⃝Ƨ [staff of vault] vep the coca cola company 2003

BY THE STAFF OF VAULT

© 2002 Vault Inc.

EMPLOYPROFILE

VAULT EMPLOYER PROFILE:

THE COCA-COLACOMPANY

Copyright © 2002 by Vault Inc. All rights reserved.

All information in this book is subject to change without notice. Vault makes no claims as tothe accuracy and reliability of the information contained within and disclaims all warranties.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of VaultInc.

Vault, the Vault logo, and “the insider career networkTM” are trademarks of Vault Inc.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, contact Vault Inc.,150 W22nd Street, New York, New York 10011, (212) 366-4212.

Library of Congress CIP Data is available.

ISBN 1–58131–247-4

Printed in the United States of America

Visit Vault at www.vault.com for insider company profiles, expert advice,career message boards, expert resume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more. viiC A R E E R

L I B R A R Y

The Coca-Cola Company

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1The Coca-Cola Company at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

THE SCOOP 3

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Business Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Major Products & Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

ORGANIZATION 11

CEO’s Bio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Key Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Subsidiaries/Major Divisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Key Competitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

VAULT NEWSWIRE 15

OUR SURVEY SAYS 17

Table of Contents

GETTING HIRED 25

Hiring Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Preparing for the Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Questions to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

ON THE JOB 31

Job Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Career Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

FINAL ANALYSIS 39

RECOMMENDED READING 41

OverviewYou know you’re big when you regard water as your chief competitor. Orwhen your delivery trucks are cheered when they enter a country for the firsttime. Or, for that matter, when one of the world’s most elusive pieces of loreis your secret formula for a drink that is (mostly) fizzy sugar water.

With $20 billion in annual revenue, The Coca-Cola Company has beenextraordinarily successful, especially when one considers that the companypeddles nonessential products. The company, of course, does not view itsproducts as dispensable, but rather as the prime liquid choices you need tosustain your life. It views its growth in terms of “stomach share” rather thanmarket share, and is intent on capturing the world’s thirst.

This international company is an empire unto itself; Coca-Cola employees arefiercely loyal to their employer. Coke’s late CEO Roberto Goizueta neversold the 100 shares of company stock he owned when he fled Cuba. Legionsof employees won’t be caught dead with a Pepsi in their hands (or even Frito-Lay products owned by Pepsi). Many of them exude a pride and enthusiasmfor their employer that is remarkably untempered by either cynicism or asense of individual gain.

Introduction


1C A R E E RL I B R A R Y

Visit Vault at www.vault.com for insider company profiles, expert advice,career message boards, expert resume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more.

Headquarters1 Coca-Cola Plaza Atlanta, GA 30313 Phone: 404-676-2121 Fax: 404-676-6792

THE STATSEmployer type: Public companyStock listing: NYSE (Symbol: KO)Employees: 38,000 (2001)Revenues: $20.1 billion (2001)

UPPERS

• All the Coke you can drink• Kick-ass campus• Unparalleled prestige• Stock options for a historically

lucrative company

DOWNERS

• Conservative atmosphere• Can be difficult to advance• Formal dress code• Highly political company• Pepsi products forbidden

The Coca-Cola Company at a Glance

© 2002 Vault Inc.2 C A R E E RL I B R A R Y

History

The Real Thing was invented in 1886 by Atlanta pharmacist John S.Pemberton in the basement of his house. Pemberton’s bookkeeper, FrankRobinson, named the product after two of its ingredients: coca leaves andkola nuts. Robinson also came up with the distinctive script used for thedrink’s name.

In 1891, druggist Asa Candler bought the rights to the drink for $2,300. Thenext year, he formed the Coca-Cola Company. As a fountain drink, Cokespread quickly. By 1895, it was available in all U.S. states, and by 1898, ithad entered Canada and Mexico.

Although Coke was popular as a fountain drink, it was as a bottled drink thatthe beverage exploded like a can of soda that’s been shaken too long. Candlersold most U.S. bottling rights in 1899 for $1. Within 20 years, a regionalbottling system included 1,000 bottlers. Bottling operations went up in Cuba,Panama, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam in the early part of thecentury, and a manufacturing plant was established in France in 1920. WhenCandler sold the company to Atlanta banker Ernest Woodruff in 1916, thecompany was already worth $25 million. That year, the company alsounveiled the famous contour bottle shape, based loosely on the coca bean.

Woodruff’s son Robert was named president of the company in the early1920s, and remained influential into the 1980s, when he was instrumental inthe selection of Roberto Goizueta to run Coca-Cola. Robert Woodruff’s mainfeat was to spread the Coke gospel throughout the world. Although Coke’srelationship with the Olympics was probably most glaringly obvious in 1996,when the Coke-advertising-smeared Games were held in The Coca-ColaCompany’s hometown of Atlanta, Coke’s history with the Olympics datesback to 1926, when Woodruff first signed on as a sponsor. Woodruff’s otherpioneering efforts included the six-pack and automatic fountain dispensers.

Coke has been responsible for a litany of successful marketing campaigns andslogans. From “The Pause that Refreshes” (1929) to “It’s the Real Thing”(1941), Coke’s slogans have infiltrated the language, while infectiouscommercials, ranging from the Mean Joe Greene commercial to “I’d like toteach the world to sing,” have infused the popular consciousness.

The Scoop





The Scoop

But the history of Coke is also partially the history of its archrival, Pepsi. AsGoizueta was fond of saying, if Pepsi did not exist, Coke would have toinvent it. The “cola wars” officially began in 1898, when Pepsi-Cola wasinvented as a drink to cure dyspepsia. Pepsi was not a serious competitoruntil the 1930s, when the Loft candy store chain, upset that Coke would notsell syrup at a discount, carried the Pepsi brand. The cola wars intensified inthe middle of World War II, when Coca-Cola surreptitiously attempted to getan English legal council to overrule a Canadian Supreme Court decision(which had ruled that name “Pepsi-Cola” was not a copyright infringement).Pepsi had to fly an attorney to London on an Army bomber, and the councilupheld the Canadian decision.

Although no one foresees a resolution to the cola wars, Coke has the clearupper hand for now, especially in overseas markets. Pepsi at one time hadboxed up the Soviet and Eastern European market under exclusive deals, butwith the fall of Communism, those markets have opened up to Coke, whichnow leads in those countries. Other traditionally Pepsi-led markets such asIndia and Venezuela are also now dominated by Coke.

Even one of the most memorable business blunders of our time failed to haltthe Coke juggernaut. In April 1985, alarmed by taste tests that showed thatconsumers actually preferred the flavor of Pepsi to Coke, the companyannounced it was changing its almost century-old formula. New Cokebombed, and horrified customers stockpiled cases of the original formula,while Pepsi gloated and watched its market share rise. Shamed by theirhubris, Coke officials reintroduced its original formula as Coca-Cola Classica few months later. Coke’s market share has soared since. In fact, Pepsi’smarket share is now actually lower than at the time of the formula fiasco.

Business Description

Big red

The Coca-Cola Company makes about 300 brands of drinks and sells itsproducts in 200 countries. Flagship brand Coca-Cola is the world’s best-selling soft drink, and the most recognized trademark on the planet. Other“core” brands include Sprite, Fanta and Diet Coke. As for non-core brands,the world traveler may recognize such Coca-Cola products such as DelawarePunch (Mexico), Kuat (Brazil), Nordic Mist (Chile), Gold Spot (Nigeria),Play (South Africa), Lilt (U.K.), Smart (China), Thums Up (India), or GeorgiaCoffee (Japan). Those unfamiliar with these brands may sample them at the



The Scoop

free-flowing fountains in the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. In the UnitedStates, sales of Coca-Cola products accounted for 43.7% of the nation’s $61.7billion carbonated beverage industry in 2001, with Coca-Cola Classiccapturing a healthy 19.9% of that market. For its part, archrival PepsiCo(known around Atlanta as “The ‘P’ company”) has a 31.6% market share.

Shrimp farming is nothing. Shareholder value iseverything.

Over the past two decades, Coca-Cola has witnessed a fundamental shift inits business strategy. In the early 1980s, the company dabbled in other areasfor a while, acquiring Columbia Pictures in 1982 and even entering theshrimp farming business. Coke has since divested itself of such distractions(selling Columbia Pictures to Sony in 1989) and today is purely a beveragepurveyor. The shift is largely the product of the vision of former CEO RobertGoizueta, whose intense focus on maximizing shareholder value steered thecompany away from diversification and also gave it an outstanding record onWall Street. As of March 2002, Coke’s stock had averaged returns of 30%over an 11-year period, compared to 17% for the S&P 500. In November2001, Fortune magazine listed the Coca-Cola Company as America’s 13th

greatest “wealth creator,” (falling from second in 1998) measured in terms ofeconomic value added and market value added.

