Advanced Strategic Management: Industry Evolution, Global Strategy, and Future of Coca-Cola

This report analyzes the industry evolution and managing innovation in the smartphone industry, global strategy of Coca-Cola, and future strategic actions for the company. It discusses the first mover advantage in the smartphone industry, life cycle of the smartphone industry, competitive advantage of Coca-Cola, marketing activity, global integration, and national differentiation. It also provides future recommendations for Coca-Cola.

Advanced Strategic Management
12/7/2018

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Question A: Industry Evolution and Managing Innovation............................................................3
First mover advantage in the smartphone industry......................................................................3
The life cycle of smartphone industry.........................................................................................3
Question B: Global Strategy............................................................................................................6
Coca-Cola gain the competitive advantage for being an American company.............................7
Coca-Cola is renowned as an owner and manager of global brands...........................................8
Marketing activity....................................................................................................................9
Coca-Cola balances global integration and national differentiation..........................................10
IR framework.........................................................................................................................10
Analysis.................................................................................................................................10
Question C: The Future.................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
The aim of the report is to apply the strategic models according to the case study wherever it is
required. The strategic model constitutes a plan or model that is related to the strategic and
designed with the motive to bring improvement in the process. Different organisations make use
of the strategy models which contribute effectively in meeting the goals. The report includes the
answers to the questions which are related to the industry evolution and managing innovation
related to the smartphone industry, global strategy that has been followed by the coca cola
company and the future coca cola which include the strategic actions that should take for their
effective business.

Question A: Industry Evolution and Managing Innovation
First mover advantage in the smartphone industry
In the present era, the industry is evolving and managing the innovation which offers an
advantage to industry. This has been found that there is a first mover advantage in the
smartphone industry. In the marketing strategy, the first mover for the industry aims with the
motive to gain the advantage by being the first in the market to establish the position. This has
been found that there was first mover advantage in the smartphone industry in the market. The
industry received the first mover advantage because of the Nokia as it introduced the 9000 Nokia
communicator in the year 1996 which was the first real smartphone equipped with specific
features (Baguley, 2013). The advantages gained because of the improved internet connectivity
and the clients for the internet and non-internet communication services. The industry was able
to gain the competitive advantage because of the features that were inbuilt in the phone which
include e-mail, web browsing, fax, spreadsheets and word processing into the single device that
is pocketable. The technology has been used by companies like Nokia and Samsung to bring the
effective features and android version to the customers. The advantage related to the industry has
offered assistance to the companies to expand their business in different countries.
The life cycle of the smartphone industry
The life cycle is the series of stages from the birth or the incorporation stage, its initial growth
stage and its stage of expansion in which the business moves to the new market, mature
operation stage and ends eventually at the decline as the consumer interest in its products reduce
which affect the sales of the products. The life cycle of the smartphone industry is at the maturity

stage, in this stage the companies dealing in the smartphone attain the maximum revenue and this
is the phrase where the demand of the product reaches to its maximum level (Fowler, 2018).
(Source: La Rocca, La Rocca and Cariola, 2011)
The above given is the lifecycle of the Smartphone industry which shows the different stages and
industry is at the maturity stage. Smartphones have become one of the more unsustainable
consumer goods due to which the demand for it is increasing. In the year 2015, more than 1.5
billion new smartphones were shipped across the world for making it available to the customers.
Further, this has been expected that there is will be a rise in the demand of the smart mobiles in
the next 5 years with the rise in the people who are getting subscribe to the phone. This has been
found in the research that the smartphone adoption rate is already at 60% in the developed world
and it will lead the growth. Further, this has been found that it is estimated to add a further 2.9
billion smartphone connections by the year 2020 (Fowler, 2018). This has been researched that
the average lifespan of the smartphones has resulted in the decline. Further, the rapid evolution
of the technology related to the mobile is supported by the marketing and promotion campaign

while forming the smartphones. The industry of smartphone is extremely competitive as it
involves different companies.
The industry life cycle model elaborates the opportunities that are still present in the market for
the smartphone industry which is the maturity stage and this the time when the companies grow
to its maximum. In the coming years, the downfall in the industry is not expected as it is the time
when smartphone sale is increasing. The smartphone industry has reached on the maturity stage
and will remain on the stage until and unless the decline phase comes which will take time.
According to the IDC (international data corporation), this has been found that smartphones
shipments will increase and will reach to approx. 1.4 billion units with an increase of approx.
9.8% in the year 2015. IDC reflects there is slower growth in the Latin America, Western
Europe, and Asia-Pacific and will remain till the year 2019 which might lead to the decline stage
of the smartphones and then the growth will begin. In addition to this, the updated report of IDC
the global shipments have been slipped 0.1% in the year 2017 as the first-ever decline (Thomas,
2015). This shows that there is the possibility of more industry evolution. The companies like

