manager
PROBLEM
The Coca-Cola organization is stuck in a mind-set formed during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, when Goizueta made Coke into a growth story that captivated the world. An unwillingness to tamper with the structures and beliefs formed during those glory years has left the company unable to adapt to consumer demands for new kinds of beverages.
TIMELINE
1986
Then Coke President Donald R. Keough
The “49% solution” by then Chief Financial Officer M. Douglas Ivester
Spun off its U.S. bottling operations in late 1986 into a new company known as Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., retaining a 49% stake for itself. At a stroke, Coke erased $2.4 billion of debt from its balance sheet.
1990
As late as the 1990s, Coca-Cola Co. was one of the most respected companies in America
A master of brand-building and management
Coke stock soared 3500% during Goizueta’s 16-year reign
1997
Death of its revered CEO, Roberto C. Goizueta, in October, due to lung cancer
1999
Coke imposed a crushing 7.6% price hike on its bottlers in the late ‘90s as M. Douglas Ivester, now CEO, desperately tried to sustain Goizueta’s profit streak. In late 1999, he resigned.
Ivester’s successor, Douglas N. Daft, tried to work with bottlers but relations have steadily deteriorated since.
2000
Coke’s profits stalled, with operating income falling from $5 billion in 1997 to as low as $3.69 billion in 2000
May 2004
E. Neville Isdell agrees to come out of retirement to become Chief Executive
Third quarter earnings had fallen 24%, the worst quarterly drop at Coke in recent history
Coke’s struggles: the battles with its own bottlers; the aged, overbearing board; the failed CEOs and failed attempts to recruit a successor; the death of new products; the lacklustre marketing
KEY FACTS
All it took was a tour of Coke’s operations in India, China and 14 other key markets this summer for Isdell to see a different reality: Coca-Cola was a troubled company
Since 1997, Coke had make
The Coca-Cola organization is stuck in a mind-set formed during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, when Goizueta made Coke into a growth story that captivated the world. An unwillingness to tamper with the structures and beliefs formed during those glory years has left the company unable to adapt to consumer demands for new kinds of beverages.
TIMELINE
1986
Then Coke President Donald R. Keough
The “49% solution” by then Chief Financial Officer M. Douglas Ivester
Spun off its U.S. bottling operations in late 1986 into a new company known as Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., retaining a 49% stake for itself. At a stroke, Coke erased $2.4 billion of debt from its balance sheet.
1990
As late as the 1990s, Coca-Cola Co. was one of the most respected companies in America
A master of brand-building and management
Coke stock soared 3500% during Goizueta’s 16-year reign
1997
Death of its revered CEO, Roberto C. Goizueta, in October, due to lung cancer
1999
Coke imposed a crushing 7.6% price hike on its bottlers in the late ‘90s as M. Douglas Ivester, now CEO, desperately tried to sustain Goizueta’s profit streak. In late 1999, he resigned.
Ivester’s successor, Douglas N. Daft, tried to work with bottlers but relations have steadily deteriorated since.
2000
Coke’s profits stalled, with operating income falling from $5 billion in 1997 to as low as $3.69 billion in 2000
May 2004
E. Neville Isdell agrees to come out of retirement to become Chief Executive
Third quarter earnings had fallen 24%, the worst quarterly drop at Coke in recent history
Coke’s struggles: the battles with its own bottlers; the aged, overbearing board; the failed CEOs and failed attempts to recruit a successor; the death of new products; the lacklustre marketing
KEY FACTS
All it took was a tour of Coke’s operations in India, China and 14 other key markets this summer for Isdell to see a different reality: Coca-Cola was a troubled company
Since 1997, Coke had make