Coca Cola Global Success

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When a company is global they must comply with other countries rules and regulations, but also show social responsibility when it comes to environmental sustainability. Coca Cola Company does this around the world in the countries they operate. They partner to conserve the freshwater basins, improve water efficiency within operations, reduce carbon emissions and energy, and promote sustainable agriculture within their supply chain and inspire global movements (Coca Cola). Another strategy that Coca Cola uses is to form partnerships with organizations worldwide for environmental sustainability. One partnership is with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The two companies join to refresh the environment and the communities they serve through a shared set of sustainability priorities. Together they came up with a plant bottle, for the Dasani water bottle, a recyclable package made with 30% renewable plant based material. Both companies care about the communities in which they operate (Moye, 2015).

There are other risks within a global supply chain and Coca Cola has defined a number of discrete steps in its risk-management effort. “First is basic deployment of the process. The company identifies significant risks, analyzes them, devises procedures for mitigating them, and creates a local "risk register”, (Bowman, 2012). “Thirty percent of all companies that experience a catastrophic loss fail within the first two years, and another 29 percent go down after that, according to John J. Brown, director of risk management, supply chain and technical development with The Coca-Cola Company. And with supply lines getting longer due to off-shoring and the multiplication of partners, the chances of something going seriously wrong are greater than ever” (Bowman, 2012)

Thus, Coca Cola Company has a few different supply chains depending on the site of sale. In some countries it requires a customs clearing and forwarding agency, to warehouse and then distribute the product. Coca Cola also distributes by use of vending machines to customers and are involved in many innovations in this area. A recent one is the Freestyle vending machine that offers a selection of more than 100 of their different brand products (Coca Cola). But normally, it operates by manufacturing, then onto the bottling companies that distribute the product and are located within the local markets in other countries. This way they are close to their markets and can distribute both wholesale and retail. They have consistent processes within their distribution centers and/or bottling companies to assure quality of product and their distribution system. They use information technology and an integrated software system for collaboration so that supply will meet demand. They are involved with environmental issues within their supply chain, and in their communities, making them socially responsible and earning respect. They have risk management plans as strategies to keep their markets going should a catastrophe occur. It’s no wonder why they are so successful and influential in the global arena.

References

Bowman, R. 2012, October. Supply Chain Brain. Risk Management: Making the Right Choices Retrieved from

http://www.supplychainbrain.com/content/blogs/think-tank/blog/article/font-size2risk-management-making-the-right-choicesfont/

Coca Cola website. 2011/2012 Sustainability Report. Retrieved from

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainabilityreport/meet-our-partners.html#section-world-wildlife-fund

http://softdrinkcolawar.blogspot.com/2012/12/coca-cola-distribution-strategy.html

Jimenez-Lutter, M. 2015. The Coca-Cola Company. Supply Chain World. Retrieved from http://scw-mag.com/index.php/sections/distribution/143-the-coca-cola-company

Moye, J. 2015, July. A Sustainable Partnership: Coca-Cola, Starwood Team Up to Refresh the Environment and Local Communities. Retrieved from

http://www.coca-olacompany.com/stories/a-sustainable-partnership-coca-cola-starwood-team-up-to-refresh-the-environment-and-local-communities/

Sapardanis, C. 2015. Coca-Cola Supply Chain Management Success Story. Retrieved from http://www.csc.com/application_services/success_stories/78846- coca_cola_supply_chain_management_success_story