Apple, Samsung and other emerging brands in Smartphone said that they have brought
maximum in terms of technology. Thus, this might leads to the phase where the decline in the
demand of the smartphone can appear until and unless there is emergent of new technology.
This reflects that the industry lifecycle is depended on the new and innovative technology that
can bring the rise in the sales and product. The innovation in the product is the only reason which
leads to the emergence of the new smartphone and brings the improvement in the demand.
Further, the changes in the preference and taste of the people can bring a decline in the industry.
The availability of the substitutes in the market is one of the factors that can affect the
decline.UK handset market has declined by 8% in the quarter 3rd of 2017 that is possible with
upgraded technology in the smartphone industry. In the UK market, smartphone penetration has
reached 93% of all the mobile phones that are sold in the quarter. All these aspects reflect the use
of Porter's five forces model that helps in understanding the competitiveness going on in the
industry.
Question B: Global Strategy
In the current era, most of the companies make use of the global strategy which helps them to
achieve their goals related to the organisation. Global strategy refers to like the plans of an
organisation that has developed to target the growth that goes beyond its borders (David, 2011).
Coca-Cola Company has been selected for the analysis of the global strategy that can lead to
success. The company is an American corporation that came into existence in the year 1892 and
it is primarily engaged in the manufacturing and sales of the syrup and concentrated Coca-Cola.
This shows that the company not only offer the concentrated beverage but they also offer the
syrups with other products in the market.

Coca-Cola gain a competitive advantage for being an American company
The biggest competitive advantage that was gain by the Coca-Cola Company includes the
bottling system. The bottling system offers a major advantage and a hike to sales and expansion
to the business in the global market (Adamkasi, 2018). Different companies owned the bottles
which allow the company enough time through which they can concentrate the drinks. The first
bottling agreement took place in the year 1899 when the two young attorneys from the
Chattanooga, Tennessee believed that they can bottle the Coca-Cola drink (Coca-Cola Company,
2018). The decision was taken in which it was decided to make the Coca-Cola drink available in
the entire US excluding Vicksburg for the one dollar. This advantage is attained by the company
for being an American company. The company was able to grab the opportunity because of its
presence in the American market. Further, the idea of the bottling helped the company to operate
the business in the foreign markets.
Another competitive advantage that is gain by the company include the innovation in the
packaging of the products according the choices of the customers related to the package size,
type and other which leads to the introduction of the cans and different sizes of bottles including
the larger serving that consist of 10, 12 and 26 ounce versions. This innovation has given the
new business opportunities to the suppliers and gave a competitive advantage of being a leader
as it was the first mover advantage.

(Source: Moye, 2017)
The company has formed the Bottling Investments group that strategically make the investment
in the selection of the bottling operations. This group has allowed the company to form a long
and effective relationship with the suppliers which work as a competitive advantage. The
company can easily get the raw products from the suppliers in America (Coca-Cola Company,
2018). The supplier’s relationship in America not only supported the company in America but it
also provides assistance to the company in other countries.
Coca-Cola is renowned as an owner and manager of global brands
In the present era, the companies are renowned as an owner and manager of global brands. This
is possible with the effective adoption of the global integration strategy by the companies.
Similarly, Coca-Cola makes use of the global integration strategy in which they get involved in
the process of standardization for their operations throughout the world (Frynas and Mellahi,
2015). The different activities that major combines by the Coca-Cola company includes
marketing activity, operational activity, selling and distribution activities and many others. The

