Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
- Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level
strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this
to be a good choice. Justify your opinion. - Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level
strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this
to be a good choice. Justify your opinion. - Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation’s most significant competitor.
Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be
successful in the long term. Justify your choice. - Determine whether your choice from Question 3 would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
- Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as
academic resources.
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 2
Introduction
Business levels strategies involve the detailed actions adopted to ensure the efficient
provision of value to the clients and also gain the competitive advantage in the industry. The
business level strategies entail exploiting the core competencies and the company’s positions in
the industry while also considering competitors and other competition forces (Peng, 2013). The
business level strategies represent the methods and plan that the company use in carrying out the
various functions of their business operations.
Coca-Cola is my company of choice which falls under the category of the food and
beverage industry. The company is a valuable brand in the world as it is the leading soft drink
producer. The company is recognized as a successful corporation that has fully established itself
and compete effectively against other companies in the industry. Coca-Cola Company has for
long had a history of sustainability in profits, protection of its environment and also the
communities (Peng, 2013).The coca company has various business level strategies that have
helped the company to remain the world leading producer and seller of the beverage products.
The success of the company in the food and beverage industry is attributed to the effective
implementation of the various business level strategies. The company has built the competitive
advantage through the business level strategy. One of the business level strategy used by the
company is new products development for the consumers. The company manufactures new
products such as vanilla coke and the cherry which are new flavors. Another product introduced
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 3
to the market to satisfy the needs of the customers is the diet coke which is healthy soft drinks
(Pendegrast, 2013). Such products that fulfill the needs of the people are appealing to the
different types of clients all over the world. The ideal refreshing of different people in the world
by manufacturing and introducing new products helps the company to market itself effectively.
The strategies have enabled the corporation to stand out from the rest to remain fully relevant in
the industry.
The adoption of the advances in technology by the Coca-Cola Company is another
business level strategy that has continuously been used to ensure the development and growth of
the firm (Pendegrast, 2013). The strategy creates a more cost friendly and efficient manner of
soft drink production. The technological model shift by the company helps in revolutionizing the
industries structure to ensure the company survive and adapt to the new strategies. The company
has made advances in the design of the bottle to be unique in nature. Adoption of the
technologically related strategies allows the mass production, reduce confusion among
consumers and guarantee compatibility. The company uses the technology facilities used in the
management of the financial processes and connecting with the bottling partners. The strategy
enables the effective management of all the aspects of their global organization.
Developing the distinctive advantage is a vital business level strategy used by the Coca-
Cola Company, which is very important for its development. The development of the core
competencies is essential for the creation of a successful corporation. The strategy involves the
efforts made by coca cola to produce goods and services that are better and more marketable
compared to the products of the competitors (Pendegrast, 2013). Coca-Cola has maintained a
more cost efficient supply chain that ensures the consumers readily and easily access their
products in the shortest time possible. The production of unique products that are quickly
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 4
marketed while also acquiring the production resources at lower costs is a strategy that has
impacts the marketing strategies positively which stimulates growth and strong establishment in
the world.
Consumer marketing is a business level strategy that is commonly implemented by the
company with the aim of achieving its set objectives and ensure its success in the long-term. The
design of the marketing investment by Coca-Cola Company increases the customer’s preference
to its brands and also enhances consumer awareness (Peng, 2013). The strategy produces long-
term growth both locally and globally. Localization strategy is pursued by the coca cola
company when it comes to their products offering.
The development of the distinctive advantage is the most important of all the business
level strategies pursued by the coca cola Corporation. The strategy has enhanced the long-term
success of the company in the industry. The cost advantage and differentiation advantage bring
about the distinction in the industry where the coca cola company has succeeded in been the best
in the industry. Coca-Cola has been able to create the superior profits and also the superior value
for its clients for long. The provision of the unique products and services that are valuable to the
consumers beyond just offering low costs for the same ensure the success of the company and
have the competitive advantage for long since its establishment (Lemley et al, 2012).
The corporate objectives by the company help it lay the necessary business level
strategies to ensure it is successful in its operations to fulfill its objectives. Some of these
strategic goals include projecting the outstanding corporate strategies and provision of the quality
products to their esteemed customers. The satisfaction of the customers through the provision of
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 5
extraordinary services while offering both the operational and tactical support. The coca cola
company has adopted the various strategies that are usually related to different factors of interest.
Starting with a unique market through the identification of the market niches is one of the
corporate level strategies adopted by the coca cola company. The company conducts the
economic analysis which efficiently discovers the consumer demands to ensure they are met
appropriately. Coca-Cola modifies its products and also price their products depending on
whether there are substitutes for the same.
The horizontal integration is another corporate level strategy adopted by the business firm
that has enhanced its growth and development to become a world leading company in its
industry (Pendegrast, 2013). The strategy ensures the long sustainability of the company’s
operations and also increases its profits. The company has achieved this through differentiation
of their products and reduction of costs. The pricing strategies, lowering the costs and other
marketing strategies aims at ensuring the company fully capitalizes on its brand image. The
horizontal business level strategy enables the company to properly rival and competes with
others in the industry. Vertical integration is another business level strategy ensures the firm
accomplishes its competitive advantage to enhance the quality protection of the products and
facilitating investments for the growth of the firm. In a vertical integration, the corporate strategy
the company owns its supply chain. The coca cola company offers a description ` of the
management styles thus bringing huge portions to the firm not only under its ownership but also
under the corporation (Pendegrast, 2013). The marketing initiatives for the consumer brand is a
responsibility of the company where it also manufactures and sells beverage and concentrates to
the bottling operations.
