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—Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2013). Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competiveness and globalization (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

1. Develop an 8–12 slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes based upon assignments in Weeks 3, 6, and 8, and the following: 

   Develop an executive-level PowerPoint presentation with 8–12 slides with speaker notes and appropriate graphics.
   Create a SWOT analysis for the company to determine its major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
   Based on the SWOT analysis, outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats.
   Discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its competitiveness and profitability.
   Outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommend above known to all stakeholders. 
   Assess efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen and determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on the company’s bottom line. Provide specific examples to support your response.
   AT least THREE quality references. Note: Wikipedia and similar websites do not qualify as academic resources.
   References must be submitted on a Works Cited page using SWS format.
   Develop a corporate presentation based on a SWOT analysis, strategies for maximizing competitiveness and profitability, a communications plan, and an assessment of efforts related to ethics.

Human Resources managementcengage

How to Use This Template

Each slide needed in your submission is provided in this template.

Do not add slides

Do not delete slides (except the “How to Use This Template” slide)

Replace the “blue” font on each slide with your presentation content

Change all font to black

Use bullet points on the slides

Do not type every word you plan to say on the slide

Enter the text/transcript of your talk in the speaker notes section

The speaker notes section is the gray area below each slide

Do not enter your speaker notes in comment boxes

Do not include audio or video clips

Delete this slide before submitting your assignment

Delete this slide before submitting your assignment

Notes: This is the speaker notes section of the PowerPoint presentation.
Do Not type every word you plan to say on the slide.
Everything you would say if you were giving a live presentation should be provided in text form in the speaker notes section of each slide.
1

BUS499 Capstone
Week 10 Assignment
Insert Student’s Name Here

Insert what you would said to introduce yourself to your executive audience and tell them what you are going to cover in your presentation

Do Not type every word you plan to say on the slide. Use bullet points only.
Everything you would say if you were giving a live presentation should be provided in text form in the speaker notes section of each slide.
2

SWOT Analysis of Company Name
Strengths
Insert a bullet or two describing strengths of the firm Weaknesses
Insert a bullet or two describing weaknesses of the firm
Opportunities
Insert a bullet or two describing opportunities available to the firm Threats
Insert a bullet or two describing threats to the firm

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities.

3

SWOT Analysis Strategy
Strengths and Opportunities
Insert a bullet describing the strategy to capitalize on strengths and opportunities
Insert another bullet describing the strategy to capitalize on strengths and opportunities

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly outline a strategy for the company to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities.
4

SWOT Analysis Strategy
Weaknesses and Threats
Insert a bullet describing the strategy to minimize weaknesses and threats
Insert another bullet describing the strategy to minimize weaknesses and threats

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly outline a strategy for the company to minimize its weaknesses and threats.
5

Competitiveness Strategy
Competitiveness
1st bullet point of levels and types of strategies to maximize competitiveness
2nd bullet point of levels and types of strategies to maximize competitiveness

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its competitiveness.
6

Profitability Strategy
Profitability
1st bullet point of levels and types of strategies to maximize profitability
2nd bullet point of levels and types of strategies to maximize profitability

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its profitability.
7

Communications Plan
Competitiveness Strategies
1st bullet point on the plan to communicate the competitiveness strategies to stakeholders
2nd bullet point on the plan to communicate the competitiveness strategies to stakeholders

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommended on the previous slide known to all stakeholders.
8

Communications Plan
Profitability Strategies
1st bullet point on the plan to communicate the profitability strategies to stakeholders
2nd bullet point on the plan to communicate the profitability strategies to stakeholders

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly outline a communications plan the company could use to make the strategies you recommended known to all stakeholders.
9

Corporate Social Responsibility
Responsible (ethical) corporate citizen
1st bullet point on the assessment of efforts by the corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen – specific example
2nd bullet point on the assessment of efforts by the corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen – specific example
Impact of efforts on company’s bottom line
1st bullet point on the impact the efforts have on the company’s bottom line – specific example
2nd bullet point on the impact the efforts have on the company’s bottom line – specific example

Insert exactly what you would say to your executive audience to describe each bullet point on this slide
You should thoroughly assess efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen and thoroughly determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on the company’s bottom line. Provide specific examples to support your response.
10

References
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2013). Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competiveness and globalization (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Insert second source
Insert third source
Insert any additional sources

You should use at least three (3) quality references, one of which should be the course textbook. Wikipedia and similar websites do not quality as academic resources.
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by Ou Ou

