Coca Cola

Delineate the ethical issues and dilemmas (as found in Chapter 3) the company faced.

Since 1990s, Coca Cola has been accused of unethical behavior in a number of areas such as racial discrimination, distributor conflicts, channel stuffing, intimidation of union workers, product safety, pollution, and the depletion of natural resources. (O.C Ferrell, John Fraedrich, Linda Ferrell, 2011). The primary stakeholders such as; employees, customers, investors, government agencies, community organizations, and shareholders are essential for a business to survive. A company may experience an impact from the influence of secondary stakeholders such as; media, trade organizations, and special-interest groups may also contribute to a company’s downfall. The constant changes in top level management from 1999 to 2004 left Coca-Cola in a vulnerable state. The inconsistencies in leadership directly impacted primary stakeholders.

The first ethical issue or dilemma the company faced is the contamination scare which is perhaps the most damaging of Coca-Cola cries- and the situation that every company dreads-began in June 1999, when about thirty Belgian children became ill after consuming Coca-Cola products. Although the company recalled the product, the company eventually determined that the illnesses were the result of a poorly processed batch of carbon dioxide. (O.C Ferrell, John Fraedrich, Linda Ferrell, 2011).

Anticompetitive prices in 1999, prompted the European Commission to launch a full-scale probe of the company’s competitive practices. PepsiCo and Virgin accused Coca-Cola of using rebates and discounts to crowd their products off shelves, thereby gaining greater market share. Coca-Cola’s strong-arm tactics proved to be in violation of European laws and once again demonstrated the company’s lack of awareness of European culture and laws. (O.C Ferrell, John Fraedrich, Linda Ferrell, 2011).

In the 1999, initially fifteen hundred African American employees sued Coca-Cola...