Coca-Cola PESTEL Analysis

Political

• Coca-Cola is highly involved in political lobbying, as stated on their website. Accordingly, political lobbying is a way that organisations can ensure that their views are heard or at least considered, where political contributions, trade associations and direct advocacy are all tactics employed by Coca-Cola to ensure this (Coca-Cola, 2017).
• Earlier in 2017 American President Donald Trump revealed he had a penchant for Coke, with his office containing a special button to order Coca-Cola from (Oppenheim, 2017). This, alongside with the fact that the American president is consistently encouraging the success of American based brands, indicate that Coca-Cola carry the favour of their country-of-origin governing body.

Economic

• The revenue of Coca Cola has topped Wall Street expectations as a result of more healthy drinks being on tap (Thomas, 2017). Revenue is reported at $9.702 billion as opposed to a forecast of $9.652 billion, with earnings per share adjusted to 59 cents in comparison to an estimate of 57 cents (Thomas, 2017). This is beneficial to the firm, given that analysts predict a global recession in the coming years is possible as a result of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the uncertainty surrounding Trump's administration in the U.S. (de la Mere, 2017).
• In 2017, Coca Cola announced a number of factory closures across the world in a bid to refine their supply chain, with the most recent being announced in the closure of Coca Cola's South Australian factory in 2019 (The Guardian, 2017).

Socio-Cultural

• Latest figures indicate that the United States is the most overweight country in the world, with a large percentage of the population being classed as obese, as a result of the easy access and heavy advertising of fast food (Bedard, 2017). In July 2017, Coca Cola announced that they would replace Coke Zero with a new sugar free drink in the U.S., as the organisation explores and promotes supposedly healthier and sugar-free versions of the original Coca-Cola, perhaps as an attempt to appear proactive in curbing the obesity epidemic (Ramakrishnan, 2017).

Technological

• Coca Cola are presently considered a pioneer in adopting the latest technology, with the organisation employing a unique program called the 'Bridge' program, which is aimed at adopting newer technologies within the company faster than competitors (Forbes, 2017a).

Environmental

• In the UK, Coca Cola have called for a smarter producer responsibility scheme that boosts recycled materials in packaging, and has called upon the soft beverages sector to agree upon a common strategy and priorities for sustainable production (Latchem, 2017).
• While Coca Cola sell more than 100 billion single use plastic bottles per year, the organisation plans to increase recycled plastic use in its bottles to just 50%, signifying a lack of ambition from the organisation to tackle one of the largest environmental challenges presented by the plastic pollution in oceans (Sauven, 2017).

Legal

• With an increasing pressure lying upon food and beverage producers to regulate the ingredients of their products, and ensure that products are free of excessive levels of harmful chemicals, an increasing number of multinational enterprises have found themselves faced with legal disputes. Most recently, Coca Cola have found themselves on the end of a legal dispute in America, where two prominent pastors have filed a suit against both Coca Cola and the American Beverage Association with the claim that manufacturers of carbonated drinks knowingly deceive consumers about the health risks associated with beverages that are sugar-sweetened (Associated Press, 2017).
• All political contributions made my Coca Cola and their associated Political Action Committee are done so in compliance with laws, regulations and corresponding legal requirements for reporting, with senior government relations leaders and senior legal counsel leaders reviewing and approving all political contributions (Coca-Cola, 2017).