Submission date: 25-Jan-2021 04:35AM (UTC+0200)
Submission ID: 1493616248
File name: Strategicmanagementweek3corrction x (37.73K)
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mission-statement.com
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investors.coca-colacompany.com
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8

Coca Cola External and Internal Environments

Dr. Brian Grizzell

Michelle A. Cannon

February 8, 2021

Introduction

The environmental factors are external environmental factors and internal environmental factors. External environmental factors are events that occur outside an organization while internal environmental factors occur within an organization. Examples of external environmental factors are economic changes, political factors, and government regulations, among others. Some examples of internal environmental factors include culture changes, employee morale, and financial issues, among others. An organization should have the ability to determine and make changes to internal and external factors affecting an organization’s performance. A detailed analysis of the external and internal environment of Coca Cola will be analyzed.

 Choose the two segments of the general environment that would rank highest in their influence on the corporation you chose and how these segments affect the corporation you chose and the industry in which it operates.

The general environment is the dimensions in the broader society that influence an organization and the industry it operates in. The dimensions are political forces, technological forces, social forces, legal forces, and economic forces. The two segments of the general environment that highly influences Coca Cola are sociocultural and technological factors.

The socio-cultural factor is an important aspect of the general environment. However, it threatens Coca Cola brand since most of its products are extremely unhealthy with a high percentage of high fructose corn syrup. Coca-Cola operates in many countries. However, the tastes of the drinks vary according to local cultures, tastes, and customs. Although the products are made with the same ingredients and process, the tastes of the soft drinks vary based on temperature and string conditions. This factor also affects the beverage industry since most people are shifting to being health-conscious and concerned (Önay Dogan & Gül Ünlü, 2018). Due to this, they tend to analyze the impact that soft drinks such as Coca Cola products will have on their health. This has reduced the overall demand for soft drinks. However, this can be an opportunity for Coca-Cola to shift to healthier products.

The second segment is the technological factor. Technology is always changing and improved across industries. To analyze the impact of technological factors, some of the elements to consider include the recent technological developments by Coca Cola competitors, the impact that technology has on the value chain structure, the impact of technology on product offering, and cost structure in beverages. Coca Cola is always adopting digital technology (Slack, Byers & Thurston, 2020). This has helped in creating new consumer experiences using innovative programs. An example of an innovative program is the sip & scan which helps consumers in unlocking experiences and prizes. Coca Cola has also invested significantly in research and development. It adopted the use of artificial intelligence in ensuring that determines the consumer behaviour from the data collected. For instance, Coca Cola introduced Cherry Sprite as a new flavour after collecting data.

Two forces of competition that is most significant for Coca Cola and how the company has addressed the two forces in the recent past.

The state of competition in an industry is dependent on the five forces of competition. The five forces are a framework used in analyzing and evaluating the competitive strength and position of a business in an industry. The five forces of competition are the bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, industry rivalry, the threat of new entrants, and the threat of substitute products or services (Puravankara, 2007). The two forces of competition that are most significant for Coca-Cola are the threat of substitutes and competitive rivalry.

The first force is the threat of substitutes. Coca Cola’s main substitutes are products offered by Pepsi, fruit juices, and other cold and hot beverages. It faces a high number of substitutes. There are many juices and different kinds of hot and cold beverages on the market. Another challenge is that the switching costs for customers are low hence indicating a strong threat from substitutes. However, there are several ways that Coca Cola has dealt with this issue in the recent past. Coca-Cola has vastly expanded their product portfolio unlike in the past where it only dealt with carbonated soft drinks (Puravankara, 2007). It offers more than 700 beverages in North America. It has also acquired other brands such as Fuze Tea and Vitamin water.

The second force is the competitive rivalry. The two major players in the soda industry are Coca Cola and Pepsi. The rivalry between the two is intense. There are smaller players, but they do not pose a competitive threat as compared to Pepsi. Pepsi and Coca Cola are almost the same size and have similar products. However, the price competition is high. To deal with competition, Coca-Cola uses several techniques including marketing, competitive pricing, attractive packaging, and a diverse product range. Due to this, it has been able to engage the customers and build customer loyalty (Puravankara, 2007). 

With the same two forces in mind, predict what the company might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future.

The two forces are the threat of substitutes and competitive rivalry. Coca-Cola can deal with the threat of substitutes in several ways. The first way is by building a sustainable differentiation. The second way is by collaborating with competitors with the aim of increasing the market size. The last way is by building scale for better competition. Coca Cola can also offer its customers an additional value through wider product distribution (Puravankara, 2007). 

