Creating an Effective Organisational Structure

Creating an effective organisational structure

01_Introduction

The Coca-Cola Company is truly global, and its main product is

recognised and consumed worldwide. The Company organises and

structures itself in a way that reflects that fact. At the same time,

the Company looks to meet the particular needs of regional

markets sensitively and its structure also needs to reflect that fact.

This Case Study illustrates the way in which the Company has

built an organisational structure that is robust and yet also flexible

enough to meet these particular requirements.

02_A global and local strategy

2. quality – consistently offering consumers products of the

highest quality

3. marketing – delivering creative and innovative marketing

programmes worldwide

4. global availability – Coca-Cola products are bottled and

distributed worldwide

5. ongoing innovation – continually providing consumers with

new product offerings e.g. diet Coke (1982), Coca-Cola Vanilla

(2002).

The illustration below shows the worldwide distribution of sales of

Coca-Cola products by quantity in 2003.

2003 Worldwide Unit Case Volume (Total 19.4 billion)

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company and

is the leading producer and marketer of soft drinks. The Company

markets four of the world’s top five soft drinks brands: Coca-Cola,

Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite. The success of The Coca-Cola Company

revolves around five main factors:

1. a unique and recognised brand – Coca-Cola is among the most

recognised trade marks around the globe

Latin America

25%

Europe, Eurasia

& Middle East

22%

North America

29%

Africa 6%

Asia 18%

Although Coca-Cola is a global product with universal appeal, the

Company actually operates in local environments around the

world, with each country having its own unique needs and

requirements. So while Coca-Cola is probably the only product in

the world that is universally relevant in every corner of the globe,

the...