Case Analysis of Coca Cola India Crisis
Carder Higinbotham
Case analysis of the Coca-Cola India Crisis
1. What are the key problems that Gupta should focus on in the short term and in the long term?
In looking at the situation, hindsight is always 20/20. Gupta would have benefited from the eight steps of crisis management.
Step 1: Get control of the situation.
Gupta needed to define the real problem, use reliable information, and a measurable communication objective for handling it.
Step 2: Gather as much information as possible:
Gupta quickly reacted to the situation without taking a fair and objective look at the facts in the statements being made. Gupta’s reaction was emotional and attacked the credibility of the Center for Science and Environment ( hereafter CSE).
Step 3: Set up a centralized crisis management center:
As Gupta was gathering the right information from the right people he should have made arrangement for creating a crisis center for the constituents, that is, media, employees, customers, and government. Creating a crisis center would have made Coke India look more sympathetic and human. Instead, Gupta went on the attack and published a letter that was callous and focused only on the potential impairment of business; not the safety of lives.
Step 4:Comminicate early and often:
Gupta should have made a plea in person especially since the crisis involved the threat to lives. He could have avoided any panic by hiring a public relations firm to assist him during this process. He should have expressed concern for the public safety rather than focus on profits and conspiracy theories.
Step 5:Understand the media’s mission in a crisis:
Gupta should have created an alliance with certain member’s of the media. A public relations firm would have been an asset.
Step 6: Communicate directly with affected constituents:
Gupta needed to communicate directly to his employees the position of Coke during this crisis. The employees were the mouthpiece to the community and the
Case analysis of the Coca-Cola India Crisis
1. What are the key problems that Gupta should focus on in the short term and in the long term?
In looking at the situation, hindsight is always 20/20. Gupta would have benefited from the eight steps of crisis management.
Step 1: Get control of the situation.
Gupta needed to define the real problem, use reliable information, and a measurable communication objective for handling it.
Step 2: Gather as much information as possible:
Gupta quickly reacted to the situation without taking a fair and objective look at the facts in the statements being made. Gupta’s reaction was emotional and attacked the credibility of the Center for Science and Environment ( hereafter CSE).
Step 3: Set up a centralized crisis management center:
As Gupta was gathering the right information from the right people he should have made arrangement for creating a crisis center for the constituents, that is, media, employees, customers, and government. Creating a crisis center would have made Coke India look more sympathetic and human. Instead, Gupta went on the attack and published a letter that was callous and focused only on the potential impairment of business; not the safety of lives.
Step 4:Comminicate early and often:
Gupta should have made a plea in person especially since the crisis involved the threat to lives. He could have avoided any panic by hiring a public relations firm to assist him during this process. He should have expressed concern for the public safety rather than focus on profits and conspiracy theories.
Step 5:Understand the media’s mission in a crisis:
Gupta should have created an alliance with certain member’s of the media. A public relations firm would have been an asset.
Step 6: Communicate directly with affected constituents:
Gupta needed to communicate directly to his employees the position of Coke during this crisis. The employees were the mouthpiece to the community and the