As one of the most valuable brand names worldwide, Coca-Cola has generally excelled as a business over its long history. However, in recent decades the company has had difficulties meeting its financial objectives and has been associated with a number of ethical crises. As a result, some investors have lost faith in the company. For example, Warren Buffet (board member and strong supporter of and investor in Coca-Cola) resigned from the board in 2006 after years of frustration over Coca-Cola’s failure to overcome its challenges.
Since the 1990s, Coca-Cola has been accused of unethical behavior in a number of areas such as product safety, anti-competitiveness, racial discrimination, channel stuffing, distributor conflicts, and intimidation of union workers, pollution, and depletion of natural resources. A number of these issues have been dealt with, some via private settlements and some via court battles, while others still besmirch the Coca-Cola name. Although its handling of different ethical situations has not always been lauded, Coca-Cola generally has responded by seeking to improve its detection and compliance systems. However, it remains to be seen whether the company can permanently rise above its ethical problems, learn from its mistakes, make necessary changes, avoid further problems, and still emerge as the leader among beverage companies
Founded in 1886, the Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company. In addition to Coca-Cola and Diet Coke, it also sells other profitable brands including PowerAde, Minute Maid, and Dasani water. To service global demand, the company has the world’s largest distribution system, which reaches customers and businesses in nearly every country on the planet. Coca-Cola estimates that more than one billion servings of its products are consumed every day. Until the mid-twentieth century, Coca-Cola focused on expanding market share within the United States. After World War II, however, the company began to...