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Coca cola CSR report
Each corporationin thisworldishere forsomethinggreat.Somethingbeyonddollarsignsand
mass profits.Theyare here tomake the worlda betterplace.Some of these businesseshave takenthe
conceptof makingthe worlda betterplace,usedtheirwealthandpower,andhave thuscreateda road
map to sustainable businesspractices andultimatelyabetterworld.We see these practicesinaction
throughCSR reportsthat businesseswill publishif theyare actinguponwhatisknownas the triple
bottomline.The triple bottomline encompassesthe environmental,societal,andeconomicimpacts
that a companypartakesin,and thenreportson whatthey are doingtoimprove andincrease their
impactin all three aspectsof the triple bottomline.Thisreportingislaidoutina CSR report,where the
shareholdersandthe general publiccansee if the companyishittingtheirgoalsormissingthe mark for
sustainability.Notall companiesissueaCSRreport; Coca-Colathoughisone of the many companies
that doesdoCSR reports.Before divingintotheirCSRreportanalysisandhow theirtriple bottomline
has impactedthe world,knowingwhere the companyhascome fromisa helpful tool tofurther
understandandpainta picture forthe future of Coca-Cola.
Coca-Colaas we knowittoday isa beverage companythatyoucan see literallyeverywherein
the world,withthe exceptionof CubaandNorthKorea.Startingback in1886 by a pharmacistnamed
JohnPemberton he sold hisfirstsodaforjust9 centsin Atlanta,where the companyisstill
headquarteredtoday.Shortlyafterhiscreation,in1888 Pembertondiedfromhealthcomplications.In
the earlydaysof creatingthe drink,Pembertonhadsoldportionsof the companytootherindividuals
that wouldcarry onthe legacyof the companyafterPemberton’spassing.The companyboomedshortly
after,“Under Mr. Candler’sleadership,distributionof Coca‑Colaexpandedtosodafountainsbeyond
Atlanta(6)”.Asthe companyprogressed,thatthe drinkdidcontaina small amountof cocaine.Thiswas
put inthe new beverage tocure opiumaddiction.Afterthe discoverythe companywasquicktoremove
the 9 milligramsperglassof cocaine thatwasin theirdrinksin1903(4). Coca-Colatodayhas grownintoa
worldempire where theynowproduce over3500 differentdrinksunder500 differentbrandnames. As
of 2015 the overall companyhashada revenue of $44 billion, anetincome of $7.351 billion, employs
around129,000 people worldwide,andhasa missionto,“refreshthe worldinmind,bodyandspirit.To
inspire momentsof optimismandhappinessthroughourbrandsandactions.(1)”.Coca-Colais
committedtobeingseen andknown asa brand that inspiresandchangesthe livesof manyinsteadof
the few,throughprogramsoutlinedintheirCSRreport knownas“Me, We,and the World.Beinga
brand thatis so knownworldwide,therecomesanimmense amountof pressure tobe socially,
environmentally,andeconomicallyresponsiblewiththeiractionsasa company,because of theirsize
and outreachto literallyall cornersof the world.Asacompanywithsuch large profits,Coca-Colahas
createdtheirCSRreport to highlightthe keyaspectstheyfocusonasa company.The goalssetforthby
theminthe social,economic,andenvironmental aspectsof sustainabilityare laidoutandwill be
definedandanalyzedindeepercontexttotrulyunderstandhow Coca-Colahashadsuchan impact on
the environmentthe operatein.
In Coca-Cola’sCSRreport,theyhave decidedtosplititinto3 differentparts,“Me,We andthe
World”.Me, isthe involvementof well-beingwithinthe communities(social) inwhichCoca-Colais
involved.The goal of the companyfor thisaspectisto create healthieroptionstochoose fromintheir
productline.Indoingsotheyhave createdlow to no calorie drinksalongwithsponsoring and/or
supportinghundredsof nutritionprogramsinover 100 of the marketstheyare in.Through thisoutreach
and participationinthe communities,itshowsthatthe companyas a whole isveryconscious andaware

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that as a beverage company,theyhave thatsocial responsibilitytoofferhealthieroptionsandsupport
communitiestolearnaboutthe differentnutritionalaspectsof whattheyputintheirbodies.Further,
Coca-Colaisalsowantingto raise awarenessaboutnutritioninformation.Inordertoachieve this,they
have alsovowedtosupplyall nutritional informationontheirpackaging.
