Coca-Cola is an international manufacturer, marketer and retailer of non-alcoholic beverages, concentrates and syrups. While the most famous product from the company is Coca-Cola, it has over 500 brands that are sold in over 200 countries across the globe (Coca-Cola, 2021). The company’s main aim is to refresh the world through the wide array of products that it offers to them. Coca-Cola is constantly updating its portfolio through rigorous research and development efforts to ensure that its products remain appealing to their customers and continue to have the same positive image that has led to the continuous demand for their products.
Primary Products and Services
Coca-Cola has a wide range of products available globally or only in some parts of the world. Coca-Cola is most famous for its sparkling soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes, Appletiser and Fresca (Coca-Cola, 2021). Furthermore, they also sell coffee and tea through the different brands sold in different parts of the world. Some of the coffee and tea brands sold by Coca-Cola include Costa coffee, dogadan, fuzetea, Georgia, Gold Peak Tea, honest Tea and Peace Tea (Coca-Cola, 2021). While many organizations selling coffee and tea beverages sell them hot, most of Coca-Cola’s coffee and tea beverages are bottled and therefore sold cold. The organization also sells juices and other plant-based products. These include Minute Maid, Ades, Fairlife, Innocent and Simply (Coca-Cola, 2021). Finally, Coca-Cola sells water and other hydration liquids. They include Dasani, Aha, Aquarius, Ciel, Lohas, Powerade, Smart Water, Topo Chico and Vitamin water.
Coca-Cola’s research and development department is constantly looking for ways to increase their portfolio by introducing more and improved products that will lead to their growth, development, and overall success in the different endeavours undertaken (Lacy-Nichols et al., 2020). The popularity of their products can be mostly attributed to the rigorous marketing campaigns that they undertake, hence leading to the situation whereby they control a significant part of the market. Their unique and targeted marketing efforts have also led to the success enjoyed, given that they offer products that meet the specific needs of a target audience, thus making their products more successful (Lacy-Nichols et al., 2020). Furthermore, the positive improvements that the organization has been initiating to ensure the achievement of positive outcomes in the different current issues such as reducing pollution through reducing pollution by encouraging recycling, reducing their carbon emissions and undertaking sustainable sourcing practices have led to the development of a positive brand image that has enabled the growth and development experienced by the company (Lacy-Nichols et al., 2020).
How Stakeholders can Influence Coca-Cola’s Financial Performance
Stakeholders influence the decision-making process both directly and indirectly. This being the case, they also influence the financial performance of an organization since the decisions made by a business can either lead to its success or failure (Levchenko & Dats’ko, 2019). The shareholders and owners of Coca-Cola can influence its performance through the decisions they make on the organization’s business activities (Levchenko & Dats’ko, 2019). If their decisions on the business activities are positive, the organization will experience positive outcomes in the different endeavours undertaken. Furthermore, the initial and additional funding that they provide to the organization will determine the extent to which they can perform financially, leading to either positive or negative performance in the long run (Levchenko & Dats’ko, 2019).
The managers also influence the financial performance of Coca-Cola. The decisions and recommendations that they make determine whether or not the business activities are undertaken will be successful (Lawrence, 2020). Positive outcomes from the business activities will result in positive financial performance, while negative decisions and recommendations will lead to poor financial performance. Coca-Cola’s employees could also impact their financial performance. Their determination and diligence in performing their assigned duties will determine how successful they will be in their endeavours (Lawrence, 2020). The management also determines how well their workforce will perform due to the environments that they create. The better the working environments, the better the chances of the employees producing excellent outcomes that will result in positive financial performance.
Customers also influence the financial performance posted by Coca-Cola. The customers’ attitudes towards the products sold will determine whether the company will get profits or losses. The better the attitudes, the more they will buy from the company, leading to positive financial performance (Lawrence, 2020). On the other hand, negative perceptions and attitudes will lead to reduced demands for the products, leading to poor financial performance. Finally, the government can determine the financial performance achieved by Coca-Cola through the policies that they set (Lawrence, 2020). The policies could either lead to positive performance that will lead to improved financial performance, or they may result in poor outcomes due to the restrictions that may be set in the process.
Factors in Coca-Cola’s External Environment that may Influence their Performance
First, economic issues have a direct impact on the performance posted by Coca-Cola. First, the economic performance of the countries and the target market will determine the performance of the organization’s products (Shtal et al., 2018). The employment rates and the amount of income earned by the members of the given economy will determine their likelihood of buying Coca-Cola’s products. The products are considered a luxury to some extent, and therefore only people with disposable incomes can buy them continuously (Shtal et al., 2018). Furthermore, the tax systems in the different countries where Coca-Cola’s products are sold will also determine whether they will achieve positive performance. The more relaxed and progressive the tax system is, the likelier the organization will make profits, hence posting positive performances. The organization’s amounts on salaries and wages will also determine its performance (Shtal et al., 2018). The more they spend on wages and salaries, the less likely they are to produce positive growth rates since their profits will be significantly reduced in the process.
On the other hand, social aspects of the external business environment will determine the success of Coca-Cola in the endeavours that they undertake. The cultural norms in the countries of operation will determine whether the company will enjoy high levels of success (Shtal et al., 2018). For example, the possibility of the target market feeling connected to the products could lead to success in their endeavours. This is evident through the efforts of Coca-Cola in cultured countries such as Japan and China, whereby they have created alternative flavours that appeal to that target audience, hence leading to increased demand and performance in the organization (Shtal et al., 2018). Finally, the rise in health-conscious behaviours has impacted the performance of Coca-Cola in different markets. Since their products are mostly considered junk food, they have been forced to create healthy options such as sugar-free or diet soda to maintain their appeal to the target audience.
The Creation of Diet Soda and Sugar-free Options as a Way for Coca-Cola Leveraging a Current Social Issue
Soft drinks have been linked to poor health outcomes such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes. This being the case, many health-conscious people have been shifting their attention from the beverages produced by Coca-Cola, opting for healthier options that do not have the negative implications associated with Coca-Cola’s products (Sharma et al., 2019). Seeing the possibility of such a change in tastes and preferences, Coca-Cola had to adopt by looking for ways to remain relevant and to continue enjoying the high demand for their products as in the past. They, therefore, created sugar-free, caffeine-free and diet options for their beverages, allowing people who are conscious of their health to continue enjoying their beverages without necessarily suffering from the negative health outcomes associated with their intake (Sharma et al., 2019).
The diet coke is a sugar-free and low-calorie version of the original versions of the drink that had high sugar and calorie content. They contain artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, used in other products (Sharma et al., 2019). The diet and sugar-free variants of the Coca-Cola original brand have posted positive performance in the market, indicating a shift in the tastes and preferences of consumers and how the swift thinking by the organization has led to the continued positive performance that has been experienced over time (Sharma et al., 2019). The brand has also gained more customers since the people who had held back from buying from them due to health concerns have been taken care of, leading to more demand for Coca-Cola’s products, which translates to a better financial performance that will lead to growth and development over time (Sharma et al., 2019). The introduction of diet and sugar-free options of the brand has also led to better perceptions of the company from the customers since they now believe that the company cares for them and their health, making them more loyal to the brand and its products.
Investing heavily in the creation of the diet and sugar-free variants of their products has proven successful since the organization has been able to respond positively to the health concerns of the general public and leverage their interests into a profit-making measure through proper marketing and branding (Sharma et al., 2019). The organization is still looking for ways to ensure that its new products are not too expensive, despite the fact that the diet options are more expensive to prepare than the original ones (Sharma et al., 2019). This way, the customers will find value for their products, addressing their health needs while also saving on money spent purchasing such items.