major focus is done on the marketing activities of the company. Coca-Cola combines their
marketing activities and standardizes them across the world. The marketing of the Coca-Cola is
essential to integrate as the rise in the competition can lead to the challenges for the company
related o survival. This is the reason which makes the company promote their products. The
global integration leads to the question of the national differences because the company is
supposed to take the local responsiveness.
Marketing activity
Coca-Cola standardizes the marketing activities by introducing their campaign across the world.
This is an effective way through which they can balance global integration and national
differentiation (Chernev, 2018). This can be evident from the “Taste the Feeling” global creative
campaign which helps the company maintain the one brand approach across the world. The idea
behind the creative campaign is to bring the idea of accepting the Coca-Cola drink as a simple
pleasure that makes the everyday moments special (Moye, 2016). This campaign is run by the
company across the work which shows the feature of universal storytelling with the product at
the heart that shows both the emotional and functional elements related to the experience of
Coca-Cola.

(Source: Moye, 2016)
The campaign involves the strategy and slogan of the company which reflects the availability,
affordability and acceptability of brand across the world. The company is able to maintain
sustainable growth with the help of keeping the brand marketing unity which makes the effective
integration (Grant, 2016). Moreover, the marketing of the company helps to maintain the balance
of relations related to the goodwill and strategies with the bottlers and franchises which makes
the process running. The campaign of the company enhances the culture and capabilities across
the world.
Coca-Cola balances global integration and national differentiation
IR framework
Coca-Cola majorly faces the two forces which include local responsiveness and pressure towards
the global integration. To maintain the balance with the national differentiation and global
integration the company apply the IR framework (Rothaermel, 2015). IR framework is
introduced with the motive to create a big platform for the study on the global business which
assists to create an international strategy that leads to the multi-dimensional contextual setting.
IR framework provides an analysis of the global strategy that has been adopted by the Coca-Cola
Company. Further, it shows the way through which the company maintain global integration and
national differentiation (Meyer, Mudambi and Narula, 2011).
Analysis
The analysis reflects that standardization of the products will offer high products through the
national differentiation will force the company to bring the changes in prices at different places.
In addition, market research has been done in particular regions with some specific standards.

The company is able to maintain a balance with the help of the brand image that makes the Coca-
Cola standardize in an equal manner (Wilson and Gilligan, 2012). This brand image is possible
because of one of the strengths of the company that is bottling partners. The partner has allowed
the Coca-Cola Company to act across the national differences in respect to their local laws,
culture and the needs of customers. The global integration strategy of the company has allowed
maintaining the differences and similarities in the packaging, distribution and media according to
a different geographical area.
Moreover, it has been found that Coca-Cola standardizes their most of the activities across the
nation considering that their activities don’t affect any communities across the nation. Though
they make some the changes in their activities but their marketing activity remain the same.
Further, this has been found that the company has operations across the world due to which they
have diverse employees which help Coca-Cola company to understand the culture and values of
the different countries across the world. All this employee support and market research help the
company to make the right steps that can help the company to take the right decisions without
hurting any person’s sentiments. This helps them in managing the balance between the strategy
of global integration and national differentiation.
Question C: The Future
This section of the paper includes strategic decisions with future recommendations to the
company so that they can meet their business goals. The company that has been selected for the
analysis of the future suggestions for the strategic actions is Coca-Cola.
In the current scenario, strategic action is the key managerial skills majorly for the mid-to-upper
level management. The management of the Coca-Cola Company makes use of the skills,

behaviour, and knowledge that helps to perform the duties effectively and efficiently (Fligstein
and McAdam, 2011). The brand is limited to the drinks that they offer to the customers.
Considering the understanding and knowledge about the company it is the high time that the
company should start the new product line. This new product includes the innovative chocolates
of the company in the flavour of Coca-Cola with different new flavours. This will help the
company to expand the business operations with the help of the horizontal integration and
vertical integration. This will enhance the profit of the company and will be able to meet the
needs of the customers which are the ultimate goal of the company.
In addition to this, the company is aware of the condition of the earth environment due to which
their plastic bottles are getting affected. The company is planning for the PlantBottle packing
which is considered as the new PET plastic bottle containing the material which includes plant-
based. These PET bottles help the company to reduce the dependence on the non-renewable
resources and this allows a 100% recyclable bottle (Coca-Cola Company, 2018). The company
need to take the strategic actions towards the next generation PlantBottle which will convert the
plan into the actions. The company need to look towards the new and upgraded technology that
can help to make the effective PlantBottle that leads to the effective recycling of the bottles. This
will help the company to effectively manage their business operations in different countries
where the plastic is ban and the use of plastic is affecting the environment. Though the new
system can include the high cost for the company which will affect the operations and this might
leads to the rise in the prices of the product that are offered by the company. Thus, this strategic
action is considered as one of the important actions for which there is a need for the team who
can analyse all the elements before making effective decisions towards the success of the
business.

