SWOT Analysis | EssayIvy.com

Running Head: COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 1

COCA-COLA COMPANY SWOT ANALYSIS

Student name:

Institution:

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 2

COCA-COLA SWOT COMPANY ANALYSIS

The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational beverage corporation whose headquarters are

based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is currently headed by Roberto Goizueta, a focused

administrator who believes that success is a journey rather than a planned destination (Armus, S.

2005). It both manufacturers and retails non- alcoholic beverages and syrups. Moreover, the coca

cola company gas a wide range of brands namely; sprite, Dasani, minute maid, mellow yellow,

Coca-Cola zero honest tea among many other. It was created by John Stith Pemberton a

pharmacist in 1886 in Atlanta Freeman, B., & Martin, C. (2003). In 1889 Asa Griggs Candler

bought the formula and brand of the Coca-Cola Company which was incorporated in the

company. Since 1889 it has operated as a franchised distributor wherein making only syrup. The

syrup is normally sold to other bottlers across the world however it has its own syrup bottler in

North America known as Coca-Cola Refreshments.

Coca-Cola is one of the largest company in the world as it’s traded in the NYSE with a

growth stock index of 1000 Russell (Company et al., 2018). The coca cola company operates

globally, mainly in five continents including Africa and Europe. It also operates in Asia and

America. The company is very profitable reporting more than $35.410 billion in operating

income as per 2017 financial year. The Coca-Cola Company has a total equity of $17.072 billion

and approximately $87.896 billion total assets. The company has a huge taskforce with statistics

indicating more than 61,800 personnel distributed across the globe (Isdell, and Beasley, 2012).

The company has the Coca-Cola enterprises, coca- cola Philippines, FEMSA and Coca-Cola

bottling as its subsidiaries (Freeman and Martin, 2003). Reports indicate that the company has

expanded its operation to more than 20 sites including manufacturing plants and depots in more

30 countries worldwide.

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 3

SWOT analysis.

Coca-Cola as a global venture has many strengths that make it thrive in the otherwise

completive and challenging global business environment. Besides, the company has some

shortcoming in its operations that limit its potential destination (Armus, S. 2005). Besides, the

company faces threats market success in the otherwise changing international business dynamics.

However, the company led by a very competent team that always take opportunities in the

market.

Strengths.

The Coca-Cola Company has many strengths which have led to its tremendous growth

over the years. The latter includes a robust distribution network and brand awareness. The Coca-

Cola Company is the most renowned beverage seller with a well-established capital base in all

nations. Brand awareness is, therefore, Coca-Cola’s most pronounced strength (Isdell and

Beasley, 2012). Any person who lusts for a refreshment can get a variety of drinks readily

distributed to the nearest shop from a depot. The Coca-Cola brand is well renowned for its

unique colours that are unique to any other brands in the world. The company’s brand colours,

predominantly red and white make the company very conspicuous to every customer and

therefore keeps reminding customers of the brand in case they need a refreshment (Freeman and

Martin, 2003). Besides, the company has many brands in the markets compared to its

competitors and therefore increased sales from its market share. The company logo in red colour

is well known globally and this is a market strength that makes the Coca-Cola Company succeed

in the market globally.

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 4

The Coca-Cola company has a well-integrated product supply chain. The products from the main

manufacturing facility reach the market with a very short period of time and therefore makes a

faster payout time. The company has a competitive advantage over many other beverage

processing companies the latter has global networks with supply chains established over the

years. The company can get any materials for processing from any part of the world and sent the

product to the market with much ease due to its globalization. The Coca-Cola Company

distributes its products to more than 200 countries in different continents; thanks to its company-

owned distributors. The robust distribution network by Coca-Cola makes ensures quality control

for its products in any geographic area.

Weaknesses

Every company has its weaknesses. The Coca-Cola Company has a key challenge in its

ever-growing business operations. Water management has been the main problem the Coca-Cola

company management couldn’t effectively solve (Isdell, and Beasley, 2012). All the Coca-Cola

products are mainly composed of water. Soft drinks are prepared using clean water that comes

from the environment. Some parts of the world don’t have enough water to meet the demand for

the company’s processing operations. Besides, some of the processes during the preparation of

the non-alcoholic drinks leads to release of wastewater to the environment. The wastewater has

lasting effects on the environment.

The Coca-Cola Company has as slow globalization rate. The latter can be attributed to

some unfriendly global trade policies like high taxation from in some countries. Besides, the

war-torn countries inhibit the company’s business operations in the countries by cutting the

supply chain. Other factors like foreign currency fluctuation tremendously affect the operations

of Coca-Cola Company in foreign countries (Isdell, and Beasley, 2012). The global trade faces

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 5

unfavorable trade tariffs that make operations in new countries economically unpredictable.