“We” isthe portionof the reportwhere theyaddressthe economicandhumanrightsaspectsin
theircompany.ForCoca-Cola,theyare highlyfocusedanddriventosupportwomenempowerment
aroundthe world.Intheirmission,theyhave startedaprogramcalled“5by20” whichsimplymeansthat
theywantto empower5 millionwomenentrepreneursgloballyby2020. Coca-Colabelievesthat,“the
entrepreneurialpotential of womenisone of the mostpowerfulandenduringwaystohelpfamiliesand
communitiesprosper(2)”.Thisaspectof CSR isindependently validatedbythe DNV GL,whichisan
international firmthatassessesriskmanagementwiththe actionsthatcompaniesdo.By Coca-Cola
havingDNV GL validate their“We”portionof the CSRreport,thisvalidatesfurtherthat Coca-Colais
strivingtomeetthatgoal forthemselves.Thisthoughshouldnotcloudjudgementforwhetherornot
the companyis meetingtheirgoals.Justbecausethere isoutsidevalidationthatthe actionand
programsare takingplace,doesn’tmeanthe goal isbeingmet,asI will discussandmake mypoint for
later. Whenitcomesto human rightsinthe company,theyhave implementedpoliciesthatnow line up
withthe UN guidingprinciplesforbusinesses. Coca-Colaadoptedtheseprinciplesin2011 andsince then
89 % of theirsuppliersanddistributorshave achievedthe standardandcompliance setforthbythe
guidingprinciples (2). Againthoughthereisspeculationonthe remaininghuman/employeerightsthat
Coca-Coladoesnottalkabout intheirreportwhichwill alsobe discussedlater.
The last section of Coca-Cola’sCSRreportisthe “world”.In thissectiontheyaddresstheir
concernand solutionsforhowtomake theirproductsmore environmentallyfriendlyandultimatelycut
downon waste while atthe same time increasingrecycle efforts. One of theirmainfocusesiswater
stewardship. Coca-Colausesbillionsof gallonsof waterinthe creationof theirproducts.Since operating
inall of the 3rd
worldcountries,waterisa scarce or unusable resource thustheyhave touse ground
waterthat ishard to replenish.Intheir“world”sectiontheyhave outlinedtheirgoalsandprogress by
2020 to replenish100%the watertheyuse,back to the supplyforwhichtheyextracteditfrom.
Accordingto Coca-Colasreport,theyare well aheadof theirgoal toreplenish100% of the waterthey
use back to the source.Alongwithwaterstewardshiptheyare veryaware of theirpackaging.Inefforts
to reduce material use andincrease onrecycledandrenewable materials,theyhave movedtohaving
57.2% of theirpackagingmade fromPET, whichisa renewableandreusable plastic, thatisnotoil based,
and mostcommonlyfoundinthe Europeanmarkets(4).
AssumingthatCoca-Colaisethical inall of theiractionswhenitcomesto CSR,we wouldalso
assume thattheirclaimsare backedupby manysources,bothgovernmentandindividual.Thisfact
holdstrue invalidatingthe claims Coca-Colamakesintheirreport,butthese validationsonlystate that
theyare doingthe actiontheysaidtheywoulddo…not necessarilyvalidatingthattheyare ontrack to
meetingtheirgoal.The UN validatesthe claimthattheyfightforwomenequality,whichplaysdirectly
intoCoca-Colawomanentrepreneurempowermentplan. Coca-Colaisworkingwith the group “UN
women”tomake thisgoal a reality. Coca-Cola’sstrategytoempowerwomenwassopowerfulthat,
“Unilever,whichhassetforitself the goal of empoweringfivemillionwomenacrossthe world by
2020(3)” hasnow setthe same goal forthemselves.Asmentionedearlier,the speculationliesinthe
numbersforCoca-Cola.Since 2010 whenthisprojectbegan,Coca-Colareportsempowering865,000
womenasof 2014 and wantto empower5 millionby2020; whichthe reportthenstatesthat the

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companyison track toaccomplishthisgoal.Simple calculationswouldleadyoutobelieve otherwise
because within1yeartheywouldhave to empower1.635 millionwomentoreachthe half waypointby
2015. If you go off the numberspurely, Coca-Colaisgreenwashinginthissensethat theirreportgoes
againstKantianethicsstating“Ethicsisnot abouthappiness,butaboutdoingthe rightthing (5)”,which if
the companyis indeedgreenwashing,thisactiongoesagainstthe lastpartof the Kantianstatementto
do the rightthing.