As economies tumble, tap water tastes better

Coke derives a full 76 percent of its profits from overseas operations. Thus,given worldwide economic turmoil, industry observers were hardly surprisedwhen Coke announced that its profits for the third quarter 1998 had fallen by13 percent compared to third quarter 1997. In a statement, then-chairman M.Douglas Ivester pointed out: “With a business system operating in nearly 200countries, we are not immune to the economic difficulties existing in manymarkets around the world.” Company 3Q sales figures bore out Mr. Ivester’sobservation. In Japan, which provides Coke with 20% of its worldwideprofits, sales stayed flat, while in troubled Indonesia case volume (a measureof sales) took a 21% plunge. In Russia, a particular focus of marketing effortsand investment, sales tumbled by 20% from third quarter 1997, and inGermany, the company bemoaned bad weather and “continued structuralchange” for a 9% dip in sales. As for unsteady Brazil, Coke found itselflosing out to cut-rate local brands. One Brazilian told The New York Times:“Coke is much better, but too expensive.”




The Scoop

By the end of 2001, new leadership and changing conditions had restoredsome of the bubble to Coke’s outlook. Worldwide case sales had climbed12% between 1999 and 2001, with formerly troubled Indonesia reporting a32% increase in 2000 alone. The other Asian markets also responded well tothe company under Doug Daft, showing the value of his experience in theregion.

If early signs of recovery and Doug Daft’s strong leadership haven’t keptCoke employees and shareholders from despair, Warren Buffett’s continuedsupport sure has. The Nebraskan billionaire, whose Berkshire Hathawaycontrols about 200 million shares of Coca-Cola, doesn’t plan to start dumpingCoke stock anytime soon. “In given countries at given times there will behiccups,” Buffett told The New York Times, “but that doesn’t take your eye offwhere you want to be 10 or 15 years from now, which is to have everybodydrinking nothing but Coke.”

Coke is it – all over

Coke’s marketing strategy focuses on what it calls the “three P’s”: Preference,Pervasiveness, and the Price/Value relationship of company brands. Theoperative term here is “pervasiveness.” In 1927, Coke’s slogan was “Aroundthe Corner from Everywhere” – the current strategy could well be called“Everywhere.”

First, with a strategy that reflects the tobacco industry’s “get ‘em whilethey’re young” approach, Coke is flooding American public schools with itsproducts. In addition to signing exclusive contracts with school systems, thecompany has boosted its presence on campus by building softball fields,establishing teacher awards at K-12 schools and offering scholarships andinternships at state universities.

Second, there’s sports. Coke’s strenuous marketing efforts at the 1996Summer Olympics left a bad taste in the world’s collective mouth. But thatdidn’t stop the company from entering into a global marketing partnershipwith NASCAR racing, or from setting up an association with World CupSoccer with a campaign called “Eat Football, Sleep Football, Drink Coca-Cola.”

Finally, there’s, well, everywhere else. The company aims to put vendingmachines in tanning salons, hair salons, dance studios – basically everywhereanyone could conceivably drink. The company claimed to have over 2.4million coolers, dispensers and vending machines in operation. Coke is alsotrying to outmuscle competitors with tactics such as offering incentives to



The Scoop

convenience store owners and movie theater concessionaires for giving itextra display space (movie theater audiences, as temporary captives, are anespecially appealing target for Coke).

A watery goal

Lest you think Coke is wedded to carbonation, think again. In February 1999,Coke rolled out its first line of bottled spring water, Dasani. The introductionof Coke’s new bottled water line was supposed to be secret, but fittingly, newsof its debut was “leaked.” (In 1998 Pepsi introduced its own brand of bottledwater in the United States: Aquafina.) Coke also sells a bottled water calledBonAqua in several foreign countries. Coke is thought to have resistedoffering its own brand of bottled water because the size of the water marketis relatively small compared to the soft drink market. According to analysts,the U.S. bottled water market tripled in size over 10 years to $5.7 billion in2000 (a mere fraction of the $68 billion soft drink market), becoming now bigenough to tempt Coke. Other considerations include profit margins – simplynot as high in the bottled water market – and the possibility that water salesmay cannibalize high margin soft drink sales. Nonetheless, Coke’s entry intothe bottled water market has been strong; Dasani was the No. 2 brand ofbottled water in the U.S. in 2001, holding 8.6% of the market.

Coke versus the competition

Naturally, the competition hasn’t taken such aggressive marketing andbusiness strategies lying down. Au contraire, Coke’s competitors, especiallyPepsi, have frequently and vociferously protested Big Red’s drive to getbigger, notably by petitioning antitrust regulators around the world.

In the United States, Pepsi filed a suit in June 1998 claiming that Coke’spractice of muscling competition out of deals with independent distributorssuch as movie theaters and restaurants violated antitrust law. Coke quicklymoved to dismiss. The case is still under appeal

In Europe, a particularly stinging setback came in September 1998, whenFrench antitrust regulators rejected Coke’s proposed acquisition of the quirkyOrangina Brand, held by French-based Pernod-Ricard S.A. The deal hadbeen challenged by, you guessed it, Pepsi, whose products are distributed byOrangina throughout France. For its part, Coke had gone to great lengths toimmunize the deal from antitrust issues, even to the point of signing an accordguaranteeing Orangina workers both their jobs and a rather continental 35-hour workweek. However, with a 50% share of the French soft drink market,




The Scoop

Coke’s position was dubious, especially given the tough antitrust climate thatcharacterizes Europe these days.

Coke has also faced antitrust challenges in South America. For example, thecompany scored a victory in Venezuela when it managed to woo the country’slargest bottler away from Pepsi in 1996. In December of the same year,however, Venezuelan authorities slapped Coke with a $2 million fine forviolating laws that “prohibit concentrations restrictive to free competition.”

Other suits include a 1998 antitrust investigation in Italy and a 2000 suitagainst bottling and distribution operations in Mexico. The Mexican courtsresolved the case in August 2002 with restrictions but no fines.

Bottling and consolidation

The Coca-Cola Company is increasingly a vertically integrated organization.In 1986 Coke bought two large ownership groups that owned bottlingoperations, and combined them with its own bottlers to create Coca-ColaEnterprises (CCE), a separate, publicly traded company, in which the Coca-Cola Company retains about 45 percent ownership. CCE has furtheredCoke’s consolidation through a string of acquisitions – in October 1998, CCEannounced letters of intent to acquire six U.S. bottlers for $770 million. The$5 billion spending plan, however, has meant taking on considerable debt, afact that alarmed investors, especially since no increased positive cash flowwas projected until 1999. CCE responded by taking on more debt torepurchase millions of shares. One consultant told The New York Times: “Tome, that’s not the way to use shareholder capital, and it’s capital they don’thave, because they had to borrow to do it,” though another analyst opined tothe Times that the repurchase was “fabulous.”

Abroad, Coke has also been restructuring its global bottling system byconsolidating hundreds of small bottlers into a group of “anchor” bottlers,well-capitalized companies that work closely with Coca-Cola. For example,following the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Coke quickly set up operationsin eastern Germany. As business improved, Coke merged its eastern Germanbottlers with three other bottlers in southwest Germany to form an anchor.



The Scoop

Major Products & ServicesCoca-Cola: The world’s most valuable brand (estimated value of about$69.6 billion in 2002) is also far-and-away the world’s best selling soft drink.

Diet Coke/Coke Light: The world’s third best-selling soft drink, behindCoca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. Introduced in 1982, Diet Coke captured almost10 percent of the U.S. soft drink market within a few years. The product isknown as Coke Light in many markets abroad.

Fanta: The company’s second largest-selling brand outside the UnitedStates.

Sprite: Introduced in 1961, Sprite has overtaken Cadbury Schweppes’ 7-Upas the world’s most popular lemon-lime soft drink. In the United States,Sprite sales grew by 13% in 1997. Industry analysts attributed the drink’ssuccess to high-profile youth-targeted ads that groom the soft drink as acutting-edge yet quirky beverage. Sales of Sprite have leveled off, with 668.1million cases sold in 2001, a 1.5% gain over 2000.