To address the competitive rivalry force, Coca Cola should develop a strong brand and grow its customer base. The second way is by having a striking marketing strategy. The third way is ensuring that it provides impressive products that will attract customers and increase brand awareness.

External threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities available to the corporation.

The external threats affecting Coca Cola water usage controversy, packaging controversy, and direct and indirect competition. Coca-Cola has faced criticism over its water management as many social and environmental groups claim that it highly consumes water which is scarce in some regions. It has also been criticized over its recycling and renewable sources. Coca-Cola faces direct competition from Pepsi (Wahlen, Baginski & Bradshaw, 2014). It also faces indirect competition from other companies Starbucks which threatens its market position.

The external opportunities of Coca-Cola are the introduction of new products and diversifying the segments, increasing presence in developing countries, using advanced supply chain systems, and packaging drinking water (Kapferer, 2008). 

Give your opinions on how the corporation should deal with the most serious threat and the greatest opportunity.

Coca Cola can deal with the threats by improving its waste management system and dealing with the criticisms from environmental agencies. Secondly, it should work on sustainability and green marketing. This will help in improving its brand image in the market (Kapferer, 2008). 

Coca Cola can deal with its greatest opportunity by introducing new offerings in health and food segments. This will increase its revenue and diverge from the carbonated drinks. Additionally, many regions have hot climates and may have the highest consumption of cold drinks. Coca Cola should increase its presence in such locations.

Give your opinion on the corporation’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses.

Coca Cola greatest strengths include strong brand identity, greatest brand association and customer loyalty, highest brand equity, dominating market share, and extended global reach.

The most significant weaknesses that Coca-Cola faces include aggressive competition, product diversification, and health concerns (Banutu-Gomez, 2012).

Choose the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to take maximum advantage of its strengths, and the strategy or tactic the corporation should select to fix its most significant weakness.

The strategy that can be used by Coca Cola to take maximum advantage of its strengths is by expanding to developing nations, intensifying its marketing campaign, and increasing its presence in juice manufacturing.

The strategy that can be used in fixing the most significant weakness is by focusing on health-related matters by addressing the rising health concerns, introducing new products in snacks and food segments, and improving its brand image (Banutu-Gomez, 2012).

Determine the company’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies.

Coca Cola tangible resource is manufacturing and bottling facilities. The intangible resources are Coca Cola system “the company’s value chain”, brand image, marketing capabilities, brand image, beverage formulas, beverages’ taste/flavour, and beverage’s quality.

Coca Cola central capabilities are centralized in its strategy, quality, innovation, and marketing skills. It accomplishes its objectives using its promoting and marketing skills, building external partnerships, and consumer loyalty.

The core competencies of Coca-Cola are strong brand value, distribution network, and administrative control, franchise network, and cost controls (Sastry, 2020). 

References

Banutu-Gomez, M. B. (2012). Coca-Cola: International business strategy for globalization. The Business & Management Review, 3(1), 155.

Kapferer, J. N. (2008). The new strategic brand management: Creating and sustaining brand equity long term. Kogan Page Publishers.

Önay Dogan, B., & Gül Ünlü, D. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of Research on Examining Cultural Policies Through Digital Communication. Igi Global.

Puravankara, D. (2007). Strategic analysis of the coca-cola company (Doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Business Administration-Simon Fraser University).

Sastry, V. V. L. N. (2020). Current Technologies Employed in e-Commerce Customer Service by Leading Players. Idea Publishing.

Slack, T., Byers, T., & Thurston, A. (Eds.). (2020). Understanding Sport Organizations: Applications for Sport Managers. Human Kinetics Publishers.

Wahlen, J. M., Baginski, S. P., & Bradshaw, M. (2014). Financial reporting, financial statement analysis and valuation. Nelson Education.

9

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies

Michelle Cannon

Dr. Grizell

February 21, 2021

Introduction

The business strategy outlines how a business should compete. On the other hand, the corporate strategy outlines the business to be involved in and how being in a business helps in competing with other businesses. Business-level strategies involve positioning a business to stay ahead of the competition and any economic and technological changes. The strategies involved are cost leadership and differentiation. The corporate-level strategy involves getting a mix of business units. With new and existing entrants in the market, the beverage industry is now highly competitive. The products that beverage companies deal with are differently positioned. Coca-Cola is one of the companies in the highly competitive beverage industry. The company has transformed the beverage company and continues to transform. A detailed report of Coca-Cola will be provided.