Conclusion
In the end, this can be concluded that the evolution is present in every industry with the change
in the time and corresponding change in the needs of the customers. The evolution of the
smartphone industry has been discussed which shows that the change has taken place due to the
availability of new technology across the world. The lifecycle of the smartphone industry has
been reflected which shows that the industry is currently at the maturity stage and sooner there
might be a change in the demand of products related to the smartphone. Further, the findings
related to the Coca-Cola Company have been given which shows their competitive strategy and
the way the company is managing their business operations effectively in the global market.
Moreover, it shows the balance between the integration of global strategy and the national
differentiation which is generally faced by the company when they manage their business across
the world. This can be understood with the help of the IR framework and also include the
analysis. in the end, there is discussion related to the future actions that are must to be taken by
the company for improving their operations and meeting their objectives.

References
Adamkasi (2018) Competitive Advantage of Coca-Cola [Online]. Available from:
http://www.competitiveadvantageanalysis.com/competitive-advantage-of-coca-cola/
[Accessed on 7th December 2018]
Baguley, R. (2013) The Gadget We Miss: The Nokia 9000 Communicator [Online]. Available
from: https://medium.com/people-gadgets/the-gadget-we-miss-the-nokia-9000-
communicator-ef8e8c7047ae [Accessed on 7th December 2018]
Chernev, A. (2018) Strategic marketing management. Chicago: Cerebellum Press.
Coca-Cola Company (2018) History of Bottling [Online]. Available from: https://www.coca-
colacompany.com/our-company/history-of-bottling [Accessed on 7th December 2018]
Coca-Cola Company (2018) The Bottle of the Future [Online]. Available from:
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company/the-bottle-of-the-future [Accessed on
7th December 2018]
Coca-Cola Company (2018) The Coca-Cola System [Online]. Available from: https://www.coca-
colacompany.com/our-company/the-coca-cola-system [Accessed on 7th December 2018]
David, F.R. (2011) Strategic management: Concepts and cases. India: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Fligstein, N., and McAdam, D. (2011) Toward a general theory of strategic action
fields. Sociological theory, 29(1), 1-26.
Fowler, G.A. (2018) We’ve reached peak smartphone. What are Apple and Samsung going to do
now? [Online]. Available from:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/02/02/weve-reached-peak-
smartphone-what-are-apple-and-samsung-going-to-do-now/?utm_term=.a525d9b44054
[Accessed on 7th December 2018]
Frynas, J.G. and Mellahi, K. (2015) Global strategic management. USA: Oxford University
Press.
Grant, R.M. (2016) Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. New Jersey: John
Wiley & Sons.
La Rocca, M., La Rocca, T. and Cariola, A. (2011) Capital structure decisions during a firm's life
cycle. Small Business Economics, 37(1), pp.107-130.
Meyer, K.E., Mudambi, R. and Narula, R. (2011) Multinational enterprises and local contexts:
The opportunities and challenges of multiple embeddedness. Journal of management
studies, 48(2), pp.235-252.
Moye, J. (2016) ‘One Brand’ Strategy, New Global Campaign Unite Coca-Cola Trademark
[Online]. Available from: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/taste-the-feeling-
launch [Accessed on 7th December 2018]
Moye, J. (2017) Coke’s Way Forward: New Business Strategy to Focus on Choice, Convenience
and the Consumer [Online]. Available from:
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/cokes-way-forward-new-business-strategy-
to-focus-on-choice-convenience-and-the-consumer [Accessed on 7th December 2018]
Rothaermel, F.T. (2015) Strategic management. UK: McGraw-Hill Education.

Thomas, P. (2015) Has the Smartphone Reached Its Maturity Stage? [Online]. Available from:
https://marketrealist.com/2015/12/smartphone-reached-maturity-stage [Accessed on 7th
December 2018]
Wilson, R.M. and Gilligan, C. (2012) Strategic marketing management. New York: Routledge.