Minute Maid juices: The majority of Coke’s juices are sold in the U.S. andCanada. The brand is the world’s leader in juice and juice drinks.

Barq’s Root Beer: Barq’s was founded by New Orleanian Edward Barq in1898. After decades of producing root beer to accompany crawfish and friedoyster po-boys for the good citizens of New Orleans, Barq’s Inc. wasacquired in 1994 by Coke. Distribution skyrocketed from 8,000 outlets to100,000 outlets, and Barq’s is now the best selling root beer in the country.

POWERaDE: Introduced by Coke in 1990 to enter the growing sports drinkcategory, POWERaDE is now offered in 20 markets worldwide.

Fruitopia: Coke’s belated response to the sudden ascendance of Snapple.Another one of those mega-corporate products dressed up to lookhomegrown, the drink was introduced in March 1994. Because of Coke’smoney and muscle (Fruitopia stands in movie theaters, widespread Fruitopiavending machines, etc.), Fruitopia has been a moderate success. Coke hasgradually upped its ante on this product, increasing its marketing budget eachyear, from $10.2 million in 1995 to $12 million in 1996 to an estimated $15to $20 million in 1997.




The Scoop

Compensation

Pay

Assistant Brand Manager, Financial Analyst: $60,000 to $70,000 with a$10,000 to $15,000 bonus and 10 percent year-end bonus

Although pay at Coke isn’t as high as at other top-of-the-line consumer goodscompanies such as P&G and General Mills, MBAs are eligible for stockoptions and a bonus upon their first promotion, which, insiders say, usuallyhappens in a year or two (some high-flying MBAs get options immediately).With the great performance of KO stock, one recent MBA hire notes sagely,the options are “a very lucrative way to garner personal wealth.”

Perks

• Discounted lunches

• Company credit union

• Health club on campus

• Stock purchase plans

• Drink pop till you drop

• Special tickets at most concerts


The Coca-Cola Company is divided into four main soft drink businesssectors: Americas; Asia; Europe, Eurasia and Middle East; and Coca-ColaVentures. Coca-Cola Ventures, which includes the Minute Maid Company,manages the company’s non-carbonated beverage business, arranges strategicpartnerships and identifies new opportunities for the corporation. Thecompany also maintains the Africa Group, a separate unit devoted to thatregion.

CEO’s Bio

Coke Head: Douglas N. Daft

The election of Douglas Daft as CEO broke the company’s chain ofinheritance; Robert Woodruff groomed the late Roberto Goizueta to replacehim, and Goizueta in turn made M. Douglas Ivester his protégé. Aggressivecompetitor Ivester apparently hoped to insert Jack Stahl as CEO and hissuccessor, but the position went to cheerful Daft. Stahl resigned as presidentshortly thereafter when Daft announced a corporate reorganization.

Daft, the eleventh CEO of Coca-Cola, rose through the corporate ranks,joining the company in 1969 as a planning officer in his native Sydney,Australia. He entered the executive ranks in 1984 as president of Coke’sCentral Pacific Division and held several regional executive positionscovering the Middle and Far East. He became President and Chief OperatingOfficer of the Coca-Cola Company in 1999. He replaced M. Douglas Ivesteras CEO in February 2000; Ivester had held the position for a mere two yearsbefore leaving the company.

Since becoming CEO, Daft has worked to correct the missteps of hispredecessor and improve corporate efficiency. Among his efforts are a seriesof changes in key executive positions, a shift to a less centralized structureand a layoff of 20 percent of Coke’s workforce. He has also formed a numberof partnerships with such food giants as Procter & Gamble (for juice drinks)and Nestlé (for tea and coffee), expanding the company’s line to more than300 brands in some 200 countries.

The product expansion is not immediately apparent to consumers in any onemarket (worldwide rollouts of Diet Coke with Lemon and Vanilla Coke in2002 notwithstanding), because Daft has seen to it that Coke products are

Organization





Organization

regional. Products like Georgia brand ready-to-drink coffee and MarochaGreen Tea are targeted at Japan, while Fioravanti fruit-flavored sodas sell bestin Ecuador and Play is popular in South Africa. Daft has put productdevelopment power into the hands of regional managers.

Daft, 58, holds a BS in mathematics from the University of New England andearned his MBA from the University of New South Wales. He serves on theboards of 11 different companies and foundations, including SunTrust Banksand the Boys & Girls Clubs of America; conspiracy theorists will beinterested to know that he is also a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Locations

Atlanta, GA (world headquarters)

Houston, TX (headquarters of the Minute Maid Company)

Facilities in all 50 states and worldwide

Key Officers

CEO & Chairman: Douglas N. Daft

Chief Marketing Officer: Stephen C. Jones

President, Americas Group: Jeffrey T. Dunn

President, Africa Group: Alexander B. Cummings Jr.

President, Asia Group: Mary E. Minnick

President, Europe, Eurasia and Middle East Group: A. R. C. “Sandy” Allan

President, Coca-Cola Ventures: Steven J. Heyer

CFO: Gary P. Fayard

General Counsel: Deval L. Patrick



Organization

Ownership The Coca-Cola Company is publicly traded on the New York StockExchange. Its ticker symbol is KO.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is the company’s largest shareholder,with 8 percent of the stock. One share of KO stock purchased in 1919 for $40would have been worth more than $216,000 by 2001.

Subsidiaries/Major DivisionsMinute Maid Company: Acquired by Coca-Cola in 1960. Formerly Coca-Cola Foods, this division was renamed The Minute Maid Company in 1996to better reflect its standing as the world’s leading brand of juice and juicedrinks. This division took major steps toward international expansion in1996, forming an alliance with European food conglomerate Groupe Danoneto focus on consumers in Europe and Latin America, and forming anotherpartnership with Brazil’s Sucocitrico Cutrale Ltda.

Coca-Cola Enterprises: This company is a separate entity from Coca-Cola,though it is 44 percent owned by Coke. It was formed in 1986, when Cokebought its two largest bottling concerns, made them a corporation, and tookthem public. CCE had net operating revenues of $15.7 billion in 2001.Several of the key managers of the Coca-Cola Company sit on CCE’s board.The company controls about 80 percent of the Coke bottling in the U.S., andalso bottles in Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Coca-Cola Amatil: Like Coca-Cola Enterprises, only based in Australia. In1998, Coca-Cola Amatil spun off its European business, which became Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd.

Coca-Cola currently controls close to 44 percent of the nearly $62 billionNorth American carbonated beverages market, and constantly seeks to gain afull 50 percent. Although Coke’s national market share is up from 41 percentin 1990, most consider the domestic goal a reach. Where Coke is really kingis outside the U.S.: 76 percent of Coke’s profit comes from outside NorthAmerica. The company controls a 48 percent market share of theinternational soft drink market; Pepsi can claim only 17 percent. With itsMinute Maid brands leading the way, Coca-Cola is also the world’s largestdistributor of juice drinks.




Organization

Key CompetitorsPepsi-Cola Company: Coca-Cola’s chief competitor, with nearly 32 percentof the national market. In terms of revenues, Pepsi’s $26.9 billion in sales in2001 in fact topped Coca-Cola’s $20 billion. However, half of Pepsi’s totalsales come from Frito-Lay, the leading producer of corn and potato chips suchas Lays and Doritos. Pepsi also has a joint venture with Lipton. In contrastto Coke’s primarily international distribution, Pepsi generates 70 percent ofits revenue in the U.S. In October 1998, Pepsi introduced Pepsi One, a newone-calorie soft drink that is sweetened through a mix of aspartame and Ace-X, a sweetener newly approved by the FDA, for which it has high hopes.

Quaker Oats Company: Quaker makes Gatorade sports drinks, whichcompete with Coke’s POWERaDE (Notice the name similarity?). Quaker(perhaps better known for its oatmeal and Aunt Jemima products) recentlytried to move more strongly into the beverage industry by buying Snapple for$1.7 billion in 1995. But the move turned out to be a fiasco – Quaker took areported $1.4 billion loss when it sold Snapple to Triarc Companies in 1997.

Triarc Companies: This New York-based company has subsidiaries rangingfrom restaurants (Arby’s) to propane distribution. It produces RC Cola, asmall competitor of Pepsi and Coke. More importantly, it took Snapple offof the Quaker Oats Company’s hands for a rock bottom $300 million in 1997.Sales for the group in 1997 were $794.8 million. The story has changed forTriarc since that transaction, though: the group sold Snapple to CadburySchweppes in late 2000, and Triarc’s sales totaled just $92.3 million in 2001.Triarc officials have also joined Pepsi in getting more aggressive aboutchallenging Coca-Cola’s allegedly anti-competitive behavior.

