Research Paper on:
Management Challenges of Coca Cola

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
then as European chief, the company grew, expanded and prospered but then beginning in late 1997, the walls came tumbling down. Following Goizuetas untimely death from cancer, Ivester was given  the position as CEO based on his shining and exemplary performance during the previous 12 years (Faust, 1999). Ivester faced crisis after crisis, some beyond his control and some he  should have been able to prevent or handle more effectively, all of which caused him to decide to retire in April 2000 (Faust, 1999). Analysts criticized Ivester for poor  responses to a variety of challenges and for inadequate management decisions regarding the companys assets and regarding the way in which he faced management issues concerning incidents like the contamination  scare in Belgium, a messy racial discrimination suit, and battles with foreign regulators over acquisitions and sales practices (Faust, 1999). The contamination incident in Belgium involved inventory management and care  in production. Coca-Cola had spun off its bottling operations to Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), which was a brilliant strategic financial move but the company then did not manage those particular assets  adequately (Rothberg, 1999). Consumers in both Belgium and France complained of becoming ill after drinking Coca-Cola but the company initially did nothing about it (Rothberg, 1999). When school children became  ill after drinking the beverage and parents voiced loud complaints, the company finally investigated the problem (Rothberg, 1999). The contaminated beverages were traced back to the Antwerp bottling company in  Belgium and the government of Belgium banned all further production until the source of the contamination was discovered and corrected (Rothberg, 1999). At that point, the company did a comprehensive  investigation (Rothberg, 1999). What happened was that the Antwerp bottling company did not adhere to Cokes stringent quality control procedures, which resulted in millions of cans of Coke becoming contaminated