Business

Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola

Introduction

The competitive strategy in a business allows companies to develop advantages that help produce goods and services better than the competitors. The competitive strategies are essentially those tasks that help differentiate goods and services which are similar. This paper demonstrates the competitive strategies that are used by two similar companies who have maintained a larger portion in the market share namely Coca-Cola and Pepsi. They need to change the structure of their corporate culture to stay in business in the future.

The cultural differences between the two

The Coca-Cola Company has an inclusive culture which has several core values. Their corporate culture revolves around leadership, passion, diversity and accountability. On the other hand the corporate culture of PepsiCo is such that it focuses mainly on creating a global mindset. The statement of PepsiCo is that their culture is to dream globally and act according to local mindsets to innovate around different regions. They are about bringing new innovative ideas to sustain people, community and work around their business practices. However, the main difference is that Coca-Cola's culture is more diversity oriented where they give greater value to inclusivity whereas the corporate culture at PepsiCo does not support that.

Coca-Cola people believe that their unique culture is embedded around everything they do and it is based on one of their core values which are Passion. However, the company at the same time believes that it's just not one factor that guarantees their success, a number of factors contribute to this. The different characteristics in individuals lead towards company being technically creative. There are few who leaders, innovators are and all are deeply committed to change in ways which are sustainable over time. The important factor in their corporate culture is that they are able to change their passion into action. The framework used within the company provides availability of space for creative ideas and freedom of individuals. The central to all ideas that generate from the company are that they are there to refresh the world through their mind, body and soul. They inspire optimism and create values that differentiate them amongst others in the market. They are able to achieve this through their people and brand.

The people are from diverse backgrounds, with ideas and talents that are highly differentiated in the market. This is vital for their success as they need to have the ability to understand, embrace and operate in a global and multi-cultural environment. This is important for their sustainability. Moreover, there is a greater emphasis on team work and empowerment. The employees who are motivated therefore, are the engine for growth in the Company. The people need to be organized in a team which encourages the fact that they are valued and they have the right to their opinion to be heard. The environment is friendly and innovative and therefore, Coke depends on high quality workforce which maintains brand leadership in all the markets it operates.

The culture of Pepsi on the other hand is about performance with ...