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References

• Associated Press. (2017) 'African-American pastors sue Coca-Cola over soda health risks.' Daily Mail. [Online] [Accessed on 16 July 2017] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4697442/2-pastors-file-suit-against-Coca-Cola-soda-health-risks.html
• Bedard, P. (2017) 'Obesity becomes worldwide epidemic, US is the fattest.' Washington Examiner. [Online] [Accessed on 26 July 2017] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/obesity-becomes-worldwide-epidemic-us-is-the-fattest/article/2629712
• Boyd, O. (2017) 'Is it fair to blame Coca-Cola and big corporations for our waste crisis?' The Guardian. [Online] [Accessed on 2 August 2017] https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/aug/02/coca-cola-big-corporations-waste-crisis-plastics-recycling-packaging-circular-economy
• Coca-Cola. (2016) 'Who we are- infographic.' [Online] [Accessed on 22 July 2017] http://www.coca-colacompany.com/careers/who-we-are-infographic
• Coca-Cola. (2017) 'Political Engagement Policy.' [Online] [Accessed on 22 July 2017] http://www.coca-colacompany.com/investors/political-engagement-policy
• De la Mere, T. (2017) 'Brexit could trigger worse crash than 2008, says Vince Cable.' The Guardian. [Online] [Accessed on 17 July 2017] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/29/brexit-could-trigger-worse-crash-than-2008-says-vince-cable#img-1
• Devlin, P. and Davis, A. (2017) 'Dominos ditches Coca-Cola for rivals Pepsi- a day after Woolworths refused to Stock Coke's new sugar free drink.' [Online] [Accessed on 18 July 2017] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4673604/Dominos-ditches-Coca-Cola-Australia.html
• Forbes. (2017a) 'How Coca Cola's 'Bridge' Program Can Help Over The Long Run.' [Online] [Accessed on 17 July 2017] https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/07/07/how-coca-colas-bridge-program-can-impact-its-performance/#33ed1c105207
• Forbes. (2017b) 'Refranchising likely to again be a drag on Coca-Cola's Earnings.' [Online] [Accessed on 24 July 2017] https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/07/24/refranchising-likely-to-again-be-a-drag-on-coca-colas-earnings/#3ef29a061231
• Gee, R. (2017) 'Pepsi sees 'infinite possibilities' in ecommerce.' Marketing Week. [Online] [Accessed on 17 July 2017] https://www.marketingweek.com/2017/07/11/pepsi-to-prioritise-premium-products/
• Latchem, R. (2017) 'Reform producer responsibility scheme says Coca-Cola.' MRW. [Online] [Accessed on 19 July 2017] https://www.mrw.co.uk/latest/reform-producer-responsibility-scheme-says-coca-cola/10021741.article
• Mahoney, L. S., Thorne, L., Cecil, L. and LaGore, W. (2013) 'A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?' Critical perspectives on Accounting, 24(4), pp. 350-359.
• Oppenheim, M. (2017) 'Donald Trump presses a red button on his desk and a butler brings him a Coke.' Independent. [Online] [Accessed on 17 July 2017] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-oval-office-desk-red-button-butler-coke-white-house-us-president-a7703056.html
• Ramakrishnan, S. (2017) 'Coca-Cola to sell Coke Zero in U.S.; profit beats.' Reuters. [Online] [Accessed on 26 July 2017] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-coca-cola-results-idUSKBN1AB1HJ
• Roderick, L. (2017) 'Coca-Cola: We need more courage to become a growth-orientated business.' Marketing Week. [Online] [Accessed on 26 July 2017] https://www.marketingweek.com/2017/07/26/coca-cola-courage-growth/
• Sauven, J. (2017) 'If you care so much, Coke, why aren't your bottles 100% recycled?' The Guardian. [Online] [Accessed on 19 July 2017] https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/13/coca-cola-plastics-pollution-oceans-bottles-packaging-recycling-pr-fizz-greenpeace-john-sauven
• Teece, D. J. (2010) 'Business models, business strategy and innovation.' Long range planning, 43(2), pp. 172-194.
• The Guardian. (2017) 'Coca-Cola to close South Australia factory with loss of nearly 200 jobs.' [Online] [Accessed on 17 July 2017] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/22/coca-cola-to-close-south-australia-factory-with-loss-of-nearly-200-jobs
• Thomas, L. (2017) 'Coca-Cola's earnings, sales top wall street expectations with more healthy drinks on tap.' CNBC. [Online] [Accessed on 27 July 2017] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/26/heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-coca-cola-earnings.html