SWOT analysis:Coca-Cola Company
According to the website, Coca-Cola is a global beverage company that is involved in manufacturing, retailing, and marketing of non-alcoholic concentrates and syrups. Apart from the original product Coca-Cola, the company other five hundred brands that it offers to over two hundred countries worldwide (Coca-Cola, 2020). These brands range from water to costa coffee and green tea to canned beverages. Its growth and development are attributed to diverse marketing and advertisement strategy. It has also been able to remain ahead of its competition through strategic positioning and brand promotion. The following paragraphs analyze the company by identifying critical strategic competitive advantages, including strengths, weaknesses, significant opportunities, as well as threats. Besides, the article also discusses the critical success factors of the company. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
SWOT analysis
| Strength · Awarded the highest brand equity making it the costliest brand in the world. · Global presence to more than 200 countries has also played a role in promoting the brand name. · It has the largest share of the market in the industry after Pepsi. · The company has a unique marketing strategy whereby it targets all ages compared to Pepsi, which focuses the youths. · Has a large base of loyal customers · It has the largest distribution network in the world.
| · Weakness · Stiff competition from Pepsi. · Low product diversification, therefore, is missing from other segments like snacks, which could add revenue to the company. · Lack of healthy beverages may reduce consumption as more people look for an alternative to avoid obesity and fat intake typical in drinks. · The company also has water management issues that have led to sued charges. |
| Opportunities · Diversification in the food industry enhances Coca-Cola products. In addition, the company can include snacks in the supply chain, which can boost its revenue. · Expanding operations in the developing nations can promote the brand · Improvements in the supply chain by reducing cost. · The company can market products that are not performing in sales, therefore, raising sales and ultimately boosts the revenue.
| Threats · Since water is the primary raw material, the scarcity of this product can result in a downfall of the giant company. · Indirect competitors like Starbucks that offers coffee and is considered a healthy competition, among others, are slowly stealing the market share. |
Balanced Scorecard
Vision and Mission of the Coca-Cola Company
- To inspire happy moments while refreshing the world.
- To create both value and a difference in people’s lives.
- It is providing a portfolio of beverages that satisfy people’s needs and desires.
Financial
Managers, according to the financial perspective, are to provide financial information that is accurate and on time to promote the operations effectively. In order to improve its set goals and objectives, the company implemented a financial database that is centrally automated. Among the data collected include cost-benefit and risk assessment. The financial factors indicate a transformational strategy that leads the company to economic success. In addition, financial information consists of both annual and quarterly data, comparison, and market information. The measure tools include return on investment and residual income, both of which indicate profitable ventures for the company.
Internal Business Processes
The process allows the management to know the various activities within the organization and whether the client’s needs are met. The ultimate goal of this part is to add the value of the sales to the business. Coca-Cola Company incorporates technology into the business process to enhance performance. Hence, the business process is used to evaluate the hour spent with customers to foster an understanding of needs and desires.
Learning and Growth
In the company, regular employee training and retaining corporate culture has enhanced self-improvement. Technology has also played a significant part in improving performance, and workers are taught ways of adapting it into their daily routines. The objective of learning and growth in the Coca-Cola Company is to develop skills, improve information technology capabilities, and empower the workers.
Customer
While aiming at providing the needs and desires of a customer, the company also strategized on increasing sales. Satisfying the customers is, therefore, the primary priority. Under the customer factors, the organization is able to identify segments and increase market share. Coca-Cola achieves its mission and vision through the strategy of retaining customers, which is producing quality products that are also healthy.
Discussion
Since Coca-Cola is a multinational corporation, the critical success factors are different from those of a mid-sized company. The essential factors of success include the competitive strategy and advantage of the product, marketing, innovation, customer evaluation, and creating brand loyalty. All these factors are essential in attaining the set goals and further satisfying the needs of the customers. The CSF is selected to determine the various role of departments and individuals within the organization. According to Brondoni (2020), CSF is connected to the long-term objectives of the company and are part of the strategic planning. The mission to attain goals is vital for the company’s outcome. In the case of Coca-Cola, achieving customer5 desires and needs, raising sales, are retaining the competitive advantages of the company. All these factors retain the company at the front position and quickly achieves its mission.