Cadbury Schweppes: In 2001 U.K.-based Cadbury Schweppes’ globalbeverage business brought in $3.4 billion in 2001,or 40 percent of its totalrevenues. The group, producer of Schweppes and Canada Dry mixers,acquired a partial interest in Dr. Pepper/7-Up in 1986, and in 1995 bought therest of the company, thereby acquiring Sunkist, A&W Root Beer and Dr.Pepper. While Dr. Pepper has been a strong performer, 7-Up has falteredlately, slipping from the nation’s fourth most popular drink to the eighth –much to the chagrin of Cadbury.



October 2002: Pepsi thinks inside the box

Coca-Cola files a civil suit against PepsiCo, alleging that Pepsi infringed onCoke’s patented technology for more efficiently mixing fountain drinks. Thebag-in-box method, developed by Coke, reduces syrup waste and the need foroperator attention.

June 2002: Negotiating for water rights

Coca-Cola acquires 51% equity in French water merchant Danone, producerof Dannon and Sparkletts brand bottled water. Danone’s water coolerdelivery service and Evian brand were not part of the arrangement, nor wasCoke’s Dasani brand involved.

May 2002: Mixing with the competition

Coke acquires the various Seagram mixers, including its popular ginger ale,tonic water and seltzer, from Pernod Ricard. Terms of the agreement were notdisclosed.

January 2002: Branching out

Coca-Cola Nestlé Refreshments, a joint venture between the two companies,becomes an independent entity answerable to a joint committee. The newcompany, Beverage Partners Worldwide, will continue to produce and marketready-to-drink tea, coffee and herbal beverages.

December 2001: Coke acquires and killsOdwalla

Beverage producer Odwalla becomes part of the Coca-Cola family whenCoke purchases more than 95% of the company’s outstanding stock in a cashtender offer. The company’s beverages are no longer sold.

May 2001: Coke gets Mad

The Coca-Cola Company acquires Greenwich, Conn.-based drink maker MadRiver Traders. Mad River primarily produces teas, juices and carbonatedbeverages aimed at U.S. consumers leading active lifestyles.

Vault Newswire




Vault Newswire

November 2000: Coke settles discriminationsuit

Coca-Cola agrees to pay $192.5 million to settle a 1999 racial discriminationsuit by black workers.

The settlement includes $113 million in cash, $43.5 million in salaryadjustments and $36 million to establish an oversight program. The companyalso agreed to pay $20 million in attorneys’ fees and will donate $50 millionto its own community program foundation.

March 2000: Coke trims operations

The company announces numerous organizational changes, including severalexecutive position changes and a 20% workforce layoff. Jack Stahl, onceexpected to succeed former CEO Ivester, resigns.

March 2000: Less Coke in our schools

Coke scales back its aggressive marketing campaigns in schools. The newprogram calls for non-exclusive sales agreements, non-commercial signageon vending machines, a broader array of beverages including juice-based andwater drinks, closer compliance with school administrators’ guidelines andother factors.

February 2000: New head for Big Red

Douglas N. Daft becomes chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company,replacing M. Douglas Ivester. Daft begins to institute a number of changes tothe management and operational structure of the company.


Coke nation

At The Coca-Cola Company, employees are fervently attached to theiremployer. “Everyone is very loyal to the company,” one employee says.“They are very proud of all of the accomplishments achieved there.” “It is awonderful company,” says another insider, a 15-year Coke veteran. “There isa certain amount of pride many of us take knowing that we have helped getus to this point.” Indeed, Coke is the very lifeblood of the company, and itsemployees shun the sainted liquid at their peril. Says one former financialauditor who describes the company’s culture as “quite strong: people here areexpected to drink Coke.”

But it’s not just a matter of red-and-white pom-poms and megaphones atCoke. The “intense” loyalty meshes with what is invariably described as a“conservative” atmosphere, an ambience linked to the sheer size of thecompany. “Coke has a very corporate, conservative culture,” says oneinsider. “People are very nice here, but it’s definitely a reserved atmosphere.”“The company’s culture is aggressive but can seem slow if you don’t see thebig picture – steering a tanker is not like steering a 20-foot sailboat,” reportsone insider. “Coke is a large company and has a large company corporateculture. The company is very proud of its heritage and integrity, and isconservative by nature,” another says. This mix of “rah-rah” cheerleadingand “stuffy reserve” leads to somewhat cryptic comments from insiders like:“Coke people tend to be professional in dress and nature, and tend toward theconservative in behavior. This is not to say enthusiasm is not appreciated. Inmany cases, it is required.”

The mother ship

“There is very tight security before you even get into the area, and itcontinues throughout the complex,” says one insider of the corporateheadquarters. What are company officials concerned about? Maybe thatpeople will figure out just how self-contained and complete the complex is,or that an interloper will somehow manage to snatch a free Sprite. “Thecomplex basically has all you need right here,” says one insider, “There’s acafeteria, a gift shop, a travel agency, and a medical services office all in thecomplex. People don’t tend to leave to go out to lunch because the cafeteriahere is so big and inexpensive.” The headquarters of Coca-Cola, located indowntown Atlanta, also houses a credit union office, a bank, a health club, adry cleaning service, a gift shop, and its very own branch of the U.S. Post

Our Survey Says





Our Survey Says

Office. “The place is beautiful,” says one insider, “The first time I visited, Iknew I had to work here.” “The buildings are very well maintained and veryclean. They changed the carpet in the main lobby area about five times whileI was there,” says a former employee who worked downtown for less thantwo years. About 6,000 to 7,000 employees work downtown.

Of the attractions at headquarters, the cafeteria seems to hold a special placein employees’ hearts. “I have been told by consultants and contractors whohave worked all over Atlanta that the cafeteria here is the best by far,” saysone. “The cafeteria is the best I have ever eaten at, food and prices,” saysanother insider. “Since drinks are free, you can eat lunch there every dayunder $3.00. And for that you get an entrée, two vegetables, and dessert.”

There’s also the HealthWorks POWERaDE Athletic Club. The companyactually has a “Health Management Department” staffed with “Health andFitness Specialists” whose job it is to reduce health care costs and encouragehealthy habits in the company. The company subsidizes all of the services atCoca-Cola’s home campus.

KO OK

The Coca-Cola Company likes to say that “Coca-Cola” is the second-bestknown expression in the world, next to “OK.” No wonder “The Coca-ColaCompany” stands out on a resume. Add in the ubiquity of the product and theoutstanding performance of “KO” stock in the last few decades, and you’vegot a recipe for super-high prestige – especially in finance and marketing.“The company’s reputation got me into a great business school,” says oneformer employee. “I can tell you that Coca-Cola is the best corporation inAmerica to work for,” says one insider. “Coke has a great reputationeverywhere in almost every area they are in. There is quality in everythingthey do, and they work very hard at maintaining that quality,” says another.

Pay is good…

Insiders say compensation at Big Red is good, but not stellar. “The pay is inline with that of other blue chips – which means significantly higher thansmall companies – with a special difference that people get stock options atCoca-Cola at much lower levels than in most other blue chips,” one R&Demployee says. Coke also offers bonuses for more senior employees. Termsused by insiders to describe the pay scale at Coca-Cola include “competitive,”“generous,” and “varies a great deal, depending on your education andexperience.”



Our Survey Says

...but the benefits are great

Insiders describe Coke’s benefits package in glowing terms; “one of the mostcomprehensive around,” “the best around,” “excellent,” and “wonderful” areamong the comments Vault heard. Besides the benefits of the corporatecampus, employees have the option to finance their car with the help of thecompany, have several healthcare plans to choose from, have a tuitionreimbursement a stock-purchase, and enjoy a 401(k) plan that has made manya Coke employee’s retirement a golden one. There are also “days off at SixFlags Atlanta,” “free ice-skating,” “Thanksgiving Dinner,” and “availableconcert tickets in the Coca-Cola section – the front – at almost any majorvenue in the country.” And of course, there is the “all-you-can-drink” aspectof working at Coke, reportedly distributed through coolers, fountains, andvending machines rigged so all you have to do is push the button and theCoke comes out. “You never need pay for a soft drink again between 9 a.m.and 5 p.m,” says one employee. “You can OD on the free Cokes, Sprites, andFrescas.”