Greenwashingiswhena companystatestheyare doingsomethingtobenefitthe
environmental,social,oreconomicpartof the triple bottomline butare not fulfillingwhattheysaythey
are doing.Whethertheyare doingthose actionsornot,where greenwashingcomesintoplayiswhen
certainaspectsof theirclaimare not beingmetyetthe companysaysthat are beingmet.Another
example of thisin Coca-Colaisdealingwiththeirhumanrightsportionof the report.There have been
claimsmade online thatunfairemploymentpracticeshave takenplace andhave continuedtoasrecent
as 2013. In the CSR report, Coca-Colawantstobe sociallyresponsible,butone of the drivingforcesof
beingsociallyresponsibleisnothaving“discrimination[at] 19%,retaliation19% and workhour/wage
discrepancyat24% (2)” as yourtop 3 workplace rightscasesreportedin2014. Onan ethical level,the
CSR reportdoesa good coverage of beinganethical companyandfulfillingtheirsocial,economicand
environmental duties,butinthe backgroundthe companyis dealingwithotherissuesthataren’t
reportedinthe reportfor obviousreasons.ItgoesagainstKantethics, aswell as utilitarianismbynot
allowingall toseekandbe happy.Thisultimatelyplaysintothe deeperanalysisof stakeholderanalysis.
Whenyour workforce isbeingmistreatedthistakesintodirectaccountthatstakeholderswill
notice as a decrease indistributionarisesora statistical abnormality arise inprofits(firing/layingoff
employeesinmassquantities).Bynotingthatgreenwashingishappening,throughthe stakeholder
analysis,the CSRreportdoesnotevenbegintotouch onthose workerdiscriminationcases.If Coca-Cola
were toaddressthese typesof issuesintheirreporttocovera portionof the “we”section,theywould
ultimatelyhave ahigheremployee retentionrate,especiallyinthe 3rd
worldcountries,where mostof
these casesstemfrom.Overall there hasbeennocredibilitytakenbythe companyforthese work
standards,andthus whythe ethical criteriaisonlypartiallymet.Itismetinthe sense thattheyare
doingwell forthe companybyattemptingtoreduce workplace rightscases.Where theyfail isonthe
part theydon’tcoverin the reportwhichistheirapproach to how to ultimatelyfix the overall issuein
the companyfor workerequality.
Steppingbackfromthe ethical standpoint,the economiccoverage of aCSR reportisalso very
importantto a company’ssuccess.In Coca-Cola’scase,the economicpartiscoveredbythe “We” part of
theirreport.Inthis,it holdsstrongevidence thatsuggeststheiractionsactuallybenefitthe companyin
the longrun. By institutingtheir5by20plan,theirimpactthroughthat is able togenerate more jobsand
small businessesthatwouldinturncreate potential customersthatnow have the moneytobuy Coca-
Colaproducts. Throughtheirwaterstewardshipprogramaswell,theyare impactingboththe
communitiesthattheytake the waterfromandtheirfuture businessbyreturningwaterbacktothe
ecosystemforlateruse.WithCoca-Cola’swaterstewardshipprogram, theirabilitytooperate longterm
isimpactedina positive manner. Outside of theireconomicimpactwithcommunities,the companyis
impactedbygeneratingastronger,more stable relationshipwiththeirshareholderswhosee the
company’sinvestmentintothe world,thuscreatingdemand toinvestmore into Coca-Colaonthe
shareholderside.Italsofeelsamazingworkingforacompanythat helpsthe greatergood,andthus
leadstoa higheremployee retentionrate. All of these outcomesare adominoeffectintothe next.From

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retaininghighlyskilledworkers,thoseworkersare more willingtogenerate andinnovatealongsidethe
companyto make programsmore effective andsuccessful. Coca-Colatakesthisinnovationandappliesit
directlytotheircompetitivestrategytostayontop. The 5by20 is justone program thatcausesall of
these dominostostartfallingandcause a ripple effecttothe nextgreateroutcome,butwithoutthe
integrationandfollow throughof the otherprograms,suchasthe waterstewardshipandnutrition
awareness,those dominoswouldn’tfalloverasquicklyormake as greatof an impact.
