Organization Business Profile: The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company
Sharamane Jackson
DeVry University
The Coca-Cola Company
This paper will deliberate on the Coca-Cola Company, which is an international organization with its headquarters in a campus in Atlanta Georgia.
History and ownership
The company can trace its origins back to 1886. A pharmacist named Dr. John S. Pemberton who out of curiosity decided to invent a distinctive tasting drink started it. He created flavored syrup and then mixed it with carbonated water resulting in the creation of the Coca-Cola drink. His assistant who was also his bookkeeper came up with the name ‘Coca-Cola’ and designed the unique logo that the company uses up to date (Lu, Chen, Fuhrman, & Sun, 2016). The beverage was available at the soda fountains and at first the company faced stiff competition. One of the primary challenges the company faced was creating a unique and attractive bottle. Over the years, the company has devised new advanced plans and techniques that have catapulted the company into being ranked as the largest distributor of non-alcoholic beverages. The Coca-Cola Company is a publicly owned organization that trades on the New York stock exchange.
Countries and identification in stock market
The Coca-Cola Company has spread its wings worldwide. By 2012, The Company had established influence in almost all countries except two that had restricted its involvement in their market. Cuba and North Korea restricted the company’s growth in their region as a result of diplomatic issues with the United States. On the stock exchange market, (KO) a sign that is used to buy and sell shares represents the organization. The company owns the license to market and sell more than 500 beverages across the world. The KO shares trades at $43.12, but all this depends on the market's profits or losses that the enterprise gathers ("Vendor Directory—Company Listing," 2012).
Like other businesses, it has gone through the downturn of the market, but it has managed to remain as the number one distributor of soft beverages all over the world with around 3300 drinks to its name. It is important to look at the marketing mix the company applies to understand its efforts better. The marketing mix is made up of product, price, promotion and place (Trojanowski, 2014). The first one is the Product, and the company has the biggest portfolio in the beverage industry. The beverages are categorized according to various flavors for instance, diet drinks, water, and fruit drinks just to mention a few. The different varieties ensure that their clients have a wide choice to pick from the existing products. The second market mix is the Price. The pricing of the different drinks they offer depends on the market and the geographical location. Each brand variety has its pricing strategically reached on through the consideration of the competitors pricing (Marr, 2013). It is no doubt that people like cheap, affordable and quality drinks. All this they acquire from the Coca-Cola Company.
Four Ps
The third P is the Place. The company’s brand is the most favored brand in the different geographical locations. The company has adapted the FMCG distribution system, which entails fast moving consumer goods. It has utilized the system effectively. In countries like India, the company has managed to eliminate middle-level competition through capturing the rural market. The fourth and final P is for Promotion, and the company has become widely recognized because of the advertising campaigns and promotional strategies it employs. The company occasionally gets involved in Corporate Social Responsibility as a marketing tool to win the hearts of many, for instance, it sponsors sports activities thus creating likability among sports fans.
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis refers to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The company also has its weaknesses and strengths and the most notable strength is the brand. The enterprise has a brand that is recognizable and liked all over the world; The Company’s name is considered a key contributing factor to the success of the organization (Ingaldi & Å kůrková, 2014). Another strength that the company enjoys is its comprehensive advertising campaigns that have played a big role in increasing popularity. A good example is the ‘‘Open Happiness’’ campaign that has contributed to a rise in its profits. The biggest challenge the company faces is stiff completion from its rival Pepsi. Pepsi is also an internationally recognized brand that has managed to outdo Coca-Cola in a few countries. Pepsi is constantly looking for ways to outsmart Coca-Cola. Another challenge is health issues raised against the company's products. Critics have been criticizing the drink claiming it leads to addiction and obesity.
The Coca-Cola Company has had its fair share of opportunities to enhance its growth even more. One opportunity is diversification whereby the business has a variety of beverages from which the consumer can choose. Over the past years, the Coca-Cola Company has been creating more types of drinks, a move that has helped in maintaining its superiority in the market. The enterprise also faces competition threats from other similar brands in the market. Another threat that the business faces is the availability of raw material. In general, one can conclude by saying that the Coca-Cola Company is a large investment that will continue to flourish for many years to come.
The Coca-Cola Company
The company has managed to stay on top of the game and has been the number one distributor of soft drinks and beverages all over the world for quite some time. The company has employed several tactics that have enabled it to be one of the largest organizations in the world selling its products in over 200 countries all over the globe. This paper will provide an insight on the firm and try to determine the factors that have led to its survival in the market for such a long time. It will also highlight on the competition that the organization faces and the organizational structure used by the firm.
Competition
Like all the other enterprises, Coca-Cola faces its share of competition among other beverage companies trying to outdo the company. Their biggest competitor is the Pepsi Company, which is the second largest distributor of beverages worldwide (Ueda, 2008). The organization also faces competition from other middle-level beverage companies that are located all over the world. The company has adapted a variety of marketing strategies have been changing over time to outsmart the competition. One of the major strategies is the use of the media as an advertising tool. Over the years, the organization has devised great advertisements that have played a key role in winning the hearts of many people.
Demographics of Consumers
Apart from the people who directly consume the beverages, the enterprise also enjoys other third parties as clients. Other parties, for instance, distributors, can designers, wholesalers and bottling operators do business with the brand and are hence customers. While other companies are designing new flavored drinks every day, Coca-Cola is sticking to its sweet beverages that are available internationally. Recent statistics suggest that more than 60% of Americans are actively avoiding soda, but on the other hand, the global market is rapidly increasing (Das, 2015).
Organizational Structure
Since the company is large, it requires an organizational structure that is keen and creates minimum space for error (Koh, 2012). It exerts the divisional type of structure, and it is efficient with the firm since it has many branches, which have different functions. The company sends recipes to manufacturers who then carry out the sweet beverages that are widely enjoyed. This secrecy shows that there are different divisions, for instance, distributors, wholesalers, and manufacturers who are involved in the company. The diagram below represents the type of organizational structure that the corporation exerts.  HYPERLINK "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcMXf4yJERA/TeL_D2HNaQI/AAAAAAAAAGA/kK_tmd3E2x0/s1600/coke.png"  INCLUDEPICTURE "http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gcMXf4yJERA/TeL_D2HNaQI/AAAAAAAAAGA/kK_tmd3E2x0/s1600/coke.png" \* MERGEFORMAT 

Entrance and Exit Strategies
The input and output policies of any orga...