Perhaps the best perk at Coke is the stock options. Says one employee: “Inthe long run, total compensation is probably higher than it is elsewhere, butyou need to be patient – options can have long vesting periods, and bonusonly comes in at a given threshold that entry-level employees are unlikely toobtain to very soon.” One finance MBA is less reserved: “They start outsmall and they fool you. I think people fail to realize how potentiallylucrative this place is. By the time you’re 55, you’re sitting on $10 million,and it’s growing exponentially. There are secretaries floating around herewho are millionaires.” Another exuberant insider adds: “There’s no place likeit, save investment banks. People talk about Microsoft and the stock options.But that’s nothing compared to Coke.”

And we work to earn it

Workdays vary from department to department but are generally on the longside, although not nearly as long as consulting or investment-banking hours.“People tend to arrive early and work late,” says one insider at corporateheadquarters. Some employees have flexible hours, but others are “9 to 5with a 30 minute lunch.” Flex-time is “at the discretion of your immediatesupervisor.” For those on the upward track, expect long days: “The reality isthat I don’t know many people working less than 9 to 10 hours a day,” saysone employee. “Hours can vary from a 40-hour work week to a 60 or 70 hourweek, which many of us seem to be working on a regular basis,” another says.“If you are on salary, you work until the job is done, however long that takes.”




Our Survey Says

“Standard workweek at corporate is 37.5 hours officially. Unofficially it’susually 45 to 50 a week. More if you really want to climb,” reports an Atlantaheadquarters employee. However, one recent MBA hire tells Vault: “Peoplehere are not so unreasonable as to not understand the need for a life. I neverwork weekends.”

Button up, Johnny!

Although dress varies a bit from department to department, Coke is generallydescribed as having a “formal” dress code.” Marketing and some of yourmore hip divisions will sometimes have casual Fridays, but the Executive andTechnical Engineering divisions have strict suit-and-tie-only dress codes,”says one insider. “People are expected to wear suits or business attire everyday,” says an employee at corporate headquarters. “Most men wear dark suits,women are expected to wear skirt suits,” says another. One employee evenreports that “there had been casual days in the past, but no longer.” As oneCoke insider sums up: “The dress code here is business attire. No casualdays, as we are a professional organization that must always look that way.Casual day is not in the corporate dictionary.”

Image is everything

Despite Coke’s anti-authoritarian, ultra-successful “Image is nothing, Thirstis everything, Obey your thirst,” ad campaign for Sprite, Coke is a companythat employees describe as extremely “strict” and “image-conscious,” asexemplified by the “tight security” at their corporate headquarters and formaldress code. “It is an ‘appearance is everything’ place to work,” says oneinsider. “There are certain ways of doing things that most people areexpected to adhere to,” says another. “Since visitors from all over the worldare there almost all the time, Coke employees are always very conscious ofhow they present themselves,” reports a former computer contractor. “Thatis not to say they are worried about it and show that worry, but in a subtle waythey do understand that the face they show is the face of Coke.”

Coke United Nations

Coke is not known for its outstanding record on diversity efforts, but ifemployees in Atlanta are to be believed, corporate headquarters is teachingthe world to sing in perfect harmony. “One of the things I especially likedwas the many languages you could hear spoken in the cafeteria and hallwaysof the corporate offices. It is truly an international company,” says oneinsider. “Coke hires people of all different races, religions, and cultures. It



Our Survey Says

is a very diverse company,” says another. “Going to lunch sometimes givesme the feel of what the cafeteria at the United Nations must be like,” addsanother insider. And one satisfied employee volunteers: “I work in a verydiverse and comfortable environment where everyone’s points of view andopinions are important.” Insiders point out that Coke’s revered former CEO,Roberto Goizueta, was a Cuban immigrant, with what one employeedescribes as “a very heavy accent.”

Mum’s the word

Employees tend to be less effusive when discussing the status of women atheadquarters. Although no one mentions any special programs or hard-hitting recruiting efforts, female employees tell Vault they are treated “fairly,”with “good opportunities for advancement.” “There are many women inmanagement,” says one former employee. “People are treated based on howthey perform rather than on their sex or race.” Adds one senior manager, “Mydirector is female, leading a 600-person group, and five of my peers arefemale, four are male.” In addition, two women sit on Coke’s 14-memberboard.

Hard to get in, even harder to get up

As one would expect, it can be hard to crack the Coca-Cola nut. “In alldepartments across the board, employment is extremely competitive and jobsare very hard to secure,” says one employee. “They are a very hard companyto get on board with, and the benefits and pay show it,” says another. “Entrylevel positions are pretty rare in the Coca-Cola Company,” one employeereports. “Most associates, other than administrative and support staff, haveadvanced degrees and several years of business experience before beingconsidered for positions here.” Says one insider: “The depth of talent aroundhere is awe-inspiring.”

But insiders say that getting hired is actually the easiest part if you plan to riseto the frothy top of the firm. “Coke seems to hire the best, and it is againstthe best that you will compete for promotion and opportunities,” says oneinsider. “One downer about Coke is that everyone here is so good it reallytakes a lot to stand out,” says another. While high-quality competition wouldseem to be a fact of life at most top-tier firms, at Coke, some employeesreport something closer to a systemic stifling of career ambitions. Formeremployees often indicate the difficulty of advancement as a reason they left.“I really enjoyed working at Coke but found that I was stifled from an overallcareer path. I was looking for more of an opportunity to work harder and




Our Survey Says

climb faster,” says one former employee. “There weren’t a great deal ofadvancement opportunities,” offers another former Coke staffer, adding: “Ifelt trapped; there were a lot of lateral moves, but no vertical ones.” And froma former finance employee: “It’s easier to be hired by Coke than to bepromoted. They tend to hire lots of senior people from outside instead ofhiring from within.”

Moreover, many insiders say that advancement at Coke, more so than otherlarge companies, depends a lot on who you know. “Coke is a very politicalplace,” says one former employee. “You will do well if you know the rightpeople and make the right contacts and ‘suck up’ to the right people. One ofthe reasons I am not there now is that I would not suck up to certain people.”A Coke business development insider sums it up: “This is a club. It is anexclusive club. And you’ve got to know somebody not only to get in, but tomove up.”

Coke nation, not Coke family

Coke workers give generally positive, albeit somewhat lukewarm,descriptions of how higher-ups treat the hoi polloi. “They tend to treat theiremployees well,” says one insider. Another agrees “People are generallytreated well.” As far as socializing among colleagues of the same level, it’s“pretty good,” reports one recent MBA hire. However, “we do most of it onour own,” say insiders. “The company doesn’t lend a guiding parental hand.”

Highly satisfied

Overall, most Coke employees tell Vault they are “extremely satisfied” withtheir careers at Coca-Cola. “I have worked here almost seven years and Ienjoy it very much,” says one representative insider. Another adds: “I haveworked at Coca-Cola for about 25 years…Obviously I have mostly goodthings to say about the company or I wouldn’t have worked here for all theseyears.” “I have worked for the Coca-Cola company for two years and havebeen pleased with my experience,” says yet another. And finally: “I havebeen with The Coca-Cola Company since 1982, and it is a wonderfulcompany.” Yes, Coke has a lot of long-term employees.

Much of the reason for the high company satisfaction is that employees havegrown fat on KO stock – and because they feel they’ve helped make thecompany one of the strongest in the world. “I don’t only like working here,I am also very proud of being part of such a great company,” says oneengineering development employee. It’s enough to make some Coke



Our Survey Says

employees get all sentimental, even sappy: “It has been a rewarding,educational, and fulfilling experience,” says one. “I could go on and tell you100 more times that Coke is a great company to work for… I truly believeCoke wants good things to happen to its employees.”




Hiring ProcessCoca-Cola’s hiring varies by department (finance vs. marketing) and alsodivision. Some departments within certain divisions, such as brandmanagement in the Americas Group, use summer internships for MBAs as aprimary hiring tool, but others, such as finance, have no formal internshipprogram. “Coca-Cola recruits in every possible way, depending on the timing,the department and the school: on campus, write-ins, headhunters, etc.,”reports one insider.