Analysisof CSRhas one lastcomponentinorderforit to be consideredacomplete analysis;
Formality.Forformal criteria,the numbersdonotlie,andalthough Coca-Colahasimpressive looking
numbersintheirCSRreport,it wouldbe easytospeculate thatthese numbersare actually
improvementsinsome areasastheirreductioninsome areashasdisruptedethical standardsand
sometimescreatedjoblosstoachieve suchnumbers. Coca-Colareleasestheirreporteveryyearand
withinitoffersayearto year descriptionandexplanationastowhere theyare headed.The UN,DNV-GL
(a riskmanagementanalystfirm) andFIRA BV approve of andprovide external assurance to Coca-Cola’s
actionsand progresstoachieve the besttriple bottomline resultpossiblewiththeseendorsements,
theydo notexcuse the vague goalssetby Coca-Colaintheirreport.An example forvaguenessin Coca-
ColaCSR reportis involvingtheirwaterstewardshipinthe “world”section,“By2020, safelyreturnto
communitiesandnature anamountof water equivalenttowhatwe use inour finished beveragesand
theirproduction,(4)”whichoutlinestheirgoal of course,butit doesn’tstate how or withany
continuation.The vague goal settingthat Coca-Coladoescanbe seenasa workaroundif thatgoal isnot
met.If Coca-Colawere to replicate theirgoal outlinesastheydidinthe “We” section,bystating
numbersandcontinuationof sustainingthose numbers,itgivesthemlesswiggleroomwhenthe
deadline comesupandtheyare to be heldaccountable formeetingormissingtheirgoal.Theirgoals
couldbe more refinedtospecifytheirintentionsof thatgoal.
Bringingitfull circle,the CSRreportissupposedtooutline a company’s intentionsfor
sustainabilityand theirstridestowardsamore complete triple bottomline.Asseenin Coca-Cola’s
report, theymeetthe criteriaforhavinga reportand applyingtheirintentionsintothe real world,but
theirreportseemstobe too heavilypositive,asthere isnobackwardstrendmarks or negative
statementsforprogressandachievingtheirgoals.Inorderfortheirreporttobe 100% ethical and
formalized, Coca-Colamustre-evaluate theireffortsandtake outthe misleadingprogressstatements
for a fewof theirgoals(the 5by20 outreachnumbersare a perfectexample of thismisleading
information andprogress). Coca-Colahaseverythingitneedstobe successful inachievingthe triple
bottomline andhavinga validCSRreport,theyhave the external auditors,the outside riskmanagement
checksdone by DNV GL, and theireffortsare widelysupportedbythe UN.There isno reasontomislead
information,asitisokayto missgoals,justrestructure andcontinue the effortuntil that goal ismet.

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Works Cited
1. Becker,Chris. "Kantian Ethics." CSU College of Business, Fort Collins. 27 Jan. 2016. Lecture.
2. Coca-Cola. 2014/2015 Sustainability Report. Rep. Coca-Cola,22 July 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
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Apr. 2016.
4. O'Reilly, Lara. "15 Mind-blowing Facts about Coca-Cola." Business Insider. Business Insider,Inc, 25
Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
5. Staff, Journey. "Our Mission Statement & Company Values | Coca-Cola GB." Our Mission Statement
& Company Values | Coca-Cola GB. Coca-Cola,n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
6. UN News Centre. "Business Leaders Pledge Investments worth Millions to Boost Gender Equality –
UN." UN News Center. UN,26 Sept. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.