The Coca-Coca Company Struggles with Ethical Crises
: “The Coca-Coca Company Struggles with Ethical Crises”
HRM 522-Ethics and Advocacy for HR Professionals
Abstract
Since the late nineteenth century Coca-Cola has been a successful company. Coco-Cola went to war with its competitor PepsiCo throughout the 1990s as Coca-Cola expanded its market overseas. Its overseas sales increased to the point where over 85 percent of its sales came from outside of the United States (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2011). As a consequence, the Coca-Cola brand and trademark is the most recognized in the world and worth an estimated $25 billion. Yet, by 2000 Coca-Cola failed to make Fortune’s list of most admired American companies because in part of its serious ethics violations like charges of racial discrimination, contractual disputes with distributors, problems with long-term contracts and that Coca-Cola misrepresented market tests (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2011). This paper will examine the ethical issues Coca-Cola encountered to argue that its response to the crisis was handled well but nonetheless deeply affected the company’s bottom line.
Delineate the ethical issues and dilemmas (as found in Chapter 3) the company faced.
Coca-Cola is one of the largest international beverage companies. It is renowned by its brand name and working in more than 200 countries. Coca-Cola has different brands under its name along with PowerAde, Minute Maid, and Dasani water. This company has excelled over the last ten years; however, in recent decades the company struggled to meet its financial objectives and has encountered a number of ethical crises (Ferrell, 2011). An ethical dilemma occurs when an organization or its people are faced with selection one option from two highly undesirable alternatives. The basic reason for occurrence of such issues is the difference between the moral values or ethics and actual organization goals. A personal failure of character is also one of the major reasons behind arising of such problems.
HRM 522-Ethics and Advocacy for HR Professionals
Abstract
Since the late nineteenth century Coca-Cola has been a successful company. Coco-Cola went to war with its competitor PepsiCo throughout the 1990s as Coca-Cola expanded its market overseas. Its overseas sales increased to the point where over 85 percent of its sales came from outside of the United States (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2011). As a consequence, the Coca-Cola brand and trademark is the most recognized in the world and worth an estimated $25 billion. Yet, by 2000 Coca-Cola failed to make Fortune’s list of most admired American companies because in part of its serious ethics violations like charges of racial discrimination, contractual disputes with distributors, problems with long-term contracts and that Coca-Cola misrepresented market tests (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2011). This paper will examine the ethical issues Coca-Cola encountered to argue that its response to the crisis was handled well but nonetheless deeply affected the company’s bottom line.
Delineate the ethical issues and dilemmas (as found in Chapter 3) the company faced.
Coca-Cola is one of the largest international beverage companies. It is renowned by its brand name and working in more than 200 countries. Coca-Cola has different brands under its name along with PowerAde, Minute Maid, and Dasani water. This company has excelled over the last ten years; however, in recent decades the company struggled to meet its financial objectives and has encountered a number of ethical crises (Ferrell, 2011). An ethical dilemma occurs when an organization or its people are faced with selection one option from two highly undesirable alternatives. The basic reason for occurrence of such issues is the difference between the moral values or ethics and actual organization goals. A personal failure of character is also one of the major reasons behind arising of such problems.
References: Coca-Cola Company (2014). Retrieved from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/governance-ethics/governance-ethics .Coca Cola Struggles With Ethical Dilemma Researchomatic (2012).Retrieved from http://www.researchomatic.com/Coca-Cola-Struggles-With-Ethical-Dilemma-141662.html . Donaldson, T., & Preston, L.E., 2006. The stakeholder theory of the corporation: Concepts evidence, and implications. Academy of Management Review, 20: 65-91 Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (8th edition). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Morsing, M. (2006). Corporate social responsibility as strategic auto-communication: On the role of external stakeholders for member identification. Business Ethics: A European Review, 15: 171–182. O’Guinn, T., Allen, C., Semenik, R.J. (2012). Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion (6th Edition). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.