Coca Cola Case Study

When I first saw the documentary it made me kind of sad and mad that a big corporation such as Coca Cola, a well known and also respected brand, would treat their employees abroad especially in Colombia like dirt, without any benefits, low wages and even go as far as to kill union members who are there to protect the workers and themselves and are trying to better the working conditions in Colombia, only to lower their costs which will lead to more profit and money for them. I think that I can speak for most people when I say that we did not expect this from Coca Cola. Coca Cola is a STRONG brand whose brand reputation and image is very high among customers. We see Coca Cola as a traditional brand that wants to give the best quality of product to its customers.

As seen in the documentary, Coca Cola is a corporation that gives back to the community for example with scholarships. But clearly Coca Cola is not interested in helping the community in Colombia, where poverty is very high. Coca Cola is only trying to benefit certain stakeholders instead of benefiting all stakeholders minimally. Coca Cola is trying to benefit certain stakeholders in a maximum way. So there is a shift in balance and a gap in the reward/inducement system. Inside stakeholders, as seen in the documentary such as shareholders and managers are abusing their power and authority for their self interest also known as the moral hazard problem, so that they can gain more profit (inducements) and they are not focusing on interests and goals of the workforce who are also inside stakeholders, whose interests are to have a stable employment and decent working condition. Outside stakeholder such as customers like myself are contributing to Coca Cola by revenue from purchases, we think that our money is going to the employees and workforce so that they can have a decent working condition for them to contribute with their skills and expertise, but that is not so. If more customers such as myself had of known from before that the working conditions in Colombia is as it is shown in the documentary I think most of us would stop buying Coca Cola products, because we thought the value of Coca Cola is to give back to their employees, cultures and community, but that is not so in Colombia. Coca Cola is advertising values that they are NOT providing. Other outside stakeholders such as the government in Colombia and the U.S, unions in Colombia and the community are also out in the cold, without any of their interests and benefits being fulfilled by Coca Cola. Which are that Coca Cola respect the rights of its employees in Colombia, which is not the case but also they are not getting back the benefit of their investments, they are trying to better the working conditions in Colombia, but Coca Cola is not letting that happening, which is unethical. My perception of Coca Cola's value is that they aim at Leadership and Integrity, as seen in the document, they are willing to go as far as possible to gain leadership in the market, which is lowering costs at any expense (abroad mostly) so that they can gain more profit and market share. They are not willing to lose their integrity as seen in the documentary, because they are not willing to come to a reasonable agreement to the case. They know that they are responsible for the deaths of union members, their own employees, but they don't want to take responsibility for it, because they think it will hurt their integrity. As I have seen in the documentary, Coca Cola treats their employees (abroad) very badly almost immoral. They are not getting paid the amount of money they deserve (as seen on the documentary with the interview of two workers who earn $1 per hour). And they are not being protected against paramilitaries who are trying to kill union workers with acknowledgement of Coca Cola. I personally think that Coca Cola is responsible for what is happening in Colombia and all the murdering, because