Coca Cola Case Study
#1) What role does corporate reputation play within organizational performance and social responsibility? Develop a list of factors or characteristics that different stakeholders may use in assessing corporate reputation. Are these factors consistent across stakeholders? Why or why not? Corporate Reputation is extremely important when considering the role that it plays regarding organizational performance and social responsibility.
A companies overall success or demise mainly relies on its reputation. In Business Ethics, corporate reputation is defined as “one of an organization’s greatest intangible assets with tangible value”(Ferrell, 2011). This meaning that although sometimes a companies reputation may be unwritten, the value of it is obvious. There are many different factors that could be listed when discussing the characteristics stakeholders may use when determining the reputation of a company.Some factors that stakeholders may use are listed as follows: Strong Ethical Bearing-The company conducts itself in an ethical manner at all times Excellent Employee Relations-Employees are respected and treated well Welcoming Workplace-The workplace environment is that of a clean and safe manner Items of high quality-Company produces only the best quality of products Management-Managers within company realize the ideals and values of the company thus employing them down the chain Financially Sound-The company has strong stabilized financial records Social Responsibility-The company has strong ties within the community it resides The factors above are not always consistent with all stakeholders because each individual stakeholder has his or her own perceptual view of what is needed in each individual company to have a strong reputation.
“Stakeholders who are most directly affected by negative events will have a corresponding shift in their perceptions of a firm’s reputation”(Ferrell, 2011). #2) Assume you have just become CEO at Coca-Cola. Outline the strategic steps you would take to remedy the concerns emanating from the company’s board of directors, consumers, employees, and business partners; governments; and the media. What elements of social responsibility would you draw from in responding to these stakeholder issues?There are various steps that I would take as acting CEO to remedy the concerns arising from the company’s stakeholders. My plan of action is as follows: Stakeholder Meeting Have representatives from all parties meet and discuss the questions and concerns that they each have with the company Personally meet with groups to let them know that I am concerned and will be involved with correcting the issues at hand Have a monthly meeting with all party representatives to ensure satisfaction with all Long Range Training Plan Comprise a training plan for all employees regarding proper protocol and procedure in regards to any ethical issues that may arise Training plan will be implemented in monthly meeting Employee Contractual AgreementDraw up contract for all employees letting them know that if proper protocol is not followed, they will be held accountable and actions will be taken against them if they do not comply Social Responsibility Add a few environmentalists to my team to help brainstorm and come up with different ideas to make Coca-Cola much more green Develop a website that is strictly dedicated to specific social responsibility initiatives The elements of social responsibility that I would draw from when responding to any stakeholder issues would be the ideas that any of them would have that could overall improve the environment in the workplace as well as any information they could provide regarding ways to give back to the community in which we reside.I believe that charity work would also be very fundamental in making sure Coca-Cola’s reputation stays high among stakeholders, being that they are the ones who make the company run.
#3) What do you think of Coca-Cola’s environmental initiatives? Are they just window dressing or does the company seem to be sincere in its efforts? With the amount of revenue that is gained from Coca-Cola, I do not feel that enough has been done to address the environmental issues that are faced with the day to day operations of Coca-Cola and its products. The one idea specifically that I do not particularly care for is the clothing that the company made out of recycled plastic bottles.Of course the idea of making clothing out of recycled plastic is wonderful, but Coca-Cola isn’t doing this to better the environment, they are doing this to make a profit. I am pretty sure the clothing that has been made isn’t being donated to homeless shelters, is it? The company is definitely just window dressing when it comes to their efforts both environmentally and also the efforts made to address the other issues the company has had. If the company was truly sincere with their efforts, they as a whole should have come up with their own ideas regarding the environment, prior to being chastised from others about not being environmentally savvy. Reference: Ferrell, O.
C. , Fraedrich, J. , & Ferrell, J. (2011). Business Ethics, (8th ed.
). NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.
