level and work your way up. Organizational structures affect organizational functions depending on the main goal/strategy. The functions and structures of organizations go hand in hand. What are the different types of organizational structures? Which type of structure do you think is the most effective? Why is this structure the most effective? How can organizations determine if they are structured in the most effective and efficient manner? The different types of organizational structures are functional, divisional, and matrix. Functional structure is departmentalization around specialized activities such as production, marketing, and human resources. Divisional structure is departmentalization that groups units around products, customers, or geographic regions. Matrix structure is an organization composed of dual reporting relationships in which some managers’ report to two superiors –a functional manager and a divisional manager. The most effective structure is the matrix structure because it consists of the other functions, both of which would fail without them. Organizations can determine if they are structured in the most effective and efficient manner by analyzing how their business operates. Consider an organization in which you have worked. Draw it’s organization chart, and describe it by using terms from Ch. 8 of the text. Describe your experience with the organization. Did you enjoy working there? Explain your response. The experience I have had with the organization is good. Our organization makes charts for each unit’s supervision. Everyone knows who to contact in case of an emergency or if there is a problem with the chain of command. So far, I have enjoyed working for the military. I appreciate structure and reliability. What evidence have you seen of the imperatives for change, flexibility, and responsiveness faced by today’s firms? By firms becoming learning organizations they can be skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights. Firms should also have a high-involvement organization, which top management ensures that there is consensus about the direction in which the business is heading.

Losing a Friend - 942 Words

My memory can only place certain moments of that day into a sequence that makes any sort of sense in my head. I recollect the fluttering, fluorescent light bulbs that seem to put me into some sort of morbid spotlight for all to see, and the smell, the sterile smell of a life ended. Much like that of a movie, I saw everything in that hopeless sort of slow motion as if to somehow slow down the reality of what I was to become of me and my family. The early morning of March 24, 2006 was nothing if not the one-day that will forever be seared into my brain. Much like the ritual of an owner branding its animal, I will forever be marked with the horror of that morning. I was always a very happy child with a great family and the privilege†¦show more content†¦In a fit of teen angst I told her that I had wished that she would just get out of my life, and she did. She developed the MRSA virus and peacefully died in her hospital bed after a week of complaining about feeling sick. I don’t believe that I could have ever imagined the regret I feel everyday for saying that to her. With every event in somebody’s life come a lesson that they will carry with them forever. I realized on that morning that life is the most precious and wonderful gift imaginable. Love and respect are all pieces to the puzzle of true happiness in life and unfortunately I learned that lesson too late. Though I carry all of these wonderful memories with me about my wonderful cousin Kerra, I feel an emptiness that will never be filled. Not only did I not get to say goodbye, I hurt her and those were the last words she ever heard from me. I feel like the most privileged person on this planet to have had the time I spent with my cousin and I will never forget those memories but life is precious and I’ve ultimately learned to treat each moment as if it was my last. 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