Introduction
Coca-Cola is an international beverage company that sells its goods globally, serving more than 200 countries. It has the most prominent product brands ranging from sparkly soft drinks, water, carbonated liquid and plant-based beverages. Coca-Cola has realized an increased impact on the market due to its competitive advantage. Therefore, it focuses on retaining a competitive market by promoting effective management and resource mobilization to realize its strategic objectives.
Securing a Competitive Advantage
The critical responsibility for the management of Coca-Cola Company is to ensure that there are strategies for securing a competitive advantage, especially in the current modern environment. In the 21st century, with the highest level of competition, it is domineering for every brand to have an additional source of competitive advantage (Pant & Piansoongnern, 2017). The competitive advantage has made Coca-Cola attain unbeatable character in the global industry
Coca-Cola has a global presence; this is a significant strength in acquiring a global market. The brand’s ability to be represented in almost 300 countries has enabled the company to achieve higher value in product recognition among various competitive brands (Fourne et al.,
2014). Coca-Cola’s product image has been associated with the young age group, reflecting vigour and freshness. Global presence and expansion mean the company will achieve higher sales and better revenues that are the critical reasons for business existence.
Coca-Cola has heavily invested in the supply chain network around the globe, which makes it more competitive in terms of providing products on timely basis. It has one of the significant supply chain and distribution networks across the world. The effective supply chain promotes brand image and allows the company to create an enabling environment for understanding the basic needs of customers based within a specific locality. Retailers in the supply chain are held responsible for maintaining high standards. The company sets particular standards for sales, such as the degree to which coke should be sold. For example, the Coke team may decide that its drinks be served at 36-degree Fahrenheit and not more than 41 degrees (Madu, 2004). This helps in maintaining product quality and creating premium product output.
The other aspect of securing a competitive advantage is keeping the customer prices fixed for an extended period. Coca-Cola has maintained fixed costs for a long period while focusing on the improvement of its brands quality. As a result, consumers became more reliable on the product, increasing its competitive advantages based on customer perceptions. Before applying the fixed price concept, Coca-cola offered products and services for free to attract a customer base (Excelsior College, n.d.). The other strategies used by the Coca-Cola Company to secure the competitive advantage include unique packaging, focusing on differentiation strategy on the product flavours, and initiating massive distribution system across the world.
Strategies Coca Cola Implemented
As a means of promoting successive competitive advantage strategies, Coca-Cola has focused on implementing various approaches. Crafting brands and choices people love geared towards realizing buyer satisfaction and promoting customer-based assessments (VEA Group Ltd, 2012). Currently, Coca-Cola has implemented programs to understand consumer needs, thus helping the company develop an ultimate solution to customer diversified needs. For example, they are creating a more sustainable business by reducing sugar in soft drinks to cater to diabetic customers.
To promote successful sustainable business, Coca-Cola has focused more on customer-oriented by improving customer relationships through advertisements and embracing resident account development. The other aspects involve improving the manual distribution centre and embracing small retail outlets to serve many customers globally. The strategic actions implemented to enable Coca Cola to achieve its goals include establishing and increasing financial efficiency, furthermore, improving process efficiency and focusing more on the competency-based model.
Porters’ Cost Leadership, Differentiation, or Focus Strategies
Coca-Cola Company has embraced strategies based on the market needs and competitiveness level. The Porters’ cost leadership has been effectively used to embrace lower production costs through massive production, ultimately reflecting the nature of product pricing in the market (Porter, 2008). Leverage a business over competitors through offering better value to customers and embracing more excellent product results. Coca-Cola focuses on providing its products across many segments. The Porters’ cost leadership strategy has helped the company achieve more significant revenues and maintain its competitive advantage.
Differentiation strategy focuses on creating various product brands to serve the same purpose. This is one of the major strategies used by Coca-Cola to tap the new market and embrace customer satisfaction (Grimwade, 2010). The customer-oriented approach includes adopting a differentiation strategy to satisfy customer needs. The focus strategy is applied in the direction of activities towards the improvement of business models core competencies.
How to Sustain a Competitive Advantage in Market
To maintain the existing competitive advantage in the market, Coca-Cola should focus on product quality. Maintaining the current product quality will require continuous research on modern product development and embracing positive innovation ideas (Gandolfi, 2013). The other pictures include marketing and product promotion activities such as research and innovation due to technological changes across the global markets. Coca-Cola can only sustain the competitive advantage if it invests heavily in research. Understanding market dynamics and promoting effective management through research, result-oriented assessment, and technological production can improve the existing competitive advantage.
Conclusion
The modern environment requires companies to have an effective means of retaining their competitive advantages. Coca-Cola has embraced the product differentiations, cost effectiveness and diversified distribution channels as the strategies of promoting competitive advantage. Global presence is a model used by Coca-Cola Company to promote effective Competition while focusing on the investment in the new localities. To sustain this competitive advantage, Coca-Cola should focus on Research and Technological development.
References
Excelsior College. (n.d.). Module 7: Gaining a competitive advantage.
Fourne, S. L., Jansen, J. P., & Mom, T. M. (2014). Strategic agility in MNEs: Managing tensions to capture opportunities across emerging and established markets. California Management Review, 56(3), 13-38.
Gandolfi, F. (2013). Marshalling stretched resources to be a successful competitor. In T.J. Wilkinson & V. R. Kannan (Eds.), Strategic management in the 21st century (pp. 29-49).
Grimwade, N. (2010). Competitive advantage. Princeton University Press.
Madu, C. N. (2004). Achieving competitive advantage through quality and environmental management. Environmental Quality Management, 14(2), 59-76.
Pant, D. R., & Piansoongnern, O. (2017). Impact of corporate social responsibility on sustainable competitive advantage: A case study of leading noodle companies in Nepal. International Journal of Social Sciences and Management, 4(4), 275-283.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78-93.
VEA Group Ltd. (2012). Maintaining competitive advantage. The VEA Group website.