Each department has different “core schools” at which they recruit. Here’s abreakdown of the Marketing and Finance departments:

For Brand Management, Coca-Cola hires from seven “core businessschools:” Harvard, Kellogg, Fuqua, Clark-Atlanta, Emory, the University ofMichigan, and Wharton. Recruiters estimate they look at about 1,000applicants overall for this department, 300 of whom go through the recruitingprocess. For the Marketing Program Development internship, the companyrecruits from Andersen, Fuqua and Kellogg.

For the finance department, Coke recruits from five schools: Emory, Kellogg,the Thunderbird Campus of the American Graduate School of InternationalManagement in Arizona, USC, and Wharton. Coke screens about 200applicants by phone or on-campus interviews, brings about 60 on campus fora second round, and hires about 15 or 20 of these.

Many people who work for Coke get their start as outside contractors orconsultants, insiders tell us. If you’re dead set on working for the company– and you might be, considering the potential payoff – one option is to startwith a company such as Ernst & Young (which does external auditing forCoke) or King & Spalding (Coke’s outside legal counsel).

For those going into engineering, Coke is looking for either bachelor’s ormaster’s candidates in mechanical or electrical engineering (although a fewhires have backgrounds in industrial engineering). Masters and PhD-levelcandidates are also hired into what the company dubs its “science” positions,which include product testing and research and development.

For its brand and finance positions, Coca-Cola looks for MBAs who alreadyhave several years of experience. An applicant’s experience level helpsdetermine in what position he or she starts. For example, an employee

Getting Hired





Getting Hired

entering the finance department with two to three years experience will joinCoke as a senior financial analyst, and one with four to five years will join atthe next step up, as a principal financial analyst.

As an international company Coca-Cola also is excited to find candidateswith foreign language skills, particularly Russian, Chinese, French, andSpanish.

Coca-Cola has a fax line devoted to employment applicants, 404-515-8221.Send to Attn: RESUMIX.

The phone number for global staffing is: 404-676-5678

Cover letters and resumes can also be sent via conventional mail to:

The Coca-Cola CompanyP.O. Drawer 1734Atlanta, GA 30301Attn: USA 635

Preparing for the Interview

Some basic tips on interviewing with Coke:

• First, the proper company name is The Coca-Cola Company. “It isimportant that you use it properly,” says one employee.

• Second, because T.C.C.C. (as it is sometimes called) places a great deal ofemphasis on loyalty, it is important that you sell your enthusiasm for thecompany. “You must convey to your interviewer that you are genuinelyinterested in working at Coke, and that nothing else matters at that time,”says one employee. To illustrate the point, we include the following story,as recounted to The New York Times by Warren Buffett. Buffett recalls thathe once took his grandson to eat at an Omaha pizza parlor where he wassurprised to discover that Pepsi, not Coke was served. “I mentioned it toAtlanta,” Buffett says, “and World War III broke out. They’re now servingCoke.”

• Finally, subtly dropping a concern for “shareholder value” won’t hurt.Aside from winning market share, boosting shareholder value is what TheCoca-Cola Company is all about. Note that more than almost every otherAmerican company, Coca-Cola subscribes to and has benefited from theidea of economic value added (EVA). A nineties buzzword, EVA refers to



Getting Hired

annual operating profit minus a special charge for the cost of capital. Theconcept is designed to do away with misleading “accounting profits” basedon equity capital and other measures of financial health that Fortunecharacterized as “playing volleyball with the net down.” Roberto Goizuetawas a firm believer in EVA, and the concept pervades the company’sfinancial approach.

For those going through the on-campus recruiting process, there are a coupleof on-campus interviews, and then an all-day session in Atlanta. “Theprocess is relatively intense, but not as bad as some other companies,” reportsone employee.

Questions to Expect 1. Why do you want to work for The Coca-Cola Company?This is the bottom line, Exhibit A, the heart of the matter, and whatever othercliché you can think of. “We want to know for certain why the individual isjazzed about our company and industry,” stresses a recent hire.

2. What would the other members of your business school team have tosay about you?You’re dedicated, efficient and smart.

3. GMAT question:Insiders report that Coca-Cola will occasionally throw out questions similarto GMAT questions to test analytical ability. Usually nothing as intense asbrainteasers or guesstimates at I-banking or high-tech interviews, just fairlysimple questions to make sure you’re not a dullard. Don’t be surprised bythis, and don’t get all flustered: if you get one of these, it won’t be all thatdifficult.

4. Give me an example of what you consider a bad marketing campaign,and why you think it was unsuccessful. Or: If you want to increasemarket share and brand recognition among the 18-35 demographicgroup in the U.S., what kinds of strategy would you propose? For marketing employees, a recent marketing hire says, “Coke will give amarket situation or ask for an example of a good or bad marketing campaign.”




Getting Hired

5. Tell me about what you consider your most satisfying accomplishmentto date.Remember what Coke looks for in employees: bright, talented individualswho are loyal. Choose something that shows how you helped a team orcommittee or some larger group, and then talk about how helping the largergroup brought you satisfaction.

6. How would you feel about work overseas or elsewhere in the U.S.outside of Atlanta?Although Coca-Cola doesn’t require international mobility, for itsmanagement-track positions, it wants employees who put their professionalcommitment and employer first. Be prepared to convince your interviewer ofthis with any examples that show such dedication to your professional life.Says one recruiter of MBAs: “We look for global mobility, people who arewilling to travel both internationally and within the U.S.”

7. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?A typical interview question that holds special weight at Coke. Says oneinsider: “The biggest thing is they’re looking for long-term thinkers. Theydon’t want cowboys. They want conservative people who are into addingshareholder value.”

Questions to Ask If you do background reading on Coke before an interview, don’t be afraid toshow it. Because the company places such a premium on loyalty andturnover is low, interviewers are generally longtime company men andwomen. Says one recent MBA hire: “You can talk about (Coke) war stories.That says, ‘Hey, I’m buying into the specialness of the company.’”

1. I know that the Coca-Cola Company has over the past 10 years steeredaway from diversification. How exactly does this strategy positivelyaffect shareholder value? Do you expect this strategy to continue in the21st century?

2. I’d like to hear about your career path. How did you get here, andwhere do see yourself next?Remember the words of our contact: “It’s easier to be hired by Coke than tobe promoted. They tend to hire lots of senior people from outside instead ofhiring from within.” It would probably be a good idea to explore this issue,carefully.



Getting Hired

3. With all the pundits bemoaning the homogenizing of global culture,and considering the recent backlash against Nike and Microsoft, is TheCoca-Cola Company concerned about a downside to its pervasivenessstrategy?

4. I know that The Coca-Cola Company stuck by Mexico when it wasdown in 1994, and that really paid off. Why exactly did that strategywork, and can the company do it on a broad scale in today’s unsettledworld economy?This might be a good way to show your sensitivity to the company’sworldwide situation and get a sense of how Coke plans to weather the storm.You can also boost your interviewers’ egos when they get to tell you thatT.C.C.C. is not afraid of the sky falling in emerging markets.

5. I noticed that the African market comprises a very small portion ofThe Coca-Cola Company’s revenues, although the company’s marketshare in the region is high. (Look at company charts; Coke’s marketshare in Africa is about 80 percent) What does the company foresee interms of growth in that region, and as the market grows, how does it planto keep its high market share as competitors decide the market ispotentially lucrative?

6. As I’ve looked into the Coca-Cola Company, I’ve noticed that thetrend in bottling seems to be toward consolidation. Do you think this ishealthy development for the company?

7. Do you believe Coke’s intended introduction of bottled water is a goodidea? Will it cut into sales of other Coke products?Show that you stay current with latest developments at Coke.




Job Descriptions

Assistant Brand Manager

The entry-level position for prospective marketing bigwigs involves:

• Broad business analyses for a brand

• Developing consumer promotions, packaging, and market research plans

• Serving as a company liaison between related marketing groups such aspromotions and outside advertising agencies

• Communicating brand strategy to bottlers and retail customers

Those thinking about pursuing a marketing career at Coke should rememberthat T.C.C.C. is a big company with relatively few brands. Says one recentmarketing MBA hire, “They’re not going to take an MBA and say, ‘Okay,you’re in charge of Sprite.’”

Financial Analyst

Entry-level MBAs often start out in the finance function as either seniorfinancial analysts or principal financial analyst. Their responsibilities include:

• Providing budget analysis for departments such as brand management ormanufacturing

• Identifying cost-cutting possibilities and inefficiencies

Internal Auditor

Another foot-in-the-door for finance MBAs. Says one recent hire, “Theyneed internal auditors like there’s no tomorrow.” Former CEO Doug Ivesterstarted as an auditor. Auditors travel “100 percent of the time, all over theworld,” report insiders, visiting different Coke locations making sure that theappropriate financial controls are in check and are being used properly.

