Coca-Cola’s Water Neutrality
What was the public issue facing The Coca-Cola Company in this case? What stake-holders were concerned, and how did their expectations differ from the company’s performance?
A Public issue is sometimes called social issues. An issue that is a mutual concern to an organization and one or more of its stakeholders is a Public issue. In this case the public issue facing The Coca-Cola Company was its corporate impact on water quality, availability, and access around the world.
The stakeholders concerned were World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, UNESCO, CARE, various academic experts, and the surrounding villagers. Stakeholder views differed from that of Coca-Cola. Stakeholders saw the company misuse local water supplies while returning high levels of pesticides back into the environment. Coca-Cola saw the use of the water supplies as a cost of doing business with the company.
If you applied the strategic radar screens model to this case, which of the eight environments would be most significant, and why?
The most significant strategic radar screens applied in this case are the Geophysical and Social environment. Due to the dangerous levels of pesticide residues and the bottling plants using too much water that deprived locals of water is modeled as the Geophysical environment.
This case also is applied as a social environment by The Coca-Cola Company not studying the social environment. The company’s bottling plants used too much water which deprived locals from irrigation and drinking water.
Apply the issue management life cycle process model to this case. Which stages of the process can you identify in this case?
All of the life cycle processes can be identified in this case. Coca-Cola was able to identify the issue of impacting the environment of the local community. TCCC was able to analyze the issue after it was brought to them by the local community and conservation groups, such as World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. TCCC then generated options for the community starting with the companies Water Neutrality Initiative. Next the company took action by starting to reduce, recycle, and replenish in areas where the company depleted resources. Finally, the company is continually evaluating and re-evaluating the results along with supporting future environmental projects.
How did TCCC use stakeholder engagement and dialogue to improve its response to this issue, and what were the benefits of engagement to the company?
TCCC listened to the stakeholders concerns closely and treated the concerns with value. Partnering up with local communities and the World Wildlife Fund allowed both parties to focus on communications that would address the environmental issues taking place globally with the company. The benefit to the company is an eco-friendly image, which is a result of established communications and partnership with the World Wildlife Fund.
In your opinion, did TCCC respond appropriately to this issue? Why or why not?
TCCC responded with concerns and an appropriate initiative, only after the bottling plant was shut down in the state of Kerala, India. If the concerns and issues of the community were not voiced, then TCCC processes and practices would have remained the same. The concerns of the community and how the company would affect that community’s local environment should have been TCCC biggest concern upfront.
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