Strategy Coca-Cola

2.1 Purpose of report

'In times of environmental turbulence and uncertainty, the current position of a business needs to be established before setting future directions and strategies' (Perrott, 2011, p.22).

The aim of this report is to help Coca-Cola plan and prepare a corporate strategy for the next five years. However before planning for future strategy it is important to access Coca-Cola's current business environment. By applying a variety of business models (looking at Coca-Cola's Macro, Meso and Micro environments) it will be possible to asses where Coca-Cola currently stand within the business environment today (their strategic position).

'Organisations operate within a three-tiered environment - internal, micro and macro. The environment is a powerful force acting upon the effectiveness of strategic decision making. Failure to take cognisance of the influence of the three-tiered environment can have disastrous consequences' (Proctor, 2000, p.47).

2.2 Importance of strategy

Strategy is all about 'the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations' (Johnson et al, p.3, 2009).

2.3 Development of strategy

The Emergent & Prescriptive theories

The development of strategy has progressed from two main theories: the prescriptive approach and the emergent approach;

'The two approaches have some common elements in the early stages: analysis and the development of a mission for the organisation. Beyond this, they go their separate ways' (Lynch, 2006, p.29).

The prescriptive approach believes that future strategy can be predicted and planned for, whereas the emergent approach argues that future strategy cannot be predicted and should not be planned for. The two theories can still be seen in today's business environment; however with the recent recession taking place (which started at the end of 2008) it could be argued that companies may take a more emergent approach due to today's unpredictable business climate.

It is also a well known fact that the business environment is quite difficult at the moment; there is the economic recession, credit crunch which is still ongoing, low or stagnant economic growth, the Greek economic crisis and the crisis within the Euro zone. These situations could pose a challenge to Coca-Cola's future strategic planning; therefore it is always wise to be mindful of the business environment before setting future strategies.

2.4 Hierarchical Levels of strategy

'While strategy may be about competing