Michael DiFiore
Corporate Social Responsibility Project – BA 342 FA14
The company I have been given to research is Coca-Cola, which is the largest beverage company
in the world, ranked #58 on the Fortune 1000 list. They are headquarted in Atlanta, Georgia,
servicing in 200+ countries and has been refreshing consumers for 128 years. As of 2013, CocaCola had $46.9B net operating revenues with $8.6B in net income, and an $8.5B return to
shareholders in dividends and net share repurchases. They have a $162B market capitalization
with a current stock price of $42.51 and have been consecutively increasing their annual
dividend payout for the last 51 years. When it comes to their worldwide unit case volume
geographic mix, they have 29%, 21%, 18%, 18%, and 14% in Latin America, North America,
the Pacific, Eurasia & Africa, and Europe respectively. Coca-Cola is one of the world’s most
valuable and recognizable brands with 17 billion-dollar sub brands along with many other strong
names that make up the entire company. The major brands include The Coca-Cola Company,
Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola freestyle, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola light, The Coca-Cola
Store, Fanta, glacéau vitaminwater, glacéau smartwater, Minute Maid, Odwalla, POWERADE,
POWERADE ZERO, Sprite, Simply, FRESCA, Mello Yello, FUZE, FUZE tea, Burn, HONEST
tea, and NOS energy drink. Coca-Cola as a whole is the Number 1 provider of sparkling
beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices/juice drinks. Some interesting numbers include its
3500+ different products worldwide being served at a rate of 1.9B per day. Coca-Cola has
700K+ system associates worldwide, while being the #4 Most Admired Company, among the
Top 20 Most Innovative Companies, Top 50 Most Diverse Companies, and was awarded the
Creative Marketer of the Year all in 2013. Of the various brands, 18 of its 20 brands have a low no-calorie alternative or are low - no-calorie drinks. Coupled with this, Coca-Cola has 250+
bottling partners, nearly 900 plants worldwide, 23M+ retail customer outlets, and investing
$30B+ with global bottling partners over the next 5 years to reduce plastic/waste. Coca-Cola’s
mission is to “focus on initiatives that reduce their environmental footprint, support active,
healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for their associates, and enhance the
economic development of the communities where they operate” (About the Coca-Cola
Company; Overview). (Front Page; Coca-Cola At A Glance)
Employees: (General Best Practice and Diversity Best Practice)
From reading different articles and fully going through the Coca-Cola website, it is clear that the
safety and overall wellbeing of their workers is a top priority for the company. When visiting the
website, one of the first tabs available for any reader is a page dedicated to the Safety & Heath
and how that is incorporated on all levels. “At the Coca-Cola Company, our long-term success
depends upon ensuring the safety of our workers, visitors to our operations, and the public”
(About the Coca-Cola Company; Safety & Health). From the paragraphs provided, they have
many regulations and standards to abide by, which they take very seriously. The first tab that
jumps out is their Workplace Rights Policy. This policy includes bolded sections such as
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, Forced labor, Child Labor, Discrimination,
Work Hours and Wages, Safe and Healthy Workplace, Workplace Safety, and Community and
Stakeholder Engagement regulations. Coca-Colas stance on freedom of association and
collective bargaining is that they respect the employees desired to join unions and will be open to
conversations with their representatives if they do so. When it comes to forced labor, the
company prohibits any form. Basically, Coca-Cola has a zero-tolerance for this aspect. Next,
child labor laws are followed whether that is a minimum age requirement of 18 years old or any
practice that does not comply with the Labor Organization standards. Following this, Coca-Cola
is intolerant of discrimination of any kind. Harassment of race, sex, color, nationality, social
origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, or political opinion are not permitted and will
be enforced by the laws set in place. Lastly, Coca-Cola rewards employees accordingly to the
industry and market as a whole. Just like the other regulations, they comply with all laws
regarding hours, overtime, wages, and benefits. Along with these rules, Coca-Cola has a
Guidance and Reporting for Employees section in the policy that highlights communication
without the fear of punishment or judgment. They strongly recommend that any employee who
feels they do not fully understand the entire Workplace Rights Policy or wishes to report a
problem they have noticed should contact the local management, human resources, legal
department, or strategic security. By reinforcing these options, it allows every individual to feel
safe and that they have a say in what goes on at the Coca-Cola Company. Another way of
reporting any violations can be done so through their Ethics Line Internet website, which is
www.KOethics.com. The paragraph specifically states that no retaliation will be taken if any
employee steps forward to report what he or she has seen/heard. “The Company is committed to
investigating, addressing, and responding to the concerns of employees and to taking appropriate
corrective action in response to any violation” (Workplace Rights Policy/Guidance and reporting
for Employees).