Market volatility affects the operations of Coca-Cola company in that the company’s assets value

in different countries changes time to time depending on the currencies’’ stabilities. Besides, the

company over-relies on the carbonated drinks as its main sales.

Opportunities

The Coca-Cola Company has been one of the smartest investor company for years. The

company has a very enthusiastic team who are always analyzing markets to spot a niche for

investment. The main business opportunity by Coca-Cola Company is diversification. Coca-Cola

Company has well established a global supply chain that gives it an upper hand to diversify. The

latter has exploited opportunities to diversify in many countries (NGANGA, 2014). The

company has opportunities to venture in the less developed countries where it has no major

depots. The company would enjoy a larger market hence make more sales. Besides, the company

can diversify in the manufacture of more products as the latter well-known brand hence needs no

much marketing.

The company has an opportunity to improve its supply chain and distribution network to

reach the developing nations as the developed nations. The company records low sales in the less

developed and developing nations compared to the developed nations because the company has

not invested majorly in its distribution network (Freeman and Martin, 2003). Besides, the

company’s investment profile is mainly backed by the developed nations where the company

venture for more than 70 years ago with the new investment destinations lagging behind.

Additionally, the Coca-Cola company has less selling products that needs be marketed more to

ensure the company makes profits faster from the diversified products.

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 6

Threats

The Coca-Cola Company is faced with several threats in its global operations. The latter

include raw material sourcing as reported in the recent years of its operations. Global statistics

indicate that the consumable water resources are on a gradual decline hence a major concern

about Coca-Cola as water is one of the most vital resources in its products processing. Changing

climate in many parts of the world limits the company’s expansion to other countries difficult

especially in setting new processing plants to cater for increasing market demand (NGANGA,

2014). Coca-Cola Company is also affected by operational laws in some countries. Regulations

regarding taxation and other tariffs make business operations non-profitable.

The Coca-Cola company has competitors in its ventures; both direct and indirect. The

main direct competitor threating the profitability of its operations is PepsiCo which also

manufactures and sells drinks globally (Isdell, and Beasley, 2012). The competition between

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo may make its operations less profitable. Indirect competitors for Coca-

Cola Company are the ventures like the Starbucks who prepare other types of beverages like

coffee. A customer may wish to take a beverage, with an option of either hot or cold therefore he

or she may prefer coffee to a Coca-Cola product hence the indirect competition.

Competitive advantage

Coca-Cola Company has many competitive advantages that position at the centre of the

beverage sales. The company is more than three times as successful as its competitors. The main

competitive advantages of the Coca-Cola Company are its strengths and include well-established

supply network (NGANGA, 2014). Besides, the company globalized many years before its

competitors garnered a sensible financial base to challenge the global giant. My recommendation

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 7

for the Coca-Cola Company to improve its operations is that the company should increase its

operations in the developing countries. Evidently, the Coca-Cola Company has very few

manufacturing sites in undeveloped countries like the African continent and some parts of Asia

(Freeman and Martin 2003). Additionally, the company has few depots for arguably large

geographical areas hence inefficiency in its supply chain. The coca cola company can major in

other investments like buying shares in other companies in similar industrial ventures.

The Coca-Cola Company need to enhance its supply chain and enhance efficiency (Isdell

and Beasley, 2012). The company has limited operations in many countries especially third

world countries. The company, therefore, needs to work on an efficient way of distributing

products to the less developed countries. Besides, the improved supply chain would lead to better

customer responsiveness hence improved sales. Seemingly, innovation has seen many companies

succeed in a competitive market. Coca-Cola Company should be innovative on new processing

methods that would give the company bigger profits margins. Innovations would lead to high-

quality products hence winning over more customers.

COCA-COLA SWOT ANALYSIS 8

References

Company, O., Main, O., Journey, A., Mission, V., Inclusion, D., & Rights, H. et al. (2018).

History. The Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from http://www.coca-

colacompany.com/history

Isdell, E. N., & Beasley, D. (2012). Inside Coca-Cola: A CEO's life story of building the world's

most popular brand. New York: St. martin's Griffin.

NGANGA, C. A. R. O. L. (2014). COCA-COLA COMPANY. HISTORY, SWOT ANALYSIS,

MAKETING STRATEGIES. S.l.: GRIN PUBLISHING.

Freeman, B., & Martin, C. (2003). Coca-Cola Company.

Armus, S. (2005). Coca-Cola Company. France and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and

History: A Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, 1, 273.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."