Business-Level Strategies

Coca-Cola uses a differentiation strategy in developing its products and services. It uses the strategy to remain on top of the competition and to provide consumers with unique attributes and features. The first way that Coca-Cola achieved differentiation is when it achieved the perception by consumers as a superior quality product ahead of the consumers. It has also achieved a high brand image and recognition. Some of the strategies that Coca-Cola has used to differentiate itself are through promotion and packaging. The promotion strategy is used in promoting customer loyalty and commitment to the products. It also uses 20% of its budget to promote the differentiation of its products. Coca-Cola has been able to develop a unique and distinct range of products for which its customers may pay a premium price. Coca-Cola has been able to position itself successfully as a reputable company for quality and innovation, communication of the product strengths, and branding itself as a joy and fun symbol (Payne & Frow, 2013). 

Coca-Cola has invested a lot in research and development intending to get a clear understanding of the different segments in the market based on different factors such as lifestyle and age, among others. Differential plays a vital role in packaging. Coca-Cola products remain adaptable to different segments of the market. It adopted the use of functional products where its products are of different sizes and forms. The cans and bottles are also of different shapes and sizes to ease vending machine operations. Coca-Cola also uses packaging materials that can be recycled. The use of recycled material is because it seeks to promote environmental sustainability. Materials are well labelled during packaging to ensure that consumers may easily identify the products. Coca-Cola also focuses on image differentiation. Its logo has established its brand name (Banutu-Gomez, 2012).

Coca-Cola uses cost leadership strategies. It has used different methods in reducing its cost of production. Due to its size, Coca-Cola has managed to offer several brands at low prices (Payne & Frow, 2013). Its product design does not attract any extra costs. With its cost leadership strategies, Coca-Cola has managed to reduce the high costs of production operational processes. It also embraces effective manufacturing systems and distribution networks.

On the different kinds of markets, Coca-Cola needs to target to promote its sales. Coca-Cola has managed to meet the needs of health-conscious consumers by manufacturing Diet Coke and Vitamin water, among others. For its promotion, Coca-Cola uses different strategies such as sales promotion, public relations, and advertising, among others. The advertising strategies used by the corporation have played a vital role in promoting brand success to reach the global markets. The techniques also ensure that consumers stay informed on the corporation’s products. Coca-Cola also offers incentives to its retailers and middlemen.

From all the business-level strategies, the most significant strategy is the differentiation strategy. This strategy has ensured Coca-Cola’s long-term success. It has been able to provide unique and valued products (Payne & Frow, 2013). 

Corporate-Level Strategies

Corporate-level strategies are important for directing the performance of an organization on the activities undertaken and resource allocation to meet the organizational goals. Coca-Cola has always developed new products when it enters the new market. Initially, Coca-Cola was known to be carbonated soft drinks. Over time, it started diversifying its products by producing non-carbonated products such as Diet Coke and Sprite. Some of these products have dominated the market. To continue penetrating the market, Coca-Cola branded itself as ready-packaged liquid refreshment. Due to this, it has extended its product line to bottled water among others (Banutu-Gomez, 2012).

The second corporate strategy used by Coca-Cola is globalization strategies. Through technological advancements, Coca-Cola has managed to grow (Banutu-Gomez, 2012). For instance, activities such as product transportation have become cost-effective and easier. Due to this, Coca-Cola has been able to penetrate the furthest markets.

The most significant strategy that has driven Coca-Cola into long-term success is the production of new products for new markets. By doing this, Coca-Cola has expanded its products beyond carbonated soft drinks. By producing and joining new markets such as bottled water, Coca-Cola has managed to penetrate to new markets. It should also embrace the use of a value-creating strategy based on the internal organizational resources and capabilities which will act as a sustainable competitive advantage (Payne & Frow, 2013). 

Competitive environment

A competitive environment is the external system of a business. Different businesses in the same industry tend to compete in terms of success and profitability, among others. In the beverage industry, there are different players such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. They both are committed to being a leader in the beverage industry and achieving financial stability. Pepsi and Coca-Cola have expanded to different nations in the world. However, Coca-Cola has surpassed Pepsi since it has diverse brands.

For the business-level strategies, a low-cost differential has been engaged by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has achieved low-cost differentiation by embracing economies of scale by ensuring mass production (Payne & Frow, 2013). For Pepsi, it has adopted a low-cost differentiation by offering its products at low prices with an aim of increasing its demand and market share.