Business Development Analyst

Insiders tell us that the cream of the finance MBA crop goes into this division,which is described as an “internal M&A group.” The group spends most of

On the Job





On the Job

its time figuring out what bottlers to buy in order to consolidate into the“anchor” bottling concerns Coke has set up. This requires working withattorneys to draft shareholders agreements, drafting purchasing agreements,analyzing production projections, and flying around the world to close deals.About three MBAs are hired into this group a year.

Summer Internship

Internships for MBAs are offered primarily in marketing, with a few infinance. Within marketing, there are internships in:

• Brand management: This is a feeder program, with usually about 10 of the10 to 12 interns receiving offers for full-time positions as assistant brandmanagers.

• Marketing research: Coke actually recruits these interns from programs thatoffer masters degrees in market research (U-Wisconsin-Madison,University of Texas Austin, and the University of Georgia). The fourinterns in this sub-department get full-time offers.

• Marketing program development: These positions involve getting plansthat Brand people map out up and running. The positions are moreoperations-oriented than strategic. About four interns are hired a year; theydo not get offers to return.

• Presence and media marketing development (several interns, depending onbudgets, who generally don’t get full-time offers). This marketing divisionconcentrates on sports and other big-exposure events, such as all thoseHollywood awards shows.

Says one former marketing intern: “It was an excellent summer experiencewhere I was given full responsibility for the completion of a market researchproject… I maintained close contact with middle management throughout theproject. It was a well-structured experience that exceeded my initialexpectations.” In finance, about five internships have been offered each year,but this is not a formal program, according to a recruiter, and is not used as afeeder into full-time positions.



On the Job

Day in the Life

Assistant Brand Manager

8:00 a.m.: Arrive at Coke’s midtown offices near downtown Atlanta after ashort commute (“There’s a parking garage with plenty of parking, andtraffic’s not bad.”)

8:15 a.m.: Check e-mail and voicemail. Respond.

9:00 a.m.: Read through a report about a packaging design from theconsumer research department that you received last night. (“We’re alwaystrying to track marketing investment. Obviously if you advertise more, yousell more, but we’re constantly trying to measure if the money invested inmarketing is worth it.”)

10:30 a.m.: You decide you want more data about a particular demographicgroup’s response to a packaging design; e-mail the consumer researchdepartment. (“I do a lot of overseeing consumer research.”)

11:00 a.m.: Call consumer promotions department to talk about a bottle-cappromotion you are trying. (“It’s not all face-to-the-computer time. A lot of itis looking around the company to see who has expertise in certain areas, andbuilding energy around your ideas.”)

12:00 a.m.: On the phone with the legal department to set up a meeting to goover the ins and outs of the bottle-cap promotion.

12:30 p.m.: Off to the cafeteria for lunch. (“The cafeteria is the best I haveever eaten at, food and prices.”)

1:00 p.m.: Meeting with associate brand manager and other assistant brandmanagers to discuss strategy for an upcoming ad campaign.

3:00 p.m.: Back at your desk. On the phone with the consumer researchdepartment to ask if they can scrounge up sales figures in the area where thead campaign will be tested.

3:30 p.m.: Back to the report on packaging design, begin writing a report thatyou will eventually present to your brand manager and associate brandmanager.

6:00 p.m.: Go home.




On the Job

Senior Financial Analyst

7:30 a.m.: Go work out at health club.

8:30 a.m.: Breakfast at the company cafeteria.

9:00 a.m.: Check voicemail and e-mail. (“As a financial analyst you don’ttalk to people outside the company, you maybe talk to assistant brandmanagers, or an advertising group to get costs.”)

9:30 a.m.: Begin performing trend analysis on mid-month results of a brand.

10:00 a.m.: Meet with finance manager to review brand budgets

12:00 p.m.: Lunch in the company cafeteria. (“It’s like a food court in amall.”)

1:00 p.m.: Meet with brand managers to discuss new promotional activity.

1:45 p.m.: Check voicemail and e-mail again.

2:00 p.m.: Go back to trend analysis on mid-month results. Develop forecastfor the rest of the month.

4:30 p.m.: Review presentations on next year’s budget for a brand. (“Youmake your presentations to the directors.”)

5:30 p.m.: Go home. (“You hop in your BMW and head home.”)

Departments

Consumer Promotions

Narrower in its marketing scope than Brand, with less emphasis on overallmarketing strategy. The consumer promotions department works on projectssuch as bottle cap contests and tie-ins with sports or concert events.

Consumer Research

The people who tell the Brand people what consumers are thinking, theConsumer Research Department conducts surveys (both written and testmarketing), and analyzes these results by every conceivable demographicgroup.



On the Job

Field Sales

This department is responsible for getting Coke products onto supermarketshelves, and ensuring that the company’s products are displayed as thecompany believes is most effective.

Finance/Accounting

Other than Marketing, the most likely department to employ management-track employees and graduates of top schools. The department analyzes theeffects of business decisions and helps plan the company’s strategy forfinancial growth. Former CEO M. Douglas Ivester started in this department,as an auditor. About two-thirds of the MBA class that joins the financedepartment begin as either senior financial analysts or principal financialanalysts.

Information Systems

The support staff that makes sure the computers don’t crash. At Coke,however, this department does more upgrading than mere maintenance. Cokeis “always actively upgrading computer equipment,” says one formercontractor, who estimated his group installed 5,000 new computers in abouttwo years. “Coke spends a lot of money on things to make the business runsmoother, and they are very heavily into technology.”

Human Resources

The department that designs and implements employee programs for Coke’s26,000 worldwide employees (about 6,000 to 7,000 in downtown Atlanta).Aside from those tasty benefit and stock option plans, the department helpscoordinate Coke’s training programs.

Marketing

Although Coke is a marketing-heavy company, Coke does not have brandmanagement in the traditional sense of a training ground that funnels intogeneral management positions. There is brand management in the Coca-ColaCorporate bottle/can division. Brand teams, comprised of assistant brandmanagers, an associate brand manager, a brand manager, and during thesummer, a brand intern, oversee all facets of a brand’s operation, frompackage design to pricing to consumer promotions.




On the Job

Marketers carry titles like trade channel manager and assistant trade channelmanager. Customer account managers and assistant customer accountmanagers deal with large company accounts; and presence and mediamarketing personnel handle advertising at large sporting and entertainmentevents.

Public Relations

At image-hyperconscious Coke, spinmeisters are an integral part of Coke’soperations. This department works to put the company’s best foot forward forthe media, investors, and the general public.

Technical/Research and Development

Composed of scientists and engineers, R&D works on new productdevelopment and improvements and package design (an area of particularpride at Coke, which proudly flaunts its contoured Coke bottle, and now the“dimple” Sprite package).

Career Path

For undergraduates

Undergrads, are hired primarily as engineers, although Coke reportedly isplanning to try out a new recruiting program for their sales department in1998. About 45 engineering undergrad and master’s candidates take part insix-month internships that go from either June to December or January toJune. These interns are placed in Atlanta with Coca-Cola Corporate; a smallpercentage receives full-time offers (a company recruiter estimates between10 to 25 percent historically), although Coke says it is trying to change this,in order to bring in a higher percentage of its interns into the company.Engineers are recruited from about 10 technical schools in the U.S. andoverseas.

In finance and marketing, undergrads have very few opportunities. “If youwere an undergraduate and had any ambition at all, you’d leave. It’s shitwork,” says a former financial analyst. Says one employee in the businessdevelopment group: “They have no chance.”



On the Job

For MBAs

In brand management, the career path goes from assistant brand manager toassociate brand manager to brand manager to marketing director.Promotions happen typically every two to three years. In finance, it goesfrom senior financial analyst to principal financial analyst (some MBAs starthere) to financial services manager, which involves oversight of processesand perhaps other employees, to finance manager, and then to the directorlevel. For those in the business development group, it goes from businessdevelopment analyst to business development manager to regional financemanager to finance manager of a division. One can alternately start in financeas an auditor or as an accountant, a position which a company recruiter saysinvolves some financial analysis.