Community: (Engagement of Volunteer Time and Giving Money, Goods, Services)
Coca-Cola has one of the strongest presence within in the community given it is the largest and
most recognizable beverage company in the world. Every restaurant or place that sells drinks has
either Coca-Cola or its close competitor, Pepsi products. With this social awareness, it is CocaCola’s duty to its consumers to give back and make a difference to the people who have made
the company into what it is today. To start off, Coca-Cola has many different ways that they
contribute to the community, but I will focus on just a couple of examples that stood out to me.
On their website, under the Community tab, you can find dozens of articles that highlight their
achievements to society. First, Coca-Cola has bridged the digital divide by delivering Wi-Fi
access to rural communities in South Africa. This initiative is designed to bring free Internet
services where access is usually limited. “Through this project, we’re not just refreshing
consumers through our beverages, we’re refreshing them through technology”(David Visser). By
doing so, Coca-Cola is allowing its consumers to grow in way they never thought possible, while
also inspiring more people than before. Second, Coca-Cola has kick started a Christmas
celebration in the Philippines by gathering women micro-entrepreneurs. This event aims to bring
nearly 5,000 women in 6 different cities together for several celebratory events for all of their
hard work through the STAR Program of Coca-Cola Philippines. As an end result, the company
wants to empower 5 million women by 2020. These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg
when it comes to community involvement for Coca-Cola. They also work closely with the
Ronald McDonald House Charity, Cracker Barrel to support our troops, after-school programs
for New York City children to build technology skills, and fighting the Ebola epidemic in West
Africa. They company provides information about its participation in the sports, food, and
entertainment industries. Interesting enough, these meaningful contributions do not even make
up all of the ways Coca-Cola has given back to its community in 2014 alone. (Front Page;
Community)
Environmental: (Sustainability Practices)
Coca-Cola has an entire tab devoted to Sustainability and twice as many articles representing
their efforts than its Community tab. The first article that grasped my attention was the
“Foundation Focus: First water replenishment project launches in Belgium.” This appealed to me
because water is the most essential element for life, which unfortunately most of the world
struggles with to obtain. The project set in motion will restore vegetation in the Stappersven
nature reserve that is close to one of their production plants. This one project will have a major
domino effect on the surrounding environment, providing a strong foundation for growth in the
future. Coca-Cola has taken the initiative to not only provide the first-ever water replenishment
project, but has made the problem of water one of its key areas of focus for sustainability. Next,
Coca-Cola has demonstrated a large emphasis on sustainable packaging and climate protection.
Given that their main product are served in plastic containers and shipped in plastic cases,
sustainable efforts are always being taken for the company. They realize that with such a large
demand of plastic that they must do everything they can to reduce, reuse, and recycle. In fact,
Coca-Cola has prevented 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions across global
manufacturing operations since 2004, recovered 371 million pounds of aluminum and PET
plastic beverage containers as of 2012, replenished roughly 52% of the water used in their
finished beverages in 2012, and distributed 15 billion PlanBottle packages since 2013. They also
support 280+ physical activity or nutrition programs in 115+ countries around the world and
support 40+ sustainable agriculture projects in 25+ countries. (Front Page; Coca-Cola At A
Glance) As you can see from these numbers alone, Coca-Cola puts sustainability at the very top
of their main interests.