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi use smart selling marketing strategies. Coca-Cola mainly focuses on customer relationships hence producing products based on their lifestyle (Banutu-Gomez, 2012). On the other hand, Pepsi has expanded to the snack product segment. It has expanded its presence by proving the beverage and snacks. Coca-Cola on the other hand, though does not have its presence in the snack segment, it has over 100 different choices of drinks that consumers may choose from which has made it difficult for Pepsi to match Coca-Cola.

On cost leadership strategy, Pepsi developed an approach for attracting and retaining customers. With the large economies of scale, Pepsi took advantage of this to practice a low-cost and differentiation strategy. Pepsi keeps close with its marketing environment to ensure that it does not lose its customers (Dhar et al., 2005). Due to the new entrants in the market, Coca-Cola has been imposed with pressure. For instance, Coca-Cola faced some pressure after Pepsi launched its plastic brand and Aquafina water, among others. Due to this, Coca-Cola introduced plastic bottles for some of its products such as coke zero.

On the corporate-level strategies, Pepsi uses mergers and acquisitions as a strategy for expanding into the international market to gain access to competencies and infrastructure. This has helped Pepsi to reduce its direct cost and to achieve organic growth (Dhar et al., 2005). Some of its mergers and acquisition include Spitz International, Simba Pty Ltd, and Bare Foods, among others. Coca-Cola on the other hand should form alliances and cooperate with other companies that produce alcoholic drinks. Consumers in some instances order for whiskey and Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has failed to address this issue while Pepsi still collaborated with other companies. Pepsi has benefited from mergers and acquisitions. For instance, in 2001, Pepsi had a growth of 13.95 after it acquired Quaker Oats in 2000. The two companies have the same strategies.

The second corporate strategy is the formation of creating an international strategic alliance. Pepsi took advantage of the growing Chinese beverage market and established an alliance with Tingyi in China intending to tap into the Chinese beverage market. Therefore, the important and significant corporate strategies employed by Pepsi are focusing on emerging markets and organizational culture.

Slow-Cycle and Fast-Cycle Markets

Slow-cycle markets are defined by protecting resources against external competition. It can be considered as a form of monopoly where one company dominates the market. From the approaches used by Pepsi, it does not fit in the slow cycle market. This is because the lack of competition may not motivate Pepsi to work towards gaining a competitive advantage. In such a market, Coca-Cola is preferable to Pepsi. This is because Coca-Cola can be categorized as a historical brand that has been able to maintain customer loyalty. The dominating of the market by Coca-Cola may not be a cause for competition for Pepsi since it seeks to determine its long-term success.

In the fast cycle markets, Coca-Cola’s competitors seek to control the market. In this case, Pepsi will have to develop more strategies on how it will gain a competitive advantage. In such a market, competitive advantage is important, and to gain it, Pepsi should have strict management to ensure that the corporation is sustained to meet its long-term goals. Coca-Cola differs in slow and fast-cycle markets. The fast cycle market will play two roles. The first role is designing an organization that will perform with limited challenges and without errors. For Coca-Cola to adjust to the competitive environment, it will require a quick information flow. The second role is the management paradigm.

Conclusion

Coca-Cola has managed to remain on top of the competition in the beverage industry due to its differentiation strategy. With this strategy, it has remained unique and can easily be differentiated from its competitors. It adopted both image and product differentiation strategies. Coca-Cola also positioned itself based on its cost leadership strategy. The strategy was developed due to a result of learning, knowledge, and experience in production and operational processes. Some of the key corporate strategies used by Coca-Cola are globalization and producing new products for new market segments (Banutu-Gomez, 2012). From the competitive environment analysis, it is evident that Pepsi stands to be the most significant competitor of Coca-Cola. From the business and corporate-level strategies used by Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola has a high likelihood of being successful in the long-term than Pepsi, its main competitor.

References

Banutu-Gomez, M. B. (2012). Coca-Cola: International business strategy for globalization. The Business & Management Review, 3(1), 155.

Dhar, T., Chavas, J. P., Cotterill, R. W., & Gould, B. W. (2005). An Econometric Analysis of Brand‐Level Strategic Pricing Between Coca‐Cola Company and PepsiCo. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 14(4), 905-931.

Payne, A., & Frow, P. (2013). Strategic customer management: Integrating relationship marketing and CRM. Cambridge University Press.