Insiders, however, say that “there is no set career path.” MBAs with theireyes on general management will eventually need to get experience in financeand operations, counsels one marketing employee. There is something of atradition at Coke of higher-ups “scouting” the young talent and calling themup into higher positions, insiders say, and one can move up without activelyseeking to, but usually moving up involves “finding yourself a mentor to askquestions and advice.” “You have to proactively manage your career.” Thismeans making the right contacts within the company. “If you have aparticular interest, it is up to you to let people know, to get your name in thegame.”

Overseas assignments can happen after about three to five years for MBAs.While these are good career moves, they are not requirements foradvancement within the company, employees say, although they also notethat career progression will likely slow down if one is unwilling to moveabroad. In general, employees say there is no up-or-out pressure at thecompany. “It’s not up-or-out,” says one finance MBA. “It’s a hugeorganization and you can find a place that fits you.” Insiders say movingacross functions is “very easy.” This includes a move from Coca-ColaCorporate to Coca-Cola Americas for those who would rather stay in thecountry for family reasons, employees tell us. Cross-functional movement isa good idea not just to broaden one’s skill set, employees say, but also becauseit “gives you a better feel for expanding your network in the company.”Because networking is so vital to one’s advancement at Coke, admits onefinancial analyst: “In a big company like this, it depends a lot on luck.”




On the Job

Training

Recruiters and employees say that Coca-Cola looks for already experiencedhires. “Coca-Cola hires mostly experienced employees and expects people tobring a certain level of proficiency with them,” according to one recent MBAhire. “Having said that, the training courses that they do offer are excellent.”These classes are taught primarily on-campus, either by in-staff folk orconsultants that Coke brings in. One marketing employee estimates he willtake about 80 hours of classes in his first year. These classes vary fromclasses in an employees’ function to general classes on the organization ofThe Coca-Cola Company. The employee and boss work out trainingschedules individually; there’s no formal structure, according to employees.

Employee evaluations

Coca-Cola performs 360-degree evaluations. Evaluations are supposed totake place twice a year, but insiders say that, as with many other companies,they tend to occur only once a year. Aside from the generic and predictablemeasures of how an employee gets along with people, and what their qualityof work is like, insiders say, Coke is very concerned with efficiency. “It’s avery fast-paced company,” says one former brand manager. “They need toknow that you can do what you need to do in good time.”


Do you want to become a denizen of Coke Nation? If so, prepare yourself tobe subsumed by a company. Even more so than other large corporations, youwill be forced to identify yourself with your employer. You will cease dippinginto bags of Fritos. You will dress to a tee, and you will begin murmuring“shareholder value” in your sleep. You will spend your time contriving tomeet certain executives that you feel can help you advance in the company.

Nevertheless, there are benefits to citizenship, notably great prestige, and apossibly long, lucrative, and fulfilling career. While world economicinstability has and will no doubt continue to shake this highly internationalcompany, Coke employees can count on a solid management team united bythe vision of the late Roberto Goizueta, the guiding hand and brimmingenthusiasm of Douglas N. Daft, and the continued support of major investorssuch as Warren Buffett. Finally, know that loyalty to the company is returnedamply in the form of all the Coke you can drink and a refreshing draft of KOstock.

Final Analysis




Competition on the Street – and beyond – is heating up. Withthe finance job market tightening, you need to be your best.

“Thank you, thank you, thankyou! I would have never come upwith these changes on my own!”

– W.B., Associate, InvestmentBanking, NY

“Having an experienced pair ofeyes looking at the resumemade more of a differencethan I thought.”

– R.T., Managing Director, SF

“I found the coaching so helpfulI made three appointments!”

– S.B., Financial Planner, NY

We know the finance industry. And we’ve gotexperts that know the finance environmentstanding by to review your resume and give youthe boost you need to snare the financialpositions you deserve.

Finance Resume Writing andResume Reviews

• Have your resume reviewed by a practicingfinance professional.

• For resume writing, start with an e-mailedhistory and 1- to 2-hour phone discussion.Our experts will write a first draft, and delivera final draft after feedback and discussion.

• For resume reviews, get an in-depth, detailedcritique and rewrite within TWO BUSINESSDAYS.

Finance Career CoachingHave a pressing finance career situation youneed Vault’s expert advice with? We’vegot experts who can help.

• Trying to get into investment bankingfrom business school or other careers?

• Switching from one finance sector toanother – for example, from commercialbanking to investment banking?

• Trying to figure out the culturalfit of the finance firm youshould work for?

T.C.C.C.’s web site, www.cocacola.com, provides surprisingly sparseinformation for prospective hires, although it will give you financialinformation, press releases and a skeleton listing of worldwide distribution ofbrands. www.coke.com is merely promotional.

The following articles are helpful:

• “America’s Greatest Wealth Creator: GE, Coke, and Microsoft are the Trioto Beat.” Fortune, November 9, 1998. An excellent article for anunderstanding of Coke’s business strategies. Fortune gives an explanationof economic value added, a particular Coke buzz word, and proceeds torank American companies according both to economic value added and therelated idea of market value added. Coke snags a number two ranking.

• “Global Crisis for Coca-Cola, Or the Pause that Refreshes?” The New YorkTimes, November 1, 1998. The Times takes a look at Coke’s plight in thewake of economic trouble abroad, and also reveals CEO M. DouglasIvester’s confidence that Coke can rebound.

• “The Unmasking of the ‘Uncola: After Years of Decline, New Owner PlotsRevival at 7-Up.” The New York Times, October 15, 1998. This articleplaces 7-Up’s situation in the industry context, and gives a sense ofcompeting strategies.

• “Anti-Trust Authorities Open Investigation of Coke, Its Bottlers.” The WallStreet Journal, July 7, 1998. The Journal reviews how Coke’s nose hasn’talways been clean in the antitrust realm.

• “The Real Thing?” CFO Magazine, May, 1998. This interview with CokeCFO James Chesnut covers important topics related to Coke’s financialwell-being, including international strategies, information technology, andmarketing, among others.

See also:

• “The Man Who Knew the Formula,” Time, October 27, 1997

• “Shift in Focus is Expected at Coca-Cola,” The New York Times, October20, 1997

• “Coca-Cola Goes After Share of Mouth with Fruitopia Campaign,” TheNew York Times, May 20, 1997

Recommended Reading





Recommended Reading

• “Coca-Cola’s American Dream,” Beverage World, May 1996

• “A Coke and a Perm? Soda Giant is Pushing into Unusual Locales,” TheWall Street Journal, May 8, 1997

• “Coca-Cola, in Direct Attack on Pepsi, to Introduce Challenger toMountain Dew,” The New York Times, December 16, 1996

• “How Venezuela is Becoming Coca-Cola Country,” The New York Times,August 21, 1996


“For those hoping to climb the ladder of success, Vault’s insights are priceless.” — Money

VAULT CAREER LIBRARYTM is the world’s most comprehensive and up-to-datecollection of guidebooks on career subjects. Researched, written and publishedby Vault, Inc., the Vault Career LibraryTM is comprised of more than 80 titles forjob seekers, professionals and researchers.

Vault Employer Profiles include:

Introduction: An overview of thecompany and basic stats

The Scoop: The company's history,current business, major products, andrankings in the industry

Vault Newswire: Easy-to-digestsummaries of recent news about thecompany

Our Survey Says: Employees speaktheir minds on company culture, jobsatisfaction, pay, benefits, diversityissues and more

Getting Hired: The company's hiringprocess, interview questions to expectand application contacts

On the Job: Typical days in the life,job descriptions, career paths

Final Analysis: The final word on thepros and cons of working for thecompany

VAULT EMPLOYER PROFILE:

THE COCA-COLACOMPANY

THE VAULT EDITORIAL PROCESS:

Exclusive Surveys: Vault annuallysurveys 10,000s of employees atleading employers.

One-on-One Interviews: For eachemployer, we conduct in-depthinterviews of current and formeremployees.

VAULT CAREER ADVICE• Insider company profiles• Expert advice• The Vault Job Board• Career message boards• Resume and cover letter reviews • Advice on career-switching, job-

hunting and more

HTTP://WWW.VAULT.COMEAN

9 781581 312478

5 2 4 9 5

ISBN 1-58131-247-4ABOUT VAULT, INC.: The Insider Career NetworkTM is theleading media company for career information. Called "a killerapp" by the New York Times, Vault is headquartered in NewYork City and was founded in 1997 by Hussam Hamadeh,Samer Hamadeh and Mark Oldman.

Career/Reference$24.95

Documents

⃝Ƨ [staff of vault] vep the coca cola company 2003