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 6
The Coca-Cola Company has the effective corporate strategies where it partners closely
with the clients to execute the localized strategies that are enhanced with close partnership with
the company. The strategies are justified because the vertical integration promotes the expansion
of the activities to directly control the distribution of its products. The strategy enables the coca
cola company to require little maintenance of its operations consequently bringing a steady and
consistent cash flow for the firm over a long duration of time. The cash flow in the Coca-Cola
Company ensures it invests its profits into other business locations and also facilitates the growth
and development of the company by making acquisitions and also providing dividends to
shareholders. Formulating and implementing diversification is a corporate level strategy adopted
by the Coca-Cola Company, which is useful in enhancing its long-term success (Pendegrast,
2013). The company implements the diversification strategies by leveraging the competencies
for the new investments, product bundling and exploitation of the firm’s competencies to
increase its performance. The diversification corporate level strategy ensures the company
manages rivalry and enhance profits by embedment of its capabilities (Pendegrast, 2013).
The coca cola company has also adopted strategic outsourcing as one of its corporate
strategies where it creates some activities that help the company to differentiate its products,
subordinate its costs for products and also respond to the changing trends of the market
conditions. The corporate level strategies adopted by the company have highly contributed to its
massive success for decades since the time it started its operations (Peng, 2013).
The combination of all the strategies is essential to enhancing the growth and
development of the company to beat the rest of the competitors in the industry. However, the
horizontal integration corporate level strategy is seen to stand out from the rest of the strategies.
The horizontal integration strategy has facilitated the dominance of the Coca-Cola Company.
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 7
Through the implementation of the strategy, there is increased market share and market power
where it has also increased its synergies and reduce competition. The Coca-Cola Company has
been able to reduce the production costs and succeed in effective marketing of its products which
is vital for the fast development of the company (Peng, 2013). The numerous factors of growth
addressed by adoption of the horizontal integration strategy make it be the most important
strategy for the long-term success of the company.
The coca cola company competes in the commercial beverages industry segment. The
competitive products in the environment include products such as water products, soft drinks,
and other non-alcoholic beverages. The main competitor of the coca cola company is PepsiCo
Inc Corporation. There are various competitive factors that impact the companies’ operations
which include increased efficiency in the techniques of production, sales promotion programs
and also product innovation. The protection and development of the trademark and brand is one
of the greatest factors when it comes to gaining the competitive advantage against other
corporations in the environment (Lemley et al 2012). PepsiCo is a significant corporation that
highly competes with Coca-Cola to beat each other in the market. The employment of the
different strategies by the two corporations to gain dominance and relevance in the market has
led to high competition in the environment of the beverage industry. Each of the two competing
corporations has various strategies employed in its operations. There is similarity among some of
the strategies used by both companies. Some of the similar corporate strategies adopted by both
corporations include the horizontal and vertical integration. PepsiCo strategies include the
acquisition of new products, purchasing of other distributor and buying of bottlers (Lemley et al,
2012).
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 8
The PepsiCo Corporation has also employed the differentiation strategy where it has
redesigned its commercials and packaging strategies to effectively compete with others in the
industry. The cost leadership strategy has enabled PepsiCo to have cheap and plentiful labor
force all over the world. Coca-Cola has adopted its strategies that are different from those used
by its most significant competitor. Coca-Cola focuses on the development of its unique products
as compared to PepsiCo, which involves itself in acquisitions. The Coca-Cola Company does not
use the cost leadership strategy which is highly used by PepsiCo in its operations. The strategy is
used by Pepsi as it aims to manufacture its products at the lowest cost price. On the other hand,
Coca Cola would charge low prices for the same products in some market segments where they
are highly accepted by the consumers (Peng, 2013). The PepsiCo Corporation has adopted the
diversification strategy which compares to the differentiation strategy used by Coca-Cola
Company (Lemley et al, 2012). The differences and technicality of the strategies used by the two
competing corporations reveal that Coca-Cola is most likely to be the most successful in the long
term.
Differentiation strategy used by Coca-Cola is the most important factor that should be
considered in a highly competitive environment to be a leading company. PepsiCo does not
employ the strategy thus might face challenges to establishing itself fully in the market as
compared to Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has a better integration strategy as compared to PepsiCo,
which requires improving its tactics to reduce the system-wide costs that might hinder its long-
term success. Coca-Cola has standardized its product offering as compared to PepsiCo which
mainly focuses on the cost leadership strategy. In this case, Coca-cola is most likely to market its
products faster than its competitor thus successful in the long term compared to PepsiCo (Lemley
et al, 2012).
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 9
The choice of the company that is most likely to be successful in the long term could not
differ depending on either the slow or fast cycle markets. The Coca-Cola Company has enhanced
its core competencies through its strategies making it more specialized in any activities that it
undertakes. Coca-Cola company has ensured it focuses on innovation e.g. through the
development of new products and new designs for the strategic competitiveness which is
essential for any cycle market for its long-term success (Lemley et al, 2012). The choice of the
most successful company would only differ during the standard-cycle market where the
competition for the shares both domestic and international markets depends on the economies of
scale developed by a particular corporation.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, every corporation should adopt effective strategies which entail exploiting
the core competencies and the company’s positions in the industry while also considering
competitors and other competition for success. The protection and development of the trademark
and brand the greatest factors when it comes to gaining the competitive advantage against other
corporations in the environment. The effective design and implementation of the strategies lead
to success in the long term.
BUSINESS-LEVEL AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGIES 10
References
Lemley, M. A., & McKenna, M. P. (2012). Is Pepsi Really a Substitute for Coke? Market
Definition in Antitrust and IP.
Pendergrast, M. (2013). For God, country, and Coca-Cola: The definitive history of the great
American soft drink and the company that makes it. Basic Books.
Peng, M. W. (2013). Global strategy. Cengage learning.
