Strategic Management Examination Case
Company: The Coca-Cola Company
Competitive Environment: Soft Drinks
1. Why the selection?
a. We can all associate with Soft Drinks and many of us consume Coca-Cola products on a regular basis.
b. The case facilitates global, regional and local evaluation for both the company and industry.
c. Data on the company and industry is readily available.
2. Examination Materials to Review
Little, if any additional information will be provided in the examination. Hence you need to have assembled and analysed data on Coca-Cola and Soft Drinks before the examination.
Could we draw your attention to:
a. The site is fairly comprehensive, of particular relevance are:
- ‘Our Company' section, which outlines mission, vision, values, company history, the Coca-Cola System etc.
- ‘Investors' section which contains annual reports (form 10k). You should review at minimum the latest annual report.
b. Soft Drinks
Euromonitor has numerous reports of relevance. Could we draw your attention to several:
- Coca-Cola Company, in Soft Drinks, August 2012
- Anchor Bottlers of The Coca-Cola Company in Soft Drinks, March 2010
- Soft Drinks 2010, Trends and Future Directions, April 2011
- Global Soft Drinks, Corporate Strategies, June 2011
- From Traditional to Post Modern: The Evolution of Soft Drinking Habits, August 2012
- Soft Drinks Mergers and Acquisitions Market Opportunities 2010, March 2010
- PepsiCo Inc in Soft Drinks (World), March 2012
c. Euromonitor also provides Country Reports on Soft Drinks. You should select one country (reports are provided for all of our centres: Brazil, China, Honk Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, UK, US) for more specific analysis of Soft Drinks. You can select any country report - not necessarily one of our centres, but please select a country where Coca-Cola has a presence. Consider Coca-Cola's product portfolio in your country and select one brand for more in-depth review (Coca-Cola has 15 billion $ brands such as Sprite, Fanta, Glaceau Vitamin Water, Minute Maid and Coke varieties.
d. You can carry out additional research. To start you off could we suggest you review:
"Shaking things up at Coca-Cola" an interview with M. Kent by A. Ignatius. Harvard Business Review, October 2011.
e. Could we encourage you to use Blackboard to share research, sources and discuss Coca-Cola and Soft Drinks. Where feasible form groups to discuss the application of the SM Course
3. Examination Questions
a. The SM Course Welcome Note and Workshop provide guidelines.
b. You will be asked to answer two out of two questions.
c. The key is to have a managerial mindset
- What is your analysis of Coca-Cola?
- As the CEO how would you develop the company?
- As the industry analyst, what is your assessment of Soft Drinks globally, regionally and in a country of your choice? What are the implications for Coca-Cola?
- As a country General Manager how would you develop and implement Business Strategy?
4. Examination Preparation
a. Adopt the managerial mindsets and apply each element of the Course - the Manual, Grant, Workshop materials
b. Re-visit the five Workshop group briefs on Unilever and Ice-cream - this time applying them to Coca-Cola and Soft Drinks.
c. Before the examination you should be comfortable outlining your views as the CEO, Industry Analyst, General Manager.
d. Examination E Tutorials will be held on Sunday 4th November. The E Tutorial will focus on clarifying any issues connected with this note rather than on how to managerially apply the SM Course to Coca-Cola and Soft Drinks.
5. What to Bring to the Examination?
The examination is open book - hence bring whatever you consider useful. At minimum we would advise:
- A managerial mindset
- All Course materials
- The items outlined under 2: ‘Examination Materials to Review'
Overview
Stand back, take ownership, enjoy developing strategy for Coca-Cola