- October 2, 2012
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Term paper writing
The Coca Cola Company is one of the largest and most successful beverage companies. The company focuses on the production of non-alcoholic beverage and, at the moment, it is one of the largest corporations in the USA. The development of the company is accompanied by the relatively weak competition because the position of the Coca Cola Company is practically unchallenged by minor beverage companies, which are unable to compete with the Coca Coal Company because of the popularity of its brand, which is recognizable worldwide, and because of the larger opportunities the Coca Cola Company has to take an advantageous position in the market. At the present moment, the Coca Cola Company occupies the leading position in many countries of the world and it can face the competition only from the part of such large companies as Pepsi Company. In this respect, it should be said that potentially, the Coca Cola Company has large opportunities to maintain its leading position in international markets, but it is necessary to remember about potential threats which can deteriorate the position of the Coca Cola Company if it fails to adapt to the changing business environment.
First of all, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the company’s current position is very strong. In this respect, it should be said that the Coca Cola Company has a number of strengths which ensure its leading position in the market. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the extensive experience of the company, which was founded in 1892 and operated it had been operating successfully since that time on (Stanford, 2007). Naturally, in the process of its development, the company has gained a considerable experience, which helps the company to organize the work effectively and avoid unnecessary internal problems. In fact, the effective organization of the work of the company and positive organizational performance are important strengths which actually derive from the extensive experience of the Coca Coal Company. In addition, the company keeps developing dynamically. This means that the Coca Cola Company is still focused on the extension of its business. For instance, the company constantly introduces new products to attract new customers and enlarge its share of the market worldwide .the marketing strategy of the company has proved to be quite successful since it manages to promote and introduce its products successfully that put the company into an advantageous position compared to its competitors.
Furthermore, in spite of the number of strengths, the company still has certain weaknesses which prevent the Coca Cola Company from the even better marketing performance and totally dominant position in the global market. The strategy of the market expansion and business extension has a negative side-effect, namely the company suffers from the growing bureaucratic apparatus and the large organizational structure slows down the development of the company because decisions are not taken fast and, therefore, decisions are not always as effective as they could have been, if there were no such a complex organizational hierarchy (Zyman, 1999). In this respect, it should be said that the large organizational structure decreases the effectiveness of the decision-making process and, what is more, it also decreases the efficiency of the use of the company’s funds. In such a way, the company can benefit from high revenues but the company still fails to use its funds effectively because the large structure and bureaucracy consume a considerable part of the company’s funds, which could be used more effectively and maximize company’s revenues.
Nevertheless, the company still has huge opportunities for the further growth and development. The Coca Cola Company still has a leading position in international markets and it is number one beverage company in practically markets where the company is present, but the Middle East where it is ranked second after the Pepsi Company. In such a context, the company can successfully continue the strategy of international market expansion because it can easily overcome entering barriers and, what is more, the company can set high entering barriers, which are unsurpassable for smaller beverage companies. In addition, the popularity of the brand facilitates the company’s international market expansion and contributes to the customers’ loyalty to the company’s products.
On the other hand, the Coca Cola Company still faces a threat from the part of large competitors such as the Pepsi Company, which is the main rival of the company at the moment. Currently, the Coca Cola Company still has the leading position but recent legal and ethical concerns can undermine the position of the company. To put it more precisely, the company faces the problem of allegations concerning the violation of human rights, mainly in developing countries, where the company builds up its manufacturing facilities often ignoring legal norms and standards accepted in well-developed countries of the world and violating labor rights of its employees. Moreover, customers are growing to be more and more concerned with safety of the company’s products which may be potentially dangerous for their health. Finally, the company faces the threat of anti-monopolistic initiatives, which can limit its market share.
Coca Cola Company. SWOT analysis | |
StrengthsExtensive experience;
Effective organization of work; Dynamic development;
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Opportunities:Leading position in international markets;
Ongoing market expansion; Popularity of company’s brand; |
Weaknesses:Large corporate structure and organizational hierarchy;
Relatively low efficiency of use of the company’s funds; Widening gap between top executives and employees; |
Threats:Persistent competition (Pepsi);
Human rights concerns; Impact of company’s beverage on customers’ health; Anti-monopolistic initiatives’ |