The long history that the Coca-Cola Company has on marketing and advertisement has made the giant a master in the industry. Marketing is a primary factor in the company because of it for decades; it has increased the number of customers and has retained the brand at its position. Marketing involves selling an idea to customers and retaining them for the quality of the product (Brondoni, 2020). The company is known for delivering on its goals. It is, therefore, vital to the company to achieve its marketing goals. The market share in the industry indicates customers and the growth of customers and to widen the share the company invests in marketing and advertisement.
Besides, through innovations and staying ahead of trending technology has made Coca-Cola survive and grow to an international brand. Technology has evacuated some companies and made others wealthier for a company to keep up with changes; it needs innovations and talented people. This factor also promotes diversification in the production process and finding a nitch market. Therefore innovation helps achieve the goals of the company while at the same time enhancing growth and development.
Another success factor in Coca-Cola involves making healthier products. The increasing cases of obesity in society are linked to some products, a case that further threatens the growth and development of the company. Among the products, the company has introduced Diet and Coke Zero. It is, therefore, a CSF because of the increased demand for healthier products. Although the company may face growing competition, it must focus on this factor to be able to sustain its growth.
Last but not least, for Coca-Cola to succeed, it should create a sustainable packaging safe to the environment. Therefore it must stop using fossil fuel to make bottles and other packaging products. Apart from supporting a green environment, this factor also protects the image of Coca-Cola.
Evaluation
Coca-Cola grew and still developing because of marketing. As a result, it is recognized as the father of modern marketing techniques. Besides the advertising techniques used by the company has been used for decades, and it still captures audiences. The advertisement represents the signature drink shown as delicious and refreshing (Liu et ar, 2019). Through its intensive marketing, the company has created an image that subconsciously associates a customer to the product and its refreshing feeling. Further, Coca-Cola had adapted innovative marketing styles that change with time and reach out to more clients around the globe. The company has retained its ability to operate even with the inconsistency in the market.
In regards to innovation, the Coca-Cola Company has shown growth and adaptation to changes. It, therefore, changed from producing one product to a Beverage Company. To a different country, the company has launched unique products that are associated with culture and share the brand. Innovation is a broad category that touches in almost all the departments, including customers, distribution channels, and other operations. The variety of products that the company produces has increased revenue and attained the goal of growth and development. Additionally, the company has focused on the needs of its customers by focusing on creating a product designed based on preference and taste like vanilla, Cherry, and Zero Cokes. However, the company can diversify its services and reach more people through their needs and desires while increasing their revenue.
Although the Coca-Cola Company has started producing healthier products, the demand is growing mainly because of health-related issues to the other products. It is, therefore, an argent critical success factor for the company (Liu et al.,. 2019). Since it is a growing issue, the company can intensify advertisement campaigns and promote healthier living as well as an active lifestyle to the community. However, Coca-Cola faces several barriers in relation to more robust products, which include competition. However, the strong market share, together with loyal customers, gives the brand a better chance of succeeding. Further, diet and zero coke products have shown that the company can also thrive in producing healthier products.
The environment plays an essential role in the success of any company, and therefore they all should be responsible. The plastic bottles that the company produces pollute the environment due to the swelling numbers of products used by its customers. From water to soft drinks and juice, the company packages these products in plastic cans, which contribute to environmental degradation and pollution. Here the company’s name is tainted and received bad reviews. Therefore it must act fast to change these views. On that note, according to the company website, the company intends to recycle plastics, which will reduce pollution (Coca-Cola, 2020). However, reducing is not the same as stopping the use of fossil fuel products. Barriers facing an end to the use of plastics and fossil fuel involves hard to implement because the technology is also behind. Apart from introducing new ways of packaging, the company can pay tariffs for environmental pollution and start programs that support a clean environment.
References
Coca-Cola. (2020). Coca-Cola Plastic Crisis. Retrieved from Coca-Cola Australia: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/faqs/coca-cola-plastic-crisis
Brondoni, S. M. (2020). Shareowners, Stakeholders & the Global Oversize Economy. The Coca-Cola Company Case. Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, (1), 16-27.
Liu, S., Shangguan, J., Yang, S., Du, W., Yan, X., & Zhang, K. (2019). Producing Effective and Clean Coke for Household Combustion Activities to Reduce Gaseous Pollutant Emissions. Journal of Chemistry, 2019.