Coca-Cola's response to the threats and opportunities it faces has been largely defensive. The company has introduced new products largely in response to categories that have been created by other companies -- moving into coffee drinks in response to Pepsi's deal with Starbucks and introducing Fruitopia and Nordic Mist (Foust, 2006). These moves are reactionary and despite the company working hard at new innovation, it tends to lag other firms in the creation of innovative products. In addition, the company finds itself on the defensive with respect to taxation and other government relations issues. Moreover, Coca-Cola still finds itself subject to prices of raw ingredients, where it could otherwise have implemented backwards integration, long-term hedging or other strategies to mitigate the potential consequences of commodity price fluctuations.

The result is that Coke has been largely unsuccessful. On the Investor Relations section of its website, Coke puts forth some minor initiatives...
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